that august night - c.l.

38. But did he care for her that much?

"You are not yourself, Elena. I don't know you for a long time but you weren't like this whenever we hung out." - Isa complained as Elena raised her head, sitting on the opposite side of her and staring at the cup of her coffee listening to Isa's stories from the wedding she visited with Carlos.

"Charles and I had a fight last night. And I haven't heard from him ever since. He left the house without telling me anything." - She finally breathed out, feeling like a little bit of weight has been lifted from her chest just by speaking to someone about it. "Can you tell me what was it about?" - Isa asked, looking obviously concerns for her friend.

"I came home late from work, well... I wasn't supposed to work. That shooting happened and someone important to my case got killed so I drowned myself in the work, getting closer and closer to an answer. And I missed our dinner reservation." - Elena lowered her head, looking back at the half full cup of coffee in front of her.

There wasn't many people in the cafe, which both of them liked. Sitting in the dimed light in the corner of the room was relaxing, but not to Elena when her thoughts are with Charles, wherever he was.

"You are overworking yourself." - She stated as Elena scoffed at her answer. "That's what he said, as well." - She replied. "Then you know it's the truth." - Elena looked at her with guilt in her eyes, as Isa gave her comfortable smile. "You may think that the work you are doing is not enough, but it's more than that. You have plenty of days to find out what happened." - Elena stayed silent, listening to her friend talk, once more.

"Yes I know your work requires your attention all the time, but it doesn't require all the time for itself. When your shift ends it is not expected of you to continue the investigation or whatever, in the comfort of your own home. That's why you work five days straight, to get something done in a certain period of time. Whatever you do, you will never speed up the process of anything. And that's what you need to understand."

Elena looked up at her to meet her comfortable gaze. Carols must be such a lucky guy, she thought. She was good with words and she knew what to say and how to say the truth without being too harsh about it.

Was this how Charles felt whenever she would be comforting him after a bad day? Elena asked her consciousness and really hoped the answer was positive because then that would mean he loved what she did.

"I know, and I love my job, I do. He asked me to quit and I got mad. I think that while he was in the club during that shooting, he lived through something so traumatizing that he couldn't get over it. And he probably thinks it's the same for me. That I sleep and pictures of dead people appear in my mind all of a sudden." - Elena continued.

"Okay, he shouldn't have asked you to quit. You love what you do, but no one has the same level of tolerance towards something. You have to understand that he cares for you and once he saw what he saw in that club, he thought of you going through same every day. Even if you tell him you are fine, he will still be stubborn about your safety." - She explained once more while Elena thought of it.

But did he care for her that much? They don't know each other for a long time and it's hard to tell from Elena's perspective. She couldn't talk for him but she knew that, he meant the world for her. He showed her the love and affection she found in rare people.

She had to dig up their souls just to find a small piece of what Charles was giving her freely, from himself. She didn't need to ask for a coffee in the morning, he would already have it in a cup for her. She didn't need to ask for a hug because he knew when she needed it. That's the kind of love she was dreaming of and now she is probably losing it.

"Do you think that if I quit, we will be okay again?" - Elena asked Isa who looked questionably at her. "Elena, I think that if you talk to each other, and get back to the way it was two weeks ago, you two will be okay. But, just don't ruin yourself for someone else. You are the most important person to yourself. There won't be anyone by your side, in another life. You will have yourself, and your mind which is the strongest part of you. You have to make it strongest. No matter how hard it will be."