Psychotic Maniac

Chapter 43

Edward flicked the lights on and dashed across the room finding Estella peacefully curled under the blanket, sleeping. He put the files he had with him on the table next to the couch before stalking toward the bed, stopping right in front of her.

He bent down, running the back of his hand on her soft cheek, careful not to stir her up. Staying there momentarily, he thought about everything that happened back at the dinner, his father's threat, and after so long, Edward felt utterly out of options. It was like walking into a deep and dark endless tunnel with no hope of light and he had walked too far to look back.

Turning around, he went to his window and slid it open. The familiar breeze and tides and salty ocean welcomed his presence. It was darker than usual, there were no shadows or silhouettes of palm trees, and the pearly shine of waves was missing out.

He snapped his eyes up to the sky, finding no sign of the moon and despite the uncountable stars over his head, they couldn't do the moon's part on its behalf. Just something Estella would say 'Nature knows us the best'

After all this time, he was making no progress with Estella and the upcoming marriage alliance would only jeopardize it even further.

Resigning, he picked up his clothes from his closet and went into the bathroom to change. After he was done washing up himself, he returned and saw the bed empty.

Estella was now perched on the couch, going through the files he brought from the work. He broke into a sprint and hauled the next file Estella laid her hands on. She flinched and reacted faster at his sudden arrival and tugged her fingers around the file cover tighter. Before he could stop, all the pages wafted around, falling everywhere on the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?" she shouted at him.

"What am I doing?" he emphasized, rushing to grab as many as he could. Estella bent down as well, but he was quicker than her and grabbed every single page of Jasper Wolfe's file.

With Estella's hatred, his father's threats, the marriage alliance, and the top of that—the next day ceremony, he was feeling moments away from all hell breaking loose. He didn't know if him knowing about Jasper Wolfe, the possible killer of Estella's father from the hit-and-run case was helping the situation either. He was originally planning to share it with her and use this means to rekindle their relationship but he was not feeling up for it anymore. He didn't want anyone to get wind of it while his mind was in fragments with distraction.

"The window was open," Estella said, sparing him a look up and down. "And the pages were fluttering and flying."

Edward still was overlooking if anything was missing. "Sorry for waking you up," he muttered under his breath, his attention submerged in the file. He noticed one of the pictures of Jasper with his original hair and blue eyes was missing.

"It's fine. It was an accident anyway," the gentleness in her voice felt so foreign that it alone dissolved Edward's every living thought inside him.  His world momentarily stopped.

The usually pissed Estella seemed different. It wasn't just her voice talking, the eyes did, too. The same Estella who always had retorts ready every time he was around her was now all soft on him with unmistakable kindness.

Estella broke the eye lock first and turned away from him. "I won't touch your things anymore," she told him.

Edward shut the file and smiled. "You're lying."
He said, making her face him once again. "I know you've been looking around."

"Sorry. It's hard to keep up with your OCD," she stated in a cool voice.

"I have other issues," he said, not trying to sound rude. "But that is not one of them. It's just things have designated places in my room."