Heart of Stone

Questions

Eloise spent the day cleaning and rearranging the furniture a bit in her apartment, in an effort to make her space hers again and erase the memories of what had happened. She was startled when the doorbell rang, and Luna barked a couple of times. She checked the time on her phone and realized that it was getting late in the day now. She also had a text message from Alexander letting her know Marcus was on his way. That had been about 20 minutes ago now, so it must have been him.

Putting her Swiffer to the side, she went up to the door and opened it. Marcus stood there on her doorstep in a dark blue blazer over a light blue button-up with khaki slacks and brown leather dress shoes. In contrast, she had changed her summer dress to a black sleeveless baggy shirt over grey leggings and black flats. She had thrown her hair up into a messy bun at some point just to get it out of her face while she was cleaning, but Marcus smiled politely at her, and it made her feel less of a mess.

"Hi, Alexander wanted me to swing by and check on you." He said, adjusting his glasses a bit.

"Yes, he did tell me. Would you like to come in?" She asked, stepping to the side.

"Sure, I bet he'd feel better if I told him I went inside." He said.

Eloise closed the door behind him, and he waited patiently as Luna inspected him. She shortly decided he meant no harm and licked his fingers. He petted her and followed the pair further into the apartment.

"You look like you've kept yourself busy." He said, noting the cleaning supplies.

"Ah, yeah. I thought it might make me feel better if I rearranged and cleaned a bit." She said.

"That was probably a good idea." He agreed.

"Would you like some tea or coffee?" She asked.

"Coffee would be lovely." He said, sitting down on a stool at her kitchen island.

She nodded and busied herself making two cups of coffee. She felt a bit nervous with Marcus in her kitchen, having social anxiety for some unknown reason. His energy was calm and unhurried, however, and she found herself relaxing a bit by the time the coffees were done. She turned to him and placed a mug in front of him, which he took gratefully. She leaned against the counter and sipped hers, feeling the warmth soothing her further.

"Thanks." He said. "Are you doing alright here by yourself?"

"I am, actually. Thank you for asking. I was a bit nervous when I got here but I think I'm settling okay." She admitted.

"Good. I know Alex is a little concerned." He said.

She smiled faintly.

"I'm really grateful he was here that day." She said quietly.

"He's a good person, despite having a perpetual scowl on his face." Marcus said, giving an amused half smile.

She chuckled softly, looking down into her coffee.

"It's definitely been a lot to process, but he makes it better. Underneath that scowl he's actually quite kind." She said.

Marcus nodded, having seen that side of Alexander himself.

"Just take it easy. Don't push yourself, and if you feel like being somewhere else don't force yourself to stay." He said.

"You're right. I'm fortunate to have people around me who care about me." She said.

"Indeed. So, aside from cleaning, what else have you been doing with your time today?" He asked, smiling warmly.

"Honestly, not much else. I used it to just focus and keep out any intrusive thoughts. I have been scouting out which flowers I'd like to use for Alexander's floral arrangement, though." She answered.