DESOLATION

32

Hey, my lovely readers, 

I am back. Enjoy the chapter. 

...

LORCAN

From the second-floor window of my office, I have a perfect view of the vast lawn surrounding my mansion. I have been standing here for quite a long time. The weather has begun to change as the afternoon wore on. The warm sunlight has gradually disappeared behind a blanket of soft, grey clouds, leaving the grounds beneath in a dim, muted light. A cool breeze drifts through the garden, gentle enough to make the leaves rustle and lift the ends of her hair, while the heavy clouds above suggest that it might rain later. The air must have turned cold, and I cannot help wondering whether she is beginning to feel the chill sitting outside in that dress.

I am standing behind the large window with my eyes fixed on the figure sitting alone below. The room behind me is warm and dimly lit, with a faint scent of smoke lingering in the air.

She has all my attention because it's just difficult to look away from her. She is sitting on one of the garden chairs near the edge of the lawn, surrounded by the restless movement of the trees and flowers. The wind keeps lifting the strands of her hair and throwing them across her face, but she does not seem bothered enough to move them away.

She does not seem to notice anything around her. Not the increasingly dark sky, not the cold wind, not the distant sound of thunder. She is simply sitting there, completely lost within the confines of her own thoughts, and this somehow bothers me.

I had allowed her to leave the room after what happened because I was worried about her mental condition. She does look better now, but not perfectly fine. As if there is something that is eating her from the inside. She does not want to talk about it and does not want to share.

Sitting there alone, lost in thought, she looks no less than an angel. The dress she is wearing is beautiful. It ends around the middle of her thighs, revealing her beautiful legs bare, just the way I like. The delicate fabric is clinging softly to her figure whenever the wind blows against her. It is the kind of dress that looks almost too beautiful for an ordinary evening at home.

On anyone, perhaps it would have been simply beautiful, but on my Inez, it is distracting. Infuriatingly so.

Against the darkening lawn and the stormy sky, she looks almost unreal. Like something delicate and misplaced, even though she is where she is supposed to be. Her soft features appear unusually pale beneath the grey light, and there is a sadness in her eyes that makes something deep within me tighten.

She looks like an angel. A beautiful, melancholic angel sitting alone beneath the sky that is preparing to break apart. My jaw tightens at the thought. She has been sitting there for nearly one hour. What the hell could she possibly be thinking about? Could she be thinking of ways to leave me?

I lift the cigarette to my lips and inhale softly, my gaze remaining on her. Smoke curls from my mouth as I watch the wind sweep through the lawn again. This time she visibly shivers.

Of course she is cold, but she is being stubborn. The wind is getting stronger by the minute, and she is sitting outside in that tiny dress as though she has absolutely no sense of self-preservation.

My eyes travel towards the dark clouds gathering above the estate and then towards her. It is going to rain. Probably soon. And yet there she is. Still sitting there. Still staring into nothing. Still looking as though the entire world could disappear around her and she would not even notice.

I threw my cigarette into the ashtray beside the window and crushed it with my fingers. I should go and bring her inside. Just when I was about to go to Inez, the ringtone of my phone broke the silence. I picked it up from the table and when I saw Dr. Gulia's name flashing on the screen, I quickly answered the call. Moving back towards the window, I glanced at Inez.