Depths of a River

Chapter 25- Breakfast with Cleone

He swallowed hard a few times while telling us. This was the worst feeling in the world; I knew my life was never going to be the same again. The best part of my life was over. All I had left was to just survive every day.

We stayed with my aunt and uncle until I was eighteen. I studied for a year then got the job at the firm in the fashion industry. Cleone went to college after school. Neither Cleone nor I wanted to stay with our father's brother any more than was necessary. Our parent's money was enough to pay for both our studies and sort us out for a few years after.

"Adelynn?" Rodrique's voice pulled me back to reality.

I was still standing on the railing of the balcony. I stepped down and walked back to Rodrique.

"Are you all right?" He asked me.

"Yes. I am, really..." I said and sat down on the chair by the table.

We drank our milkshakes in silence.

"I must probably go and fetch Cleone." I said as soon as our milkshakes were finished.

We drove together to campus in his car and picked up Cleone at the gate like we agreed beforehand. Rodrique drove back to my apartment. Cleone didn't say anything except greet Rodrique. She excused herself to go to bed when we got home. She disappeared upstairs. I turned towards Rodrique.

"Do you want to stay?" I asked him.

"Hazelnut coffee?" He asked me making a cute face.

I rolled my eyes at him and walked to the kitchen and put on the kettle. We drank our coffee while watching television. After a while I could see he was getting tired.

"Let's go and lie down for a bit." I said to him.

He was surprised by what I had said but stood up and followed me to my bedroom. I lay down on the bed, and he lay down behind me. He put his arms around me and held me tight.

I couldn't help but regret the night I slept next to Jason. I felt like I should tell Rodrique even though we weren't together at that time. I lay there in his arms. I felt so safe from everything except my thoughts. Rodrique was sleeping already while I was still lying awake thinking about everything.

The sun was already out when I woke up. I turned around to find an empty space next to me. Did he leave? I stood up and threw on my summer gown over shorts and a tank top. I heard music playing softly from the television. I stopped in the middle of the stairs to find Rodrique busy in the kitchen. I heard something sizzling in the pan on the stove. I walked to the bottom of the stairs. Cleone was sitting by the kitchen counter, and Rodrique was busy in front of the stove. Both of them looked at me when I entered the kitchen.

"Morning." I said a bit confused about what was going on.

"Morning. I'm making omelettes with bacon strips on the side. Cleone said I could use the ingredients. I didn't want to wake you up." He said and smiled his perfect smile at me.

"It's fine with me." I replied him.

"I bumped into your sister on my way to the bathroom a bit earlier and asked her if she would like to help me make breakfast and she agreed." He said while still busy with the bacon in the pan.

Cleone smiled at me and I felt a bit relieved that she was talking and sitting with us again.

She was very quiet since she had been locked up. The physiologist said that she didn't want to talk and couldn't leave fast enough when their session was done.

I sat down opposite Cleone at the kitchen table and watched Rodrique. He took the bacon out of the pan and divided them evenly between the three plates which had an omelette in each of them. He sat a plate in front of me then walked around to set Cleone's plate in front of her as well and sat down at the other side of the table. The food was delicious, and I complimented Rodrique on his cooking. He just smiled at me with a mouth full of bacon.

"I was thinking we should go to the river today. We can swim and just relax for a bit." He said while looking to Cleone and me.

"Thank you, but I wanted to sort out my things in my room at campus today." Cleone said while looking at her plate.

I just nodded at Rodrique to confirm my answer.

"Will you maybe drop me off after breakfast?" She asked then took a bite of her food.

Rodrique looked at me for an answer. I nodded at him again.

"Sure..." He said then looked over to Cleone.

He had a worried look on his face. We finished our food, and I took everybody's plates and packed them in the dishwasher. Cleone went straight upstairs and came back with a backpack over her shoulder. I excused myself to quickly change clothes. I was a very sunny day, so I dressed in shorts and a tank top with sandals and went back downstairs. Rodrique grabbed his car keys from the table, and we went outside. He drove to campus, and we dropped Cleone off. Rodrique drove towards the hotel but turned down a street before the hotel.

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