The Lost Ones

The Lost Ones - Chpt 9

*Ash/Eliza POV*

He closed the door on my face. I was kind of expecting this kind of response, but I had to try to get him to open up. I walked away from the door, disappointed. I headed to my dorm to get my head on straight and clear my thoughts. However, the arguments that the Monika, Mike and the captain had was still bugging me. I made up my mind and began to walk to Monika's room.

As I reached Monika's room, I started to get second thoughts on this decision, my hand hovering before the door, waiting to knock on it. I started to question if I should go through with it. I knew I would be sticking my nose where it should not be in the first place. I knew that I would have to see this through to the end, if I decided to get involved. I knew I should have not, but I did. Before I had a chance to knock on the door, it opened, revealing Monika.

"Eliza? What are you doing here? Am I needed somewhere?" She asked, obviously confused at my sudden, unexpected appearance.

"No. Not really. Can I talk to you inside?" I said, stepping in, nudging her slightly to the side.

I gaped as I saw a sleeping Mike on her bed. I looked back at Monika, then back at Mike. I had no idea what was going on and my mind was working to piece together the puzzle.

"Eliza, its not what it looks like." Monika said.

"Then tell me. Explain to me what is going on. First, I overheard the argument between you two and the captain. Now, this." Before I could stop myself, the words came out of my mouth.

*SLAP*

Before I knew it, I was slapped on my face. I glared at Monika, cradling my stinging cheek, stunned by what just happened.

"How dare you listen in to our conversation. You had no right to listen in. You had no right to stick your nose into our business." Monika seethed.

I had never seen her like this. I saw only the shy, calm and collected Monika, even in missions. Seeing her like this for the first time grounded me almost immediately. I knew I had fucked up. Big time. My rage turned to meek fear.

"What you heard is enough. I don't want you to mess around in our business. GET OUT!" Monika continued, startling Mike awake.

I proceeded to make my way out of the door, praying silently that I would not make a larger scene out of this. Regardless of what Monika said, I would get to the bottom of this problem. I had to. Mike however, stopped me.

"Monika, I know Eliza. She won't drop this matter at all and will find a way to pester everybody till she gets her way. It's best to tell her now and not let the others be mixed up in our problem." Mike tried to reason with Monika, whilst focusing on me.

As Mike went to sit up on the bed, Monika begrudgingly told me of the events that happened that led to the argument I overheard just now. I just stood there, mouth agape, trying to process and understand what was going on. As the story drew to a close, I stood there dumbstruck.

"I wanted to apologize to him! I know I messed up! When he said those things, it hurt. It hurt so much. Mike was the only person who knew how I felt, and he comforted me. We sat and talked about of feelings and emotions, losing track of time. It was getting late and we did not want people to get the wrong impression of us. So, I insisted he stay and rest till morning while I was working on finishing up my report, until you came." Monika finished, her eyes narrowed in anger, while I stared at her in shock, gaping.

From the passion in her words, I felt there was something more between the two of them. But I kept it to myself, acknowledging Monika with a nod. For the first time in a very long time, I was speechless. I did not know what to do or what to make of it. I did not know this was how deep the rabbit hole went.