Hideout (gxg agegap)

3

Ashley's PoV

"Hello?"

I could hear a familiar angelic voice call out, as I was rummaging through the supply room.

I walked to the front room, carrying all the essentials I'd need for the next day.

"Good evening, Miss Miller", I smiled at her, while placing new candles and some refills for massage oils on a counter.

"I'm glad you're still here. I was worried I might've missed you", she admitted, smiling at me as she glanced at me through her eyelashes, her head was bowed.

She genuinely seemed relieved to see me.

"I'm happy you've found me too. It's been a while", I said, grinning gently at her as I replaced some burnt down candles with new ones.

"I'm sorry", she mumbled sadly as her gaze dropped back to the floor.

"Don't be. I'm busy with or without you", I said, pausing for a moment to take her appearance in.

She wore a simple dark suit and a deep blue silk blouse underneath, a few buttons kept open. It accentuated her well proportioned body in ways I couldn't quite grasp, flowing loosely and yet clinging to her slight curves.

"Why were you gone for so long?", I asked, breaking the silence that grew between us as she simply stood by the door, unable to properly face me.

"There's been a lot going on", she mumbled, trying to muster up a smile - failing.

"Define a lot", I said as I turned away from her to refill some of the empty oil bottles.

"Just stuff", she said, glancing around the room.

"Have you tried to decorate for halloween?", she asked, loosely pointing to the door and furrowing her brows.

"Not willingly, but the others insisted that every room needed some kind of spooky-season spirit", I said, shrugging as I eyed the small plastic skeleton I had hung on the door.

"Fancy", she said as a small smile tugged on the corners of her lips.

"So what's been keeping you busy?", I asked again.

I had missed that pretty strawberry hair for a week and a half now. I was obviously curious of what took her attention away from me.

"I'm not in the mood to talk about it", she said, lifting her head and finally meeting my gaze. Just as she did I noticed the faint bruise around her throat.

You could see each individual finger of the hand that had been wrapped around her neck and squeezed it shut.

She held my gaze, almost daring me to stare at the bruise or say something about it.

"Okay", I gently said, turning back around to screw the bottles close and gather the refills to bring them back to the supply room after I was done with Miss Miller.

"Did you come here for a massage?", I asked as I didn't hear any movements or attempts to spark up a conversation from her.

"No", she mumbled, her gaze drifting back to the floor, seemingly very interested in the various patterns engraved in the wooden panels.

"Why are you here?", I asked, turning towards her again trying to be less rude.

I could see her chew on the inside of her cheek, possibly debating wether to tell the truth or lie.