Under the Umbrella ✓

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Apprehension charged through her veins in lightning speed. Aria realized at that moment she wasn’t anxious of seeing Elliot again but she was afraid he might have told her about the day of the little accident. She didn’t want Sandra knowing about it from a third person and she realized now what a huge mistake she had made. What if Sandra thought she didn’t trust her? What if Sandra was disappointed in her?

She strode to the window seat, holding Elliot’s eyes as if it would stop him from saying anything more than what he already had. She felt restless just from the thoughts of what they could have possibly spoken about before she came.

Sandra patted the seat next to her with a smile, which eased Aria’s mind by the slightest since she didn’t look mad at her. She glanced at Elliot warily before sitting across him. The ball of awkwardness had taken up more space than the three of them combined and the tension between them felt dense enough to prod at with a finger. Why, oh why is she sitting with him?

“I thought you guys knew each other…” Sandra trailed off clumsily as she detected the palpable change in the atmosphere around them.

“We don’t.”

“We do.”

Elliot’s brows raised by a fraction as he stared at Aria challengingly and Aria tried not to shrink from the intensity of his gaze as she met his eyes head-on. She didn’t know why it was so easy to rebuff the recognition, but it felt right to do so given her motivation to steer clear of Elliot. She just didn’t think he’d outright admit it.

He leaned back against his seat with a look she recalled he wore whenever he leafed through his cases in the afternoons. She wondered if this was what he looked like while he dealt with his clients. His eyes were assessing and detached. She felt a battle coming her way.

“You haven’t been coming here lately,” he said in an unnerving composure.

“I don’t have the time.”

“You sure you weren’t just trying to avoid me?”

She dug her nails into her palms, feeling Sandra’s presence next to her in an exclusive definition. She truly didn’t want Sandra hearing this conversation. “Why would I?” 

Elliot inspected her in a militant seriousness with his jaw set before he tried with, “How’s your arm?”

Fuck, she cursed. He couldn’t have known that she had kept the incident from Sandra but it still felt like a deliberate attack. Aria weakly glanced at Sandra only to be exposed to her friend’s confused, questioning look. Her mind hurtled about frantically until it came up with the solution to recount the summarized version of what happened that day now that the matter was brought up instead of concealing it. She just hoped Sandra wouldn’t be upset that she was telling this now.

“I almost got into an accident and hurt myself a little bit.”

“What?” Sandra exclaimed, her fist coming down against the table in pure shock. “When did this happen?”

“A few weeks ago…”

Sandra’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “And you didn’t tell me this because…?”

“It wasn’t a big deal. Seriously,” Aria reassured feebly.

Aria wouldn’t be surprised if Sandra were hurt from the fact that she hadn’t told her about it, no matter how inconsequential she made it sound or it really was, given all the trivial things they talked about daily.

Sandra flicked a thumb in Elliot’s direction as she queried perplexedly, “How does he know about this?”

“He pushed me out of the way,” Aria ruefully answered. She was reminded again of how she should have been feeling grateful for Elliot for saving her from harm’s way by endangering his own life but here she was trying to be as indifferent as she could to him because she couldn’t have their barely established friendship going anywhere.

“Wow,” Sandra let out a breath as she regarded Elliot admiringly. “You are such an extraordinary man, Elliot. Not many people out there would risk their life for another.”

Elliot’s features didn’t give away to a single reaction even with that compliment and Aria continued to feel the remorse hoard over her the more she stayed there while being recapped of the encounter. Aria tried to remain collected through all his demanding looks at her but every next look seemed to peel off a layer of barrier to her inner struggles.

“How did you see her there?” Sandra suddenly probed as she inclined closer to the table. 

Aria had been deliberately eyeing everywhere else but at him for as long as she could but this time she centered her focus on Elliot, curious of his answer herself. Why did she never think of asking him that? How could he have seen her and made it to her on time when he usually got to the café earlier than she did and was always immersed in something?

He tossed a fleeting look at Aria before he provided Sandra with an answer.