Knock, knock.
Arthur stood outside of Elizaveta's room, knocking on the door to check if she's okay.
Knock, knock.
Still no answer.
"Ms. Hedervary?", he called out to her. Still, there was silence. He turned the doorknob to see that the door wasn't even locked.
"Ms. Hedervary?", he called out again, softly, as he tried to sneak a peek on the brunette. Elizaveta sat there on her bed, the lights are out as she buried her face in a pillow as she hugged it. He slowly approached her, a bit of light streaming from the half-open doorway as he sat on the floor near the bed, his back facing her.
He tried to break the silence. "Are you alright, Ms. Hedervary?"
He turned his head to look at her, and sees the brunette tremble as she tried to hide her sobs from the Brit. Arthur sighed, his heart overwhelmed with pity. And then he stood up, eyebrows meeting as he sat there next to her.
"I.. I heard a bit about your problem from your Dad, Ms. Hedervary.. He didn't told me the rest of the story, and said that if I wanted to know, I should ask you."
Silence. Arthur looked at her, and smiled sincerely as he asked,
"Do you want to share your problems with me?"
Silence. Hesitation crept up on Elizaveta as she tried to decide if she would tell Arthur about it or not.
We're not even close friends.
"Why.. Why would you want me to tell it to you? You.. You don't even know him.", she murmured to herself.
Arthur tried to think of an answer. "Uh.. Well..", he scratched his head as he stared up on the dark ceiling. "I'm just wondering that how come a strong woman like you, would be affected by something, by just a mere name—"
Elizaveta looked at him suddenly, her face streaming with tears as her face contorted into an angry expression.
"A mere name? You're telling me that I am affected by just a mere name? Mr. Kirkland, it's not only his name that affects me, everything about him, everything that reminds me of him..", she tried to hide her face again with her hands as she continued, "..just a brief mention of his name.. And all the memories just keep on coming back.."
Arthur looked at her again, pity in his eyes. "I.. I see..", he managed to utter, as an indescribable feeling crept within him. Anger? Sadness? Jealousy? He wasn't quite sure what it was.
"Ms. Hedervary?", he called out to her again. She sat there, trying to wipe her tears away as she asked him, "What?"
"I know that it seems insensitive of me to ask this again, but, don't you really want to share that problem with me? To ease that burden on your heart even for just a tad?"
He waited for her reply, as the awkward silence surrounded the room. When Arthur thought that maybe Elizaveta wouldn't answer again, the brunette beside him spoke in a low but audible voice. "O.. Okay."
He looked at her with interest, waiting to hear her story.
"Everything started.. on that day my real parents died in a car crash."