Chapter 47 Seeing Her Hurt
Bryce woke up in the middle of the night to find Hera sleeping next to him in a seated position. At first he wondered who on earth asked her to babysit him for the night. He had done a whole lot of awful things that didn’t sit well with her but she still always managed to stay by him and help him out whenever he needed it.
She was just too kind and too innocent for his liking. The fact that she always turned a blind eye to his mistake is another thing that baffled him. Not once had she complained or lashed out on him.
He felt at loss for words. He doesn’t deserve this woman or her kindness and that’s a fact. She was too good, even for him.
His hands traced the her forehead and and his lips broke out into a smile.
Forcing himself up from the bed, his eyes caught her ruffled dress and the memories of what had happened that night flooded through his head.
Oh no!
He had touched her. He had touched her inappropriately. His head seared and his emotions cut through him like lashing fire. He wasn’t supposed to touch her. Damn! He knew just how much he wanted her but then she was off limits, even to him. How on earth did he get drunk to the point of trying to rip her clothes off?Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.
Silence. Ultimate Silence met his question.
Pulling a few feet away from her. He watched her sleep In the silence.
He was just as bad as his father. He tried to take advantage of a helpless and innocent woman but then again, should he blame himself? His father made him who he was. He was just another reincarnated monster like him.
His jaw ticked and his hands clenched and unclenched beside him.
Angry, he pulled out the sheets and rolled out of bed quietly so that he doesn’t stir her awake.
He made his way into the bathroom to relieve himself. When he was done, he splashed a handful of water on his face. His wounds stung causing him to hiss in pain.
He had almost forgotten that he had injured himself but he knew that the pain isn’t as bad as what Hera was going through.
Staring at the bathroom mirror, he came to a resolution that he was too dangerous for her. He had to keep her at arms length. Her being close would only bring out the animal in him.
What if he does something worse?
No! He cannot risk it. They were better off as strangers than acquaintances because then she wouldn’t be close to him anymore.
He was more than certain that she hated him now. Even the man she served up high had given up on him once. There’s no way In hell she would forgive him too and even if she did, she had to give up on him as well.
Wiping his face clean with a dry towel, he placed it neatly on the rack and made his way outside the bedroom only to find her already awake and in a seated position.
He didn’t know how to feel or react in her presence.
“Go back to sleep Hera.” He instructed “It’s already late to go back to your apartment anyways.”
She didn’t say anything. Her eyes were fixed on his arm but she didn’t say anything.
“How are you feeling now?”
He nodded once “Better.”
Then, she stood up and walked up to him. She took his hands and studied it carefully. “You’ve opened up your wound Bryce. I’ll have to apply something on it of it won’t heal properly.”
He snatched his hands away from her grasp. “I don’t need help and I don’t want you doing anything for me. Go back to sleep.”
“Are you angry with me?” Her tiny voice had gone a little higher “You were the one who came back drunk and completely wounded Bryce. I made sure to stay by your side all night and you’re upset with me.”
He opened his mouth to answer but words weren’t coming out. He was tongue tied. Nothing had ever prepared him to face an angry Hera.
“Do you know how hard it was for me to not get afraid and sleep by your side even after what you tried to do to me last night?” She questioned with hurtful eyes.
“I was scared!” Her lips quivered “But I didn’t leave because you’re my friend and I care about you a lot. That’s what friends do. They look out for each other and they always stand by each other no matter what.”
“Hera-” He tried to hold her but she took a step back like he had burned her.
“Ever since yesterday, you have been avoiding me. You never talked to me and you never tried to reach out. You’re always hiding something that you don’t want to share with me.” He accused him and his face tightened.
“I can tell just by looking at you that something is bothering you. It has been eating you out but you still try to bury it deep inside you”
“I’ve tried to always stand by you. I’ve tried to understand you because I thought that one day, you would come around but instead you just run away. And when I try to get close, you push me away as well. Do you how how much it hurts?”
“You got drunk. I was so angry to see you there, in that position but I never complained and I never blamed you for anything but you always say that you don’t need help!”
“Do you the slightest idea about how scared I was when Max came knocking at my door that you needed me? I thought that a part of me had died. I couldn’t breathe properly because I kept on thinking that something bad had happened to you” She ranted. Tears falling down her face like twin rivers.
He watched her wipe her tears aggressively. Why does it hurt to see her like this? He doesn’t like seeing her like this.
“Since it’s settled that you don’t need people around you then it’s fine. I give up on trying to reach out to you Bryce. I can never fit in or understand the kind of world you live in anyway so it’s best that I don’t even try. Plus, I don’t want to anymore. I think it’s better that we go back to being an employer and his worker because that is the only relationship you understand!”
Again, he didn’t say anything to her tantrums. Maybe because she was right and he didn’t know how to tell her.
She picked up her phone from his desk and crouched down to pat King on the head.
“Goodbye Buddy.”
He made sad noises but she only gave him a sad smile before rising up to full length.
“Hera…” Bryce trailed off, his voice betraying him.
“Good night Sir” She answered and gave him one last look before she marched out of his bedroom.
King barked loudly the minute she slammed the door behind her as if to tell Bryce that he had been an idiot all along.
What just happened? And why couldn’t he wrap his head around anything yet? Did Hera just leave because he pushed her away?