Hello my fellow romantics,

How are you? Having a good week?

Hope you’re ready for your Wednesday read! Let’s see what Louise and El are up to…

Sigrid

Louise carefully glanced to her left, where Eleanor was sitting behind the wheel. Her eyes were focused on the road. Her lips were curled up into a subtle smile. A black cap and thin-framed glasses made her almost unrecognizable.

Louise figured that’s precisely what Eleanor wanted to be: unrecognizable. She was taking a significant risk going out on her own after all. Louise shook her head in disbelief and stared out of the window again.

After announcing she wanted to leave without Hobbs, Louise had agreed to wait a few hours until the rain would pass and it would become clear where there was any flooding.

With Hobbs knocked out and the rain battering against the windows, she had seen no point in insisting on leaving straight away. She had retired to her room instead. Lying on her bed, she spent 3 long hours not trying to think about that kiss.

As soon as it had stopped raining, around 10.15, she had hurried downstairs, picked up her gear and headed for the car. She had been relieved to get going. She needed a distraction from the conversation with Eleanor that kept playing on repeat inside her head.

Downstairs, Eleanor had surprised Louise by walking out of the residence, announcing she was ready to go, wearing the cap and glasses. Woodward hadn’t been anywhere in sight.

“He’s not coming,” Eleanor had stated, when she saw Louise kept glancing at the door.

Louise was still too hurt to want to have an actual conversation with Eleanor. That’s why she had just shrugged, picked up her gear and followed Eleanor to the car. Her mind had still been scrambling to understand, of course.

What the hell was going on? Why had Eleanor left Woodward behind? Not that she planned on asking Eleanor about it. No way. She’d rather get food poisoning. “Just ignore her. Act like you’re a-okay,” she kept telling herself.

Unfortunately, Eleanor was ignoring her too. Louise hadn’t even caught her glance in her direction. Not once. Now, an hour later, Louise felt torn between staying silent and finding out what was going on.

She would much prefer it if El spoke up first, though. Why wasn’t she saying anything? There sure was plenty to talk about. Plus, *she* had no right to ignore Louise! She had been the deceitful one after all!

But Eleanor just kept her focus on the road with that tiny, mocking smile on her lips. Louise couldn’t take it anymore. “Why are you smiling?” she blurted out.

Eleanor sucked in her lips but stayed quiet. Louise shifted in her seat impatiently. She hated that she had caved first, but she still wanted a response.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” she added, trying to hide her frustration. She wasn’t very successful at it.

El shot her a look, then focused back on the road. “It’s not like you believe anything I say.”

Louise slowly closed her mouth, stunned by El’s harsh reply. She rubbed her hands over her slacks. She couldn’t deny the truth of the statement, of course. She had accused El of lying about pretty much everything only a few hours ago.

She was briefly tempted to apologize even though she had absolutely no reason to. She listed the facts in her mind. El had tried to seduce her. Or at least had tried to distract her. She was a calculated and manipulative woman. The enemy.

The enemy who had kissed her. An unwelcome wave of desire washed over her, again. The vivid memory of El’s lips on hers resurfaced. She imagined those lips on her neck, her shoulders. She shifted in her seat again, sure she was blushing now.

El didn’t seem to notice, though. When Louise stole another glance, El was staring straight ahead with that annoying smile again. It made Louise want to pull her hair out.

“How much longer?” she asked.

“30 minutes, I think,” El replied matter of factly.

“How long would it have been without the flooding?

“30 minutes. Long detour.”

Louise frowned. El clearly wasn’t planning on keeping the conversation going. Louise was really fed up with the silence, though.

“Can you put on some music? she asked.

El snorted. “Eh, no.”

Louise turned to El, her back to the door.

“Is music another thing that’s not allowed here?” she asked dryly.

El grinned. Not the response Louise had expected or wanted.

“No,” El said, pointing at the console, “All you’ll hear is information about the storm.”

Louise looked out of the window again. They were driving through one of the many suburbs. She still hadn’t gotten used to the colorful houses. All of them had a stairway with about 10 steps leading to the front door, she saw.

“Is that for the flooding?” she asked.

“What is?”

“The steps.”

”Yeah, among other things.”

Louise sighed in frustration. “Are you going to use as few words as possible for the rest of the day?”

El steered the car onto a wider road that looked like it would lead them out of the city.

“You said you weren’t interested in how things work around here.”

Louise knew she was rekindling their earlier fight on purpose but was still unable to stop herself.

“Like I said, you can’t talk to me like I’m some friend.”

El laughed softly. “I definitely do not consider you a friend. Don’t worry.”

Surprisingly, El’s reply hurt Louise’s feelings. She pursed her lips while she tried to take stock of why her chest felt so damn tight all of a sudden. After a few moments, she leaned back, staring at her hands.

“Rick and I are not a couple,” El said out of the blue.

Louise looked at her out of the corner of her eye.

“We’ve been really good friends for over 20 years. That’s all,” El added.

Louise wanted to believe her. She had every reason not to, though.

“And I’m divorced, by the way,” El sighed.

Whuuut? That’s it for this excerpt! If you enjoyed this excerpt, please consider sending some support for my work below. Thank you and see you back here on Saturday!