He didn't give an answer to anything, silently taking the truck to an abandoned area which again he was the one who knew it and didn't bother to explain her how. The periodic flaws she observed from him was irritating Ella from inside. If they were to continue to live together for the rest of their lives, there shouldn't be any secrets between them.
Then came the ropes to tie the women, to deposit them outside the truck, near the wheels of the truck. Ella didn't say anything, knowing he would not answer which only irked her. Were the secrets more important than them? Questions gathered her thoughts, some hurting her for not being answered or ignored.
After he was done, he took out his phone, tapping something then returning it back in his pocket, all the time blank expression adorned in his face. He was walking to another path while Ella was fixed at her position near the other side of the truck. He paused in his steps, turning his face sideways towards her, neither exactly looking at her nor exactly looking away from her. Few seconds later, Ella started to walk after him who resumed to go ahead as well.
They went through a different set of routes, narrower with each turning, on one of the ways the roads were so cobbled and unruly that Ella lost her footing from the heeled sandals she was wearing. She supported herself on the other side of the wall due to the narrow space, yet hissed in pain when she did that. Ella felt pain in her ribs which seemed to have been instigated due to the fight tonight after the church incident.
Roy stopped walking, he turned to her fully but didn't make any action to help out to her. He was about to, but Ella helped herself and resumed her stance with her arms around herself, moving past him. Due to the narrow path, she brushed against him closely, reacting nonchalant while taking small steps to get away from the place.
Studying their routes, Ella came to a conclusion that they were passing through a slum area, having confusing turnings that she stopped after coming across three different routes to choose from. Roy took the initiative to continue their parade moving into the middle one, reluctantly Ella followed him while passing comments to some egoistic men.
He heard her stomping her feet behind him, telling him she was angry and thinking something unpleasant about him. He wanted to play with her thoughts but didn't have the courage to face the questions she had in them. The CEO of the global corporation was having problems in dealing with a woman. The woman who used to be his student, who used to ask him innocent questions bothering her mind. And now he was running away from it. Why? He couldn't say.
Actually he could say, but won't admit it loud. Afraid that she would hear his thoughts he diverted his mind to something else. Something more interesting happening in his life. Ah, his marriage to his student. Scandalous. Smirking about it his smile dropped when another thought entered his mind. If she found out about him, would she stay or leave? The thought weighed so heavily that he didn't realize himself stopping abruptly for Ella to crash into his back.
"Ooomff..." She straightened herself stepping back to glare at his head from the back, imagining his eyes to be present there if he turned to face her. "You are surely a vampire. Perhaps you want my blood now?" She poked at his insistent ways of taking her into dark and unfamiliar places, where he would be the only one to walk without any support, for example a flashlight.
"Sorry," he spoke the first word in the entire night since their fight. His voice seemed so broke that Ella was feeling guilty to have confronted him like that. Maybe he had a very important reason to keep the knowledge far from her.
Before Ella could contemplate any further, Roy continued his strides, making sure to keep an ample amount of distance between him and her. If she didn't know him better, she would have kept the topic aside to never talk about again, but now that she had seen how much it affected him, her skin was crawling to find more about the supposed secret he was keeping from her.
They finally came out of the empty paths which was answered later when they found the entire population to be celebrating the festival in a common ground right next to the area they came out from. Ella glanced at the decorations which weren't at par with the one they had been to earlier but it was made with care to plant every flower and cheap lights. She was taking everything in awe to not notice Roy coming next to her then taking her along to enter the occasion like a couple. Their pretense was surfaced again.
Ella gave a smile to a few women who moved past her, the clothes she and Roy wore fitted grandly in comparison to the others, which was evident with the number of stares she absorbed.
"I wouldn't have disturbed your silent treatment but I need to know this. Am I looking decent? Everyone is staring and I don't have the scarf like cloth to cover myself." She babbled with a smile on her face, greeting the people who met her eyes. She felt him staring down at her, at first she thought he was observing her statement but when she caught him staring at her breasts, she pinched his arm to gain his attention on her eyes.
Clearing his throat, he looked away from her knowing eyes, calling himself an idiot to be caught staring at her. Not a moment back he was ready to be angry at her as an excuse to get away from her queries but with her presenting herself unknowingly, his body was feeling warm to contact to hers as soon as possible. Especially after they had shared the bed together.
"You look fine. Shouldn't have lost the scarf." He spoke taking in the stares of the people. He took a look of her again, this time focused on her face to sight the sadness etched behind a tight smile, deeming him guilty to have said such words when she was clearly asking if she looked good. Cursing himself he wished he could tell her how much delectable she looked in the dress, which was unacceptable as he could see the men's attention on her more prominent.
Hurrying himself up, he brought them away from the limelight to embark on the road side which would soon lead to the backdoor of the hotel room. Ella was quick to free her hand from his, occupying them around herself while rubbing her ribs subconsciously. Roy noted her to be too hurt to walk properly like that. When he came across a motel on their way, he stopped her, "Let's stay here the night."
"The hotel isn't that far," Ella knew what he was thinking but refused to acknowledge. Hence, she didn't stop her legs.
"I am too tired to walk any more. Please don't make this more difficult for me Ella." Ella gritted her teeth in annoyance, stopping herself and pushing inside the motel doors in anger. The way he made it all as her fault, on the top of that he called her full name so formally, only fueled her anger for him.
Roy sighed and followed after her inside the motel; he reached the receptionist to take a room but found Ella not to be waiting inside.
"Room 104 Sahib. The Miss said you would pay." The man in his forties and white beard was perched hesitantly looking almost afraid, confirming that it must have had something to do with his fiancé. He didn't even know whether she wanted to be his fiancé any longer.
He passed the highest bill from his pocket, not bothering for the change he instead asked, "Keys. Spare ones." The man passed another set of keys quizzically. The couple turned out to be rich ones around the locality near the slums. Why would the same people taking one room would want two different keys for each other?
It seemed Roy was not in mood to answer anyone's questions as he rushed up to the room for the night.