After having breakfast with her mother as usual, Alycia walks out of the gate of her family mansion where Kevin Shaw is waiting for her. At the sight of her, the private assistant promptly bows and opens the car door for her but... Alycia abruptly halts her steps when a familiar figure approaches her.
Being reminded of what happened the other day and night, Alycia Reese debates if she should just enter her car and leave for work but she eventually decides against it. Understanding this, Kevin Shaw quickly closes the car door again and waits.
"Alycia."
Elliot McCall cannot even look her in the eyes and Alycia Reese purses her lips.
Now... he shows up in front of her? At the least, he is not drunk like he was the other night!
"What do you want, Elliot?" She finally asks. Her voice is as cold as the other night when they talked on the phone. Even when he broke up with her out of the blue, she had never treated him with such coldness!
When Elliot McCall remains standing in front of her, obviously struggling for words to say, Alycia's patience is growing thin. Unlike that stubborn yet calm Colonel, she is never a patient person, especially in some matters.
"You broke up with me but called me first last night," she points out in a surprisingly calm voice. "And now... you come to my house?"
"Alycia -"
"Just what do you want?!" Alycia Reese suddenly snaps yet after a moment, she closes her eyes to calm herself down. Once she opens them again, she utters, "Maybe you are not in your right mind. Just leave."
She is about to turn her back on him, but...
"What do you think of Colonel Mason Kent?"
The unexpected question stops Alycia from doing so. He asked what she thought of Mason Kent?
Meeting the gaze of her troubled ex-lover, Alycia Reese slowly squeezes her clutch.
How dare he ask her that question! She also never says a word about Captain Freya Morton because she knows that it is not her place anymore!
"You really dare to ask me that?" She scowls as her disappointment only grows with each passing second. "How is that any of your business?"
"I know it's not my place," Elliot McCall quickly says, sounding somewhat... panicked. "But... it bothers me so much. Even while I was drunk last night, I could not stop thinking about it. I could not even sleep -"
"That's your problem," Alycia Reese coldly interrupts and adds, "Not mine."
She is indeed reminded of how much that army surgeon bothers her too. Just like Elliot had claimed, she too struggled to sleep the other night but... why should she say anything about it?
He was the one who broke her heart and left.
As Alycia Reese quietly stares at her ex-lover with a hint of disappointment and anger, one thing crosses Elliot's mind.
Something changed in Alycia and he can feel it. Maybe she is not aware of it herself because it is an imperceptible one but... he can feel it. After all, he is the one who knows her the best.
"You should not do this to me," Alycia Reese breaks the silence; her voice is so low that Elliot barely hears it. "Do you also want me to bring that female surgeon up? You two..." Her voice trails off as she hesitates to continue. After a moment of silence, she mutters, "Let us stop."
Once again, she attempts to turn her back on Elliot but... the latter grabs her wrist, stopping her from leaving.
"Wait," he says, sounding more than desperate. However, when he notices Alycia narrowing her eyes at his hand that grabs her wrist, he quickly withdraws his hand as if he were afraid to disappoint her further. "I know we have already broken up but I don't want you to misunderstand," he says, making Alycia slowly turn back to him.
"Captain Freya Morton is a close friend of mine and I admit we also grab a meal together once in a while but..." He pauses as he ends up struggling to continue once again. Then after a few seconds, he mutters, "I would never cheat on you."
As she listens to her ex-boyfriend, Alycia Reese finds herself strange. In the past, she always believed in Elliot. No matter what he said, no matter what kind of promise he made to her, she had always believed in him, wholeheartedly. However, things are so different now.
After he suddenly dumped her that night, everything that he said sounded like nonsense to her. Even now, she cannot believe in anything he says.
He would never cheat on her? But judging from what she saw the other day, her ex-lover and that army surgeon look quite close. Though they did not look exactly like a couple, they also did not give off the vibe of just close friends.
"We have already broken up," Alycia Reese points out, refusing to give Elliot whatever peace of mind he is hoping to achieve. "You don't have to explain anything to me anymore." Finally, she turns her back on him and gets inside her car, leaving Elliot standing there.
Even then, he does not just go away and only stares at her car until it is out of his sight.
Just what is he thinking?
* * *
Inside one spacious office in the main administrative building, General Patrick Cortez is having a meeting with the Defence Minister. Though the meeting is an official one in name, the atmosphere inside the office is quite light and cordial.
"Should you at least let me explain the project to you?" General Patrick Cortez asks Jessica Rhodes with a little sigh. "This is a huge one and the procedures will also be long."
"I know," the Minister of Defence simply replies and looks at the General with a frown. "I told you that I already went through it last night. Besides, if you agree with this, that means it's good. What more is there to think of?"
"This is not how things should be done. There are procedures and -"
"Do you know how much you sound like my son right now?" Jessica Rhodes interrupts and clicks her tongue. "You soldiers are all the same - stiff and always talking about rules and all. It's your fault that Mason has become just like you!"
In contrast to the Minister's displeased face, the General lets out a chuckle. "You should be grateful to have such a perfect son, Madam. Do you even know how all the senior officers wish to have a son like him?"
The General's words only seem to make the Defence Minister more irritated. "I always told you not to address me like that, at least while there are no eyes around. Besides, you know how hard it was for me to let Mason come to the army."
As someone who knows the Defence Minister very well, General Patrick can immediately sense the atmosphere which is slowly changing. Jessica Rhodes is back to that past and he can feel it. Not to mention that he is immediately proven right the next second.
"If only he hadn't told me that he wanted to join the army because he wished to follow in your footsteps and become someone like you, I would have never allowed him to walk down this path." Despite her low voice, Jessica Rhodes looks at the General, forcing a barely noticeable smile.
"Jessica -"
"I considered it as the price of my freedom," Jessica Rhodes quietly interrupts General Patrick who has mixed emotions on his face. "I hate to say this but even if I were to make a decision again, I would have still given him my permission. It seems like that was the only way for me to repay you after all."