Natasha sat down beside her after closing the door to the room.
Thalia's lips quivered as she wondered how she should put everything into words. All the while, Natasha crossed her legs and studied her with a gentle gaze. “It's you.”
Startled, Thalia looked at her in puzzlement.
Natasha held Thalia's gaze upon noticing her suspicion. “Haven't you been wondering who Spencer likes? It's you. You're the only one.”
Thalia looked at Natasha in surprise. Then she smiled in a self-deprecating manner. “I wanted to speak to you in private because I wish to hear the truth from you!”
Without explaining any further, Natasha reassured her, “I'm telling you the truth. I don't lie, especially to other women.”
Thalia continued to stare at Natasha. She knew the latter somewhat and that she would never lie. To be precise, she was more of the taciturn type.
But... how could Spencer possibly like me? He's been hiding from me and pushing me away. How could he possibly fancy me?
Thalia was about to say something else when Natasha went on, “While I don't know much about anything else, this is the one thing that I'm certain of.”
Thalia blinked in disbelief.
“If that's the case, why would he do that? Is it possible to show no interest and ignore the person one likes?” Thalia questioned. “I don't believe that. At the least, I won't be able to do that. Nobody I know can do that.”
Natasha mulled over Kenneth's words, then looked at Thalia with a frown. “I don't know what happened between you two, but the fact that he pushed you away, turned you down, and even hid from you wasn't because he didn't like you. On the contrary, he likes you so much that he has to show restraint. You should think back on what happened between you two. I bet that must be the reason he rejected you.”
After listening to Natasha's words, Thalia did her best to recall her past with Spencer, but nothing tipped her off as to Spencer's behavior.
She faced Natasha. “What makes you think he likes me? Did he tell you in person?”
Natasha took a deep breath and gazed at Thalia at the mention of that. “When we first met, he asked me to investigate a woman named Thalia Jacoway. Since then, he would keep track of her whereabouts no matter where the woman went.”
Thalia was startled. So he's also aware that I've been looking for him throughout the years?
“Other than that, he always has a soft look in his eyes whenever he speaks your name.”
Thalia continued to stare at Natasha.
“Every year, he would prepare a gift for this woman and send it to her anonymously without fail,” Natasha said.
Thalia was stunned when she mentioned that.
“He was the one who sent the gifts?” Thalia asked.
Natasha nodded. “Yeah.”
A teardrop fell from the corner of Thalia's eye. She felt like laughing and crying at the same time. While she might question everything else Natasha had told her, the gifts that she had received every year were solid proof.
She would receive them wherever she was, to the point where she suspected that someone had planted a tracker on her. She had gone as far as conducting a search back at Darknetz, but nothing turned up.
As far as those mysterious gifts were concerned, she abhorred them, for they made her feel as if she were under constant surveillance. It wasn't until she received another one at night after being injured while on a mission that she came to loathe them less.
In fact, she even felt a sense of warmth that she hadn't felt in a long time.
It wasn't until then that she became less resistant to receiving the gifts. The fact that they didn't affect her life might be another reason.
So this is all Spencer's doing.
Thalia lay on the bed with tears in her eyes.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: You're Out, Daddy novel (Natasha and Kenneth)