Way Back Into Love (Essie) novel Chapter 62

"Did I wake you up?" Zac's voice was slightly deep and hoarse, most likely because he had just been caught in the rain.

"You should change into some dry clothes," Essie said with eyes that showed a kind of gentle concern. She couldn't tell whether he was upset. He didn't seem to be worried about getting sick from the rain either.

When Zac saw the look on her face, he quickly realized what was going on. He took his time, however, and went to the bathroom to take a shower and change into his pajamas.

She wasn't in the mood to talk to him when he got home. However, she quickly empathized the moment she saw his tired and miserable face. She picked up some pills from her drawer and handed them to him.

"Take them as soon as you can so you don't get sick. I don't want to end up catching a cold from you."

He took the pills with an endearing smile. "You're not upset anymore?"

"Why should I be upset?" she scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

"I shouldn't have left in the middle of our date last night, but when Leila called, I thought she was badly hurt..." Before he could even finish his sentence, Essie quickly interrupted. "It's not a big deal, it wasn't even a real date anyway," she said in a casual tone, deliberately trying to make it seem like she didn't care at all.

As Essie said this, Zac felt a wave of sadness seep into his bones.

He had prepared some lines to say to her when he was on his way home, expecting that Essie would be furious. However, he was stunned from Essie's selfless response towards the situation.

'If you weren't angry, then why did you hang up and turn off your phone?' he thought.

"Did you end up in the bar last night?" he asked as he wore a skeptical expression on his face.

She quickly remembered that she had left Zac a message earlier on. So in return, she beamed him a smile and acted all giddy and excited. "Yes, and I had a great time. I ended up dancing with a lot of men."

"Were you drinking?"

"I've kept in mind some rules whenever I go to a bar alone: don't drink liquor and don't ever let anyone take advantage of you." She took these rules seriously as she never wanted to be gullible enough to be fooled by men while she was alone in a bar.

He was relieved when he heard this, but soon after, his eyes turned deep and dark while his frown was almost painful to watch. His worries overcame him and he rubbed his forehead as thoughts rummaged through his mind.

He thought that maybe she had hung up the phone simply because she did not want to be disturbed. He wondered if he just got it all wrong and misunderstood the situation. Apparently his presence, or lack thereof, had no impact on Essie.

"It's getting late. Get some sleep," he said as gloom enveloped his mind and body. He turned around, deeply disappointed, and went straight to his room.