The man opened the door of the cafe and went inside. Without taking his eyes off the girl sitting at the table in front of him, he went ahead and sat down opposite her. She looked back at him, but no one of them said a word.
"Oops, he seems to be very angry," Elena smiled slightly and decided to start the conversation first, "Hi."
The man did not answer, just leaned back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest, and continued to stare at the girl.
Elena returned to her tea which had become quite cold by then. "Hmm, so you decided to keep your mouth shut? Well, let"s do it." The girl took a few sips and then continued to eat the remaining two pieces of chicken as if nothing had happened.
The man, not expecting such a reaction from the girl, became even angrier but did his best not to show it.
"And what are you doing here at such late hour?" He asked coldly.
"I am eating. Wanna join?" Elena smiled and handed him a small piece of chicken.
"I am asking you, what are you doing at two o"clock in the morning far from home in the company of a strange man? Don"t you want to explain it to me?"
"I already explained you everything. I am just eating. Are you sure you don"t want to eat? I"ve got the last piece here."
"Elena, do not joke with me. I am very, very serious now. What should I think when I stop the car at a traffic light and see that my girlfriend is right in front of my eyes, sitting in a cafe with a strange young man at 2 o"clock in the morning? What reaction do you expect from me at the moment??" David asked sternly and a little louder than he should have done it since his emotional question immediately attracted the attention of others.
A smile immediately disappeared from Elena"s face; she put a gla.s.s of tea on the table and looked seriously at the young man.
"David, I already told you what I"m doing here. I just came here to eat. As for my company, this is just one of my friends who I randomly ran into, and we decided to have a snack together. Why is it so late? For me, this is the usual time when I go out for night runs, and I do it three times a week because during the daytime I cannot do this due to the reasons which you very much aware of. Are any more questions coming?"
The man looked away and took a deep breath, then he turned back to Elena, and his look was noticeably softer, "Sorry, it looks like I overreacted a little. I just didn"t expect to see what I saw, and the emotions took over. I will try to keep my horses next time. If you"ve already finished, can we go now? I think we are starting to attract unnecessary attention."
The girl got up from the table and headed for the exit. The man followed her.
"I parked the car around the corner, let"s talk inside," David accompanied Elena to his car and sat her down next to the driver"s seat.
"Elena, forgive me, please, I did not want to disrupt my anger on you. Just when I saw you in the company of another man, I was covered with a terrible wave of jealousy."
"David, I can understand the reason for this reaction, but do not forget one important thing. You are also a public person, and the army of your fangirls, eager to get the attention of an attractive and successful Mr. Anderson, far exceeds the amount of attention that my humble person has."
The man thought for a moment, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips, "Is it just me or do I hear the notes of jealousy in your words?"
"It"s not the matter of jealousy, David. It"s the matter of trust. If in such a situation you act like Oth.e.l.lo, then this may lead to unpleasant consequences for us," Elena replied strictly.
"Well, forgive me for having had doubts in you. You are very dear to me, and my emotions sometimes obscure my mind. From now on, I will trust you more," he leaned in her direction to touch her lips but was stopped by a girl"s counter-question.
"What about me? Can I trust you completely?" Elena asked David and looked into his eyes intently.
"Of course, what a strange question? I"ve said at the banquet to the whole hall that there"s only one girl in my heart, and that"s you," he leaned closer to Elena, but there was no reaction from her.
The man straightened up and became more serious again, "Are you mad at me or something? For some reason, I feel a strange coldness from your part. Perhaps you can tell me, what"s the matter?"
"Yes, you are right. I"ve got the question which is bothering me a lot. David, please tell me what did you do with the doc.u.ments I gave you two months ago?" Elena asked point-blank.
"Why is it so interesting for you, all of a sudden?" He asked in response.
"How is it that these doc.u.ments turn out to match the LDM virus research doc.u.ments that were missing from my father"s laboratory just two months ago? Do you want to clarify this to me?"
David folded his arms on the steering wheel and looked thoughtfully at the street, then he grinned and said, "Hah, so that"s the matter! Did your father tell you about that? Is that why you are acting like that?"
"So you confirm that this is your doing?"
"Yes. It was done at my command," David answered honestly.
"What for?"
"I can"t tell you about that right now."
"And why not?" His answer absolutely did not suit Elena.
"This conversation takes time, and I should be at the airport in half an hour."
"What? You didn"t tell me you were going somewhere," Elena was surprised.
"I have to meet my brother. He is arriving tonight."
Elena immediately recalled a photograph of David"s brother, which she had seen a few hours ago, "Oh, your secret scientist, right?"
"Do you even know about that??" David was amazed at the girl"s awareness. "But you"re right. That"s him indeed," the man paused for a moment, and then continued, "Do you know that Rick and Corey are planning a picnic the day after tomorrow?"
Elena shook her head, "I hear about it for the first time."
"I just found out about it myself. I think Corey will inform you about it tomorrow. Let"s do it. I think they will not mind our company, so I suggest we meet with Rick the day after tomorrow and discuss everything in detail. I will try to answer all your questions, OK?"
The girl softened slightly under the pressure of the gentle smile of the young man, "Good."
"That"s great. Wait, I"ll open the door for you."
David got out of the car, opened Elena"s door and held out his hand to help her. As soon as the girl stood on the road with both her feet, he pulled her hand on himself and squeezed Elena tightly in his arms.
"Elena, listen, I will never do anything that could harm you. Please trust me."
David gently kissed her on the forehead, stroked her head, got into the car and drove away. Elena silently stood and watched his car until it disappeared around the turn.
David looked in the rearview mirror. The girl was no longer visible. He picked up the phone and dialed the number. "Can you watch your subordinates better?! Their incompetence can cause me serious problems. So, I will be busy for a couple of days, and you better take care of everything by yourself," the man said angrily and hung up the phone.
Having taken the left lane of the road, he moved onto a nearby highway and headed towards the signpost, which said "The Airport."