Dwayne managed to recover himself from the trance he was in -shaking Elsie's threat from his mind. "I won't be swayed by her threat? I won't let her lay a finger on my family or harm even a strand of their hair!"
Dwayne said to himself in determination before he rushed through the stairs, down to the dinning room, startling Ciara who unconsciously dropped her spoon on the floor.
Ciara frowned at his behavior, clearly displeased. "What's with the rush?" She demanded, her frowned tightened. "You just scared the daylight out of me."
Dwayne breathed in slowly, raising his left palm in apology. "I'm sorry, I think I forgot something very important." He told her in reply. "You can go on with your breakfast, I never mean to startle you."
"You should be careful, Dwayne. You should stop getting worried over nothing." She cautioned him, wiping her shirt due to the crumbles that feel on it. "-you can't caution Herzl if you're being this way."
Dwayne picked the spoon that fell off her hand, placing it gently on the table. "I told you; I'm sorry, I don't want to go late else I might miss my flight." He repeated, his gaze running over the table. "Where is my phone?"
Ciara raised an eyebrow, turning her head to gaze at him. "What phone -your phone?" She questioned. "Did you come to the dinning with it?"
"Yes, I did." Dwayne responded, checking his pockets thoroughly. "I swear it was here when I came." He commented, panic evident in his voice.
"What if it fell off somewhere? I have to be honest, I didn't see it when you came in. Ciara responded truthfully, his eyes widening in realization.
"Did Aunt Elsie dropped here by chance?" He asked her, threading his words carefully. "After I left for my room to dress up, did she?"
"Yes. She came to confirm if you are still around." She replied, not unable to pinpoint where Dwayne was heading. "She said she needed to talk with you -that it's urgent she tells you before you leave."
"That was an excuse to come to the dinning, I'm very certain she is with my phone." He muttered under her breath, clenching his fist in anger. "Did you, by chance, notice anything with her?"
"Like your phone -wait, are you suspecting her?" Ciara asked, her brows raised. "She has left before your arrival, there is no way she will be with your phone. Maybe you misplaced it?"
"Not now though." Dwayne enounced. "I'm not looking for it now, I'm only here because I couldn't find it in my room. I left it here earlierwhen you asked me to come for breakfast -I'm pretty sure about it."
"To be honest with you, I did not notice you left your phone behind." She honestly replied to him. "Why are suddenly looking for your phone when you are supposed to be preparing yourself to go?"
"I forgot to book a driver to the airport." He enounced. "It was supposed to go by 'the earlier, the better', but now I'm afraid I'll go late if I don't find my phone."
"Ah -I see." She mouthed slowly. "Why bother yourself with booking a drive when I can drive you to the airport myself? You should have asked me to do it instead."
Dwayne's expression softened, he turned to gaze at her. "Are you saying you will drive me to the airport?" He asked her. "I don't want to burden you -at least, not with minor issues like this."
"You are not a burden, and besides it will do me good." Ciara told him, hertone soft. "It's the least I can do for you, it's just going to be a twenty-five minutes minute drive." "You're so nice." Dwayne complimented her sincerely. "I greatly appreciate your help. But I can't have you go late to your place of work -I know how much you hate going late to work."
"Ah, yeah..."She nodded in affirmation. "I'm not sure if you will make it early if you insist on looking for your phone -and you are insisting that I'll go late to work if I drive you to the airport."
"Yeah, true!" He was quick to admit. "You can help me book the ride then, if you don't mind, it's of no use looking for my phone -I can always get a new one at any time."
"Sure, I'll do that right away." She replied as brought out her phone from her chest pocket.
Dwayne watched her did some few finger taps on her phone's screen and after two minutes she was done, returning her phone to its initial position. "All done now. Your drive is likely to arrive in the next ten minutes -if not less." She told him, wearing a warm smile on her face. "That way, you won't be late for your flight."
Dwayne reciprocated the smile, but his wasn't a warm smile -it was a sad smile. Merely staring at his sister, Dwayne was hurt, his heart seizing in pains. He wonders how she could bring herself to trust someone who was equally capable of bringing her to her doom.
"・・・ You think after having my husband murdered, I'll sit back and watch?" Those words rang in his head, as he recollects his brief conversation with Elsie on the stairway. Dwayne could recall the resentment in her eyes and how grave her actions will turn out eventually if she managed to go by her words.
It is definitely going to be a disaster-the one they might not live to tell the story.
Unconsciously, Dwayne rushed towards his sisterand grabbed her both hands, clasping them tightly into his. "Ciara, look at me!" He requested, his voice crackling. "Just take a deep look into my eyes, can you see the sincerity in it?"
Ciara struggled to withdraw her hands from his grasp, nervously looking around the house. "What are you trying to do, Dwayne?" She asked with a nervous laugh, still attempting to withdraw her hands, but his grip was stronger. "What's gotten into this morning?"
Dwayne ignored her, clasping his hands tightly but warmly on hers. "Do you trust me, Ciara?" He asked dreadfully. Ciara, who was confused by his act, could only nod at his question -why should she not trust him? "Good, then there is something I need to tell you."
"What is it, Dwayne? You are making me nervous all of a sudden." She confessed.
"Don't worry, I'll tell you everything in details when I return from the conference meeting." He enunciated, promising her. "-and I'll make sure to protect you and Herzl this time around, just as you did to us, Ciara. I promise you this...!"