Chapter 29
Elina
I haven't seen Noah for two long days, but we plan to spend the evening together today. Full of anticipation, I take off my doctor's coat and leave the examination room.
"See you tomorrow, Clara," I sing as I pass by the reception desk.
As soon as she spots me, she raises her index finger. "Wait, I'm coming with you." She quickly reaches for her jacket and leans over the desk, probably to shut down the computer. "We can walk part of the way together," she adds, grinning before rounding the desk. "And talk..."
"About the great weather, you mean?" I raise an eyebrow. "Or about the hiking trail I tried last weekend." With Noah. It was beautiful.
Wait, did I just think that? That a hike is beautiful? In the mountains? In the middle of nowhere?
Heavens, what does this man do to me? And how does he do it?
"Yeah, about the weather. Exactly." Clara's dry tone perfectly matches her suggestive expression. She hooks her arm through mine and pulls me toward the exit.
Outside, the warm June air hits us. It carries an intense scent of flowers and meadows. I take a deep breath.
Wonderfully liberating!
"Well, spill the beans," Clara suddenly says. "And don't think for a second that you can escape this time." She looks at me as if she were the devil's little sister.
My gut feeling tells me that I can't wriggle out of this. At least not completely. "There's not much to tell," I say evasively. Together, we leave the parking lot in front of Helene's practice and turn onto the street toward the town center.
"I can't imagine that for the life of me," Clara comments cheerfully. "I mean, you snagged Noah. Noah, the unattainable one! How did you manage that?"
"I didn't snag anyone." I shake my head and look at her. "He was my patient. Then we spent time together, and one thing led to another." And what has come out of it, I can hardly put into words, so I better not even try.
"Very enlightening." She rolls her eyes toward the radiant blue sky.
Suddenly, it dawns on me that I'm behaving just like my friend Maya did when she and Josh got closer. She didn't want to reveal anything and dismissed her feelings as if they weren't special. The fact that I'm doing the same with Noah puzzles me.
That's not like me at all.
I've never had a problem telling the whole world about my happiness. But Vienna is not Semmtal. Everything I confide in Clara could ultimately be discussed at the pub table, and I definitely don't want that.
"What kind of sensation did you expect?" I ask Clara with a smile.
She thoughtfully twirls the loose end of her braided side ponytail. "Well, it's Noah."
What is she trying to say? I look at her skeptically. Something is not right here. "What about him?"
Now she's the one staring at me with a questioning look. "You don't know?"
Something in her tone makes me pause. "What are you talking about?"
She avoids my gaze, lowers her eyes, and pretends to kick a pebble on the road with her shoe. "About nothing, really."
Oh no, it can't be like that. "Come on, Clara, spit it out."
She looks up at me, then shakes her head. "Ask him yourself. He needs to tell you. I shouldn't..."
"What's wrong with him?" The words leave my mouth reluctantly. Because deep inside me, memories lurk. Countless memories, all revolving around men who have deeply disappointed me.
Men I trusted blindly and bitterly regretted.
My chest tightens in an instant. Because I realize that Clara is not the first person urgently advising me to talk to Noah myself, looking as if she has severe stomachaches. His colleague also said something similar at Hanna's birthday party.
