A Life Debt Repaid

Chapter 48
John’s deep, melodious voice was apologetic.
“I was too late.”
Cordy shook her head. “You were right on time.”
And everything was just fine.
John’s heart skipped a beat, his gaze tender as he watched Cordy’s tears roll over her cheeks.
He stroked her cheek then and gently wiped her tears.
She flinched slightly and opened her eyes.
Their eyes met, and an attraction seemed to be nourished right then.
She was still looking him straight in the eye even as he leaned closer.
A small spark between adults could certainly burst into flames...
However, as John leveled his lips against Cordy’s soft, moist lips, she turned just as he was about to kiss her, so that he kissed
her cheek instead.
John opened his eyes, and he stared at Cordy from up close.
“I’m sorry,” Cordy said.
A refusal.
John’s Adam’s apple was bobbing, but he slowly straightened and said, “No. I was getting ahead of myself.”
Cordy’s heart raced once again.
They clearly had not progressed that far, and John was not upset...
Even so, she felt guilty for some reason-as if she had let him down.

John got up, ready to leave, when Cordy suddenly explained, “I detest intimacy.”
Stunned, John quietly turned to look at her as she continued, “I was drugged-that time when I was eighteen-and I had sex with a
man I didn’t know. My memories were a blur, and my mind was blank when I woke up... save for this feeling of disgust.”
John pursed his lips as she continued to hold his gaze. “Ever since then, I would feel both mental and physical discomfort from
any man’s touch, as if it’s an instinctive aversion. It’s not just against you.
When she was finished, she suddenly sat up on her bed, and then dashed into her bathroom.
She had only managed to pull the door since she was in too much of a hurry, and she did not really shut it.
Then, John heard her vomiting loudly.
It was a gut-wrenching sound, and it only kept coming.
John’s expression was inscrutable even as he stared in the direction of the bathroom.
There was no telling how long had passed when things started to quiet down.
John entered to find her on her knees beside the toilet-she had vomited a lot, even her own bile, but her stomach felt better now.
However, the violent puking left her body limp, and she was unable to muster her strength.
“Are you done?” John asked, and there was an edge in his tone.
Cordy nodded tamely.
John simply scooped her up in his arms and laid her carefully in her bed.
The look on his face and his action were a stark contrast.
“John,” Cordy called out to him then-as if it was the first time she said his name.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sleepy.”
“Then, sleep.”

“You should go,” Cordy urged.
...I won’t take advantage of people when they’re vulnerable.”
Whether his words had an effect, Cordy turned to her side to get more comfortable, and soon fell asleep thanks to the alcohol.
And her sleep was somehow peaceful.
John studied her face as she lay sound asleep, and the stain her tears left on her cheeks.
He reached out to wipe it, but he withdrew his hand just as he was about to reach her fair skin.
His lips then curled up in a bitter smile.
“How disgusted are you with me, Cordy?”