The Daughter They Abandoned Is The Doctor They Can’t Reach Chapter 18
After the ceremony, the reception hall was full of laughter and the clink of glasses.
I walked Ms. Alvarez and my bookstore manager to their car. By the time I came back inside, I realized my shoulders were aching.
I stood alone in a corner, watching the ice melt in my drink.
“You don’t look so great.”
Eli came over with two cups but didn’t ask what had happened. He handed one to me.
“Figured you could probably use this.”
Black coffee. No cream, no sugar.
I looked up at him.
“How did you know?”
“I saw you get it a few times at the library.” He lifted his own cup. “You drink it like you’re using the bitterness to stay awake.”
I wrapped my hands around the warm paper cup. “Thanks.”
Eli smoothly started talking about the ceremony instead. He imitated the professor who had misread the names of three award winners in a row, then adjusted his glasses like nothing had happened.
“I swear he wasn’t even confused. I think he just wanted everyone to get a few extra seconds of applause.”
I laughed before I could stop myself.
Eli smiled, then looked at me seriously.
“You look even better when you smile like that than you did up on stage.”
I lowered my head and took a sip of coffee without answering.
Warm yellow light fell across the long tables. People were celebrating all around us, but Eli just stood beside me and didn’t push me to say anything.
Someone remembered that I drank black coffee.
Someone noticed I was tired and didn’t force me to explain why.
It wasn’t a big thing.
But for me, it was enough.