Chapter 10: A Friend in Winter.
At last, Hans straightened, his gaze fixed on her.
“Elsa…” he said, his voice firmer now, weighted with something he seemed to have held back for weeks. “Can we… talk about what happened?”
She felt the air around her grow heavier.
“Please,” he pleaded, stepping just a little closer. “You’ve been avoiding me all this time. You pulled me from your service and reassigned me to… what? Shoveling snow? Hauling bricks at the port? Why? What we did that night… what I told you… none of that has changed.”
Elsa felt a knot in her throat, but Hans didn’t give her time to answer.
“I know you’re scared. So am I. But… could you be honest with me? Please.”
She swallowed. Her fingers tangled nervously in her lap.
“Hans…” she murmured at last, lifting her gaze only slightly. “I… I was just confused.”
It was as if those words had drained all air from his lungs. He stood still, blinking slowly, as if trying to absorb what he had just heard.
She went on, her voice trembling but resolute.
“That night… I had just come from a very stressful dinner. I was exhausted and under too much pressure. You were kind, and funny… and I… I didn’t know what I was doing. It was… curiosity. Nothing more.”