Let Me Hear Your Story

Seeing Gael laugh so freely, Angela couldn't help but smile at the sight. Even with only the small emergency light at the nightstand, she could clearly see the boyish charm on him—one that she remembered from the night she met him on the island three years ago. There was something different about him now, and she thought that perhaps, the last three years did him good.

Her train of thought was interrupted when he turned to look at her and she met his eyes. She casually changed her expression and brought his focus back to the story. "So, what happened after that?"

"Huh?"

"What about the young woman? What happened to her?"

"Oh…" Gael cleared his throat. "Obviously nothing good happened to her after that. Seeing the creepy man with a demonic expression and holding the knife terrified her. She saw the man head towards the stairwell, however, there was nothing she could do at that time because there was no stop button. The door had closed and the elevator continued to ascend to the 14th floor. She shook in fear the entire time, knowing that the man would be waiting for her when the door opens again. And sure enough, when the car landed on the 14th floor, the elevator door slowly opened—and there he was… Standing there with the knife raised in the air."

Angela swallowed when her imagination went wild. Even while Gael was still narrating the story, she was already thinking about all sorts of things that would happen even before it happened. She shuddered when a brutal scene flashed in her mind and she tightened the blanket that she had around her in an attempt to comfort herself.

Seeing as she was silent after his story, Gael wondered what she was thinking in that brain of hers. "So?"

"Huh?" She blinked, realizing that he had spoken to her. "What?"

"Was that story okay for you?" he asked. He saw her bite her bottom lip as though she was hesitant to answer his simple question. "Spit it out."

"Well… The story… Sure it was creepy… and it scared me—I don't know how I would ride elevators from now on—especially when I go back home to my apartment. However…"

"However?"

"You need to work on your storytelling skills."

Gael knitted his brows together upon hearing her comment. "What's wrong with my storytelling?"

Angela thought about how to answer him, so she phrased her words in the nicest way possible. "Okay... I am, in no way, a veteran when it comes to storytelling. So I couldn't really judge you like I'm an expert on it. But… I think that it was 'okay'... but… you could have told it better."

He stared at her, pondering over her words, and his brain churned at her remark. All his life, he only had a few instances when someone dared to tell him that he was average at something—most of the time, people just don't say it. Or maybe they didn't dare to tell him because of other reasons? And this woman, although she said it nicely, it bugged him that she gave him an 'okay' score.

"'Okay'? So you're saying that it wasn't scary enough for you? Why'd you complain and hit me then?" he questioned in a toneless voice, genuinely curious about what she thought.

Angela chewed on her lip again, a small hint of a smile dancing on her lips as she answered, "Well… In the last part, you animated your voice so low that it sounded so scary. So yeah… I guess, overall—it was okay."

He was reminded of how he attempted to tell Daniel Cho's kids the story about 'The Handsome Prince and The Witch'. And for some reason, he was interested to learn from her. "So… I should animate my voice?"

"Depends on your audience. If you're telling the story to children, that would help a lot… Well, actually, even to grown-ups too. Voice, facial expression, and setting the background of the story and the characters are quite important."

Gael cocked a brow at her, a small smile forming on his lips as he crossed his arms. He softly chuckled—he was mostly laughing at himself when he realized that he was getting schooled for storytelling. Who would have thought he'd ever find himself in this situation?

Glancing her way, he challenged, "If you're so good, why don't you tell me a story instead?"

The smile on her lips slipped at the same time that her heart started to race. "M-Me?"

"Yes, you. Angela. All this time—even three years ago—I think I've been the one telling most of the stories. I think it's only fair that you tell them this time, isn't it?"

"But… I haven't written any horror stories yet… I said I only wanted to try…" she reasoned. She knew it was weak reasoning, but suddenly hearing him ask her to tell him a story somewhat made her nervous.

"So? What about me? I haven't written any stories, yet I told you one… since you asked," he replied. He watched as she carefully considered what he said. He found it so fascinating looking at her like this. Now that he remembered it, she was like this too—the first time he met her. It was why he found her attractive. She got him so curious about what was going on in her head.

"Come on, do it," he said. "I want to hear how you tell a story. I'll be the judge if you're ready to write this genre for your next book."

Angela thought about it for a few more seconds before she shifted to face him, then she met his gaze. It wouldn't be the first time that she would tell stories, but after giving him a comment about how he told his story, she got nervous. Now, she was being challenged and she didn't know if she was scared or excited about it.

"Alright then. I'll give it a try…" Her expression changed and she began to look determined.

"You will?"

She nodded. "But can we agree on something?"

"There's a condition?"

"Just… Um… If you find my story satisfactory, will you consider dropping the lawsuit?"

Gael was surprised to hear her condition. He hadn't even thought about it anymore. And even when she said she wouldn't tell him about what it was in Esmea that she didn't want him to know, he already considered dropping it. "Okay," he answered, he was actually looking forward to her story. "Let's hear your story then."

"Crap. Okay." Angela let out a long exhale as though she was preparing for an extremely difficult task, and he smiled when he found it cute.

"Face forward and close your eyes," she instructed.

"Why?" he wondered, arching his brow up in confusion.

Shrugging so nonchalantly, she responded, "Well, you want me to tell you a story… And I want you to have a different experience."