After the Fall: A Vampire Chronicle (Book One) by Mary Ellen Gorry

don’t like seeing any of that. But that’s my job. That’s what I have to deal with everyday, and it’s frustrating as hell that I can’t do a damn thing to change anything that’s happened to cause this.”
                  “So what are you doing here?” she asked him quietly. Some of her anger had faded. Not all of it, though – it was better to feel angry than to feel sad.
                  “I honestly don’t know,” he admitted, some of his anger fading as well. He should just leave. It would be easiest to just get up and walk away, but he couldn’t. His job wouldn’t let him, and his conscience wouldn’t let him. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. At least, he tried to. This new haircut Lorenzo had recommended was too short. What was he doing wrong? He was asking her to trust him without trusting her. He was asking her to open up to a stranger without opening up to her.
                  “Look, Caroline,” he sighed. “I know what you’re going through, okay? And I’m not just saying that. I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love.”
                  Caroline didn’t know what to think. Chris actually sounded sincere, and when he had just spoken, she had seen a flash in his eyes, a momentary flash of honesty that he had quickly hidden again, but one she recognized – it was a look that was sad, that was hurt, that was lonely.
                  He knew he was winning her over, but he was in trouble. She was supposed to be falling under his spell, but he wasn’t supposed to be falling under hers as well. It was time to get down to business. He needed to find out what she knew, and so he needed to bring up the topic eventually, and the sooner the better. He needed to discuss it, end it, and then leave before his guilt-stricken conscience caused him to blurt out to her the entire truth of why he had approached her.
                  He studied her face as she thought it over. She was struggling with so many conflicting emotions. After the horrors she had experienced, he was asking her to trust him, despite the fact that he was, in fact, lying. By the look on her face, he could see she was almost convinced.
    “Please talk to me,” he said softly. “I really want to help.”
    It was too much. He could tell immediately. Her face closed off and her mouth pressed into a hard line. She sat back in her chair and practically gave him the evil eye.
    “What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked angrily. “You’re not my shrink. If I wanted a shrink to talk to, I’d have one. You’re not my friend. If I wanted a friend to talk to, I’d have one of those, too. What do you want me to say? That I’m upset? That I’m sad? That I’m angry?”
    “I kind of guessed you were angry,” Christian couldn’t help but interject, but all that got was another look that could’ve killed. She wasn’t in the mood for humor.
    “So what’s the point of talking when you already know?” she asked bitterly. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out, okay? I feel sad, I feel angry, and I feel guilty. My whole family was killed, I walked in on the killers, and I survived. But you know what would make me feel better? To have a complete stranger dredge up all those lovely feelings and ask me to TALK ABOUT THEM!”
    By that point, Caroline was yelling. She wasn’t usually a yeller, but this guy had just gotten under her skin and it wasn’t like she had to worry about her mother scolding her to keep it down.
    With all the people in the café staring at them, Christian would have been embarrassed except that Caroline had just told him everything he needed to know. He was dumbfounded. Caroline didn’t notice. She stood up.
    “Chris, I wish I could say it was nice meeting you, but my parents taught me not to lie. I’ve got to run.”
    He almost missed her, he was so shocked. It finally registered