"This weekend I was planning to go to town. I thought Teacher Rai might want to go too… What about we go together?"
Rai didn't even look up.
They were in the teachers' room, the usual quiet hum of papers and distant voices filling the space. Beside him, Lia sat with a book open in her hands, but it might as well have been a prop. Her eyes hadn't moved across a single line in minutes.
Arthur, sitting across the room, noticed it immediately.
She wasn't reading.
She was waiting.
Waiting for Rai to respond.
It was obvious, painfully so, that she wanted to talk to him. Maybe even get closer to him. But Rai had no intention of letting that happen. He already knew how easily rumors spread in a place like this. One wrong move, one unnecessary outing, and everything would spiral into strong gossip.
He didn't want that.
He just wanted out.
"I have some work to get done," Rai said flatly. "I won't be going."
