Chapter Fifty – In the rain.
The rains finally came.
And drenched Arya.
She walked along under it with gritted teeth.
“Comparing me with Debby? That’s the worst insult Winx ever gave me.” she mumbled. Replays of her earlier discussion with Winx infuriated her.
Why couldn’t she be with the first guy she liked? It’s not like she was a kid and couldn’t think for herself.
She kicked the small puddle in front of her angrily. “And Damien isn’t helping issues too, acting all lovely with me.”
She strapped her bag closer to her body as she began shaking, cold seeping into her body. They were no taxis on the road and she began to sense danger.
“I should have stayed in the university, damn it.” She cursed, walking slowly towards the bus stop.
She hoped Damien would come to pick her up but her brain dismissed such thoughts. She didn’t want to see him.
She was used to walking under the rain and she didn’t want him joking about helping her through cold like he did last night.
When she finally got what he meant, her face heated up terribly. And of recent, he easily made her blush. Even thinking about what he does. She didn’t approve of it.
With that resolve, she kept on walking firmly yet slowly, sending signals to any enemy nearby that she’d pounce on them like a hungry lion.
A car sped towards her making her wobble. She held unto a light pole. “Heyyy!” she yelled at the crazy driver! It stopped then began driving back to her.
Her skin hair stood up. “Oh no.” she began walking back. Was the driver mad at her? Was he reversing to beat her up? There was no weapon she could find around her.
The car stopped in front of her and the tinted glass wind down. “Arya?”
Her jaw dropped but she quickly got back her composure. “S-Seth? W-What are you doing around here?”
“I’m heading to a bakery that was recommended to me. I left the office late so I’m running out of time.” He smiled then looked up at the skies. “Is it okay to be under the rain?”
Arya covered her wet face with her arm. “U-Um… no. I was just strolling though. I left school early to meet some deadlines too…”
“Should I drop you off home? Where do you stay? With Anna?” he asked, cutting her short.
She was pleased with his offer but wondered how he knew about Anna. They don’t really talk much about their siblings even if they’ve known themselves for a while.
“I can’t stay with Anna for a while.” She explained. “I’m staying at a hotel for now… with my family. Yeah… about your meeting with Sir Damien…”
“It’s now plated as confidential!” Seth declared. “I don’t know why. He sent an email and asked that it’s confidential, I’m even more excited about the business prospect now.”
A frown grew on Arya’s face. It shouldn’t be confidential. Damien just wanted it to sound that way so she couldn’t have a way of knowing what’s going on.
“Well, it’s not like it’s my business anyway.” She said out loud to Seth’s hearing. “I’d still figure out what the prospect is, whether he likes it or not.”
Seth stared at her in astonishment then tilted his head. “You must be close to him to speak of him that way.”
Arya realized and scratched her head. She didn’t see any need to deny it. “Yeah, I am. He and Anna attended university together too so…”
Seth nodded understandably, looking down. “That’s amazing.” He looked back up. “Let me drop you home then. I’m sorry, we’ve been talking while you’re under the rain.”
A blush creeped to Arya’s face as she got into the car. Since she locked eyes with him and they began talking, she barely felt the rain drops that fell on her.
Their distance being close now, her body heated up, sending the cold away. “I’m heading to Deluxe hotel, please.”
Deluxe? Seth remembered seeing Sir Damien there too. He glanced at Arya. Perhaps he went there to see her?
Memories of his painful heartbreak at the hotel came to his mind. Edna and her customer. His hands tightened on the steering.
Arya, who has been studying his movements, noticed the reaction. “Is something wrong?”
He masked his pain with a smile, then shrugged. “I know the hotel. I was there recently. No worries, I’d get you there. It isn’t really where I’m heading but I’d get you there.”
“Oh, thank you. It means a lot.” She replied.
In her purse, her phone rang many times but it was beyond her ear shot. The caller was Damien.
Damien knew it wasn’t yet closing hours for her but since it rained, he wanted to know if she would be leaving early.
There had been no response from her since the last twenty minutes he had been trying. He was stopping himself from rushing there to know what was happening.
As his butler used to tell him when he was younger, keeping tabs on loved ones was a wrong attitude and you should trust your loved one to be safe.
Damien never believed it, what if they couldn’t be safe as forces greater than them tried to hurt them? Still, he agreed as everyone around him did.
It was his first step to healing during his terrible arc. Even if deep-down, he knew he wasn’t completely healed and could fall ‘sick’ again.
“Damien?” someone knocked on the door of his room.
Damien recognized it. That was Anna. He quickly went to the door. “Anna? Did you come all the way from…?”
He stopped halfway, seeing Anna’s expression. She lifted her arm and scars and bruises were visible on it. “I don’t know why I was kidnapped but I’m sure you’re involved!”
Damien took a step back from the sight he saw. Why would Debby and Chen go that far when Anna wasn’t even their target?
His eyes narrowed on the injuries. That meant that Debby and Chen would’ve killed Arya if they laid hands on her. Their offer for him to kill her wasn’t a bluff as he thought.
“Heck, he even brought a bomb to my house so they weren’t joking.” He pondered in his head.
Everything infuriated him. He assumed a change in environment would help but nothing was helping.
“Anna, I’m very sorry. They hurt my friends because of some deal we made. I’d get you the best doctors if you want but now, I have to leave for a while. Arya will be home soon.”
Before Anna could say another word, he disappeared out of the room. She sighed, slumping on a couch.