Chapter 50: Chapter 50

-48-Riley in his shirt.

"You can never regret loving someone. You regret what they do to you." [Christian]

....

Morning came and Riley tried to cheer up. She lifted her head to look at the window as she heard the squeals of laughter coming from outside. It's a sunny morning. She watched as the small plants on the side of the road swayed to the mild breeze. There at the center, a few kids were playing hide n seek. Two of them laughed out loud when one was caught. Last night she waited for him to be back, but he never returned. She never thought she will miss him the way she did in his absence. In her mind, their times together played as a cassette tape that was on a rewind mode whenever she tried to fall asleep. The dark circles on her eyes reminded her of a sleepless night. She tried to cheer up to fake her emotions. 'Why do I feel like I am escaping something.'

'You are not just feeling it, you are doing it, Riley.'

The ringing of a phone caught her attention as she leaped towards her room. Expecting it to be a call of Mindy. Only to be disappointed when it displayed 'stuty pooh.'

On the other hand, Christian was on his way from the nearest flat to their home. Last night his emotions were at a peak and Truth had scared him like a melody. As a result, he tended to cut himself from her focusing only on negative emotions.

On the right street of his apartment was a quite narrower lane where he jogged off. He was welcomed by the aroma of incense stick as he saw an old lady, his neighbor. Walking out of the house with the stick doing laps near her home. It was weird but the aroma of it managed to calm him a little. Next to her house, Two boys were fighting in the verandah while their mother sat on a chair, asking them to stop fighting. Just as he was passing by Mrs. Rosa turned around, giving him a soft smile with a few words, "Good morning." To which he responded with a stiff smile and a gruff voice. "Morning."

He remembered Mrs. Rosa's past from his subordinate's report. When he had inquired about this neighborhood. He felt pity for her but after getting to know her, he realized she was a strong woman. She once came off from a well too do family, not particularly rich but not too poor to live in the shabby area. But after she lost her husband in a car accident, everything came crashing down as her life turned worse and she was forced to give up on everything she ever had. Since then she had been a waitress and was trying to make ends meet for the sake of her children.

The world though had been cruel to her but she had proved herself to be a strong woman. A woman who still had the parts of kindness in her. A woman who used to watch him at home when Riley was in office.

The thoughts consumed his mind as he reached their door where a beautiful hand-painted stood intact under a shade of black and white, it read "Mindy and Riley's home." Which she had painted with her own hand's back in December. When she used to stay at home to take care of him. He was proud of her, that she had such great calligraphy skills. He touched the words of it relishing the feeling of their names written together warmth radiating from his heart.

A minute later, He pressed the doorbell changing his expressions determined to know about her real feelings. To ask her if she will accept his love ever. To tell her if she will forgive him. But all the words that he prepared flew away from his mind. when she came in front of him and he noticed her state. She was wearing a large white shirt of him sporting a messy hair bun. Her beautiful white and long legs were on the display and he gulped at that. Yet when he focused his attention on her eyes again he realized there were large black dark circles around her eyes. She seemed to be talking to someone on the phone.

He forgot to breathe. 'What just occurred to her last night? I left only for a night and this is her condition! God, what if I leave for some days what will she do?'

He was contemplating how to react when she reacted first, her voice turning a pitch higher as she placed one hand on her waist. Tapping her foot on the ground.

"Where were you last night?"

"I. I."

He was trying to find a reason when a loud voice came from the phone gaining their attention. And he discovered she was talking on the loudspeaker that too with a man.

"Jelly bug. What happened? Who was at the door? Is everything alright?"

The voice felt irritating to him and he scoffed in his head. 'Jelly bug. The hell. Who keeps such a weird name.'

Riley who was in a confusion saw Mindy's raised brow at her. And she felt the need to explain to him it wasn't like what he was thinking.

Christian brushed past her walking inside without answering her. In turmoil, Riley remembered Stuart's voice and said in a hushed tone.

"Don't worry Stuty pooh. I am fine here. There is nothing wrong. And at the door, It was my husband. I will call you later. I have an urgent matter to attend to."

"Oh. Your husband. Okay. Take care jelly bug."

"I will." Without any pleasantries, she hung up. And Stuart threw his phone on the wall as it came crashing down in three pieces. Shattering along with his heart.

'Just cause her husband came back she left me hanging on the call. What's wrong with her? We're not supposed to meet today? What changed in you, Riley Brown? Why are you giving my place to him so easily? I was the one you loved. But what happened now?'

Riley followed him to the room, dedicated to asking him. 'Why was he behaving so strangely. What happened to him?'

Just as she followed him inside the room, her leg twisted in the mat and she fell forward. In her attempt to save herself she closed her eyes and tried to grasp anything but nothing came. She waited for the impact of fall but it never came. Opening her eyes she realized, she fell on Mindy's body. Like a woman falling on the cushion.