The next morning, Lyra woke up very early; the time on the wall clock was around 4:30 a.m. Dante was still fast asleep in his room. She hurried to the kitchen, and in a space of a few minutes, she prepared a quick breakfast, set up the food flasks, stuffing them up to wait for Dante after cooking. Then she returned to her room, changed into a gown long enough to cover her injured leg, and hurried out of the house.She left the house on foot, searching around the dusty paths and the interlocking tarred road, the same one she followed the previous day, looking down with furrowed eyes as she searched for the diamond ring, but she could not find it; all she could see were stones and sticks washed clean by the rain. She wondered in fear if someone might have picked it.After pacing about the length and width of the long road in vain for some minutes, she sighed in frustration and finally hailed a taxi as she made for her workplace.Later in the day, after closing a little bit earlier than
The doctor arrived at the ward almost immediately, accompanied by about two nurses, each of whom carried their own separate trays filled with cotton and syrup bottles. Michael was perched in a corner of the room, looking blank and clueless. Lyra, on the other hand, looked like she was going to collapse out of fear at any moment. Her cheeks were shivering, and she kept flapping her hands, calling on Felix's name under her breath."Hold still for me, Felix. Please don't give up."After the doctor appeared to have stabilized him, he turned around to address Michael and Lyra."There's nothing much to worry about, my friends. These are just some of the side effects of the surgery he just had. He will be fine, okay? And one more thing, please. Mr. Felix needs all the rest he can get. Try not to disturb him too much." He cautioned before proceeding out of the room with his nurses.After the doctor left, Lyra gently sat next to him with an emotion-laden face. She leaned forward and pressed her
Moments after Lyra left, Felix lay rigid on the hospital bed, with Aria sitting next to him. They maintained quietness for about three minutes, staring directly into each other's eyes. When they were sure that Lyra was completely gone and that they had the room all to themselves, Felix's face suddenly flattened into a smile, then he sat up energetically and announced,"It's over. The divorcee, it's completed." "For real?" Aria asked with widened eyes."Hell yeah." Felix quipped excitedly, pulling her into his arms and latching his lips onto hers. They kissed with arms around each other's necks.Then, after they detached, Aria threw a glance behind her and echoed."Wait." She glanced at the door again and said,"What if she comes back now?"Felix shrugged impatiently."And so?" He mumbled with his arms half-suspended."Do I look like I care? The divorce is done and dusted; that's all that matters."Lyra smiled shyly and looked away, looking satisfied at the way he seemed so confident.
After Aria picked up the call, Lyra's tender voice filtered through the speaker."Hi babe I just got home; how is Felix doing now? Are you still with him?"Aria glanced at Felix on the couch, who was grinning deviously in his seat. She smiled too and said,"Oh dear, you shouldn't stress yourself; the doctor said he will be discharged tomorrow.""Really?" Lyra's voice rose happily outside the phone, while Aria was scoffing at her from her own end."That's some good news." She added."Can you please pick him up at the hospital? This boss of mine won't let me rest, and I need to see Dante. He told me we were going somewhere this weekend."Aria made another pretentious face and responded with:"I will do anything for you, baby girl; just relax and be good."Then, in a show of sudden recollection, she went further to ask. "Erm... I thought your phone was faulty; how did you get to do it so fast?""Oh," Lyra exclaimed as though she too had just noticed."I forgot to tell you; Dante got it
"Was that what she was looking for earlier? How clumsy?" Dante remarked casually, shrugging right after before making a quick turn to leave the room.The moment he tried stepping out through the opened door, he bumped into the incoming figure of Lyra, her head slightly brushing against his chest."Oh…Oh sorry." She mumbled awkwardly, waving apologetically.Dante, who had been equally startled at first, soon regained himself, stepping back and waving back slightly to say,"It's fine."Then, after a small, uneasy pause, Lyra fumbled with her hands and asked without exactly looking at his face."Still hungry? Because I made you some noodles."Dante raised his brows. "Noodles? Is that the only thing you know how to cook?"Lyra's gaze met his own for a moment, then she hurriedly looked away again, making a sharp, furtive gesture."Not really... You didn't seem to have much at home. I only prepared what was available."Dante sighed tiredly and walked out measuredly, heading for the dining
Aria was sitting alone with her legs crossed in her living room when the phone next to her vibrated with an incoming call. She grabbed the phone gingerly when she saw from the ID displayed on the screen that it was Felix calling."Hi babe." She called sweetly after tapping on the answer button.Felix's voice sounded unusually dull and anxious."Aria, I think something's up. This is the seventh time I will be checking my phone's message box, and I'm yet to get any feedback from that doctor of yours. Are you sure that guy can be trusted? Cause honestly, I'm not feeling good about this.”"For real?” Aria asked with furrowed brows.“He still hasn't called you?" She asked, springing to her feet."Not even a message yet?" Felix’s voice came again, sounding downcast."You know what? Let's meet up at the hospital later. Say in two to three hours. I'll just freshen up now and start getting ready.""Two hours." He repeated and hung up.After the call, Aria took a deep breath and was about to mak
The next morning, it was precisely 7:30 a.m., which was a Saturday. Lyra sat up on the bed abruptly and grasped her phone, dialing the number of the manager of the makeup store Dante had given her, informing her of her session with them that day.A few minutes later, after she had gotten fully dressed, she came out of her room and proceeded to the sitting room downstairs, hoping to meet Dante, but surprisingly, she bumped into the figure of Marcus, his assistant, waiting for her on the couch. He stood up at once when he saw her."Morning, madam, my boss told me to come pick you up for your session; he left quite early this morning.""Oh, he is not in?" She asked, looking up again."No, he is not." He answered, looking mildly surprised."You didn’t know?" He asked slightly, pushing up one brow."Never mind." Lyra waved. "Can we go now?" She asked further."Sure sure." Marcus nodded.~~~"Mrs Cooper you're here already?" The manager said this with a confident smile as Lyra and Marcus c
After a long, dreamless night, Lyra finally awoke the next morning, only to find her injured leg neatly wrapped and bandaged by Dante. She sat up and touched the wrapped spot with a calm surprise on her face, looking around the room at the same time to check if he was close by. She relented and sighed when she saw that she was alone. She yawned deeply with a palm over her mouth. Then she paused, reflexively lifting her head towards the wall clock."7: 40 am? Oh my God," she whispered furtively, pulling off the blanket over her body at once and stepping down from the bed simultaneously.Lyra ambled into the bathroom as fast as she could, still feeling the pain from the leg. It took her twice as much time as it would usually take for her to get there.Then, in one confused moment, she stopped at the entrance to stare helplessly at the closed, slippery space, not knowing how best to beat the time while still carrying the burden of her injury.As if to answer her questions, her eyes sud