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CHAPTER 16
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Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 17
THE ELEVATOR DOOR closed before Layla or Ambert could react on Nancy’s sudden reappearance. “What just happened?” Anika asked, alternately looking at Layla and Ambert. “You both looked like you’ve just seen a ghost.” “That’s Nancy,” Ambert said. “The woman in red?” Anika said. Nancy was wearing a red shirt and blue jeans when they saw her approaching the elevator. Ambert nodded. “Why is she here?” Anika asked. “To talk to me or Layla.” “How did she know that you’re still here?”“She sent me a text message an hour ago, asking me if I was still in the hotel,” he said. “I said yes and she didn’t reply anymore. I had too much in my mind that it didn’t occur to me that she wanted to go back here.”“Shall we go back to your room?” Anika said. “She’d go there and wait; she knows that we’ve seen her.”Ambert glanced at Layla. “Shall we?”“Yes,” she answered. “If she wants to talk to me, I will talk to her.”Th
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 18
LAYLA CHANGED HER mind before she could reject Ambert’s friend request on Facebook—but she also didn’t accept it. She still wanted to reject it but she decided she could do it later. Rejecting it now would be completely rude—like, what she had just realized a few moments ago, didn’t Ambert just help change Nancy’s antagonistic mind towards her? It would be so villainous of her to do things right now that would offend him. She put hg earphone down on the bedside table and lay down on the bed, turning her back on the phone to lessen the temptation of picking it up again.Where is your heart? Ambert, and Anika, would probably ask her.It had been broken, shattered and I had put it into a trash bin, she probably would answer. And she covered the trash bin so she wouldn’t hear just in case it started beating again.She looked at her clock, it said 2:40 AM. She closed her eyes, she could still catch some sleep. Fortunately, Ambert didn’t text her again, but she probably was only able to sle
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 19
LAYLA WINCED AS Ambert started walking towards them. It wasn’t that he was painful to look at, but in her mind, she was imagining him inside a church and he was walking to towards the altar where his bride and he family were waiting. And of course she was the bride, in a resplendent white gown, surrounded by people she loved.Okay, she gently shook her head, shrugging off that wicked imagination.“Is that Ambert?” Layla heard her mother asking, though she wasn’t sure if the question was directed to her.“Yes, mom, that’s Ambert,” she heard Cedric answering. Her brother had met Ambert in the hospital after her little incident with Nancy’s car.“He’s so handsome,” she heard Lillian gushing. “Like a movie actor.”And Layla had no plans of contradicting her sister’s opinion. But what was Ambert doing here? Anika told her a chauffeur would fetch her. Was Ambert’s driver too busy to be bothered fetching her? No, Ambert’s driver would drive to the moon if he asked him. And her ho
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 20
LAYLA SUDDENLY FOUND herself underwater, swimming with the fishes, surrounded by beautiful, colorful corrals, which reminded her of their aquarium when she was still a child. Their aquarium was her favorite thing inside their house when she was still just a child. There were goldfishes around her, angelfishes, bettas, swordtails, which were the fishes that used to fill their aquarium. And looking at and feeding the fishes inside their aquarium had always been one of her fondest childhood memories. It always delighted her, and now, she was feeling that feeling again, something that had always make her feely giddy as she played with the fishes. She looked around and saw that she was also surrounded by white roses which appeared swimming in the water, too. “Layla…”That gentle voice seemed to wake her up.She blinked and realized that she wasn’t underwater and wasn’t swimming with the fishes, she still was here at the balcony of Ambert’s suite dining with him, wi
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 21
AMBERT WAS SORT of expecting that reaction—or rejection— from Layla as he stared at his phone, at the message of Layla telling him that she would never fall in love with him. And he thought, like what many had been telling him, that he was a lovable guy. What surprised him a bit was that she still delayed telling him that. She could have told him that while she was chewing on a crab leg meat he prepared for her. She probably thought it was awkward to reject him again while they were having that little celebratory dinner. They were supposed to be rejoicing, and rejecting him right there and then would dampen the celebration. It was like turning a happy wedding into a funeral—where Ambert was the corpse. He hadn’t sent her a reply. But no, he wouldn’t bother asking Layla to reconsider. He knew Nancy’s decision wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t change how Layla’s impression on him and on what she thought of him.But what did she really think of him? A player, perhaps, just out to pla
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 22
“THAT’S INTERESTING,” AMBERT said. “I destroyed a romance that I didn’t evenknow existed. Kindly elaborate.” Brian grinned. “And I am stating a fact. And this is how it happened, the next few daysafter we met,” Brian started narrating. “I would invite her out. You know, so we’d get to know each other and so I could impress her and show her what a gentleman I was. And it seemed to be working because after just a few dates, she would now readily say yes whenever I’d invite her out. And she wouldn’t even ask where I would take her or what we’d do. I would tell her to come go out with me, and she’d say ‘Let’s go!’ I probably would take her to Mars, the planet, the red one, and she probably wouldn’t even complain of the distance.”“Because you’re trustworthy,” Ambert said. “Remember when I let you take care of my turtles for days when I was out of the country? I usually don’t do that, entrust my pets, especially my turtles, to anyone, even to relatives. I always hire a vet or an expert.
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 23
AMBERT WOULDN’T DENY that Sadie’s eyes were the most seductive eyes he had seen and for a moment there, he felt lost and confused while staring at them. And she really was beautiful. She was even prettier in the flesh than in the photo. And she was tall, too, probably shorter by just an inch or two to Nadia. Brian stood up like a good soldier upon seeing his commander, kissed Nadia on the cheek, and sat beside him while Nadia and Sadie sat across from them. It felt like the place just became a garden and two beautiful flowers just sprouted from the two chairs in front of Ambert and Brian. Sadie was holding her cell phone but not looking at it. Both were dressed casually. Nadia wore a pink hoodie over a T-shirt and a pair of walking shorts while Ember wore a white skirt and a black spaghetti strap tank top.Sadie’s eyes glimmered at him like two happy spotlights. Her phone beeped and she didn’t take her eyes off him.“Order what you like girls,” Brian told the two women.“Oh, we alread
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 24
AMBERT DRANK FROM his glass, and put the glass down on the wooden counter top. “You didn’t ask me if I’m single or if I’m currently dating someone,” he stated. There were plants over his head, hanging from a steel frame.“Have I told you that I love plants?” she asked him, smiling, when she noticed that he was looking at the plants. Sadie poured herself and Ambert another drink without waiting for his answer. “Brian told me you’re single,” she said and the smile excitedly went back to her lips. “So I didn’t bother asking you that. Brian wouldn’t lie to me, you know. Nadia would get angry at him if he does.” “He didn’t,” Ambert acknowledged as he held the glass in his hand. “And just like I told you,” Sadie said as she smiled the fire-setting smile on her lips again. “I’m serious when I told you I want to be your girlfriend. But let me just inform you that it’s not my hobby to run after men. It’s just that… well, you’re single now, and I know you won
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Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 50
LAYLA NEEDED TO blink twice to see if she wasn’t just imagining things, Celine’s visit made her a bit disoriented, but yes, Ambert stood outside their door, in front of her, holding a bouquet of white roses and was wearing a black suit like he was attending a funeral—their relationship had collapsed and died, didn’t it?—or a wedding. Celine talked about an engagement ring with matching photos, so the topic of a future wedding shouldn’t be far.But she thought Ambert would be sleeping drunk until tomorrow morning so he was the last person she was expecting to see standing outside their door. The first person, of course, would be Celine. Ambert seemed alone; no one was inside his car, which was parked just outside their small, front yard.“The gate was open,” he said, his face apologetic, “so I thought I’d go straight to the door and knocked.”He was wearing a suit which unfortunately had wrinkles and creases like it was worn haphazardly, like he stumbled and fell to the floor numerous
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 49
“WE TALKED JUST hours ago and he never mentioned anything,” Layla said.“He was waiting for the rings, I guess,” Celine said and smiled. “You can’t propose without a ring.”Makes sense, Layla thought. “Did he specifically mention my name? I mean, did he tell you that the ring was for me?” “Well,” Celine hesitated, like she was trying to remember something. “I can’t recall if he mentioned your name while we’re talking about the ring. You know Ambert, he could sometimes really be a man of few words. But I assumed that that it was for you since you’re his girlfriend.” Well, that’s because you don’t know the whole story, she wanted to tell Celine but stopped herself. The whole story being that Ambert didn’t really love her, that he was just trying to repent and now, with the information about the ring coming out today, that he could be in another secret relationship, and the woman in this secret relationship was the one he really wanted to marry.“If it’s for another girl,” Celine conti
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 48
LAYLA CRIED ALL night and barely slept.When dawn broke, she called up Anika to tell her that she wouldn’t be going to the office that day and would just come the next day. Anika just asked if she was sick and said goodbye when she said she wasn’t. She didn’t know if she would be disappointed or relieved that Anika didn’t inquire about the whole brouhaha that was going on—it was impossible that she hadn’t know about it. She was probably just careful not to add insult to injury. Or maybe she wanted to talk to her face-to-face and would just wait for her to come to the office.At breakfast, she announced to her family that she had broken up with Ambert—and Ambert, because he couldn’t do anything about it, accepted it.“I thought he didn’t easily give up,” a visibly disappointed Lillian remarked.“He’s probably guilty,” Layla said softly but enough for everyone in the table to hear.Her mother and brother didn’t seem ready to join the conversation. And were just eating heartily, which wa
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 47
LAYLA HEARD AMBERT calling her as she approached the door of the restaurant but she didn’t stop and continued walking. She didn’t even glance back as she got out of the door. Her steps grew bigger and quicker as she walked to the direction of the road and stopped at the curb to hail a taxicab even though her feet both felt heavy. She didn’t think she had time to call an Uber as her goal at that time was to get away as quickly from Ambert.She waved at the first taxi she saw and it pulled over in front of her. She finally glanced back at the restaurant as she was getting inside the vehicle, and saw Ambert coming out. She went inside the car and closed the door, and told the driver to move. She didn’t dare look at Ambert again. But after just a few hundred meters of journey, she started feeling guilty. Did he deserve what she just did? They were there to talk, and she walked out on him just when their conversation was becoming more interesting. And emotionally hurting. She probably shou
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 46
LAYLA DIDNT KNOW how long she just stared at Ambert, not speaking, not making any movement. She didn’t know even know if she was showing any emotion or expression on her face. Her father had always been successful in inflicting pain on their family before, but she never thought that until now, he would still be able to hurt her with the mere mention of his name.“The detective told me, Sadie’s detective,” Ambert continued, there was a visible uneasiness on him, was obviously forcing his words out of his mouth, like his tongue was just shoving them out, like he would rather bite his tongue and make it bleed than speak, “that your father was about to leave Celine but then the unfortunate incident… which I initiated… happened. At that time, your father was still staying in your house and was successfully hiding the affair. He took pity on the boy… Joel, who was Celine’s son with her first husband. And he also took pity on Celine, who was inconsolable. Apparently, the detective said, Celi
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 45
AMBERT REGULARLY CALLED Layla at night but it usually at around ten in the evening. It was only twenty past eight, so it was a little early and a bit unusual, so she was sure that he was calling not to have their regular nightly chit-chat—he was calling because he had learned that Sadie visited her tonight and that it wasn’t a friendly visit but something which had the intention to harm and hurt.Layla took a deep breath and picked her cell phone up and answered it. She would be vastly disappointed if Ambert would talk about a different matter. “Am I bothering you?” he asked the moment he heard her voice, and strange, but she could almost see him smiling.It was Sadie who was bothering her, she thought, but he probably already knew that. “No,” she said. “We just finished dinner.” It was what he about to discuss with her, something she was sure would also bother her.She heard him clear his throat. “I received a text message from Sadie,” he said, going straight to the point. “She told
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 44
IT WAS AROUND seven PM when Layla got home and when she entered the house, she saw sitting on the living room couch beside Lillian a woman whose photos she had seen a lot of times on the Internet, specifically on Ambert’s Facebook but never in the flesh—Sadie. The woman was listening keenly to Lillian, and her beauty glowed, like somebody had snatched a star from the skies and dumped it on their sofa, even though she was dressed very casually. She wore a green shirt with floral design and denim jeans and no makeup.Ambert had since deleted all of Sadie’s photos on his Facebook account but Sadie, Layla discovered when she visited her Facebook account and Instagram once, still had Ambert’s photos. If she was just too lazy to delete those photos, or she still wanted to have a glimpse of Ambert whenever he logged on to her social media accounts, Layla didn’t know.And to say that she was shocked to see Sadie inside their house would be a vast understatement.“You’re here,” Lillian stood u
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 43
AMBERT WASN’T SAYING anything but Layla could feel that something was bothering him. Yes, he was obviously happy whenever they got out and roamed and strolled—he was genuinely happy when they went inside the Eiffel Tower, he was obviously happy, too when they got to the city’s other tourist attractions, but every now and then, she would catch him getting lost in thought and would sometimes scowl at nothing whenever he thought she wasn’t looking at him.It all started when his phone rang at their first day here in Paris. It woke her up but she still was so sleepy she didn’t move and open her eyes and tried to sleep again. She felt Ambert climbing out of the bed and walking out of the room. She opened her eyes and didn’t see his cell phone on the night stand. She shut his eyes and fell into sleep again.And after that, something changed in him. The excitement in him seemed to decrease. Who called him? Was there a problem back home? Was it work-related? Or something personal? She didn’t
Night And Shining Armour CHAPTER 42
AMBERT SAW SOME confusion on Layla’s face when he confirmed to her that he was talking about France, the country. And he sort of had an idea why—she remembered his tryst with Sadie in that country. A woman who loved him would not easily forget that and it was for that reason that he wanted her to take to France, to Paris specifically, to have that memory with Sadie erased and replaced with brand new Paris memory with Layla. That every time he would remember France, or Paris, he would remember Layla and not Sadie; that every time he went to Paris, it was Layla he’d remember and his moments with her and not Sadie.And why did he suddenly remember Paris and had a hankering to travel there? Well, while inside Anika’s office, he saw the Eiffel Tower miniature he gifted her, standing proud on top of her desk.“I saw a post on your Facebook where you said you wanted to see the Eiffel Tower up close and personal,” Ambert said.“Yeah, I remember posting that,” she replied and then smiling awkw
