Rafael saw her falling down, but he didn't bother stopping her. The Dean talked for over twenty minutes, telling him how he should be ashamed of himself and that he should do everyone a favor and drop out of college.
He was ready to take out his anger on the stupid girl who dared to touch him without his permission. She tried to hold on to him to keep from falling.
"Can't you fucking see?" He asked her even though it was him who suddenly appeared in the hallway out of the Dean's office.
He took the papers from her hand and threw them down the stairs when she started crying.
"Shut the fuck up! What's wrong with you?" He hated anyone who didn't have the guts to make eye contact or started crying instantly.
"Hey, Rafael!" Aaron came out of the elevator just then and saw Kimberley's lowered head. He was on his way to the Dean's office. His dad found out he had been sleeping with a college of medicine professor, a woman n
Rafael watched Ruhi and Eva as they ate ice cream, ignoring his existence. Ruhi introduced her new friend to everyone in the house, including the goldfish and angelfish.Oreo was overjoyed to meet Eva, while Chunky Monkey raised his nonexistent brow to scrutinize thestranger, just as he did when Ruhi first met him."He doesn't like me much either. He just looks scary but actually, he's just a big lazy boy. I took away many of his resting spots by placingmy ceramic plant pots which he can't move.""Oh!" Eva got up to take her plush toy from where Chunky Monkey was standing so that he could lie down."Aren't you a sweetie pie!" Ruhi couldn't say why, but she loved Eva already.Every word that came out of the little girl's mouth was very cute and she wanted to pull her into her lap and kiss her. She wondered why she never liked kids until that point.'Maybe because she's Rafael's?' She felt a tightening in her chest at the mer
FLASHBACK"Dude! What the hell? You told Kimberley you will pick her up at seven. Didn't you?" Aaronfound Rafael playing basketball with Dylan. He almost forgot about Kimberley and what he said to her."Are you kidding me? I just wanted to get rid of that, what's her face?" He asked Dylan who was now dating his dumped three month long girlfriend. He already forgot her name."Samantha... no wait, Savannah.""Yeah, she was acting a little too possessive.""But Kimberley has been waiting for you since 6.30, getting all excited.""Is she stupid or what? I didn't tell her where I will pick her up from, so she should obviously know I didn't mean it.""No, she doesn't. I have seen her wear only faded jeans and free t-shirts that she collected at the Med school events. But today, she put on a nice dress and came to the library to ask me if you were okay because you never asked for her number or texted her.""Exactly! I'm not goin
"Have you seen enough?" Rafael hissed at Aaron when he caught him staring at Ruhi."Your possessive ass needs to calm the---""What's happening here? Oh...Aaron, hi." Ruhi caught them talking near her door and pushed her notes away once she ended the call with Lisa."Hey..." Aaron was flooded with guilt when he saw how pale and stressed she looked. "Everything will be all right, Ruhi. You have to trust Rafael on this one. Listen to what he has to say and don't assume anything.""He's too scared to talk to me. Ever since his Kimmie returned, he's maintaining some ten feet distance, as if I will pounce on him or something.""What? I thought you wanted some space.""Did I tell you so? Aaron, you told me not to assume things. Why don't you tell your friend the same? He brings his ex here without asking me if I wouldbe okay. He thought I'll stay at my apartment while he can have some quality time with his sweetheart and Eva. When I as
Ruhi woke up bright and early, feeling good and at peace, despite all the surrounding calamities. She wasn't cramping any more and was in a great mood thinking about Rafael.'He likes my kisses.' She couldn't stop her heart from racing and getting excited just like that.Rafael was up and in the gym already while she showered and wanted to make some scrumptious breakfast by taking Ms. Myers's help. She wished it was still Sunday so that she could ask Rafael to spend the rest of the day with her.She walked over to the intercom to talk to himand smiled whenshe heard his breathy voice through it. 'Such a fitness freak! Why can't he just stay in bed and cuddle with me.' He asked her lazy ass to work out with her once when she complained, so she never asked him again."Can I have Eva come over for breakfast? I'm making us some pancakes and eggs.""Sure. Let me ask someone to get her."Rafael was in no mood to work out anymore now tha
Ruhi smiled at the maid and picked Oreo in her arms as usual."Mycutie pie! I missed you too... You put on so much weight like your lazy brother!"Grumbling about how heavy he had become,she carried him into her room and gave him one of her old shoes he loved to play with.Her phone went off after she had walked into the bathroom."Ugh!" She thought it was her mom because her parents called her every day around this time and told her to just leave Rafael and come home.Her phone rang again when she steppedout of the shower, and Rafael was calling her this time. But Oreo didn't let her check the phone. He was barking like crazy and asking her to unlock the door."What's the matter with you? Let's go make some chai before talking to my mom. A strong chai for the headache I'm going to get because of your dad."Oreo always agreed with her and took her side when she talked against Rafael, but he was too angsty to pay
Ruhi pushed the heavy dresser out of her way and walked out slowly. The house was still empty and the maid's body lay where it was, along with the trashed plant. Rafael was occupied with scaring Kimberley. She already looked like she was going to faint in a panic. "Please, Rafael. He wants to take Eva away. I don't know why you think I would kill your maid. I was---" "You know very well Eva went shopping. Did you imagine her here? Did you imagine this man you are talking about?" The cops came over and made Kimberley describewhat happened. She was in a state of shock and couldn't form proper words or sentences. She stuttered and sobbed and kept telling Rafael he should believe her. The pain and anguish in her face seemed very real to Ruhi. She held Rafael's arm to stop him from being too harsh with her and to hear her out. "He's going to find Eva. Your grandma is not answering my call, and I don't know your housekeeper's number. H
FLASHBACK"Thank you for doing this with me. You are the best boyfriend I could ever ask for." Kimberley hugged Rafael while her words made him feel guilty.She asked him to drive her to a sunflower field when it wasn't the peak season yet. He was preparing his breakup speech by removing all profanities and insensitive words when she called him and asked him sweetly about going there with him.It had already been overthree months that he was seeing her almost every day. She was obsessed with meeting him and spending every minute with him. Her constant calls and texts made him feel suffocated, but she looked too sensitive to be told he wasn't interested in her.He loved spending time with her sometimes, but he never wanted to make any physical advances, feeling too scared of being stuck with her.Aaron constantly scolded him for being a dick or for having a phobia towards committing to a good girl. He thought of breaking up with her some seven t
"How the hell did I end up here? I don't remember drinking so much to not know who I fucked." His head was spinning, andthe daylight hurt his eyes."I don't know either. The last thing I know, we were playing air bowling with your friends." She sounded innocent and confused just like him, but she looked happy about the turn of events."I was the one who bought us all drinks. Fuck! We have been roofied. Let's go." He got out of the bed looking for his clothes."Go where?""To get tested for drugs.""Are you regretting what happened?""Of course I am. We were over before we even started Kimmie. Why don't you get it? You are with Aaron now.""I was never with Aaron. I knew you weren't over me. And look how we ended up together after getting drunk. Why would you be with me if you weren't into me?""Because I was fucking drugged. If this is your doing, I'll never forgive you, Kimmie. You have no idea how sensitive Aaron
SEVEN YEARS LATER It was a quiet Sunday afternoon with some cooling summer showers pouringdown outside the window whileRafael spent a good amount of time in his study. He was lagging behind quite a bit because he spent all day at the water park yesterday and left work early even on Friday afternoon to attend his daughter's ballet performance. He got up from his seat and stretched before stepping out to see what Ruhi and his little Snookums were up to. Even though he wanted to finish all the piled up stuff, he had gone two hours without seeing them and it felt like too much on a Sunday. He walked down to the kitchen to see what all the excitement was about. Ruhi was watching something very seriously on her daughter'spink laptop while the little girl was busy whisking butter and molten chocolate. She got chocolate mousse on both her chubby cheeks while Ruhi got a good amount on her nose. "Papa! You were not supposed to come out until w
Rafael had always imagined death to start with some blinding light where all the best moments of his life wouldflash by him and then follow with an abyss of darkness. At least that's what he heard people say it would be like.The gunshots were still ringing in his ears long after the darkness, but the blinding light never came. The pain and the hopelessness sure felt like death.Among the many regrets he had, he regretted not being able to say a proper goodbye. Ruhi had never believed how unconditionally he loved her. He knew he did a poor job showing his feelings toher, except that he could prove that he would die for her, willing to do so over and over.He wanted to hear Ruhi's voice one last time before falling unconscious. His body was going numb, but a shooting painunfurled in the deepest pit of his stomach when he thought about the image of Ruhi lying on the floor.Was she conscious? He couldn't remember. Everything happened too quic
"Oh, I seriously loved what you fed me. I don't know what this is.""Well, let me fix something light so that you don't go hungry. The doctor will be on his way if you throw up again." His voice trailed off as he walked back into the kitchen.Pushing the stray locks of her hair out of her sweaty forehead, she looked at the time on her phone and groaned, her head still slightly spinning. She slept for almost ten hours last night after getting rid of her dinner and felt exhausted at barely ninein the morning.Rafael stepped into the bedroom with a bowl full of chicken soup forty minutes later, and she was in for another surprise. She wished she knew how to cook a soup withthat perfect consistency and flavor he achieved seemingly effortlessly. Watching the heavy raindrops hit the window panes persistently, she stared out at the dark sky while sipping on the warm liquid."Huh, so no sightseeing today?" She asked Rafael, who was looking at her with
No matter how much Rafael hated to move to a different room, Ruhi was super adamant, and hehad no other option but to leave the room. He hoped the next morning to be better and planned a day full of fun things to do. He missed the good old times where all she wanted was to eat a good meal with him at a restaurant and make him watch some kids' movies.She answered his call after deliberately missing it the first two times. He assumed she was sleeping. Sleep was the last thing on her mind. Without him by her side, she tossed and turned until the stormy predawn sky gave way to some daylight outside the huge glass windows."Wake up, sleepyhead. We have reservations for breakfast at a lakeside cafe here.""What makes you think I'm still in my bed. I ate breakfast already."Rafael's face fell when he heard that. It was barely 9 AM and Ruhi was still in bed on weekends, so he didn't expect her to be out already when on vacation."Where are you
"Do I really want to talk to her? I don't think so." Ruhi crumpled the paper with Adira's number on it."Well, we can't trust anything she says, but I think we should hear her out. Also, I need to track her location. So just talk to her for a few minutes and---""I don't want to help you kill her, Rafael."Rafael entered the number into Ruhi's phone and made the call before turning the speaker on."Ruhi... I-I'm sorry. Please, please, help me. There are some half a dozen men with guns chasing me. I feel scared. Ruhi? Are you there?""How could you lie to Gus about something like that? Don't you know he still hasn't moved on?" Ruhi asked reluctantly,confused about how she felt when talking to her sister. She never wanted to talk to her again after finding outshe wanted Gus to kill her."It was... Um, it was Alisha's idea. I just told her Raina had a sister. She came up with this idea to make a deal with him
It took a lot of courage for Ruhi to utter those four words, knowing full well Rafael wasn't going to let her go that easily. If he was a person to reason with and walk away with mutual understanding, she would have never tried so hard to run away from him. As she expected, his eyes flared, smoldering with what seemed to be fury, and his body grew rigidabove her, taut with tension."What?"He rolled onto his side and forced her to meet his gaze."You heardme. I can't live like this anymore. I want out, and I mean it."He flinched slightly at the steely resolution in her eyes. His gaze was feverishly raking her up and down, with disbelief clearly written all over his face. She was equally baffled that he hadn't seen this coming. She wondered if he was being deliberately dense."Ruhi, I know you didn't deserve the treatment you got from me." He stroked her cheek back and forth with hislong thumb. "It's not fair that I make a mistake
"A honeymoon..."Ruhi quietly pushed Rafael's hand away and put her seatbelt on. He expected her to put up a fight orrun out of the car and was shocked to see her stare out of the window in resignation.Zack approached the car but was blocked by Harry. He handed Ruhi's cellphone, laptop, and money back to Harry. Rafael told him to hold on to them as he believed Ruhi wouldn't run without those things. He also wanted to make sure she didn't call her sister and ask her to run instead."Drive!" She told him in an impatient voice when he stalled inside the car, checking his work emails quickly."Ruhi, I don't mean to force you into---""What part of my intentions isnot clear to you? Doyou really think I'd run away from you to show you I want to go on a honeymoon? What kind of logic is that?"Rafael opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it when he saw the look on her face. She was royally pissed, unlike all those ot
"Are you serious?" Ruhi couldn't believe her ears.He ignored her and focused on his phone when Zack texted and then called him."No, no weapons and none of his men. He can go back if he doesn't agree."She waited for him to finish talking on the phone while peeking into the coffee mug he left on the table."Was that dark rum or black coffee? Didyou really mean it when you said I can go?""Pack your stuff before I change my mind."She darted upthe stairs but stopped when she heard Zack enter the house with a pissed off face and announce something to Gus. When did he ever look happy? She wondered and turned back to the room but stopped dead in her tracks when she thought she heard Rafael's name.Climbing back down the spiral staircase, she walked towards the door to listen to their conversation."Just one then. Check thoroughly.""Check who?" She asked Gus, who ignored her again and went to grab some stu
"Gus, she's gone." Ruhi held her breath when she heard Zack's infuriated voice. She was surprised to hear him address his boss by his name.Gus closed the bathroom door and walked over to the bed. Unlike Zack who wanted to kill Ruhi if he saw her again, Gus was relatively calm as he picked his cellphone up from the bed. Checking his messages on the locked screen and dismissing them, he opened the 'Tracker'."I'll get Nash to check the surveillance camera. She may still be on the premises if---""She's right here." Gus cut him off whileRuhi's heartbeat skyrocketed. "You can get back to work. I'll take care of this."Leaning down a bit, he grabbed Ruhi's wrist firmly and pulled her out from under the bed. She didn't dare to meet hiseyesand stared at the door Zack exited from.Gus moved a strand of her hair from her cheek while she froze.'Crap, crap, crap! He's probably twenty years older than me and wants to either kill me k