River & Revenge

07 | the wrong nerd

J A M I E

     Dissapointing Ander for the first time was terrible luck, but the second time was pure pity.

Jamie ran out of the bakery as soon as possible, regretting how she had revealed things to him. He wasn't supposed to know like this, and it was crueller to leave him hanging with questions, but her anxious heart believed it was for the best.

She knew facing River was inevitable. He had chosen to hide now, but the moment her resistance would test his patience. . . his impulsiveness would bring out the worst in him.

And when that moment came, Ander won't be there to take the heat.

A shiver ran through her insides, and she crossed her arms across her chest; her palms slowly stroked her forearms in a futile attempt to stifle her anxiety. The breeze was light, but enough to scatter her carmine hair all over her face, and a sigh left her lips.

The sun was fully out now, glimmering rays touched her warm ivory skin, and she lazily traced her steps along the empty sidewalk. Tall apartments stood in her sight, the trees occupying space at every other step. And she was tempted to lean against one, just so she could have some support. Perhaps it was the after-work exhaustion, but she knew it wasn't just her body. Her car stood parked on the side of the road, but her jittery legs didn't allow her to drive away so easily.

She could still see the small bakery a few steps away from her. Through the stained glass window, she could still see Ander inside, stressed words pouring from his lips while he yelled into his phone. She had an idea who was on the other line, and it filled her with an urge to get away as soon as possible.

As much as she was thankful that he didn't follow her, she couldn't afford to jinx it.

The past sneaked into her mind more often than she preferred. How different would her life be if she'd never met River? Peaceful, for sure. Better? Definitely. Their relationship had brought forward nothing good; she couldn't remember a single moment which could prove he was worth remembering. 

But how far could the "what-ifs" go? In the end, it was nothing but wishful thinking.

She had to live in the present, the cruel reality where rebelling against her father had brought forth an indescribable amount of chaos in her life.

Between her paranoia and reminiscence of the past, she almost missed her phone flashing with multiple incoming texts. Her gaze focused on the screen, and her eyes widened. It was Nylla and an enraged one at that.

'Jamie wtf is happening?'

'Pick your phone!'

'Wtf is in that pen drive??'

'JAMIE'

There were more texts and several missed calls. All of them addressed the same issue over and over again.

For a moment, Jamie rattled deep inside her bones. An angry Nylla was terrifying enough to deal with, and if she had figured out that she was being played as a scapegoat in River's ugly game, it wouldn't end well for anyone.

She shook her head; it wasn't possible. The file was password protected; Nylla couldn't have known.

She dialled her cousin's number with a pretence of confidence, but her spirit diminished like a candle in a storm as soon as someone picked up.

It wasn't her. 

"Nylla?" She spoke, hoping her cousin would respond with a lame excuse for whatever the hell happened to her voice.