And Then It Rained (Sequel to Rain Again; Stand Alone Book) (Completed)

Chapter Twenty-six: The Burning

Victoria stuffed her mouth with a spoonful of biriyani and chewed it fast. Bringing the cold bottle to her mouth, she chugged down a great quantity of beer only to spray it all out after failing to swallow everything properly. As she began coughing, Orland began to thump on her back.

Her eyes teared up as she struggled to breathe. 

The moment a couple of tears rolled down her eyes, the struggle with improper eating transferred with the turmoils of her mind and heart. And not long after, she started to whimper - sobbing in distress. 

"Hey, hey...," Orland rubbed his hand on her upper back, trying like hell to console her any way he could. "Come on, now. I know he shouldn't have done it. I know that. I do. He's a fool to do that--"

But she said, cutting in, "Or it might be his bare emotions," which she believed, actually. "Now, no one can blame him for being true to himself, can anyone?" She wiped her face crazily, but more tears found their way down her cheeks. 

"He should be blamed if anything that he does hurt you to this extent," Orland said indignantly. "He's your husband. He should be aware of this—"

"Husband," sardonically, she chuckled.

They were parked at the side of the street, sitting under a tree on the brick ring around its roots. The setting sun had made way for darkness to fill the void of its light slowly. It was time for the night birds to come out now.

On their way, because Orland insisted (she had a long day), she agreed to let him buy takeouts. However, she refused to sit inside a restaurant for her unwillingness to be in any public place tonight. Ordering biryani out of all the other numerous dishes was completely Orland's personal decision, while Victoria remained unfocused. Perhaps, he chose that, keeping in mind her Indian lineage. Maybe he thought it would cheer her up.

However, the meal was the last thing she cared about at that moment.

"Is there everything alright between you two, Victoria?" Orland inquired with caution after a while of long silence when her tears began to dry up finally. 

Victoria didn't reply to that. Because forget alright, they had nothing between them, to begin with. 

Then why the hell has she turned into this mess? The question echoed in her own mind.

Orland cleared his throat and looked away as he started speaking again, but with much hesitation, "Even before you joined the office in Asthel, there's been words going around about your husband's involvement with his store manager. Well, those could be just overly spiced-up gossip, too." He turned to look at her again. "Do you want to talk to him, Victoria?" he offered.

"No!" Victoria furrowed her brows instantly. "No. I mean, I appreciate that you want to help me any way you can, but I think—"

"It will be too interfering," he nodded, sighing. "I understand, Victoria. Don't worry. But please don't hesitate to let me know if I can be of any help. Rolan is too fond of you and never leaves a chance to praise you and your work. We knew about you long before you joined the Asthel branch, Victoria."

Her heart softened. At least, in one place, she was well-recognized and welcomed—her work.

Before she could reply to Orland to thank him and so forth, her phone rang.

She brought it out to see Victor's name flashing on the screen. 

Why was he calling her now? 

He seemed to have been in the perfect company of his desired people back there and was enjoying quite a lot, too.

At first, she decided to ignore his calls. But when the insistent rings kept blaring, she began to cut them and put her phone on silent mode.