The Ring

TWENTY SIX

[INGRID'S POV]

Having bought the brand new Versace Eros, I walk out of the perfumery, hope I could start a new beginning with Adrian. I wonder whether he's going to believe anything about the mysterious ring. Until Raphael gave me proof, I myself would have never believed a thing he said.

I hail a taxi and sit in it, taking deep breaths to remain calm and collected. The possibility of a reunion is very little, especially after how believable I sounded when saying all those horrible things. But I wouldn't expect to accept me back on the spot. We'll both need sometime. And that's okay.

The taxi pulls up in front of our driveway, I get off and pay the cabbie driver. I take deeper breaths, my heart thumping in my chest. I walk towards the door. It's my house too, I don't need to knock, so I open it and walk inside.

I'm about to call Adrian's name when my breath suddenly hitches, my eyes beholding a shocking sight. Over there in the couch--our couch--was naked Adrian hovering over another naked Sophie, thrusting back and forth into her.

I stop dead in my tracks, immobile and silent. I am frustrated, angry and guilty. I try to hold back my tears. I want to run away, but my legs don't move.

However, Sophie stops only to see me in the middle of her moaning. Adrian follows the direction of her vision and his eyes get wide like saucers upon seeing me too. That was where I turn around and walk away without a word, just like every other day.

"Ingy!! Ingy!!!" I hear Adrian call after me, but I don't stop. I walk out of the house, and hit the streets. Maybe there's nothing like a second chance.

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           I walk for a very long time with no particular destination. My feet begin to hurt, but I ignore the pain and keep walking. Tears fall from my eyes. It begins with sniffles, then a moan, then a sob, then a wail. People passing by shoot weird glances at me, but I don't care. I walk straight ahead, pouring out my emotions.

I walk to a dumpster and drop the $55 dollar perfume in it. I'm about to walk away from the dumpster when my eye catches something peculiar. I am in fact standing in front of a condominium building. And in it's parking lot was a bright blue Ferrari. Raphael's Ferrari. That means Raphael is still in his condo.

Shouldn't he be on his flight by now? What's he still doing here? I curiously walk in, take the lift and knock on his door. No one answers, so I slowly walk into the condo. It's very quiet. There's no music, no TV.

"Raf?" I call. "Are you there?"

No answer. I head towards his room to check. Before I can knock on his door, I hear someone sniffling.

"Raphael? It's me. Can I come in?" I ask, uncertain. Still no answer. I get worried.

Is he alright? Did he cancel his flight? I slowly open his door and find him standing in front of his window which gives a perfect view of city.

"Hey." I murmur. He slowly turns around to look at me. And oh my god.

This is not the Raphael I know. His eyes are red and puffy, his hair all over the place, looking very miserable and grim. He has a framed photo in his hand and a thin bracelet which he immediately puts away.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, taking a step closer to me. "You should be with Adrian."

"And you should be on your flight. What happened? Aerial problems?" I ask.

I walks over to a futon and sits himself on it, staring down at the floor.

"I changed my mind." he says in a sad voice.

"Why? I thought..."

"...Emily's best friend called." he swallows. "Emily got married."

My jaw drops. "Married?"

"Yeah. And it's my fault. I broke her heart. So now there's no point in going back."

I go and sit next to him. "I'm... I'm sorry about that. That's very heartbreaking."

"Today is August 13th. Camila died on this day. My whole world left me on this day. First Camila, now Emily. Everyone walked away from my life and now it's totally empty." Tears form in his eyes. I've never seen him cry before, or look this miserable. I instinctively rub the back of his hand, half hoping it helps to console him. I really don't know what else to do it say.

His situation is worse. I would've killed myself if I were in his shoes. He takes my hand and buries his face into it, where he sobs...really hard. Pity is written all over my face as I stare at him.

"I'm so sorry." I say softly, fighting back my own tears. I pick up the photo Raphael was holding from the floor with my free hand. It's a picture of a very beautiful girl with wavy dark hair, dark eyes and an olive skin. She's smiling next to Raphael, who's laughing into the camera. They look really happy.

"Is this Emily?" I ask.

"Yeah." he says with a muffled voice because he's still kinda crying.

"She's pretty." I say. Prettier than me.

"The bracelet was Camila's." Raphael adds. "They've been the most important people in my life."

I cup his cheeks with my hands. "You'll be fine." I smile. "I promise."

He nods and looks away into space.

"Maybe we should go out and...have fun."

He looks into my eyes. "What?"

"Wherever Camila is, she'd like to see you happy. You owe her that for burning her bacon." I joke. He chuckles and shakes his head.

"Okay, but where are we going?"

I think for a while. "To the stars." I grin.

❇
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