The Ring

TWENTY NINE

[ADRIAN'S POV]

Life is shitty.

Everything about life is shitty.

And the past few days alone with myself, my guilt and my thoughts were totally shitty.

So I drive off to a restaurant opposite an amusement park to while away the time and try to figure out exactly what is going on in this shitty thing I'm in called a life.

The restaurant looks idyllic, quiet and calm, cool music in the background, as soothing as ever. As I proceed to walk in, I notice a bundle of dark red hair from a short distance. The person's back is to me, so I can't see who. But as she turns sideways, looking around, I notice from her side profile that is no other than Ingrid.

I take quick brisk steps towards her without thinking. She turns to look at me, obviously astonished. She's at a table for two, but her partner is nowhere to be found.

I swallow hard, trying to figure out what to say. She didn't give me a chance to explain myself, though I wasn't sure there was anything to explain. She saw what she saw. It was exactly what she thought.

"Hi." I say, forcing a tiny casual smile.

"Hi." she replies with a wider smile, but her expression giving the impression that we were total strangers.

"What are you doing out here?" I ask very politely and carefully, so as not to sound like it's part of my goddamn business.

"Um, I'm just chilling." she says. "What about you?"

I slowly sit down in the empty seat opposite her and stare at her for a moment. She looks radiant, her tortilla brown eyes very bright. She's even no longer wearing the engagement ring. Did I even expect her to?

She looks discontented by my sitting opposite her and tries to speak. "Adrian..."

"I'll be out of here in no time, don't worry. Just give me five minutes to talk. And that's it. I'll leave you alone. Please just listen."

"Fine." she gives in with a sigh. "You better hurry."

"Um, look Ingrid, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that. When you saw me and Sophie...I waited for you, trust me. Something told me that you were just putting on a show with Raphael and..."

"Stop Adrian. You don't owe me anything. So clear your head." she says. "You don't love me. I think you already know that. You just think that if you accept it, it'll make you despicable. But it's fine. It'll be worse if you forced it."

"Why did you come back to our house that day?" I ask.

She looks away, batting her eyelashes in discontentment. "I came back to reconcile."

"Why? You told me you didn't want me anymore."

"It was all a lie, Adrian. Everything I did was a lie. I did it to protect you."

"How? Did someone threaten you not to marry me?"

"Yes, but not in a bad way. It was for our protection. The outcome of all my pretence is that you're still alive. And I'm glad I saved your life."

"Wait, Ingy. I don't understand. Who wanted to kill me?" I asked, startled.

She sighs. "You won't believe me if I told you. But Raphael and I were working together to protect you and me. The price we had to pay was to be apart."

"Raphael was deceiving you, Ingrid. He probably did all this to separate us. And you gave in. He lied to you."

"No."

"Yes he did. He's the main reason why our wedding was cancelled. Our dream could'nt come true because of him."

"You don't know anything, Adrian." she says coolly. "And getting married was my dream, not yours. You didn't want it as much as I did. And it took whatever happened in the past few days for me to see that."

"Ingrid, I want you back. You can't... you can't do this to me." I say, taking her hand. "I'll change for the better. I'll stay away from Sophie. She's doing everything to separate what we have. Please. Just give me a chance. I want to be with you only."

"You don't know what you're saying." she shakes her head and withdraws her hand. "That's just your guilt talking, not your heart. I don't know who you love. But it's definitely not me or yourself."

"Listen..."

"Just leave, okay. I have a..."

"Ingy?" we both hear a deep voice from behind me. I turn around to see Raphael looking between us in confusion. Tsk. He calls her that now. Tsk.

I stand up from what I realise must be his seat.

"What's he doing here?" I ask her.

"We're on a date, Adrian." Ingrid says plainly.

I laugh humorlessly and shake my head. "A date? So this is what this is all about? Him?"

Ingrid pinches her nose. "Adrian..."

"Oh hey, Raphael. The last time we met, you were ruining my wedding." I smile at him, wanting to punch him in the throat.

"Look I'm..."

"Ingrid, maybe I don't deserve you, but he doesn't either. I can't believe you guys are actually together. You said everything was a lie, but then you see me with Sophie and disappear again only to be with the one man who ruined your life?"

"Shut up. Okay? You have no clue. No clue what I've been through. So just leave. Now. Don't make this hard." Ingrid says.

"You are making this hard. You've been brainwashed by that rascal. How long have you even known him to trust him that much?"

"Get out, Adrian. Now. Don't let me call security."

I stagger back in surrender. "I hope he makes you half as happy. But when he's done ruining your entire life, I'll be there. Waiting."

"You're the last person I'll be listening to." she says firmly. I stiffly nod in defeat and anger, and then back away. As I walk off, I hear her softly apologize to Raphael.

Life is most definitely the shittiest.

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