Rain Again (Completed)

Chapter 9

Victor was so mad at Kate. He had been scolding her ears off for an hour at a stretch.

He placed the wet cloth on her forehead again and dropped the earlier one in the water bowl. The faint scent of vinegar mixed in the water had Kate crinkling her nose. He glared at that. He was in no way going to fall for the faces she was making. Not today.

"Do not give me that look, Kate. What came upon you that you dared stand like that in the rain? That too for so damn long! You were bloody covered in mud from head to toe—"

"Now that's a slight exaggeration, Victor!" she cut in only to receive another glare.

"You're not a child, Kate! You're already not well—having fever every now and then, those freaky headaches - and God knows how long we'll have to wait for those damn test results—"

"A few more days."

"Do not interrupt!"

"Victor, would you please stop!" she sighed, getting exhausted by his endless chiding. "I told you I'm feeling fine now." 

"The damn you're! Do you even have any idea how worried I was? You didn't come to the boutique today and, Ellie and I—kept trying to reach you over the phone. Thank f*ck that I decided to come over to your apartment, or you would have probably stood before your apartment staring at the rainy sky for God knows how long—"

Not finding any other way, she put her hand over his mouth. It worked because instantly, the never-ending lecture came to a halting stop. However, at the same time, his eyes, too, glazed over for some reason. 

The distress in his eyes changed into that of affection.

Feeling the sudden shift in the ambiance, she slid down her hand slowly. She looked away, maybe because some things are better to be left unseen.

He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Kate," he tore the silence, the tone of his voice soft yet grave. "You need to tell me what happened because I can tell something has really happened recently. Is it that friend of yours -- what's his name? Uh—Neil, yes. Did he again try to meet you or contact you in any way? Is he stalking you or something?"

She shook her head in negative. 

Victor was already stressed up to the limit, telling him that Alex was here in Asthel would just mean another freak-out session, and even, possibly, a war. It was only reasonable that she kept quiet for the time being. Anyway, it wasn't like Victor was running off somewhere, and she wouldn't be able to tell him later.

"Nothing of that sort happened, Victor. I—I was just, I don't know—I kind of lost myself in the rain on my way to the boutique. I've always loved the rain."

And Alex.

She met him for the first time on a rainy day. Her love for the rain and for him had conjoined since then.

She listened absentmindedly as Victor returned to his boundless lectures after checking her temperature for the hundredth time.

Her thoughts floated back to the lakeside—back to Alex.

She squeezed her eyes closed. 

Why had fate been playing with her like this? There was nothing left in her that could break any further—yet the heavens had found a way to do just that by flinging him back into her life so cruelly. Her instincts whispered they were to cross paths again, and again until he ruined what was left of her shattered self entirely.

She felt restless. She had been like this since that unexpected encounter with him a few days ago.

The desire to curl up into a ball, run away again, and hide in a corner so that she would never have to face him had gripped its cold, clammy fingers around her throat for the most part of her lonely nights. Not because she was scared to fight him, but because of the fact that then she would have to fight the one she loved.