On just one phone call made by her, Collin stood on her door. "I guess I was needed again," said Collin, slowly marching towards her.
Till now, she had been sitting helplessly staring in the empty space and dwelling in her daze. But when his soothing voice entered her ears, pulling her out of tension, she missed a heartbeat and sighed heavily. "You don't even look surprised now," said Ursula with wavering eyes.
He had already assumed what could have happened with her, because it was not at all the first time. "Did you guys argue again? Or shall I ask if it has reached to the point of violence?" he asked.
She turned her head in opposite direction, serving silence as her answer. Collin tried to read her ambiguous expressions. "Sometimes, it feels like three of us are married. You both quarrel and then call me to listen to both of you." She looked towards him, narrowing her watery eyes. "It's also about you," said Ursula. "I thought you were different; that at least you are on my side. But it turns out that you are just as selfish as your boss."
Collin gently touched his forefinger under her dripping eyelash, collecting the moisture off it. "What are you trying to say?" he asked.
"What happened at the party last night?" she abruptly asked. Collin's hand froze in air. "Who is the woman he is going around introducing as his mistress?"
She had betrayal in her eyes but the cause was not the alleged infidelity of her husband but it was the lies of Collin that hurt her more. "Who told you that?" asked Collin.
"Does it matter how I know?" She pulled off the tape from her bandage and it came loose. "Is she pretty?... young?... more lovable than me?" Her voice wavered sorrowfully and she rolled the bandage off her wrist, showing the freshly graved cut on her skin.
Collin's hand rushed and stopped her from exposing the cut in open air. "Get yourself together!" She pulled her hand away in displeasure. "You knew everything but still kept me in dark."
"Believe me. There doesn't exist such a person. I don't know from where you heard such rumors but it is all nonsense," said Collin, comforting her in his embrace.
"You are a really bad liar." She grazed her hand on his cheek. "I said that I want to know who she is. I want to see for myself if she is more beautiful and lovable than me. And in case you refuse to help me, you might see my lifeless body really soon." She threatened him into showing her the pictures from the party last night.
Collin was left with no choice, her fierce and stubborn threats had to be taken care of. Therefore, Collin held out a tablet and showed her the photographs that were taken in the party. "That's her."
Ursula focused on the girl with most beautiful smile, shining brightly beside her husband. "Is that her? young, attractive and bright. How can I possibly stand against her?"
Ursula was a woman in her early 30s, her youthful beauty and charm were slowly abandoning her, earlier than ever because she was stressed almost all the time.
"You're beautiful; still the most beautiful person I have ever seen," said Collin, distracting her attention from the photo.
"Remember to say that to me once every while, I can't say how pleasant those words sound from your mouth. So never say that to anyone else but me."
Ursula scrolled the photos to find more with Oriel and Bruce, intimately linking arms. Then, all of a sudden the dress worn by Oriel, clicked in her mind. "Who is she?"
"Not someone you should worry about. I told you that she is nothing," informed Collin.
"That's not what I meant." She narrowed her eyes, zooming in on the photo to see her dress. "The dress she is wearing is one among seven in the entire world. I know because I have the same one and as far as I know, there is no other in the country. How do you think she got one from?" asked Ursula, suspiciously.
-----
A pleasant chime sounded as the door shut behind Ursula, entering the laundry of Mr. John. She greeted him with a pleasant smile, just as ever. "How are you doing, Uncle? I hope the business is going well," she asked.
Mr. John welcomed the lady offering her a chair to sit upon. "Welcome Mrs Ursula. Have a seat first of all and let me know of the beverage you would like to drink."
"Thank you very much Mr. John but I have just stopped by to pick up the dress that I recently sent for dry cleaning."
The young boy working in the shop suddenly walked out of the dry cleaning room, ignorantly shouting with the stained dress in his hand, "Mr. John there's no way that this dress will go back to the way it was..." his mouth expanded in shock, finding scary eyes of Ursula scowling at him.
"Is that dress mine?" she asked. Both Mr. John and the young boy looked at each others faces, speechless to say another word. "It's... a long story."
Outside the shop, Collin stood leaning against his car. He had a black sunglasses resting upon his nose and his arms folded to stretch the skin tightly on his forearm. He was a source of attraction in the street, under the scorching sun of noon.
He checked his watch every now and then, waiting for Ursula to come out. "Oriel! how can you be so stupid?" he muttered in his mouth.
Just as he was waiting for Ursula in front of his car, Oriel passed from the street. From a distance, she noticed an attractive young man, leaning against his luxury car. The kind of mindset she had, her focus went straight to the matte silver car parked in the street.
"Woah! who is he?"
She immediately regretted her decision of stepping outside without any make up. She quickly fixed her hair and dabbed lightly on her face to fix it up a little bit. "Okay, let's seduce him in my natural beauty style."
She had no idea who the guy was, but just seeing him with his extravagant car, she went forward to attract him with her charms. She took smaller steps, significantly swaying her hips with every step. She came closer to guy and it started to show her a familiar figure.
Collin caught the girl continuously gawking at him. He shifted the direction to look at the her, and her insane ways of seeking attention. The two met their eyes and received a shock in their heads.
"You.... what are you doing here?" asked Oriel, raising her voice with every syllable.
Collin removed his sunglasses at once, seeing Oriel in her worst pajama outfit, carrying a bag of groceries.
"Do you really...." before he could proceed with his question, Ursula opened the door the of the shop, ringing the chime in their ears. They looked at the shop where she stood glaring at her. "What a coincident?" she said.