RED INK
EP 16: A road to Convergence
~~Lorin's Point Of View~~
She perceived an aroma in the air, it smelt like pepper soup. She squeezed her eyes, squinting at her environment, the first thing she notice was the nude coloured couch she was lying face down on, then the cream drapes hanging on the walls...this was her home. She sat up, her face smudged with makeup that was unwashed. Her hand moved around her body touching the furry textured material on her body...she was changed. Aurora.
How did she get home last night? Did she climb up the stairs? How come she didn't remember? She began to sort things out in her head; she remembered her last cup of wine she drank before leaving the gala, then backward to when she bumped into Fred by the washroom entrance, and then...Diana. Shit! "The audacity of the asshole!" She lamented. " Who do you think you are?" She stood up out of annoyance and picked up a throw pillow from the couch. She threw it on the floor and began stepping on it. "Die! Die son of a bitch!"
Aurora walked into the living room, her hair packed in a messy bun, dressed in a plain white polo on a black trouser and black sneakers, her backpack slung behind her back. On her face was a clear confusion—she was stunned by the act Lorin was putting on. "Lorin! On a fresh morning?" She asked.
Lorin looked at her, breathing heavily, hands rested on her waist. She pouted.
Aurora's eyes zeroed in on the pillow on the floor. "Is that my throw pillow?"
Lorin stared at the floor. "Oh...sorry."
Aurora ran to it, picked it up and started straightening it out. "Please Lorin, you are free to vent, but don't take it out on my innocent pillows, they did nothing to you." She pouted too and arranged the pillow carefully on the couch. When she was done, she faced Lorin. "Make sure it's still here...the way I left it."
Lorin blinked at her. "Noted."
Aurora adjusted her backpack. "Hope you are not referring to your boss as a son of a bitch?"
Lorin looked at her, wondering why she suddenly asked the question.
"I am just saying, because he brought you home last night."
Lorin's eyes widened. "He did what?"
Aurora smiled. "Brought you home." She blinked rapidly at her.
"You met my boss? Like...he came up here or in his car?"
"He came up here." She replied. "Him and a guy who looked like his body guard, who carried you to the couch."
Lorin walked up to her, truly surprised. "It wasn't you who carried me to the couch?"
"Aish! Lorin! How can I carry you to the couch? Have you seen the strength of me? I can't even lift up a 50kg bag of rice. How can I carry you, much up the stairs? Idiot!"
"Then who changed my clothes? Was it you or..."
Aurora grinned. "Calm down. He only carried you up the stairs. You left your purse behind so your boss helped bring it up for you. Saving time he said."
Lorin's expression changed to first hand embarrassment. She bent to the ground and started fake sobbing. She heard her phone ringing. She got up and began looking for it. She followed the sound, it came from her purse that laid on the center table. She opened it and carried her phone. It was Fred. She dropped it.
"Your boss?" Aurora asked.
Lorin shook her head.
"Then why don't you pick it?"
"It's Fred."
"Ow..who is Fred?"
"My boss' PA."
Aurora thought about it. "Oh...the guy you told me about. Was he the one that carried you up the stairs yesterday too?"
She nodded.
"Aw. I thought his name was Fabian or something. But why won't you pick the call though? It might be something important."
The phone stopped ringing and started ringing again.
"Just pick it!" Aurora ordered.
Lorin was used to Aurora talking authoritatively. It gave her a stand on ground, made patients listen to her in a firm-type-of-way. She slid up the 'accept' button and put it on speaker. "Good morning, Fred."
The receiver cackled. Seemed the network was fumbling this morning. "Good morning. How do you feel?"
Lorin looked at Aurora who was shyly smiling at her. "My head is pounding...too much—"
"—she just woke up!" Aurora interrupted.
"Aurora!" Lorin yelled at her.
She grinned.
"It's fine." Fred said on the other end. "Boss said to tell you to take today off and report to work starting tomorrow."
Lorin now smiled. "Okay."
"Okay." Fred ended the call.
"Awwwn...I told you might be important."
Lorin went and sat on the couch, Aurora following her.
"But you told me your boss was a crackhead." Aurora poked her.
"He is...sometimes." She narrowed her eyes. "But last night, he was a totally different person. Different from his usual demeanor. It felt off, but..."
"But?"
"... mesmerizing in a good way. I don't know."
"Well, the boss I met last night was a cool guy. He even laughed with me."
Lorin looked up at her, stunned. "He did that?"
Aurora nodded. "He even told me that when I see something or someone I think is fine or good-looking, I shouldn't hesitate to compliment. I should go all in."
"Sounds like something similar he told me."
Aurora laughed. "I guess it's his motto if he is constantly saying it." She patted Lorin's back. "I have to go."
"Go? Go where?"
"Hello Lorin," She waved at her. "My national Board exam is today. It starts at 9AM."
"Oh...I forgot."
She looked at her phone time. "It's 7:35 now. I have to be there in time." She stood up from the handle of the chair she was sitting on. "I made tilapia fish pepper soup for your hangover. But I am pretty sure now that you don't need it. You look awake than ever."
Lorin smiled at her. "Thank you, Aurora. Success on your exam."
Aurora smiled back and walked to the exit door, unlocking the locks and closing the door behind her.
Lorin stood up, her mind going back to Diana. What prompted the girl to approach her in such manner? And all because of Dillion. What was her relationship to her boss? She shook it off her head, picked up her phone and strolled into the kitchen, the aroma of the pepper soup entering her nose. She opened the pot, letting out steam, the fish looking tantalizing. She picked up a deep plate, rinsed it in the sink and started serving a potion onto it.
Shoot! She remembered she had not brushed. She covered the pot, looked for a small flat plate to cover the deeper one and ran into her room and into her bathroom.
•
•
Sai looked through her window blinds, judging by the ground level, she could tell she was either on the third or fourth floor. This was the first time in two years that she was seeing the landscape of a building other than that of the mansion she used to be in. Though she figured she was hidden back then, she now couldn't bring herself to run away. Because she remembered. She remembered the moment she opened her eyes from that unconsciousness what had happened to her. She remembered a bag was tightened over her head, her hands tied behind her back and then, she felt the wetness of the water...she was falling, deeper deeper as the weight on her legs pulled her down. She struggled for air...
She remembered being able to stay alive for some minutes until she couldn't take it anymore. Then she remembered someone taking off the bag over her head, his long hair flowing with the movement of the water...Was he merman? She also remembered feeling the weight on her leg becoming lighter, and as her eyes closed, she felt him pull her up...
She clutched the napkin in her hand. She needed answers. She needed them now! It occurred to her that she was alive. Of all the whole things in the world, she was alive. And she remembered countless times when she wanted to kill herself, how Dillion had pulled her back to consciousness. And she had thought all these while of how he was the enemy. How could the enemy who wanted to drown her dive back into the water to save her just minutes after throwing her in?
She needed answers, and she will get it. She just had to wait for Dillion.