The days that flew by were as quiet as a grave yard, everyone was on the edge except Katherine who seemed to be in the best mood. Jonathan was going to the station to bail Nolan, but that obviously wasn't what made Katherine happy. It was knowing that Shaan and Rosaline were no longer together, physically speaking.
Of course, Shaan was five hundred miles away from her, but he wasn't inches away from Rosaline either. Still a win. And Gonzo delivered her package at the right moment,life couldn't be any better than it was, except it could....Katherine squealed softly to herself...she glanced out and saw Jonathan walk to his car.
" Look at him, old man. I give him two months and we'll be attending his birthday in black clothing" She chuckled and placed a kiss on the mirror in her hand
" Hm .. I'm a woman" She straightened her eyebrows.
She yawned and laid on her bed , few seconds later ,she drifted off to sleep.
Wicked w**ch of the west!
*. *. *.
Renee glanced up from her book for the hundredth time as Noah threw his phone on the bed.She rolled her eyes, he had be making calls and fuming,at some point she thought she'd have to call the fire department.
"What happened?"
"Most of the guest on the lists are not coming "
"What....why?"
"My mom has been running her mouth about Nolan and Shaan"
You would think everyone was smarter now that she had given them a sample of what went on in her mind. Renee thought, she placed the book on the drawer beside the bed and got up.
"Hell, we're not the first to have an ex-convict at our wedding and we ,for sure,won't be the last. Although,it sounds crazy saying it out loud.And what's so special about having a big business man at our wedding. I'm gonna give aunt Gina a piece of my mind"
"Don't, it was a piece of your mind that got us into this mess in the first place"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"It means nothing...do nothing. Let me handle it"
"I'm sorry i try to speak even though everyone's too much of a puss to do that"
"At least this puss knows that before i pour out my opinions, i verify them"
"If this is about you and Shaan , grow up. You're a man now" She chuckled, brushing it off as a joke.
But it sure wasn't funny to Noah ,he looked at his palm, as if contemplating whether to say what was in his head but heaven knows,he wasn't thinking about saying it ,it was how to say it.
"No, it's not.... it's about your sister losing ,her lover ,her son....the future that she could've had and most of all herself. And yes it's about me, your partner losing my own childhood friend. For someone who cares deeply for myself and Rosaline, you sure have a really sweet way of showing it. Sometimes, honey,tough love isn't always right.....And ,i am a man!" He planted a kiss on her forehead.
Tough but it's still love....way to go Noah.
With that,he did a little bounce out of the room, leaving Renee with her thoughts. She didn't do much thinking before she also left to find Rosaline.
She stood at Rosaline's door for a few seconds before deciding to knock, but there was no response.
"Damn, she must be really mad"Renee muttered to herself.
"Rose...open up, it's me,Renee"
No response.
"Ros?" She knocked again.
No response.
"Rosaline!!! Why aren't you answering me?....are you okay in there?" She started pulling at the door knob,slamming herself at the door, knocking as she broke out in cold sweats. She brought her phone from her pant's pocket and dialed Rosaline's number ,it didn't go through and that only added to her worries.
"Mom!" She was screaming as she was trying to open the door.
The first to get to her was Noah, then the rest followed, although Katherine sluggishly sashayed down the stairs.
"What happened??" Sean asked.
"She's not answering"
" Is she in there?" Sean turned pale.
Noah was at the door trying to get it to open.
"What if she...-oh God....no no no,please no"
"Spare keys...mom,can you get the spare keys?"Noah said not turning to look at her.
Gina ran up the stairs like her life depended on it, Beatrice followed.
"Oh God, I don't know where the keys are, only Nathan does..." Gina searched the drawers like she was in the middle of world war II.
" Well...call him" Beatrice was panting hard, not from running up the stairs , but from the thoughts that were swimming through her mind.
" He will be busy with paperwork by now...last i called they were just attending to him and Nolan"Gina bit her finger, trying to concentrate. She looked up at Beatrice, who seemed really composed....calm even.
After ,more minutes of searching and they found no keys ,they decided to go downstairs.
Jonathan was back with Nolan....Nolan was helping Noah with the door.
Gina smiled " Prison must've done him good and taught him life lessons" She muttered to herself.
"Yeah...or it's that sick obsession of his for the lil sl*t" Katherine chuckled.
Mon Dieu!.... she is possesed,the Legion of our times. Gina rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Is there a lost treasure chest in my room that nobody told me about?"
The voice came to their ears like warm breeze in winter.
"Why are you guys looking at me like you've seen a ghost...helllooo?" Rosaline snapped her fingers.
Sean pulled her into his arms "Sweet pea, we thought something bad had happened to you"
"Why?"She chuckled
"And i woke up for nothing... I'm out,next time,you better confirm that she's actually dying" Catherine eyed Rosaline and left.
"I thought you tried to commit suicide,i knocked, i called.... nothing was going through "
"I was feeling a bit tired, so i went for a check up to see if i was okay....why would you even think I'll lock myself in my room and try to unalive myself and my baby ??!...be for real,i didn't pick your calls because i was driving" She chuckled and opened the door.
"Tadaaaa~....thanks for caring,i need to rest" With that she slammed the door shut.
Rosaline sat in silence for a while....she hoped she looked as nonchalant as she wanted to in front of Nolan. She patted her chest, her heart was beating fast. She took out the bottle of water she got at the hospital and drank it to calm herself.
"Woo~....oh yeah ,Abeer" She searched her bag for her phone, then called Abeer.
"Helllooooo~.... I've been waiting, how'd it go, how'd it goooo??" Abeer squealed before she could say anything.
"Well-"
"Wait before you say anything...ALLURA!....yeah yeah say hi to my sweetheart"
"Hi, Mrs Al'Din" Allura said from the other end of the phone.
"Hi Allura"
"Lovely.... y'all know each other now, let's get to le gist " Abeer giggled
"Okay, first off,the doctor is a woman. Her name's Dina."
"Really?. Interesti-on' "
"What's that?"
"Francais for interesting" Abeer said.
Rosaline filled them in on what happened and she also had to explain the video to them, then she and Abeer consoled Allura and told her it was best to let Bunny go, since they had a fight a month back and they haven't been in touch.
" Thank you so much Mrs Al'Din"
"It's not problem.... call me Ros, can i call you Allie??"
" Yes...thank you so much" Allura exhaled.
" See....i told you she was the best. Thanks again , i sent his number already. It was selfish of me to make you go through of all this just to give you the number. I'm sorry and i love you and i pray and i know you'll find the happiness you deserve"
"Don't sweat it....it makes me feel like family and it honestly took my mind off a lot of things. And thank you for everything" Rosaline smiled and bit her lower lips.
" I'm rooting for you, Mrs Ros-" Allura said
" We both are....smooches"
" Smooches" Rosaline chuckled.
A notification from Instagram popped up, it was the phone number. What if she called and he told her the time they spent apart gave him time to think and he realized that she wasn't good for him. What if ,she somehow spoke with Nolan and found out that Shaan had been lying to her all along. It didn't matter how much she tried to brush it off, it was strange that Shaan was always in the middle of whatever happened between herself , Catherine and Nolan. What if he played them all?
What right did she have to call him after what happened....if she called him and it didn't work it, she didn't think she could bear the pain. So it was better to not even try than to die trying. It was safer, she was safe. A future without him was devoid of happiness for her, but she had people around her, she had her baby and that was supposed to be more than she had ever hoped or dreamed of.
She opened the chat and deleted the message, it was better this way. She told herself.
Liar.
*. *. *.
Shaan picked up his phone again to check for any missed calls. There were multiple calls from other people, business associate,his mom,but there was nothing from Her. Did Abeer really give her his new number?.
Kayid hit his spoon on his plate in protest to his father's distracted soul. The clanking sound it made brought Shaan back to reality.
"I'm sorry... it's almost ready" Shaan flipped the egg and turned off the cooker.
"Here you go.... it's not much so i ordered pizza" He patted Kayid's head.
He sat down beside Kayid,hoping to enjoy a father-son moment but he was feeling so restless. He picked his phone and called Abeer.
"Hey, did you give her my number?"
"Uh... I'm fine , thanks for asking. Yeah,i did...why are you asking?"
"I just wanted to know, if i should be expecting her call. I don't like being caught off guard"
"Uh-huh.... alrighty then. Talk later, I'm busy. Smooches " She hung up
"Brat"
So she already gave her my number,why isn't she calling?....lemme give her more time.
Minutes after minutes,hours after hours...he kept giving her time till two days went by in a flash. He couldn't take it anymore so he decided to swallow his ability to wait.
He toyed with the thought for long hours of the day...he had Kayid and work to help him get his mind off it at some point.
But when, it was time to turn of the night light, he couldn't sleep,he turned and tussled on his bed before he picked up his phone and checked the time,it was 2am in the morning , she might be sleeping. Maybe he could give her the little push she needed. He sat up ,and searched her number and tapped on it before his mind,brain and heart decide to have an argument about his decision.
"Be still my soul, she'll still be aslee-"
"Hello?"
He was dead wrong!
Crap.