Rain Again (Completed)

Chapter 35

The next morning, the sun shone over Asthel in the brightest, spreading the impression that there was nothing of evil anywhere on the earth. But Kate knew better. Behind the veil of this blinding light laid layers of darkness, lurking for the next rash step of an unaware prey. 

In this delusional daylight, Alex followed her dutifully whenever she got out of the security of her apartment walls. And she chose to keep her words sealed behind her lips about it. Alex knew that she knew. It was evident in his eyes when he entered her apartment just minutes after she had last night. Both were oddly quiet about it as if there was this unspoken deal between them. 

Kate had kept her silence mostly because of the strange look behind Alex's calm eyes. She knew him better enough to know that the emotion was suffering, and its extent seemed incredible. 

For a long time, she'd been a pro at reading Alex, like a book, in his brightest and then in his darkest. Situations had changed a lot of things, but she realized that some things were still the same.

She had been hurt, broken, and battered in the past, but none of it could succeed in rendering her heartless, especially when that heart had belonged to the very same man for so long and so utterly. 

Besides, she believed, there was no brilliance in kicking someone who's already been bleeding so much.

Walking up to the very familiar door of Victor's apartment, Kate inhaled a breath in preparation and then wrapped her knuckles on the wood surface--lightly first, and then a tone harder. 

The face of a woman, perhaps in her late fifties, peeked at her as the door opened just a fraction at first, and then it opened wide. 

Kate had never known that wrinkles could look so beautiful on a person. The creases on the woman's face added character to her skin, and those laughter lines around her eyes and mouth made her appear incredibly welcoming. 

There are some rare people in the world with whom you are bound to feel good about yourself. These people are a break from the toxic world and its ever-toxic attempts to bring us down from time to time. 

Victor's mother, Martha, was one of them. Kate got to know it in the next couple of minutes as the woman brought her inside her son's home. In a flurry, Kate found herself sitting across from Victor at his dining table with a cheery Martha talking excitedly over a plateful of freshly baked cookies and steaming tea.

"Truly, you've taught Victor well, Martha," Kate said, smiling. "He cooks like a pro."

She watched in amusement as Victor's ears went a tad bit pink.

Martha winked, however, looking proud. "I know, dear, I've raised him well. Now my life will be complete only if he grabs the reins and gets married to a sweet girl and then produces those long overdue grandchildren I dream about every night."

"Mom!" Victor cried, the pink hue quickly traveling down his cheeks in the meantime.

Kate grinned, clearly enjoying this. "Now that would surely be awesome," she commented jokingly. 

But then, both Victor and Martha shared a small look, their faces going serious just for a fleeting second. It was hard to say if she had imagined it or misread the moment.

Kate looked down at her hand, halfway dipping a cookie in her teacup. She hadn't realized that she had been chowing down on the cookie this way. It was an old habit of hers—a childhood thing—and she had activated it at the wrong time.