Talk of the Town

37 //

When Miraya wakes up, she wakes up with a terrible headache. She raises her hands to clutch her head and only then she notices the white bandage around her hand. Feeling disoriented, she slowly pushes herself up and finds Shray sitting on the chair next to the bed, watching her silently.

"Good morning," he says.

She runs her better hand through her hair and tames it down. She feels salt tracks on her skin, dried-up and tightening her face. "Good morning. Didn't you sleep?"

"I couldn't."

She raises her eyebrow. "Why?"

Shray raises his eyebrow at her in return. "You don't remember what happened yesterday?"

Miraya squints her eyes as the curtains flutter open and beams of sunlight pierce the room.

Take a deep breath, okay?

Focus on my voice.

"Yeah. I remember. I had a panic attack."

"That's it?"

"It isn't very clear," she says, realising she is in different clothes. "Why? Did I do something?"

"You're honest when you are drunk, do you know that?"

"Huh?"

Shray leans forward and slowly takes her hands. He presses a kiss on both of her knuckles and keeps it under his lips. "Our plane is in five hours. Since you like to be there two hours early, and you need at least an hour to get ready, will you give me an hour? I want to talk to you. It's important."

"Is it about the panic attack? I get them occasionally but it's nothing to worry about."

"It's not about that."

Miraya doesn't see the harm in it so she agrees. "Okay then. I'll take a shower and then we'll talk. Alright?"

"Yes."

"Is everything okay? You seem... sad."

Shray forces a smile on his face. "How could I not be, Miranda? Today's the last day."

"Oh. Right," she says, contracting his sadness. She picks up her towel and her clothes and walks into the shower. She throws the bandage in the bin and inspects the wound. It's just two thin cuts, dry out of blood. When the water hits her skin, the cuts sting like a bitch. She hisses and pulls it back from the water and at that moment, everything that happened last night rushes to her mind.

The screaming, the accusing, the crying...

You are honest when you're drunk.

Now she knows the meaning of his words. Now she knows what Shray wants to talk about.

He finally knows the truth. He knows the reason why she has been at war with him.

And if he is going to talk about it, he is going to give excuses. Miraya doesn't need to hear them. It won't change the fact that he was the reason her life was ruined. There was simply no other plausible explanation for the chits getting confiscated and not his cigarette. He had never hid them in the first place and that was the only explanation.

Why he did it and what made him take that decision was something she did not need to hear.

Miraya takes a long time showering. When she steps out, she finds Shray nowhere in the room. She dresses herself and sits in front of the mirror, hoping he doesn't return soon. She needs to kill time before he can seize a window of opportunity to start the discussion.