A few days had passed and I noticed that something seemed to have changed in Nicholai’s behavior. After Cheni and I met at Dreame Café, he came home late more often.
I just shrugged it off. He may have a lot of work in the office. Not even once I asked why he was late. I respected his privacy, and he respected mine too.
I sighed and just went out of our gate. I would like to water the plants. I couldn’t do anything at home either. I was literally bored inside the house.
"Excuse me, Miss," I was startled when someone suddenly tapped my shoulder.
"Y-yes?" I answered her.
"Can I borrow? Even just a thousand? Promise I'll pay you!" My forehead creased when I heard what she said. She was weird.
"Did you just tell me to lend you money?" I asked her back, looking at her from head to toe. She was wearing a hoodie and a slipper.
She suddenly removed her hoodie. I almost gasped in shock when I realized who it was.
"A-Avianna? Avianna Alejandro? I didn't know an actress was living here in South Ridge—" she suddenly covered my mouth and smiled awkwardly.
"Shh! Actually, I just got lost last night and I need to go home, but I don't have any money. Promise I will pay you right away. I'll just send it via gcash. Please!"
"Why don't you just let someone fetch you here?" She just shook his head. Ahh. She didn’t have a cellphone. I thought suddenly. That was why I handed him the phone I was carrying.
"Are you giving that to me?" I chuckled at what she asked. Avianna was also different. She even wanted to claim my phone. Couldn’t I just lend it?
"Silly. No. I'm just lending it to you. Go call your friends. Just bring them here. It's not good for someone like you to commute, isn’t it?" She laughed at what I said.
"Goodness! It's okay. It doesn't mean that I’m an actress, I can’t commute anymore. But okay then, I'll just call my driver to pick me up," she said as she reached up the cellphone that I handed to her.
She immediately called and let her manager fetch her. Shortly after she called, her manager came to fetch her.
The security of South Ridge was quite strict so I had to confirm that someone would be picked up in front of our house.
Avianna was about to board the van when she suddenly came back and smiled in front of me.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Denima Cris,” I answered with a smile.
"Thank you again, Cris. And just a last favor. Let’s just keep it a secret that I ended up in your village, okay? Nice to meet you. I hope you’ll be my neighbor someday," she said before she went back to the van and then left the village
***
The next day came. It was one in the afternoon and I was busy watching a movie when my phone suddenly rang.
It was Cheni again. What else does she need this time? It seemed that she got a lot of free time.
[Dosh!]
"Cheni. Do you need anything?"
[Really? If I call you, does that mean that I need something from you? Can't I just call and say hello?]
"I don't know about you. You have a lot of free time. If you're saying hello, well ... I'm still alive and kicking." I grinned. I heard her chuckling on the other line.
[I know you are still alive and kicking. But I know that you are also bored staying the whole day inside your house. I'm on my way to Greenbelt. Let's watch a movie together.]
"I'm currently watching a movie right now."
[But it would be much better if you are watching at the movie theater, Dosh! I'll wait for you. Don't you dare bail me!] she said before dropping the call.
Great! What else was my choice? Cheni was really very bossy. Tsk!
Since I had nothing to do at home, I agreed. It was even better if it was on a big screen. So why not?
I went to my room and changed my clothes. I wore a sunflower design spaghetti strapped maxi dress and flat sandals. I just applied light makeup too because I look so pale. After changing, I looked at myself in the mirror. I was frustrated. I was already fat. I took my phone and shoulder bag before I left my room.
I frowned as I left the house and got into my car. I dialed Nicholai's number. I wanted to say that I will be leaving in a moment. He was kinda paranoid whenever I left home.
After two rings, he answered the call.
[Hon? Why are you calling? I'm in the middle of a meeting,] he said the moment he answered the call. I sighed.
"Sorry. I just want to tell you that I'm going out. Cheni wants to watch a movie at the Cinema with me. That's all. Bye," I said as I dropped the call.
I was about to put my phone in my bag when suddenly it rang. It was Nicholai calling. I raised an eyebrow as I wondered if I would answer the call until it stopped ringing. But then, he called again. So I didn't have a choice but to answer it.
[In which mall are you going to watch?]
"She said Greenbelt. Maybe I'll buy some clothes too. I think I'm getting fat. I can't fit any other clothes here." I frowned. It was not 'like'. I'm really gaining weight. Who wouldn't gain weight if I just ate and slept at home? Hays!
[You are not fat. You are just pregnant.] Pssh! Not fat? It was so obvious that I was.
"Whatever. I thought you were in a meeting?"
[I went out for a bit. Text me where you are after seeing Cheni. I will follow when the meeting is over and go shopping with you.]
"Fine. I gotta go. See you later," I said before ending the call and then put my phone in the passenger's seat. I maneuvered my car out of our house and then drove it out of the village.
An hour had passed and I was already close to Greenbelt. My phone rang and I forgot that I put it in the passenger's seat. I took a glance at the screen and saw that it was Cheni.
I slowed down the car and reached for my phone using my free hand. I was about to hold it when someone at the back suddenly honked their car's horn. I was startled and the phone fell on the car's floor.
"Aish! Seriously?" I was mentally depressed. I sped up the car a bit and glanced at the road. And then glanced back at my phone. It didn't stop ringing.
I counted to three then quickly picked up my phone. And then what happened next was so fast. Something suddenly bumped my car. The impact was so strong that it flipped the car that I was driving. And that was the last thing that I saw before I lost my consciousness.