Surprise On A Large Scale

Anna's heart clenched in her chest as Susan's brain almost shut down. That was Sam's phone ringing. He had left it on the nightstand.

"That…" Anna tried pointing a finger towards the direction the sound was coming from with Sam's name already at the tip of her tongue, but Susan quickly cut her off with a groan while rising to her feet. "Who dares to call me on my day off?"

As the shuffling of her feet passed by her, Anna quickly asked, "You changed your phone's ring tone?"

"Yes," Susan answered with a bitter smile on her face as she quickly picked up Sam's phone and put it on 'Do Not Disturb' mode. "I decided to change my ringtone to something more mature and when I found Sam's ringtone, I played it for a while and forgot to continue my search, but I will change it to something else soon. I am so tired."

'Sam?' Anna tasted something bitter in her mouth. Her best friend has never addressed her boyfriend as Sam before. Susan always referred to Sam as 'your boyfriend' but since she arrived this morning, she felt that a lot of things had changed. Was she right with her suspicion or was she being super sensitive today?

Sam had absolutely no business being in her best friend's bedroom at any time of the day yet Anna thought she had smelled his cologne there.

Had he been standing right in front of her all these while she tried to decode the other presence in the room?

Anna prayed she was wrong, but right now, it didn't really matter. One thing was clear: Susan was hiding something from her. That secret might very well be that Sam was cheating on her with Susan.

The fact that she was blind did not mean she was insensitive. For this reason, Anna decided to hold back on the news regarding her sight and her scheduled surgery that would be taking place soon.

Downstairs, Sam suddenly stopped working and turned to face the maid with gritted teeth. "How could you bring her up there?"

"My apologies, I did not know you were in." The maid bowed her head.

Sam just glared at her, ruffled his hair, and turned back to continue in his steps, but she stopped him the next second. "Mr. Holland, I don't think you can leave now."

"And why is that?"

"Anna's mother is waiting outside in a cab," the maid revealed. Her message was clear. Anna's mother would see him once he stepped foot outside the house and she would immediately sense what was going on.

"Damn!" Sam hissed in frustration.

Back in the bedroom, Susan returned to her position next to Anna. "You have good news for me?"

"Oh," Anna almost lost her smile, but she held out in the end. "My doctor said my healing is progressing rapidly."

"But he has been saying that for a long time. Are you sure he knows what he is doing and is not simply giving you false hope?" Susan almost scoffed but held back. "Do you want me to ask my Dad to get you the best eye doctor in Danastan?"

Anna knew how influential her best friend's father was in their country, The Republic of Danastan which was located off the coast of Singapore, but she refused.

"No, it's fine." Anna shifted uncomfortably before stilling as Susan's cold fingers grasped her hands. "I am hopeful that the waiting period will be over soon," she quickly added.

"You know, I am worried about you," Susan said with creased brows just to make her emotion sound real even though Anna couldn't see her.

Now, Anna was even more determined to hide the good news. How could someone who called herself her best friend make her lose hope instead of helping her to rebuild it?

"I understand," Anna managed a smile that made her skin jump. "I'm glad I have you as a friend."

As soon as she said those words out loud, her heart got pricked by an invisible needle. For the second time today, she could not wait to regain her sight and see what was happening around her. After all, she had been lying through her teeth when she said those words.

How could she be glad to have a friend like Susan, someone who had betrayed her trust?

"Would you like something to drink?" Susan asked.

Anna quickly shook her head. "No, I have to go," she said, trying to rise to her feet before Susan gave her a hand. 

"So soon?" the latter probed, sounding surprised. "But you just got here."

"My mum is waiting in the cab. I only begged her to stop by your place so I could break the news to you."

"Oh, I see…" Susan trailed off. She was hoping that Sam hadn't left yet otherwise their secret would go off like a time bomb if Anna's mother saw him coming out of her house. "I will walk you outside and say hello to Aunty while at it."

Anna did not reject her help. She needed it, so she allowed her to lead her outside where her mother was still waiting in the cab.

Ms. Carter was happy to see Susan. She quickly asked about her parents and when she got her answer, her gaze finally fell on her daughter's face.

Although the latter tried to look fine, everything was definitely not okay. Jessica Carter knew this because she could no longer feel the excitement Anna had when they both learned the good news.

Regardless, she helped her daughter into the cab and bid Susan farewell before getting in as well.

As soon as the car was out of sight, Susan's countenance changed. She stormed back inside the house and when she found the maid that led Anna into her bedroom, she slapped her across the face. 

"You idiot!" she cursed with a fierce gaze. She was about to throw her hands on the maid once more when Sam held it. 

"That's enough," he said.

"How is this punishment enough? Anna almost found out about us!" Susan ranted. Her blood pressure was quickly rising.

Sam let out a deep sigh. "We should be grateful she didn't. Also, the mistake has already been made. Let it go." He did not have the energy for any commotion. He just wanted to go home.

---

In the car, Anna was the first to break the silence. She had been feeling her mother's gaze on her since they continued their journey back home and knew the latter had a lot of questions in her mind.

"Mum, I did not tell Susan about the surgery. I won't be telling Sam about it either until I have regained my sight."

Hearing that, Ms. Carter raised a questioning brow. She felt that her intuition had been right. "Did something happen?" she inquired.

Anna shook her head, refusing to disclose her suspicion. "No. I just want to reveal this surprise on a large scale." 

Anna meant every word she spoke even though she could feel a heavy weight pressing down on her heart. 

What better way was it to break the good news of her sight on a large scale other than catching her best friend and her boyfriend off-guard?

If what she suspected was true, Anna swore to herself that she wouldn't let them off so easily.