33 CHAPTER 32

"What brings you here, Christine?" Raven stepped away from the clinging lady as she fake gasped and then let out a chuckle.

Flicking her blonde locks back she turned on her heels and walked towards the center of the large room.

Her large eyes scanned the surrounding and her gaze trailed from wall to wall. Raven sighed silently when he felt frustration building in him. It would have been better if it was Anna rather than this lady who was touring his house.

"Christine.." The warning was evident in his voice, waiting for her to explain the reason of her sudden arrival.

"Oh Comm'on, let me take a look. It's been so long since I've been here." She suddenly stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. The playful smirk no more visible but a slight glower covered her face.

"Two years can make a big difference. Can't they?"

Raven's jaws clenched and fingers fisted. He knew what she was doing, trying to get in his head. Both of them stared at each other for a good minute before Christine decided to break it with another bitter chuckle.

"Oh, Raven darling. When will you gain some brains?" She walked past the side table, gliding her perfectly manicured fingers at it's edges as she came forward and stood in front of him again. Raven was just staring at her, his face cold as ice and impassive to her harsh words. He knew her too well to be affected by them.

"Two years..." She started walking past him and paused behind him. Their backs facing each other.

"Two years back, you chose an aimless naive girl over me. You rejected me for her, didn't you?." Her voice was low, recalling the bitter past and her teeth gritted together, trying to subside her anger.

"And you very well know how it ended" She mocked, swiftly turning around.

She stretched out her hands, running her fingers down his back and along the edge of his pants. He was just as built as he was the last time she had seen him. All muscles and veins.

Raven closed his eyes briefly, feeling infuriated. Christine circled her fingers around his waist, feeling his skin through the thin fabric of his shirt, as she walked around him and stood disturbingly close.

Her chest brushing against his while her eyes were glued to his face which was visibly indifferent as he glared down at her.

"But, I still love you." She trailed a finger down his chest.

"Although you didn't answer any of my calls?" He said nothing. Her eyes lowered to his chest while her fingers trailed further down towards the zipper of his trouser. "Can't we..."

"No" Raven stepped away from her and turned around. "Never" His voice laced with disgust.

Christine clenched her fist as her nails dug into her palm. He was still rejecting her. After two years, he still wasn't over that girl.

"Why? Is it because of your dead wife?"

Raven decided to rather stay silent then to get involved in an useless argument with her. When he did not respond an evil smirk tugged at her lips as she crossed her arms before her chest

"Or is it because of that cafe girl?"

Raven furrowed his brows, turning around to face her. She chuckled because she got the exact reaction from him as she expected.

"It's her. Isn't it?" She cocked her head to one side reading his face. He was holding himself back while she was slowly bringing down his wall of patience.

"Well, I had a question" She looked directly into his eyes which were already fixed on her.

"How much does she charge you for a night?" An annoying smirk plastered over his face as the frustration to shut her mouth took over Raven's mind. Even before he could consider his actions, his hand rose towards her and his fingers wrapped tightly around her throat.

She gasped, holding his wrist with both her hands and looked up in his eyes. Wrath brimmed around his green orbs which just aggravated by every passing second.

"What are you trying to do?" He lowly growled.

Christine let out a wicked laugh. Her hands let go his wrist which were still gripping her neck and brought her fingers down to trace the part of his chest which was uncovered by his shirt.

"Now, I would tell you my evil plan but that would be dumb, don't you think?" She snickered.

Disgusted of her dirty tricks to get close, he let go her neck and yanked her hand away from his chest. He could handle her in his own way bit he needed to see for somethings before Christine could do anything stupid. He turned around to exit the room but halted and glanced back at her over his shoulder.

"Stay away from Anna" There wasn't the need for an explanation, for his eyes and the tone of his voice said everything.

With that he left her there, fuming in resentment and never ending hatred for a girl she never met, at least not yet.

—***—

Anna walked back in the coffee shop bringing the jingling sound with her arrival and placed her phone down on the counter. The name board of the coffee shop was finally put up and it was noteworthy.

She smiled to herself, beaming in happiness and walked behind the counter taking a seat on the chair. Her phone went off just when she was about to reach for it as she picked it up and pressed it to her ears.

"Grannu?" She chirped still smiling.

The old lady chuckled from the other end,

"Did you put up the name board?"

"Yes. Finally. It's so nice, you should come and have a look Grannu. Seriously " Her excitement was beyond under control.

"Of course " They both continued chattering over the phone when it suddenly beeped in her hand. Taking a quick look at the screen she spoke.

"Grannu, I'm getting another call. I'll see you later at home."

"Take care. Bye."

She clicked on the unknown number and answered. "Hello?"

There was no response from the other end. She blinked in confusion.

"Umm...Hello?" She tried again.

Silence. But there was something else she could hear.

Someone breathing?

She held on for a while but no one was responding. Feeling a bit uneasy, she spoke softly.

"I'm sorry, I think you got the wrong number" She brought down the phone and hung up.

Frowning to herself, she placed the phone back on the counter.

Who was it?

Maybe some prank call. She rested back in her seat and brought a hand up and pressed it over her chest.

'Why is my heart beating so fast? God, I've got to stop overreacting for no reason'

Anna flinched when the phone started ringing again. Glancing down at the screen, she saw it displaying the same unknown number again.

She did not want to receive it. It was making her anxious but her hands automatically slipped down from her chest and onto the phone. She swiped her finger across the green sign and slowly brought the phone up to her ears but did not speak, just listened. There were still soft breaths she could hear. Her heart was beating in her other ear and she did not even know why.

'Say something' Her inner mind suddenly came alive after a long time.

Anna gulped. She was about to hang up when she heard a voice—soft, unsteady. Letting herself a moment to absorb the feeling of the voice, she closed her eyes.

"Anna..." She bolted up from her seat. Her knees felt weak and body shivered when she heard his voice again. Her heart leaped in her chest and she realized she was holding her breath.

"Anna?" He sounded tired, like in pain and she felt a sting at the sides of her eyes, a lump forming in her throat.

"Say something. Please." Anna gasped. This wasn't a dream. It was real, it was really him.

Taking an unsteady breath, she finally found her voice, but it was small, weak.

"Raven..."