21 Home

"Here, Meera." Emily held Meera's head with one hand and held the glass with another and helped her drink water.

Meera raised her eyebrows. She said nothing. Taking a sip, she closed her eyes to indicate she was done drinking water. Emily kept the glass of water on the bedside table.

"Meera, are you alright?"

"Mm hmm." Meera smiled and said, "Hey Aden."

"Hello there, sweetie." Aden smiled as he bent down to kiss her on her cheek.

"You will never change, right?" Meera smiled.

"Who made our tigress lie down on the bed like this? Boss said nothing at all. Neither did Miss Taylor." Aden said.

"We don't know." Meera scrunched up her brows. The lady was strange. She had never seen anyone like that before.

"I see." Aden looked at his watch and turned towards Emily. He said, "Miss Taylor, I need to go home now. You should go home too."

Emily nodded. She had to go to see her mom and dad. She couldn't go there yesterday but today, she needed to go.

She smiled at Meera and caressed her hair. "Meera, I need to visit my dad now before I go to the company. Please take care of yourself, okay? I'll come to visit you at night."

Meera nodded gently and looked at Aden.

"Miss Taylor, allow me to take you home."

"No need. Thanks Mr. Trevor for offering, but Ger.. I mean, Mr. Whitmore is outside."

Aden looked at Meera who smiled in return.

Emily lowered her head and started walking towards the exit. The phone in her purse started ringing loudly, attracting some passerby's annoying glances.

She picked the phone up and said, "Hello?" She sped up towards the exit. These hospitals and their hallways always confused her. Thanks to Oscar, she could navigate Murica Cancer Speciality Hospital.

She started walking really fast. A shadow fell on her and before she knew it, she bumped into a solid chest.

"Sorry sorry," she said and started walking away. A slight pull on her wrist made her turn around. Lost in thoughts, she said, "Hey, I already apologized. What do you want?"

"Look where you're going, Emily." The voice sounded familiar to her. Emily looked up.

"Gerald! Why are you here?" Emily asked.

"I thought you lost your way so I came to fetch you. How is Meera?"

"She's alright. I need to rush elsewhere. Can you drop me home?"

Gerald stared at her. She was twisting her hands, clearly nervous that he would reject her proposal and smiled.

"Let's go." He did not let go of her wrist and matched her pace as they sprinted towards his car.

He held the door open for her. She got in and threw her purse at the back. Gerald looked at her from the corner of his eye. She looked lost.

"Emily? Seat belt." He pointed at the unfastened seat belt.

Emily did not respond. Gerald unfastened his own seat belt and tilted towards the side. He slowly came close to Emily. Their faces were inches apart when she came to her senses and said, "What do you think you're doing? Stay away from me."

Gerald looked into her eyes. The redness of her neck was the only evidence of her flustered state.

A hint of a smile touched his lips as he said, "Seat belt."

He started the ignition. Emily mumbled something to herself. She did not realize that Gerald was driving towards their former home and not her home.

The drive to their home was silent. Gerald had his hands on the steering wheel, occasionally glancing at Emily while she looked out of the window, not really paying attention to her surroundings.

"Emily," Gerald called her gently, "we are here."

She was so absent-minded that she did not notice where they were. She got down from the car and walked mechanically towards the door. Taking the key from her purse, she tried to insert it into the keyhole. The lock did not open.

"Huh?" She looked at the door. It was so familiar to her, but this was not her house.

She turned towards Gerald.

"Where did you bring me?"

"Home," he said. That was when Emily took note of her surroundings. The gravel path, the plants and the door—they were all familiar to her because Gerald and she had lived here for eight years.

Emily pushed Gerald from her way and stormed out. Hailing a cab, she got into it before Gerald could stop her.

"Emily, listen to me."

From the window of the cab, she turned her head to glare at him. Her eyes matched the tone of her skin. They were burning red.

Gerald was stumped. What made her hate him so much that she did not bother to stay a single minute here.

Why was it that every single time she ran away from him? Why did she always turn her back on him? Why did she never provide a single answer to his questions?

Gerald sat down on the threshold of their home. The dried leaves were scattered across their driveway much like his heart which was broken and scattered.

Three years ago, she did not answer his questions and ran away. Even today he did not know the reason she broke up with him that night.

That day, she came home fuming angry and packed her bags and left. She gave no explanation.

For three years, he wanted to know why she had left him. No amount of apology worked. She was adamant in leaving him.

'Every time I go near her, I want to hug her and tell her that I'm sorry, but I don't even know what I'm being sorry for.' Gerald thought.

Emily returned to her own apartment. She opened the door and stepped in. That man dared to take her back to that place. How dare he take her back to the place where he…. Emily shook her head. She did not want to think about it.