10. You Cheat!

The deadly silence in the room soon after the audio stopped was chewing everyone's ears. The temperatures suddenly fluctuated as Crystal dragged a chair to sit. 

The room was silent once when Caleb cleared his throat. 

"What was that about?" Caleb asked, Crystal looked up around the table, everyone more curious and less vicious by then.

She sighed heavily. 

"I… Ugh this," Crystal tried to breathe in.

"Take your time Ms. Alwack." Norman walked towards her, who was dripping tears by that point in time. 

Everyone sat in mourning for some time, when Caleb broke the silence. 

"Uhmm, so now we know two things, it is a man and he has mal intentions for Ms. Alwack as well." he wiped off his tears and looked around the room. 

"Since Ms. Alwack is not in a position to continue, I guess we shall-" Norman spoke suggestively. 

"They are high-quality Bluetooth audio quality devices," Crystal said, as she wiped her tears. "That night I expected Edward to partially confess what he did to my sister. I wore them to record it" 

"What confession?" Albert asked. 

"We'll leave that for another day we have got a lot of work to do," Crystal replied. 

"In the hustle, I might have dropped the headset in the room, which was when this was recorded, before -" Crystal coughed, rubbing a gentle bleeding wound in her head.

"ouch," she touched it and looked at the wet fingers in blood. 

"Ahhh" Crystal shivered. Caleb stood up and rushed to look at her. Crystal stood up but just in time, Caleb caught her and picked her in his arms. 

Caleb looked at Norman and he understood the ordeal. 

#

Silvia was sitting beside the man. Looking at him, her eyes twinkled as she took out a book. It was burned at the edges and was in terrible condition. 

"Look husband, look what I found." She said.

"Your handwritten notes of love."

A candle was glowing at the table. She looked out at the glittering city outside. She could see the beauty of the roads and recalled one such night. She read through the diary, happily. 

We were not comfortable with each other at the beginning of our arranged date. Ever since all that happened, I was trying to move on. After what happened it was only right I make up to her, she was hesitant but agreed that we should hang out. I knew how conscious Shahsha was about the expenses I made during our college trips.

Silvia smiled a small smile, recalling the event. 

I took her out on a simple date at a peaceful restaurant. It was a book cafe integrated with various cuisine facilities. They had the ambience of books with the aroma of food fluttering air. She looked at the menu and smiled, clearly amazed by the choices Edward made.

"I hope you liked it," I said. 

"The food, God it's awesomeee…" Shasha said as she swallowed the mouth of the first morsel of her Thai - food. 

"Of all the cuisines, Thai food would have been my last guess." I commented, "But I am glad you brought it, turns out I love Thai food." 

"Bingo!" Shasha replied, "By the way, your choice of place is also a bit opposite my ambience…"

She giggled and I looked around. I couldn't place anything that a person might not like. It had four big stacks of books in each direction, with tables in every angular arrangement. The place also had lights in a sunlit pattern, so even at night one can be sunkissed for photographs.

Shasha laughed, "Here is the thing, growing up I have hated, absolutely hated books. Reading them, having to read them, the fairytales, the romance, the self-help, the romance, you name it" 

I went silent as if my whole world crashed over me. I was fond of reading, writing, and doing small things around them. I also had a little something for her in my pocket.

Shasha looked at me, "Okay stop looking at me like that," she continued, "It is just I loved designing, rooms, dresses, dressing tables, interior, exterior, that's the whole sole reason I graduated with an Architecture and…" 

She was silent and with a groggy throat throat she said, "...and married you with a degree." 

We packed after a good amount of silence and finished our food. I noticed she was wearing a yellow dress with an uneven square pattern which completely matched the colours of the cafe. She could have appreciated how photogenic the place was for her. 

We walked out and the worst possible thing happened. While I was paying a little tip for the service, the box I could have kept hidden for the rest of my life tangled out and announced to the world its presence. 

Before I could, Shasha kneeled down and picked it up. A pendant in a small book shape was dangling from the glass box. Shasha looked at me and smiled a smile that said, "Is that for me?" I so wanted to disappear from the face of the earth. I thought she might love it and head over heels for me. Because let's be honest every girl likes books.

Shasha is different for no good reason, or maybe for every good reason. She looked at it like it was the most precious thing on the face of this Earth. We started walking and she looked at her. 

"It is pretty," she said. I looked up at her. "You don't even like books…" I told her, "Or maybe I can even change this for something better." 

"What? No!" she squealed. "While never in my wildest dream did I imagine wearing a book around my neck for the rest of my life, but this reads …, come on, put it on me."

I was shocked. I placed it around her neck and on a closer look I realised what it read. 

mine.

"How romantic of you dear husband?" Silvia said. 

"Even if it was a consolation prize I cherished it. Why would you do that to me?"

She cupped his face. 

"Love, You know I sacrificed so much for you." She said, her grip fastening on his cheeks, "Why would you do that? You still saw her behind my back. Was she that precious?"

Silvia scratched his face, leaving a red mark on his chin. 

Its sad to see you like this, but you deserved it.