Everyone stared at girl who had just slapped herself , Grace was shocked , " Rh...", Rhea stood up, the melody that had echoed in the walls of the resturant stopped when they realized that the peoples attention has been diverted to another side , the mummurs echoed through the suffocating silence between mother and daughter , in-between that, Denver had seen her , no matter how she had tried to stay unnoticed, it still happened, he still saw her, she couldnt tell what he was thinking or the expression on his face , she just wanted to run away, " Rhea.....", " Grace.....", she shot back coldly at her mother , all emotion stripped off her tone and her mother just remained silent , not out of shock but just to preserve the little dignity she had left , when Rhea had called her by her name , she just knew that whatever thin line that had held them up till now had been cut, Rhea gave her a deathly glare that made her blood run cold, " don't even call me again.....if I see you again , I will truly forget...that you were the one who birthed me ", saying that she left.
It felt similar when she was at the reunion but this time she was the one that hit the final blow , as she finally stepped outside not minding the stares , that heavy scent of rain clouded through , she slowly looked up at the sky, it was clouded, " hah...", a small smile etched at the corner of her lips as tears streamed down from her eyes, " it's going to rain".
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Denver watched as Rhea left and before he knew it his legs moved on its own as he attempted to go after her, he felt someone hold him by the wrist , Denver looked down and saw it was Kathryn , her grasp was almost desperate , she didn't want to let go , " is that her...?", she asked as she looked up at him , a wistful look seemed to overshadow all emotions present on her face , Denver wanted to let go but she just gripped tighter , she had never felt this way , never felt this petty and jealous ,she knew she never had a chance in the first place , she let her hand slip away from his wrist, brushing softly through the fabric of his jacket, desperate to cling to but knowing the need to let go, she sighed clearly defeated, " Kathry....", " just get our from here before I change my mind", she said , her voice a mixture of frustration and exhaustion, she looked dejected , though Denver was concerned , what was currently on his mind was Rhea, he took a quick glance at the door then at Kathryn as if to make sure she was okay though she didn't bother to look at him , " I will call call you later.....", and with that he was gone , the resturant activities continued even after the drama had unfolded.
Kathryn was still quietly seated , the music still continued, that soft melody that flowed viscerally in the room, after a brief moment Kathryn picked up her cutlery and sliced through the steak , a few drop of tears fell on the table , she traced herself for this but this was worse than a rejection, eventhough she didn't end up confessing , him going after her was a clear answer to her questions , " darn you were....you won't call....", she muttered as she ate the piece of meat from her fork, her hands trembling slightly as she chewed slowly , tilting her head upwards constantly trying to fight back the tears she didn't want to fall.
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It was raining hard ,and coincidentally that was what Rhea needed right now , the rain had been unexpected cause on yhe weather forecast that day, it was said it was going to be cloudy, as people ran covering their heads with briefcases, umbrellas or just their mere hands , Rhea just savoured it , it felt like the rain was washing away her sins, problems and bad luck. Seeing her mother was something she had not expected, why after fourteen years ?, why did she have to wait fourteen long years and yet those questions she had desperately and patiently waited to be answered were never answered. Her thoughts were disrupted when bright lights flashed at her, that instantly reminded her of the reunion when Denver had flashed his lights at her, he didn't usually take his car out , or was it some creepy man or woman, she instinctively turned and saw the car that she easily recognised and why wasn't she surprised, "Daniel...", she muttered as he rolled his window , with a grin playing on his lips , " what are you doing princess, won't you hop in.....", his words were sarcarstic yet it crept unto her skin like a stain that could not be removed.
It may sound insane but she was actually relieved seeing Daniel , he and Diah not saying or texting her after that incident at her home made her anxious, " tsk...", she scoffed , it was so pathetic how she was still shackled to them , her mind drifted off to Denver and that woman , she had seen him with earlier, she felt hear form I the middle of her chest , he looked genuinely relaxed , happy, the way they talked , eventhough she couldnt hear their conversation , you could easily tell it was warm, she shouldn't feel this way, in this situation she shouldn't even be thinking of him , she should be happy for him, this is what she had always wanted for him so why...?.
" RHEA.....RHEA!!!!!", that voice, she quickly turned around, Denver?, why, why did he..., she looked over at Daniel who just gave her a knowing look and before she knew it, she had entered his car, Daniel looked at her briefly with a smirk before hitting the brakes and he sped off. Denver stopped at his feet , she clearly saw him, why did she run away and the car she had entered , who was it?, he looked around the street almost desperately , why didn't he drive today, seeing an on coming cab he waved his hand franantically, his cloth was soaked and clung to his body from yhe downpour and his hair was sticking to his face but at this point he didn't care, he grabbed the cab door of the moving which made the cab instantly stop, the cab man opened the window and stuck his head out , he was a middle aged man and gray hair was sprouting from the side of his head and he looked angry, a deep frown evident on his face, " HEY, ARE YOU CRAZY ....YOU WANT YO GET YOURSELF KILLED ", he yelled, but Denver didn't mind it as he quickly jacked the car door open and entered the backseat , the cab driver was startled , " what are you...", Denver hit his head on the drivers seat making him flinch, he was dripping from head to toes and was soaking the seat, he hated being damp but right now it didn't matter , " take me down the street...", his voice filled with urgency, " what...I can't go.....", " I will pay extra....",the cab driver eyes widened as he faced back to his front view clenching his steering wheel ..., a glint of greed in his eyes, " I still can't.....", " I will pay five times the normal rate ...", the driver smiled before grasping the steering wheel , " then buckle up sir....", he said , excitement glazing invisible words as he stomped on the brakes and they were off.
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I looked out the window, I made an impulsively decision, I had been trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea and I had chosen the devil , though I was regretting it now, it was still better than running into Denver, I wondered what he was going to say when he was running towards me, " so.....did you miss me?", Daniel asked sarcastically , it was as if he wanted to provoke me and I knew he was going to use the fact that i entered his car as some kind of leverage, I didnt answer , I didn't even look at him, " tsk....since you entered my car , I can denote that you missed me then", I knew it, " ahhh.....did you like my gift?", he asked stealing a glance at me an then a wicked grin flashed across his lips, gift?, and all of a sudden I felt that burning sensation in my chest , why hadn't I seen it since earlier , they were the ones that contacted my mother , it was all a set up, my mum couldn't answer any of those questions because he never had an answer to it, it was just a facade.
I slowly turned to Daniel , that realization that I was still a forgotten piece to my mother felt like a stab to the heart , old wounds I have tried so hard to heal reopened, every memory I had tried to forget resurfaced . How was I to react to this , how was I..., " ha...remember when you told me that when you write that you are hoping your mum was regretting abandoning you and at the same time hoping she was proud of you.....", he looked away from the front view to my side , his eyes glinting with that familiar gaze I had known him by, when I had first seen him , kind eyes and an encouraging smike was what I knew him for before I even knew his name , those eyes and smile were completely gone replaced with a foreign expression I was now used to, "so...did you get any inspiration after meeting her....?", his voice hinting with desperation ,I shifted myself to the edge of the seat like I could sink in. Daniel scoffed as his gaze shifted back to his steering wheel , his face suddenly turned cold as he slammedhis feet against the brakes , I instinctively tightened my grip on the seat belt, he had done this before, he wanted to scare me , I glanced at the speedometer which kept climbing in numbers , but this didn't scare me , I didn't know whether it was the fact that I had gotten used to this or the weight of the fact was pulling me down into a path of exhaustion or I just didn't care.
" Diah...Diah has been through a lot, the least you can do.....is to help her, c'mon Rhea, you know this already", his tone held that of restrained anger , I knew it , he had said it so much that I was getting sick of it, I rested my head on the car seat , and that sudden thought popped in, a random thought, I didn't know why I was thinking about it but I just wondered about all the times I wrote , who was I ever writing for , that realization that I had never written anything for myself enveloped me and mad me question myself, why did I start writing ?, I started writing because I thought if could make money from the netting I was good at , my mom will come back, and when she didnt come back, why did I continue?, i wanted to relinquish the feel of being abandoned, I wanted people to love me for what I wrote. When my reputation got tarnished, why did I continue ?, for Diah to be loved by everyone , I scoffed at that thought , everytime I wrote , it was for someone's selfishness including myself.
I scoffed at that thought as I turned to Daniel who looked at me in disbelief and amusement, " you....., you are smiling?", he said as he constantly kept his eyes on the road and sparingly on me , I felt my hand slip from the seat belt, "I've always wondered if being a selfish person was good or bad ....", I lazily looked at him, I didn't care anymore, he looked shocked that I had actually spoken , I tilted my head a little to the side, keeping my eyes on him, " and I just found out that being selfish was a bad thing .....haha, can you believe it?", Daniel looked at me like I was crazy and stepped on the brakes all of a sudden , almost knocking us both from our seats.
" What are you....", " that means we are both bad people , aren't we?, so....if we die now , where would we go?", I genuinely wondered where selfish people went to after death, was being too selfish too little of a sin to not be allowed in hell or too big to be allowed in heaven , I wondered, " so.....", i leaned in closer to his side and I saw him flinch,it was his turn to be intimidated cause I was sick of it , " where would we go?".