CHAPTER THIRTY

Astra's tears did not dry even as she sat in the driveway of her apartment. She had no idea what to do, or what to think. She was still pining and crying over a man that clearly moved on. The nerve of Nicholas to have a child without her, when she was still suffering loss. The child open new wounds and brought up old memories. Memories that she did not want to think of.
Astra tried to clean her tears so she could come out of the car, but the tears kept on pouring down as she remembered the girl and her child. The painful part about it all was the fact that the girl was not like the one she saw previously, fake with excess make up and boob jobs. Astra saw somebody who was simple and still confident in their body and that was the real deal. It was something she envied.
Astra cleaned her tears again and this time managed to come out of her. All she wanted to do was to enter her room and cry. Astra walked out of the parking lot and started into the apartment building. She was already inside the building when she spotted Thompson. Her mind went back to when he had threatened her to leave the case with Nicholas alone. That was the last kind of confrontation she needed at the moment.
Ignoring him, she walked passed and started going to her room.
'Astra, calm down," Thompson said holding on to her arm. She glared at him and removed her hand from his. She started going to her room.
'I have been trying to reach you for a while. I was told that you were out of town," Thompson said. Astra then stopped to look at him, she was kind of curious then.
'What do you want?" She asked then. On seeing the look of pity in his face, she knew she made a mistake.
'Have you been crying? Don't tell me it's that bastard, Nicholas," he said and Astra shook her head. She did not want to be having this conversation in the lobby of her apartment. She did not want to be having the conversation at all.
'What do you want?" She asked again.
'I just wanted to talk to you. I want you to understand that Nicholas is the bad guy here. Can we like go for a drink? I will not waste your time, thirty minutes tops," Thompson said and Astra eyed him suspiciously. There was no reason for her to believe him. And frankly she was not willing to take a leap of faith. She shook her head in denial. All she wanted to do was sleep.
'I know that this may be a bad time, but there are some things you need to know about Nicholas, about your marriage. I feel obligated to tell you. I am so sorry about the last time and I promise nothing of the sort will repeat itself, I just wish that you will trust me and listen to me," Thompson said. Maybe Astra was vulnerable at that point. It was probably because she just saw Nicholas with another woman. She had not also heard Thompson's part of the story and she wanted to hear it before making conclusions.
'Okay I will go with you, but just thirty minutes. Nothing more," Astra said and a smile appeared on Thompson's face. Astra sincerely hoped that she had not made the wrong decision.
'Okay, thank you. There is this coffee place up front. We can walk," Thompson said and it chilled Astra to know Thompson knew the coffee place close to her house. Even when she did not know it.
Has he been following me? She wondered, but shook the thoughts off as he did not have any reason to follow her, at least that was what she thought. She was probably overthinking everything.
They both got the coffee shop and Astra was still convincing herself that it was a coincidence. Thompson was treated as a regular and Astra could see her building from the coffee shop.
'It seems like you come here often," Astra said as the waiter quickly took their order even though other people were waiting.
Thompson looked cut off guard by her question, making him even more suspicious.
'No, not really. I have a friend who lives around this area. We have coffee here sometimes," he said. Astra had a feeling she was that friend. A friend that he couldn't have coffee in their house.
'So yeah, what did you want to tell me?" Astra asked, changing the topic.
'Oh, nothing much. Just about Nicholas. The man you married isn't who you think he is," Thompson began and she frowned. Nicholas was definitely different now. She would have never expected the man she married to throw her out.
'He was scamming people of their money using the farce of the company. I found out and I could not bear it. I confronted him that he should stop, he got angry sent people to beat me up, almost killed me. That's when I decided that I will not let him scam people any longer. I sent all his investors messages showing evidence of his crime, that's why they began to leave one by one and the company crumbled," Thompson said. Astra looked at him, wondering if he was saying the truth. Back when she trusted Nicholas wholly, she would have spat on his face, but things have changed and Nicholas did not even totally love her. Why do all that for someone who has moved on? Astra was still deciding whether to believe him on or not when he continued.
'Even while you were married, he was cheating on you. The other lady, the one with the kid, she also thought she was married to him. They even share the same surname till now. Sarah Michealson. I don't know why, but after he kicked you out, he brought her in, a few years after they had a baby. It seems like she is tired of him though, but they share a child and that's why they are still together. Because they no longer live together. He was playing too women at once, Sarah has found out but can't leave because of her son, his son," Thompson said and Astra's heart constricted. The tears she had been holding back felt like they were about to flow. Astra could barely help herself. That explained everything. Nicholas said she was his girlfriend, but she was actually his wife.
Which one of them did he marry first?
Was it her? Did it mean that her marriage was null and void? Had she been mourning over a man that did not even give her a second thought?
Several thoughts ran across Astra's mind. The year's when everything was okay were her saving grace, she thought of those times and was previously happy, but now, it seemed like even those times were well constructed lies. Astra did not know what to believe.
Was it what she had lived? Or what she had heard?
Why did he drive her out of his house then? Why did he make her leave if he did not have someone else just waiting on the side lines? What about the poor girl and her son? Would she have to be in torment with that bastard for the rest of her life? Questions upon questions ran through her mind. Astra could not help it. She should not have followed him to the coffee shop. She should have just stayed home and cried.
'I have to get going," Astra said, standing up from the chair. Thompson stood up with her.
'Wait, Astra," Thompson said, putting his hand on her arm for the second time. Astra raised an eyebrow at him. She was not in the mood.
'I just want you to promise me that you will not be in the wrong side. I am gathering evidence. That bastard should be in jail," Thompson said and Astra smiled weakly.
'I do not wait anything to do with that man ever again," she said and she meant it this time.
'Thank you," Thompson said. He sounded sincere and Astra nodded her head. She made her way to her apartment and Thompson went to the opposite direction. Little did she know that he was going to meet the man, his accomplice, set to ruin her life and that of everyone around her.
Astra walked back to her apartment with shaky legs and collapsed on her bed, the tears came like a dam that erupted. Hard and loud. Astra usually just let tears run down her eyes, but this time, she truly cried.
The tears came with her wails until she couldn't help herself, regrets upon regrets bombarded her. She did not even know why went into marriage with Nicholas in the first place. It was too quick, too fast, everyone said. But Astra did not listen, she was in love and everyone else did not understand what being in love meant. In hindsight, she realized she was being immature, but what has happened already happened.
Astra vowed to move on then, to live life to the fullest even though Nicholas already ruined that for her. After sadness came anger. She was angry at herself for naivete and vulnerability. She was angry at her parents for pushing her in the direction of rich young man. She was angry at fate for making her fall in love. She was angry at society for calling them a good couple. Astra was angry at Nicholas for coming into her life only to ruin it.
She didn't need him, she would live without him, excel without him. She would fall in love again and live happily ever after, everything would be fine. She did not need him and his self-righteous ass. She did not need anything to do with him. She would move on and be happy.
Astra opened a glass of wine to forget the pain that was already settled in her heart. A pain that it seemed had come to stay. Sometimes she imagined Nicholas had taken a chunk of her heart as it seemed like she could not do without him. She could not live without him.
Astra opened her phone and called Nicholas. She wanted to talk to him, he was a fucking bastard. Her thoughts were slurring now. She was drunk on the wine.
'Hello," she said. Her thoughts were all over the bastard.
'You bastard! You are a fucking bastard! You are a coward and a bastard. I bet you cannot face me, because you think you have ruined me. It's a lie. I am bigger than that. I know all you did. Thompson told me. You are a bastard and a coward," Astra said.
'Astra. What is wrong? I am on my way," the person said, Astra was not listening anymore. She just wanted to hit Nicholas.
'Bastard! Fucking Bastard," she slurred more as she hit her bed multiple times.
Astra heard her door open after a while and she stood up. At least she tried to stand up and fell back down.
'Don't worry Astra you will be okay," the person said. Astra opened her eyes but everything was blurry.
'Nicholas? Is that Nicholas?" She asked as she stood up straight. She placed her hands over the male face in front of her and looked some more.
It was Nicholas.
'You are a fucking bastard, Nicholas. But I love you," Astra said and placed her lips on his.