17.

-HER-

I was able to wake up pretty early in the morning, regardless of the fact that I had gone to sleep late last night. I had breakfast with Nana and decided to walk to the office today. I wasn’t feeling very good mentally and needed some time by myself to think.

My mind was constantly replaying the incidents that had taken place last night. I was surprised at Derek’s behaviour but I was also guilty of the irrational things that I had done in the heat of the moment.

I was contemplating whether I should call him and apologize for last night’s incidents. Although what he did wasn’t good either. He was very much drunk and must have been out of senses when he had done that. Was it right for me to judge him like that? I couldn’t answer the question but all I could do was feel very guilty for the things I did.

I decided to text him and ask how he was doing, even though I knew that he was the kind of person to hold grudges and my text was very likely going to be ignored. But I texted him on the way anyway.

I reached office sooner and went to my cubicle before getting busy with checking emails and getting to work. I chose not to talk to anyone at lunch and decided to walk back home when the day was over.

Halfway, I was feeling very low so I decided to wander around before finally going back home. Suddenly, I was reminded of the gift shop that I had been to a few days ago. I decided to find that gift shop again.

Trusting my memory, I traced my way to the shop. I find it exactly where I had seen it last time- at an unexpected part of the city. It was open, so I decided to go inside.

The place was empty just like last time and filled with all sorts of nonsense and junk. The heavily tattooed woman in vintage dress was nowhere to be seen though. But what was new in the shop was a black Himalayan cat, resting on the cash counter. Although, it watched me actively as soon as I had stepped inside the shop.

“Hello?” I called out when the shop continued to remain empty. At this, the cat rose and jumped from the counter before she disappeared behind the door just beside the cash counter. In the next moment, walked out the woman I had been originally looking for.

Her entry seemed somewhat odd but she smiled at me nonetheless. It was evident that she remembered me and she proved it when she spoke, “Glad to see that you’re back, Anna,” I nodded at her in response.

“I don’t remember telling you my name last time,” I spoke instead. This made her smile grow as she stepped behind the cash counter, “Yes, you didn’t,”

“Then how do you know my name?” I asked her, narrowing my eyes at her. This only made her smile at me slyly but she asked instead, “So you came back to ask me how I know your name?”

“Partly,” I shrugged.

“Why don’t you have a seat. I guess you have enough time now since you’ve been walking back home from the office and you don’t really have any plans tonight,” She spoke. My eyes widened at her. How did she know?

At that moment, I stood staring at her and wondered how she knew so much and questioned if I should stay or just leave instantly. I ended up taking the seat instead.

“So, what brought you here exactly this time?” She asked.

“Since you seem to know so much about me, why don’t you answer that yourself?” I told her. She only smiled and shook her head at me as she settled on her seat behind the counter.

“You didn’t tell me your name though,” I reminded her. At this, she frowned and questioned, “I didn’t. Anyway, my name’s Levanna,” That name rolled out of her tongue with an undistinguishable accent before she added, “Nice to meet you, Annelise,”

She held her hand over the counter. All her fingers were covered with tattoos. I shook it but not very briefly.

“I can call you Anna too,” I noted and she chuckled at this before adding, “You may. My hubby calls me that,” I nodded at her before asking her further, “So how do you happen to know so much about me?”

She maintained her smile and answered, “I just know,” She added a shrug.

“Are you a spy or something?”

“Gosh, no!” She chuckled.

“I find it hard to trust you. Tell me more about yourself,” I admitted. At this, she nodded.

“You know my name. I am 31 and I have been running this shop ever since I was 19,”

“I never saw it before but anyway, you said you have a husband. Do you have kids? Can they tell stuff about people too?” She laughed at my questions before answering, “No, I don’t have any yet. I don’t see him often. Just once in a year,”

“Why? What does he do?”

“He travels a lot for work,” She said dismissingly. I decided not to ask her much about her personal life but I was surprised when she turned some questions my way, “What about you?”

“You know most of the things about me, don’t you?” I questioned her instead. She gave me a prolonged look before changing the topic.

I asked her things about her shop and all the things she sold. We didn’t have any important talk and I ended up leaving sooner but not before she had handed me her business card and had said smugly, “Call me if you are having problems in your personal life. Given your situation, I think you’d be calling me very soon,”

I could only roll my eyes at her as I took the card from her and stepped out of her shop and walked home. Nana was already preparing dinner when I reached home.

“Are you going out tonight?” She asked me.

“No, not tonight,” I muttered as I settled on the living room couch and checked my phone to see if Derek had replied to me yet. As I had expected, there was no reply from him but I could see that he was active. He was giving me his silent treatment. It was in his nature.

I contemplated calling him but dropped the idea and decided to give him some time instead.

“Nana,” I called for her.

“Yes?” She answered from the kitchen.

“Don’t you ever wonder where your daughter is?” I asked her, even though I knew the answer.

“No, and I don’t want to know anything about her. You know it very well,” She answered with the same sharp tone.

“What made you take me in when she left?” I asked her further, following the same sequence of questions that I had always asked her ever since I was a kid.

“Why are you asking this again? We have talked about it several times before,” I heard the frown in her voice and decided to let it drop. Dinner was great until Nana finally asked about Derek.

“Haven’t seen him lately,” I lied. She stared at me for a couple of moments. I knew what that look meant. She didn’t believe a word I said whenever David was the subject of our conversation.

“Oh, really? Didn’t he call just a few days ago?” She pressed. At this, the guilt threatened to surface and I was an open book to Nana. If anything, I didn’t want her to know what had happened last night. She’d be very mad at me.

“Okay, I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” I spoke with my fork pointed at her. She gave me the same hard look before the subject of the conversation was changed to something less controversial. Although, I knew she’d be grilling me about it soon.

Next day I went to the office as usual and everything seemed very mundane - as usual. Derek hadn’t replied to my texts yet and I was sinking deeper and deeper into guilt. Although it got worse when Theodore came to the office for some important paperwork and with him came the blonde woman.

As soon as her eyes locked with me, I was aware of the storm coming my way. I might be calling Levanna sooner than I had been anticipating.

**...
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