CHAPTER 15
1325 Words
It was just their second date and Patrick had already gotten on
Angela's nerves.
She had been waiting in a Chinese cuisine for half an hour, ceaselessly doing the following:
1) Looking at the door
2) frowning
3) checking her watch
Occasionally, she took a look around. The quiet and peaceful ambience made it an ideal place for a romantic date.
The skilled paintings and beautifully crafted lamps added more genuineness and colour to the place.
The waiter had come to her for the third time enquiring if she were ready to place the order. Angela had smiled embarrassedly and asked for some more time.
Finally, Patrick arrived grinning cheerfully.
"Hey baby!"
Angela stared fire-shots at him. "Baby?"
"Of course yeah. Have I kept you waiting for a long time?"
"Not much. Just thirty minutes and forty five seconds" sneered she.
"There's boisterous traffic out there on the road. Besides, I sent you a message informing you of the respite"
First he comes late and then he argues that it was all her fault?
Angela was about to retort when the waiter arrived.
"Order?" asked he, with an amiable smile.
They ordered fried rice, noodles, squid and fried prawn dumplings.
Angela spoke after the waiter left.
"Firstly, you don't apologise for being late and then you put all the blame on me?" she seethed.
Patrick sighed. "I'm sorry. But why would I want to keep you waiting?" pleaded he with sincere eyes.
It was his eyes that enthralled Angela. The eyes that she would willingly drown deep into.
"Angela has accepted your pardon. Only see to that you don't get on her nerves again"
Patrick chuckled. "By the way, where is your phone?" he asked looking at her empty hand.
"I lost it. Should get a new one"
"Such an irresponsible little girl you are" nudged Patrick. He loved provoking Angela. He thought she looked lovely when she behaved like a bomb.
Angela glared. "I didn't lose it!" she argued, moving her hands dramatically as she spoke. "I left in the garden while on the run. I think the stalker must have taken it"
A bunch of seconds ticked by before the reality of the words struck Patrick. "Did you just say the stalker took it away from you?"
"Yep" replied she.
"Why didn't you tell this at the first place, when you were elaborating the incident to Ronny?"
"I was too scared and preoccupied to think about my phone at that time. Later, when I realised I didn't have it, I went down to the same place along with Rachel to search and we didn't find it"
"One of the servants could have taken it, couldn't they?"
"No one goes there besides the gardener. And he is a very loyal man"
Patrick contemplated what he had just heard. "There are possibilities that the stalker could have taken it. Which means he could be having it with him right now"
Angela nodded. "What's going on in that mind of yours?"
Patrick involuntarily itched his cheeks, circling near the jaws.
"I can trace him. Provided the phone is active" he asserted.
"We called the number once but it said the phone was out of reach"
"The stalker should have some motive for taking it. Perhaps he is keeping it active only in times when he is executing his plan. If I try and trace it at that moment, I'll find him"
Angela chuckled. "Cop minded!"
Just then, the food arrived. It was delicious and they enjoyed a hearty meal.
Patrick and Angela were a different kind of couple. They enjoyed bullying each other, cracking filthy jokes and laughing for no reason.
But as Angela was sat in that exotic Chinese cuisine watching Patrick hog in prawns, she wondered if anyone in this whole wide world could make her as happy as he does.
The last time she'd felt that was when she was with her father. He would cradle her in his arms and tell her exciting stories.
Patrick stopped eating and noticed the look of despair in her eyes.
"Will you always be there for me?" she asked, with quivering lips.
Patrick saw the crinkling tear at the corner of her eyes and realised what great emotions that question held.
His heart blazed fervently for her. He bored into her eyes with his and slowly reached out for her hand. Once, he got it, he gently took it in his and gave a gentle squeeze.
"I will be there for you. Always" he assured.
Later that night.......
Ronny wondered why Sarah was acting so bizarre.
She had fever and her body felt blazing hot. Ronny had tried massaging her forehead with ice cubes but she'd firmly refused.
Her forehead appeared creased, eyes strained, hands trembling and jaws shivering.
He offered to take her to a doctor but she declined.
For some reason, she avoided looking into his eyes and kept snubbing at him saying she needed some time alone.
"Shall I get you some medicines, at least?"
Sarah sighed. "For the umpteenth time, I'm fine. Just leave me alone"
Ronny knew that in every sense, she was lying. Something was keeping her perturbed and she wasn't ready to open it out to him.
But, he thought this wasn't the time to wrangle and aggravate her temper.
"Okay. Take good rest" he said curtly and switched off the lamp.
He was about to leave when something captured his attention.
Something was on the lamp stand, emitting a blue light that blinked every alternative second.
It was her laptop.
Ronny gingerly took it in his arms and exited the bedroom.
He plopped on the divan in their drawing room and opened the laptop. It reflected his worried face.
He checked the history and the last search that Sarah had made was about Veronica Marie Bolton.
He regurgitated what Patrick had told in the precinct.
"Check out if Sarah is alright. She felt a little dizzy, I guess, when you were inside, busy interrogating Bolton"
Ronny raked his mind.
What connection could Sarah and Veronica plausibly share?
Suddenly, his phone rang.
The call was from an unknown number.
Ronny felt the urge to hang up, but still, something made him answer it.
"Hello" he said.
There was no response.
"Hello" Ronny said again, pretty irked.
And then he heard a voice.
A voice that he could least recognise.
"Withdraw the Richard Anderson homicide"
Ronny sat up straight. His heart raced.
"Who are you?"
All that he heard was a cruel laugh. "If you don't, the consequences would be severe" the person said, laughter still lingering in the voice.
Ronny smirked. He'd handled too much of this s**t. "Says someone who isn't bold enough to even say their name?"
He heard a sigh. "You don't want Sarah to know about Ashley, do you?"
Ronny's eyes widened.
He couldn't believe his ears.
Did that person just say Ashley?
His eyes turned red and blood shot.
"Who are you?" he asked more vehemently this time.
But the person had already hung up.
Ronny tried the number again and this time it was out of reach.
He got up and paced, tension soaring up to his brain.
Ashley? How did they know about Ashley?
There was only one person in this world to whom he had confided about Ashley.
Patrick.
Now, was he playing some kind of joke on him?
Ronny quickly dialled his friend's number.
"Hey, sorry for disturbing you" he said trembling. "Can you do me a favour?"
He'd given him the number and asked to check the name it was registered to.
Ronny waited for his friend's phone call, biting his knuckles.
A habit that he'll get into only when he is nervous.
He can't let Sarah know about Ashley.
Not when she loves him so much.
The friend called him back.
Ronny picked it up, his every nerve throbbing with angst.
"The number is registered to Angela Carter"
- Writer
