REINER - RACHAEL

I knew that I shouldn’t poke my nose into his business, but my body moved on my own. Without any

sense of decency, I peered out from where I was hiding so that I could see them. The sight of a very tall

woman dressed casually in a white tank top with blue jeans with her arm around Reiner’s neck as she

pulled him into a close hug wasn’t exactly what I expected to see.

“You’re here super early,” Reiner said warmly as he returned her hug and stroked her hair.

No one had to tell me so because I already knew. This tall woman with long wavy brown hair, sun-

kissed skin and a firm body must be Rachael, Reiner’s fiancée.

“I know! I’m not supposed to turn up here until dinner time, but I decided to drop by earlier to see you

anyways. Guess luck is on my side. Honestly, I thought that you wouldn’t be home today, but I decided

to try my luck anyways,” Rachael said sweetly before smiling up at Reiner.

“You could have called,” Reiner replied as he returned her smile.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Reiner speak in that tone before, so loving and full of care. Not to talk about

the fact that they were still hugging each other as they spoke. Although I should have seen more than

enough, I couldn’t peel my eyes from the beautiful couple. copyrighted © content.

“Then you wouldn’t be surprised to see me, would you?” Rachael asked teasingly.

“I guess you’re right about that,” Reiner replied as he continued to stroke her hair.

She started laughing before hugging him tighter, leaning her head against his chest. Reiner and

Rachael, they looked so good together and they would probably make very good looking and very tall

children. That thought made me want to burst out laughing at my own delusional thoughts. It all made

sense now. I should leave as soon as possible.

I guess I was right all along. I was always in their way. The longer I stay here, the longer I’ll just be in

their way. If I knew that they were so close, I would have moved out a long time ago. Now, how do I get

out of here without running straight into the two lovebirds? I guess I could save Reiner the

embarrassment of having to explain to his fiancée who I was.

That would be quite complicated. After all, who was I to him anyways?

“You wanted to show me something?” Reiner asked, his eyes still on Rachael’s smiling face.

“Yes. It’s in my car. Come with me…” she said as she took his hand in hers and pulled him along.

He laughed so carefreely that I wanted to feel sick as he followed after her. The best thing about that

move was that she was leading him far away from where I was. After watching them walk away, I

placed a hand over my mouth and slid down onto the floor. I leaned my head on my luggage as a

sense of nausea started taking over me.

I closed my eyes and prayed that I wouldn’t throw up or faint.

…

After collecting myself and making sure that the coast was clear, I made it to the cab without any

issues. While the cab was driving away from the mansion, I glanced back at the large structure and

thought to myself that I was making the right decision. In that moment, I had absolutely no regret with

my decision to move forward.

Perhaps I was being overly sentimental about the whole thing, but a tear slowly rolled down my cheek.

I had promised myself that I wouldn’t cry because I was doing what was best for everyone including

myself. However, I still found it slightly sad.

I quickly wiped the stray teardrop away from my face before leaning my head back and closing my

eyes. The immediate picture that I saw at the back of my closed eyelids was that of Reiner smiling

warmly at his fiancée. Apparently, he broke off his engagement with her once and although I didn’t

know why he did that, I was sure that it wasn’t because he didn’t love her.

The two looked perfect today and the way he spoke to her and smiled at her tugged at my heart…in a

slightly painful way. That made me wonder how other people saw Reiner and me when we are

together. A perfect couple that is deeply in love with each other probably wasn’t quite right. Two

individuals struggling to settle their differences as they drowned in awkward silence would probably be

a better description.

“We’ve arrived. Do you need help with your baggage?” the cab driver turned to say to me.

“Oh…no. That’s alright. Thanks…” I replied after snapping out of my daze.

I grabbed my things and quickly got out of the car. My new apartment building stood right in front of me.

No one was there to greet me or welcome me. I made my way up to my new apartment. Turning the

key, the door opened, and I walked right in with the little baggage that I had. That was it. My new life in

my new studio apartment had started.

…

I spent the entire day settling into my new apartment. There were quite a few things that I needed to

buy and after making a list of those, I headed to a nearby supermarket to buy them. It was a Saturday,

and the business district was quite quiet, a stark difference to how it bustled busily with people on

weekdays.

Time flew by quite fast as I tried to keep myself busy. It was the most effective way to keep all

disturbing and depressing thoughts at bay. It wasn’t long before time came for me to head over to start

work at the bar. Now that I’ve moved out, I didn’t have a car anymore. Asking to borrow one of Queen’s

cars would be a little too much now since I didn’t live in her mansion anymore.

--To be continued…