Chapter 16: Bad News

Ram's POV

"Atilla..." I suddenly muttered while driving to work.

For some reason, I felt anxious all of a sudden, and I had this urge to go home right at this very moment, I was about to turn around but decided against it.

"What were you thinking, Ram?" I asked myself, mocking myself for almost returning.

I could already picture Atilla's reaction if I did go back; for sure, I would be hearing a mouthful from her.

Thinking that I might be paranoid, I continued driving until I reached the office, where a lot of paperwork was waiting for me.

I didn't waste any time and decided to work on what I needed to work on.

I didn't notice the time, so I was surprised to find that three hours had passed without me noticing, and if Tricia hadn't informed me that Miranda had arrived, I wouldn't have noticed the time.

"Send her in," I said, and a few minutes later, Miranda was already in front of me, which made me remember her reaction when she met Atilla.

What brought you here? I asked with a serious tone, but she knew me better than that, so she understood that my seriousness was a ruse.

"Nothing in particular; why am I not allowed to visit my best friend?" She asked, her brows furrowed, which in turn made me laugh.

"What exactly do you want, Miranda?" I eventually asked, smiling.

"Just like I said, I just came to visit you and invite you to have lunch with me. It's almost lunchtime anyway, and even Tricia is getting ready for her lunch break," she said, and as if on cue, I heard a soft knock on the door followed by Tricia's voice asking for permission to take her lunch.

"You can go, Tricia," I said.

"Thank you," she said, then left.

"Give me a minute," I told Miranda, and just to annoy her, I decided to move slowly.

"Take your time," she sarcastically commented, which I just ignored; it served her right to go to the office unannounced.

I wanted to see how patient she could be, so I kept moving slowly, but instead of becoming irritated, she decided to lie down on the couch on the other side of my office and started reading the magazine she brought with her.

Seeing her get comfortable, I decided to stop what I was doing and immediately stand up.

"Shall we go?" I asked, acting innocently.

"Are you sure? Maybe you forgot something; I'm still reading my magazine, so you can take all the time in the world," she said, smiling, and I didn't hear any hint of irritation in her voice.

"No, I'm all set. Let's go; I'm starving," I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her off the couch without waiting for her response.

We went to the parking lot together because we decided to take my car instead.

We didn't travel far and ate at a neighboring Japanese restaurant, which was about a fifteen-minute drive from my office.

"OK, so what exactly is the reason for this meeting?" I asked her when we had finally made our order and were simply waiting for it to be served.

"My goodness, Ram, didn't I already tell you that I simply wanted to share a meal with you? Isn't that a good reason already?" She exclaimed.

I decided to let it go since it would be really difficult for me to convince Miranda to tell me the truth—or maybe she was telling the truth and she just wanted to spend time with me.

Finally, our order was served, and we started enjoying our meal in silence.

We were in the middle of our meal when Miranda finally started to speak.

"So, how are you and Atilla?" She asked.

I was expecting her to ask about Atilla, knowing full well that she still thinks I'm in love with her.

"We're ok; we're happy," I said, still enjoying my food.

"Are you in love with her?" She asked abruptly, causing me to cough and almost spill the food out of my mouth.

"Don't startle me like that," I told her, feeling annoyed.

"I'm sorry, you know I'm always direct, so tell me, do you love Atilla?" She asked again, and this time I was well prepared, so it didn't come as a surprise.

"I like her," I simply said.

That, of that I am certain, Atilla altered a great deal about myself, and she made me so happy, which was something I didn't think was possible before we met.

"I think it's more than that, Ram; I think you're already in love with her," she insisted.

"Here we go again with your delusional idea, how many times should I tell you, I don't believe in love? Yeah, I admit I like Atilla, but that's just it; I like her, nothing more, and I'm just enjoying what we have right now, and sooner or later, whatever feelings I have for her will pass eventually," I told her, making sure that I enunciated each word.

She suddenly became quiet as she continued eating, and for some reason, based on the expression on her face, I think she was thinking about something really important.

"By the way, why were you so surprised when you saw Atilla? If I knew any better, I would say you knew her," I asked when I remembered her reaction when she finally met Atilla.

"Nothing; I just thought I knew her from somewhere, but I was wrong," she answered.

"Oh, ok," I muttered. In my mind, I was just overthinking.

After we're done eating, she doesn't stay long and bids me farewell, telling me that she has other things to attend to, whatever those may be.

"Be safe, Ram," she said, and I couldn't help but feel that there was a meaning to her words, but I just shrugged it off, thinking that again, maybe I was just overthinking.

I told myself not to overthink it, but even after I returned to the office, Miranda's words lingered in my mind, but I dismissed them because I still had a lot of things to do in order to go home early, and with that in mind, I returned to my work immediately.

Around 5:00 p.m., I finally managed to finish everything I needed to do for the day.

I have already attended all of my appointments, I have already sent all of the emails that needed to be sent, and I have already signed all of the necessary documents, so now I can finally go home.

"Home."

I never would have imagined I would be thinking of my condo unit as my home, since before I felt like it was just a place where I could sleep, and relax for a bit before going back to work, not even when I was with my ex did I think of my place as my home, but now with Atilla, I felt there was something special about that place now.

I just gave Tricia some instructions since she already knew what I wanted, and after that, I returned to my car and drove home early.

Leaving work this early would give me more time to be with Atilla and be intimate with her, which really excites me.

While I was driving, I heard my phone ring and a wide smile appeared on my lips when I learned that it was Atilla who was calling.

"Miss me already?" I asked when I answered her call.

I heard her laugh on the other line, making me feel warm inside. Just her mere laughter could affect me so much.

"I just wanted to ask if you wanted anything to eat for dinner?" She asked.

"You don't have to cook; just wear something sexy for me, will you?" I asked mischievously.

I could already imagine her face turning crimson after what I said, but maybe I overdid it because she didn't say anything after that, which worried me that she would hang up.

"Atilla? Are you still there?"

"Yes... I'm still here, I'll just think of something to cook, goodbye," she said and then ended the call.

I couldn't stop the laughter escaping from my lips when I thought about my adorable Atilla.

I sped up my drive just to get to my place fast, so I could taste Atilla's dish, or herself, whichever she wanted me to taste.

I got to my place in less than 30 minutes, so it wasn't a big surprise that Atilla was shocked to see me walk in the door.

"Why are you already here? I haven't started cooking yet," she said.

"I went home pretty early so I could do this..." Before she could react, I drew her closer to me and claimed her lips as if there were no tomorrow.

"Wait, Ram, your phone is ringing," I heard her say while trying to push me away.

Even though I didn't want to, Atilla insisted that I take the call, so I reluctantly let her go and answered the annoying phone.

"Hello?" I asked in irritation; I didn't even bother looking at the screen to see who was calling.

This call, I thought to myself, with a little bit of piss because it annoyed me from my time in Atilla, better be important.

"Ram, it's your dad; I need you to go home right now."

When I answered the phone, I was taken aback to hear my father's voice on the other end.

I had to double-check the number on the caller ID to be sure it was really him.

I could tell, based on the registered number, that he had returned from the United States after a lengthy time there, for whatever reason.

He did not wait for my response before hanging up, leaving me even more dumbfounded.

"Is everything OK?" I heard Atilla ask, followed by her hand touching my face.

I could see the apprehension in her eyes as she looked at me.

"Yeah... I'm ok; it was my dad; he wants me to go home," I explained.

I didn't want to leave Atilla alone, but something in my dad's voice told me that something really important had come up, so I forced myself to drive to my dad's place and leave Atilla behind.