Page 93 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
While he listened to her speak, Ryan became so eerily still, Nori wasn’t sure if he was even breathing by the time she was done. She glanced at him, wiping the dampness off her face with her sleeve, and flinched.
“So, you told him everything,” he said, a tick working in his jaw, “and he still went ahead and touched you.”
She should’ve just kept her mouth shut. “It wasn’t like that. He—I asked him to. It was my fault.”
“I’m going to kill that sick bastard.”
“No, wait!” Nori reached for his hand as he sprung from his seat, but he smacked it away. “It wasmyfault!”
“I don’t care whose fault it was! Howdarehe?” Ryan turned on his heels and stormed out of the apartment.
“Ryan, listen to me—wait!” She ran after him, but the elevator door closed right before she could get in.
Rushing back into her apartment, she reached for her phone.
Vir answered on the first ring. “Nori?”
His voice, a mixture of relieved and alarmed, instantly turned her legs into noodles.
“Vir—oh—” She grabbed the couch for support. “You’re not at the library, are you? If you see Ryan, could you—if you see him, just avoid him, okay? He has a bit of a temper right now. Just don’t—don’t engage. And don’t listen to him. Please.” She was blabbering and likely not making much sense to him. But she didn’t know what else to do. She had to dosomething.
Tanya had lent her an old admin car for the week. She grabbed the keys and hurried out of the apartment. As long as she could catch up with Ryan before he found Vir, she’d be able to talk some sense into him and everything would be fine.
“Why?” Vir asked. “What’s going on?”
“Just do as I say. I’ll explain later.”
“No.”
“What?”
“No. Explain it to me now.”
“I can’t right now. Not over phone—”
“Meet me, then. And explain.”
“I can’t—”
“I’m at the café near your apartment.” His voice turned strained. “Please… Nori.”
“Fine,” she managed before a fresh sob hacked its way up her throat. “Fine.”
It was still pouring and a lot darker when Nori reached the intersection near the café. Slowing the car down, she glanced towards the brightly lit window in the distance, and found him standing right outside with a large black umbrella, waiting for her.
He must’ve seen her, too, because his posture immediately went from slouched to meerkat-straight. She would’ve found it comical in any other scenario than the one she was in. But now, as their eyes met and his face broke into a familiar smile, the contents of her ribcage turned into goo, making her instantly regret her choices. All of them.
Who was she trying to fool? She couldn’t meet him. Not if she wanted to keep her facade intact. If she let herself go anywhere near him now, she was just going to cling on to him and beg him to take her back. She couldn’t risk that.
There were no other vehicles on the intersection besides hers. With a brief look in the rear-view mirror, she began backing out of there. A few things happened in quick succession then.
As if realizing what she intended to do, Vir started towards her, his umbrella forgotten on the sidewalk behind him. On her right, a single car appeared, speeding towards the intersection.
It was a strange moment for her brain to recall her old arguments with Ryan about his reckless driving whenever he was pissed. It did so anyway.
Considering Vir’s trajectory towards her, she knew it was going to be an almost blind turn for Ryan. He’d never see Vir in time. And even if he did, the roads were too slick for him to brake before it was too late.
It all clicked then. “Oh…” The choice Nori had to make. The sacrifice Anita had warned her about.
