The Outcast 3

‘Are you sure?’ She prompted, grabbing the edge of her desk.  ‘I mean he wants you to say No.  So if you have clues or ideas, now would be a good time to share them.’

My head immediately hung low, very low. ‘III-I am sorry, but I truly have no clues.’  I felt guilty for being of no help.  She Hmmmed in returned.

Grabbing her chin in deep thought, she then leaned back against her chair and met my gaze. ‘Well then, that’s all for today.’  She mused. ‘We will have someone escort you home.  If any updates, we will.’

‘Pardon?’ A sudden sense of fury caught up with me. ‘Are you seriously waving me off after telling that an ‘SA’s Most Wanted’ criminal is after me? What? Am I supposed to simply act all normal after what you have just revealed to me? Because if so…’

‘Miss Sarah May,’ She quickly raised one hand, interrupting me.  ‘NO-ONE is saying anything of that sort.  We just called you here because we are bored with this monotonous chase.  Not because you are in grave danger.  That man, he won’t be able to hurt you.  We actually have everything under control.  We are a tight unit here.  The male department has our husbands working tirelessly on this case.  In fact, you and your family are under surveillance, so that man wouldn’t dare to come near you.  You are safe.  If you like, we can even call your family and..’

‘NO!’ I immediately rebuked the idea.  ‘Keep my family out of it.  I don’t want them to worry.  Just have your police force protect them from far.  They don’t need to know about all of this.’  I stressed, chewing on my thumbnails.

She nodded in understanding. ‘Of course.  Anything else?’

‘Ummm…’ I spoke after some pondering.  ‘Just quickly figure out why this guy is following me.  Also, my family and I might be going out of the city for a couple of days, so it would be reassuring to have a team of police officers secretly guarding us.’

‘Already turn the doorknob, I halted as she called out to me, again.

‘And, Miss Sarah May. Don’t worry.  We will catch that man.  I promise that we will keep you and your family safe.’

‘I will be counting on that,’  I spoke, leaving the room.

Having a new sensation of terrifying fear now crawl up my heart, I knew that this was just the beginning.  That Carmen guy; his voice promised more insanity that he let on.  I had no ideas how he knew me yet knew that encountering him would be a nightmare.

‘Invisibility had morphed into a lost treasure.’

‘Course, thank you for inviting us along,’  Daddy expressed with gratitude.  He was a wise, hard-working and quiet man, but this trip had brought colours to his mood.  Was it sad that I wanted him to feel this way because of my achievements?

‘No issue …ummm…Aisha was thinking about introducing herself to my side of the family, so you won’t mind if she comes and hangs around with you guys for a while?’ Bradley now sounded awkward.  It was weird having him ask that.  I don’t think our opinions matter to him…I Mean did Aisha really need to mingle with us? My high school bully ..she knew me too well.

Chuckling, my father was quick to respond.  ‘Of course, Sarah would be more than happy to accompany her.’ What?

Sighing in relief, Bradley was quick to go and get Aisha.  Our sections … they were divided by a curtain; a velvety silver curtain.  It felt insulting, for some reason.  My parents loved Bradley’s family too much to ever feel offended by their actions, yet I was cynical.

Feeling panicked by what my father had just offered, I was about to sneakily ask my mom to solve this issue when the silver curtains were pulled apart and in stepped Aisha.  She was looking so rich ..her golden necklaces, bangles ..they were gleaming with pride.

Immediately, Mummy stood up to hug her.  Since this was a reserved flight, there weren’t staff around to stop people from randomly getting up.

‘It is so nice to meet you.’ Ma’s  sweet coos echoed in the air.

‘Likewise .’  Aisha hugged back with enthusiasm.  She seemed so different from high school; her actions even more poised and graceful.  I had heard that she was now studying to become a doctor.  Her training had already begun, so popular, rich, brilliant, and wanted.  She had once made me feel so low yet was living her dream. Along with mine.

After hugging my mom, she then swayed her gaze around and stopped upon meeting my gaze; her smile growing wider.

‘Sarah!’  She greeted with thrill.  I was shocked at such behaviour.  Aisha, the girl who used to push me around, hated my old-fashioned bags, made sure to express how pathetic I was, broke my self-esteem, and made full of my childish ways was actually happy to see me?  There had to be a motive, some reason.  Perhaps, getting her prince charming had truly brought out her good side, which depressed me.

While I had turned so bitter and bruised, she was reaching for the stars.  My bully was succeeding.

‘Can I come and sit with you?’  She asked, walking up to me.

I immediately stuttered.’ CCC- Course.

Smiling, she collapsed down on the seat next to me and carelessly wrapped an arm around my head-rest.  I was confused by her level of frankness. Has she forgotten the past?

‘So, how have things been after high school? I can’t believe how long it has been since graduating.  Are you studying Medicine now?’  She gave me a curious look.  I felt embarrassed.  No, but I had once wanted to become a doctor, deeply felt proud whenever I got a chance toe wear my lab coats , but depression , it had ruined my grades back then.  Dad was disappointed.

Hating confessing how much I had fallen behind, I simply shrugged. ‘UMMM, studying economics, now.’

‘Oh,’  there was an ounce of pity in her tone.  She had grown up…turned a bit sophisticated, though I didn’t like her showing me pity.

‘Ummm,listen,’  she then grabbed my hand in a comforting manner. ‘About what happened with Bradley, I wanted to check if you are okay with that situation now.  Before our wedding, I want to be clear about everyone’s emotions because I can’t have any misunderstandings soiling the wedding air, so are we good?’ She gave me a pointed look.

My emotions picked up a notch.  So, she was going to pretend to deny our high school experience and was simply here because she didn’t anyone’s hurt spoiling up her wedding day.  Made sense.  Nobody would want a downer attending their party , but the hypocrisy of it all…she might be pretending to have forgotten about her high school days, but I remembered them clearly.  Where was her apology for that?

However, not wanting to spread bad vibes…especially when this girl was going to start with a new chapter of her life, I simply squeezed her hand in assurance.

‘Course ..don’t worry about it.’

‘Sweet’  She took her hand out of my grasp.

A momentary silence settled between us.

With my social anxiety getting triggered by the silence and, somehow, finding myself compelled to respond back to her kindness, I Shifted and quietly tried to make small talk.  ‘So how are you feeling?’  I was always like this.  The minute anyone talked sweetly to me, I would simply forget how that person had wronged me and make attempt to be extra friendly.  I felt like I should return the favour, because kindness, I hardly received it.  Bullying had made me cherish this gesture so much.

‘Wonderful’  Her eyes immediately gleamed with happiness. ‘Bradley has been sending my family so many presents.  He promised that he would take my entire family to Mauritius.  And this gold I am wearing ..it’s all a gift from him.  I have never truly felt close to a princess until I got engaged to him.’  She beamed.  I gave her a warm smile.

‘Good …I am happy for you.’