Arianne could not care less about what others thought, especially since she hardly interacted with her colleagues at work. The only two people whom she ever forged a friendly rapport with were Sylvain and Robin.
Robin was the kind who could brook no bad talks made behind the subject’s back. Hearing unkind gossip about Arianne being made in her vicinity had spurred her into a few arguments with her coworkers in the department. Every time she recounted the content of the gossip in righteous indignation to Arianne, the latter would always flash her a slight smile. “It’s fine, just let them talk till their mouths fall off. I don’t care,” she said. “You should stop arguing with them, too. We can’t control what others think, and I’m really fine.”
On a rainy weekend night, Arianne was awoken by the sound of her phone ringing incessantly. A casual glance at the screen revealed the caller as Mark, but she hesitated to answer.
Ever since the fiasco of a lunch, Arianne and Mark’s relationship seemed to have chilled. When they bumped into each other at work, they simply exchanged nods as their eyes linked for a second or two. They had nothing to say to each other.
For months, the two didn’t even meet each other outside of work. Arianne had no comments on how things had turned out for them, frankly, because she could bet that Shelly had something to do with it. Either way, if Mark was not going to see her of his own volition, she would not, either.
This was why it was surprising to receive his call suddenly. And to receive it in the middle of the night at that…
The ringing lasted for only a while before, to Arianne’s unexpected, mysterious dismay, it stopped. Suddenly, she lamented not taking up the call sooner.
Just when she was still debating about whether she should call him back, he called again. There was no hesitance in her picking up this time. “Hello? It’s late in the night. What’s wrong?”
She had no idea when the two of them were somehow on the bed. She had little else to do other than to let him take all there was in her.
Chills brought by the storm outside the window complemented with the rising temperature inside drew from each heated breath. It went on for an imperceptibly long time until they each finally calmed down.
Satisfied, Mark went into a deep slumber. Arianne, meanwhile, had yet to feel sleepy, so she laid next to him with her fingers gently tracing the arch of his eyebrows. Her beloved was physically right in front of her, and yet at the same time, he was so far away, he might as well as be on the other side of the world.
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