C20 Bride

The truck took a turn and drove through a rough road, it was bouncy and Eryna grabbed onto the sides of the trunk as she gazed around the beautiful fruit orchards, she got excited and forgot about her hurt feet and an injured hand.

The number of injuries she had in a few days was surprising.

The bumpy road came to an end when the truck stopped before the gate of a country house. It looked big yet old but at a glance, one could tell how well it was kept.

The grandpa walked out of the truck and stood by the trunk with a smiling face. He looked happy when he saw Eryna staring back at him with a happy face.

“Hop out, I will take you to meet my wife, she will be very happy to see you,” he gestured with his hand as he called Eryna out.

“Okay!” She replied cheerfully,

It was unlike Eryna because she used to be very cautious around strangers but this time she didn’t feel like they were strange to her.

Eryna slowly stood up and jumped out of the trunk.

“Ouch!” A painful cry escaped her lips as her already injured bare feet touched the ground.

“Tsk...tsk,” the grandpa sat down and touched her slightly bleeding feet.

“This needs to be taken care of,” he spoke with a worrying voice.

“No, it’s not that hurt…” Eryna brushed it off as it seemed awkward for her to let an elderly touch her feet.

“Honey! You are back?” A soft motherly voice came from the open window that seemed like a kitchen.

“Yes I am back And Darling and I have a surprise for you too…” He responded to the sweet voice with a chuckle as he got up and looked in the direction from where the voice came.

“Surprise? Did you bring me the garland I asked for?” The voice grew happier.

Eryna heard the footsteps come closer and finally, she saw a woman walk out of the door, She was a tired-looking lady but the wrinkles on her face gave her a motherly look, she wore a brown dress that reached down her knees with a pair of comfy slippers. She looked at her husband and then glanced at Eryna who was not sure how to respond.

“Who is this?” Her face formed into a smile as she calmly approached Eryna,

“She had to go to the city but there were no cars going there so I brought her home…You know it’s not safe for young ladies to stay in a deserted place like that.” The man replied.

“Were you alone dear?” She looked at Eryna in a worried manner after hearing her husband’s claim.

“That...I missed my car so I had to walk the road…” Eryna gave an awkward laugh.

“Oh, dear! You have hurt your feet! It must hurt…” The lady completely ignored her words as she glanced at her feet.

“Hurry up come in I will wrap it for you,” The old lady held Eryna’s arm lightly and walked her through the dust path and into the house. She seated her in an armchair and walked away for a few seconds and then brought in a first aid box.

“Poor Thing!” She mumbled.

Eryna stared at her with an odd gaze, because they were showing her love as if she had known them for decades and she didn’t feel like she meets them for the first time.

“Let me do it…” Eryna felt bad when the lady touched her feet so she crouched and tried to take the cotton from her hand but the lady seemed to have known that she would do something like this and she swiftly retreated her hand.

“No! Sit back...Tsk...tsk, tsk how can you be so careless?”

The lady was concentrated on putting the ointment on her feet that she didn’t realize the sudden change in Eryna’s facial expression. Eryna was taken aback by her words, She sounded like her mother for a second.

“Here it’s done, You should avoid walking around for a while, or it won’t heal,”

She slowly stood up and instructed Eryna like a mother,

Eryna was so overwhelmed by her behavior that she shook her head energetically in response and stared at her with a love-filled gaze. She felt a warm feeling of love after a long time of hardships.

The lovely couple prepared food for her and sat by her side and accompanied her, They chuckled at each other’s jokes. Eryna couldn’t get enough of their relationship, which made her drift back into her past, The past she had tried to heal for the past three years.

‘What if Simba was here! We would be like this all happy and cheerful…’

Eryna uncontrollably shed a tear. She felt the feeling of loneliness creep into her bones and it was the scariest feeling for Eryna. The tear wasn’t left unnoticed by the grandpa as he narrowed his eyes to look at Eryna with a curious face.

“Is everything alright dear? You seem to be crying,” At his words, the lady too took notice of her lightly tinted eyes and became anxious.

“Did your feet started hurting again?”

“No, I just...I just felt so happy while sitting here, You made me feel like family even though I was a complete stranger...I felt like I was back home.”

Eryna spoke her heart out after a long time, The couple was speechless, The lady lifted her hand and touched Eryna’s cheek and caressed it.

“Why are you crying then? Shouldn’t you be happy after meeting your family again?” The lady sounded sad as she affectionately caressed Eryna’s cheek.

The warmth of her palm was oddly soothing, the memory of her mother stroking her hair enveloped her as she stared into the affectionate eyes.

“Nod…” Eryna shook her head slightly.

…………………………..

The office was lit by the warm lights and in the corner of the room was a table with a glass plate where the name ‘CEO Micah Luis’ was written in gold letters.

By the open window throught which the city lights looked like shining stars, sat Micah holding his file. His eyes had drak circles around them as he was staring at the papers with a tensed gaze.

“Huff...I was away for just two days and this is what they do to the project,” Micah huffed in anger as he got up from the arm chair and picked up the phone from the table.

“Come into my room…” He spoke harshly into the speaker.

It was his secretary he hd called in, Micah was already tired and the messed up project proposal gave him serious head ache.

“You called!” The door opened and a lady in formal clothing entered the room, she had an attractive face and a seductive body, but at the moment she looked scared.

‘Slash…

“What is this?”

Micah threw the file on the floor as it landed a few inches away from the secretary’s feet.

She lighlty jumped in fright as she heard his furious voice.

“I will go through it...” she replied with her eyes still glued to the floor.

“And what were you doing before? Did you not go through it before?!” He replied.

“I am sorry Master…”

“Bring me the file in half an hour and make it perfect or you can submit your resignation letter along with everyone’s related to this project.”

Micah sat back in his revolving chair and spoke in a tired tone.

The secretary bowed and turned towards the door to walk out.

“Wait…”

“Yes Master?” She spoke.

“Did...did you…” he shuttered and then decided not to speak.

“Get out-“ even though he was the one who stopped her he spoke harshly as if he was suddenly annoyed at something.

The secretary left the room leaving him with a frowning expression. He glanced at his phone and picked it up. There was no missed call or any kind of message notification. He felt an odd feeling in his stomach that made him uncomfortable. He opened the contacts and knitted his eyebrows in dissatisfaction.

“I don’t have her phone number…” he mumbled.

Then he dialled to the mansion and waited, it took a few seconds before the butler picked up.

“Uncle Shaun, could you pass the phone to her…” he avoided calling Renya’s name.

“Her? Are you referring to Miss Renya?”

“Of course who else would I be talking about,” he said with an annoyed voice.

“Isn’t she with you? I mean weren’t you bringing her with you?” Butler spoke with a questioning tone.

“What do you mean she was coming with me! I sent the driver after her…” he mumbled the last words. The uncomfortable feeling rose even more as he stood up and picked his jacket. He quickly left the office while dialling the driver’s number.