Chapter 3:

A different thread

A Love not Bound with Red


Riley's focus broke by the sudden buzz from her cell phone. "Why is he calling right now?" Pondering for a while, she picked up the call."Hey, Riley, how's it going?" A cheerful male voice came from the other side, as soon as she picked the call up."Boss, I think I was clear enough when I said that I don't like work calls on my day off." "Wow, sounds like you are in a bad mood today. What happened, broke off yet another relationship?" "Samuel, I hate how you are absolutely on point at the worst possible time." Riley gritted her teeth, while her hands balled up into a fist. At this point in her life, almost everyone involved with her in one way or another clearly knows how ruined her reputation is in terms of love, be it her own, or others. She hates every second of her 28 years of life. "I just got rained on.""Rain? But it's sunny today?" Samuel looked out through his office window, noticing the perfectly bright summer sun. "Where are you, in another country?""With a glass of water splashed on me, Samuel." She absolutely hated to describe it, more so when the other person cackled up in a loud roll of laughter."My, oh my, harsh one, wasn't it? But sorry to say, I got work for you." "Don't you dare give me any old ones to handle! I swear they are the pain in the...""Nope. Won't be doing that, and neither a newbie, as they can't keep up with the work ethics you follow." Samuel spoke up immediately, interrupting Riley. "It's someone you know well, at least, work-wise.""I know them?""Yep. It's K."Her eyes went big, and without even noticing where she was or what she was doing, she ended up shouting out of shock. "You said WHO?" There was another lady in the restroom, who jumped up as well, by her sudden shout. Being bothered by it, she left with a stomping sound with her shoes, and clicking her tongue at Riley."Jeez, Riley. Relax, will ya? I know how big fan you are of K's works, but don't forget that human ears are fragile." Samuel put his phone away from his ears, squinting his eyes tight shut in response. "So, you would better get your ass right here as soon as you can.""Roger that!" Riley ended the call immediately, and jumped excitedly all alone in the restroom. "Damn, I can't believe I am meeting my favorite author. Gosh, I am scared I might actually act more like a fangirl than anything remotely close to my work." She proceeded to get out of there, but just then, her step halted, recalling the image she just saw in the mirror. She was so not prepared to meet anyone at this point, attire-wise. "Jesus Fucking Christ, why the fuck Sarah had to go ahead and do something like that? My entire outfit is crumpled now. Like hell I could meet anyone looking like this." She kept wandering around, nervously pacing back and forth inside the restroom. "Yes, I could call her. She should be at the company." An idea coming to her, she fished her phone out again from her purse, and dialed a number. Luckily, the call was picked up after ringing once. "Hello?""Yvette! You are in the office, right? Save my ass here, girl. I am in a huge dilemma." Riley cried out, clutching her phone tightly.-- -- -- -- -- -- "You better be meeting me for dinner tonight and filling me in with all the details.""I promise, hun. If only I didn't need to run ASAP... I swear I'd spend more time catching up with you." Riley grabbed the wrist of the girl in front of her, giving her a puppy-eye look. "But work before anything else, right? And when it's about K, you gonna get head over heels, and forget everything, right?" The girl sounded a little bit grumpy, looking away from Riley."Owh, c'mon Yvette. You know how much I love this job of mine.""And how much of an absolute fan you are of K." Yvette couldn't keep a straight face any longer, and ended up smiling. With her hands pinching the tip of Riley's nose, she put on a gentle smile at her. "It's fine. I was pulling your legs. But sometimes, you really make me recall about Irvyn.""Please! Your husband is such an emotionless dork, don't compare him with me." Riley suddenly felt a sudden chill run down her spine, as the angry-looking face of Yvette's husband flashed before her eyes. Her eyes casually fell on Yvette's hands, skimming over the ring finger of her friend's which showed a completely different color of thread. One she wasn't usually used to seeing. "Yve, you're still in love with him, right?""I wasn't ever out of it, Jass." Yvette showed a lovely smile, as she softly spoke up her dear friend's name. 

"Even though it has been so many years since he was gone? I mean, don't mind me, but I have seen people moving on from that. And, it's been 5 years since then." Jasmine brushed over her thumb at Yvette's silver ring, which was still shining in the same brightness as the first she had seen in her hands, when Yvette excitedly showed it to her and another friend of theirs 6 years ago. Looking at that smile was the best feeling she used to get, and having to witness Yvette and Irvyn intertwined by that thread and the love they showered each other for the little time they had together, was something she felt grateful for. But for someone whose soulmate and the love of their life was gone from the world, it was hard. As hard as your limbs getting severed from your body, the pain caused by the thread being broken was unbearable in the same way. Yet, people live by, move on, find another love maybe, or just keep loving themselves for the sake of others. At least, that's how she is used to seeing, until she started seeing Yvette's ring finger having a green thread attached to it.