Bound To The Seduction

Chapter 19: The Rain

An hour and a half later, the rain hadn't shown any signs of relenting, yet the restaurant was closing in the next half an hour or less. It was also time for her and Henry to leave, otherwise, they risked spending the night in a restaurant. The sudden change in weather had people coming to shelter under the restaurant's wide awning.

Sarah wanted to say goodbye to Henry, but he was on the phone when she turned around. She waited for him to finish his call as she played with the raindrops, extending her arms to the rain. She enjoyed the cool sensation of raindrops splashing on her palm and the cold liquid flowing through the gaps of her fingers before dropping onto the ground.

Henry had long finished his call but did not alert her. He enjoyed her calm and cheerful nature as she played. She resembled a carefree young girl happily playing in the meadows. The sparkles in her eyes captivated him, and a rare, genuine smile appeared on his face without his knowledge.

"My driver called." Henry cleared his throat and continued, "he is stuck in traffic and won't be here in a while."

"You can take a taxi."

"I've tried, but there isn't one available within the next two hours." Before he could finish speaking, several taxis came and went, yet the number of people under the awning kept increasing. For each taxi that came, it was a race against time. People scrambled to get in, and it wasn't a matter of who called first, but who touched the door handle first.

"Yep, that makes sense." With this kind of weather, finding a taxi would be harder than winning the lottery.

A gust of wind blew, blowing the water droplets farther into the awning and splashing on their clothes. More and more people squeezed together in front of the restaurant, cramming the place even further, while some rushed into the rain looking for another place to take shelter.

It was a tough choice between getting rained on and scrambling for a taxi, or moving back for shelter and missing the taxi. Sarah and Henry chose the latter. She did not have a job to attend to tomorrow anyway, and waiting for an hour did not seem like much.

The murmuring wouldn't stop as people signaled for taxis, some continued their previous conversations, while some took their time to complain about life. Audible gasps interrupted the chatter as the street lamp went off, and the light behind them disappeared. The city descended into pitch-black darkness, and the chatter resumed in louder, panicky voices as they turned on the flashlights in their phones.

A city-wide blackout!

Sarah laughed. Nature surely had inexhaustible ways of making life complicated. First, it was Robert's emergency, then the rains, the traffic, the lack of taxis, and now, total darkness. Flashlights were the only way people could see anything. A flash of lightning illuminated the sky briefly, and Sarah spotted Henry's face in the crowd. His face was frighteningly pale, and he looked like he would collapse any moment.

 Sweat drenched Henry's back despite the cold wind blowing in the rain, and his fingers trembled. His heart pounded against his ribcage, and his breathing quickened almost to hyperventilating. Something about the blackout filled him with intense fear. His face contorted as a sharp pain shot through his head, and blurry images of a terrified young boy flashed in his mind. The memories were randomized, so he couldn't grasp what was happening, but the dread was so real, as if he had experienced it himself.

"Are you okay?" Sarah held his arm and gave him a gentle shake, making him snap out of whatever that was. He responded with a gentle shake of his head. "My apartment isn't far from here. We could walk if you don't mind."

Henry supported himself with her shoulder and gave an almost imperceptible nod. 

 Sarah took out a velvety shawl from her bag and draped it over her shoulders, letting it fall loosely to her elbows, before throwing one end over the opposite shoulder.  She rummaged through her bag again, took out a purple foldable umbrella, unfolded it, and handed it to Henry. "You are the tallest, so you get to hold this." She clasped his free hand and exhaled. "We step into the rain on the count of three." Henry held the umbrella while Sarah illuminated the way with her phone's flashlight.

 "Try not to walk too fast. My hair takes forever to dry," sarah grumbled, trying to keep up with his long strides. 

"I don't mind helping you dry your hair," Henry joked, slowing down. "There are other parts I don't mind exploring, too." 

Henry finally had a chance to enter the brown gate that he couldn't enter last time. They stood at the verandah, and Sarah gave the umbrella a good shake before placing it on the corner to dry. They took off their soaked shoes and placed them on the cardboard beside the door. The umbrella was designed for one person, and with the two of them sharing, they couldn't avoid getting drenched. On the brighter side, their heads were dry.

Sarah unlocked the door, removed her shawl, and hung it on the rack. "Wait here, I'll go get us some towels."

Henry stood at the Verandah waiting for her to return since he couldn't enter the house with his soaking wet jacket. With his shoes off, his attention landed on the soft, jungle green rug on his feet with an orange footprint design in the middle.

Sarah returned with a stack of dry towels and Emily's black slippers, which she passed to Henry. He patted himself dry with the towels, getting most of the water out before hanging the wet towels on the rack. He took off his jacket but kept his wet shirt. Sarah offered an oversized maroon t-shirt that she had gotten while working in a retail shop.

Henry accepted the t-shirt without persuasion, put on the slippers, and followed Sarah's lead into the kitchen. A solar lamp she had lit illuminated the kitchen, and a kettle of water was boiling on the gas stove.

He noticed most of the furniture in the dining room was made of wood. There was a fruit basket on the small table, along with a beaded serviette holder. The room was neatly arranged and had a fresh, homey smell. A potted plant with lush foliage and broad white flowers that resembled a white peace flag, which he recognized as peace lilies, was placed on a three-legged stool at the corner.

The table was adjacent to a square window, and its curtains were drawn. Raindrops splashed on the glass and slipped down the windowpane, forming a tiny stream. Sarah placed a cup of hot chamomile tea on the table, which he accepted without question. He was suddenly struck by a strange thought that he'd come home.

He shook his head to get rid of the strange thought and found something to talk about. "Where is your friend?"

"Oh, Emily? She went to G city for work. She'll be back tomorrow night." Sarah said without much thought. If he knew where she lived, he also knew about her roommate.

Silence resumed as each took sips of calming tea while lost in their thoughts. Henry felt much better after finishing the tea.

Sarah left him at the table and returned a few minutes later with two blankets and a heating pad. They transferred to the living room where she lit a homemade lavender candle.

They each sat on a sofa as his eyes wandered around the room. There were two small but cozy sofas, one yellow armchair, and a circular coffee table in the middle. A small TV was mounted on one wall, while the adjacent wall had floating hexagonal wooden shelves with books and indoor plants of different varieties.

The sweet lavender scent helped him relax. He couldn't help but clutch a pillow and curl up on the sofa, a blanket wrapped around his shoulder. Shadows blanketed his face as he fixed his eyes on Sarah, who was fiddling with a musical box, with burning intensity. "You still use that?"

Because cell phones were already technologically advanced, people who used musical boxes were becoming increasingly rare over time.

Sarah looked at him. "Mhm."

Soothing music played out, and Sarah folded her knees, wrapping her arms around them. Her facial features softened a lot, and he found her serene face very pleasing to the eye. Ten more minutes of him admiring her passed before a knock on the door interrupted his heart-fluttering moment.