Custom Made For You

Chapter 41- Oxygen! I Need Oxygen!

  I gulped, cussing at myself for being an idiot. I slowly reached for the bag, fearing what was inside might kill me. Cautiously, I opened it, praying for it to not be the thing I fear it was. I could feel, my hands trembling, as I peeked into the bag.

It contained a 'Get Well Soon' card, sweater, neck pillow, hydro flask, and, unexpectedly, a clock. I let out the breath I had been holding in, the clock explained the ticking.

If these items really were for Airi, why would the lady want to give her a clock?

It made no sense at all. I was very much perplexed as to her motive. I instantly texted Vastel about the situation, hoping that he would reply my messages quickly.

A few minutes passes without any signs of his replies. I decided to take a bath to kill time, since he was busy and I didn't want to bother him much with my confusion. (No, there won't be a bathroom scene this time, it's been too many bathroom scenes.)

●◦●◦●◦

Three missed calls and ten texts from Vastel asking me to stay away from all of those items were what I came back to. Right before I decided to call him back, my phone rang. He called me again. With no hesitation, I picked up, his voice instantly deafened my right ear.

"Are you close to those items right now?" he asked the moment I answered the call.

"Yeah, I'm right in front of them. What's up?"

"Alright, I want you to leave those things in a corner and go to another room, just in case."

"What? Why? You have to at least explain what's going on."

"I'll tell you once you are in the other room and those items are as far away from you as possible. Do it, now."

I had to admit that I was a little scared by Vastel's voice, resulting me doing what I was told.

"Yeah, I'm in another room now, what's up?"

"Alright, listen up closely. There might be bugs or hidden cameras in those items, we would never know."

"Okay, so, what do I do with them?"

"You have three options. One, throw them away and possibly let the lady get her guard back up. Two, give them to Airi, as the lady intended. Three, you keep it, and we'll see where this goes."

I panicked. None of those options seemed good. However, Vastel didn't seem to give me a chance to digest and weigh out the pros and cons of the options.

It was as if he sensed my dismay. He said, "Tolmer, I need you to calm down. Deep breaths, alright? I know all those options weren't good, but hear me out while you do breathing exercises."

I listened to what he had to say, while taking deep breaths. (Always listen to doctors, kids! They know best.)

"I listened to the recording They know best.)

"I listened to the recording you sent me," his tine nearly sent me back into panic zone. "His voice was unexpectedly cold and indifferent. It was like he knew what was happening all along. He mentioned my name and Airi's. You think that was a mistake he made, right?"

I couldn't answer, I was trying to keep myself from scrambling into an anxious mess.

He continued, not bothering to wait for me to squeeze out a yes. "It was on purpose, he was testing you. In fact, I assume that he swathe bag you had with you. You expected the lady to be in the shop, but he was here alone instead. Now, there are two theories to this. One, she left before you went."

He paused for such a long while, I forced myself to swallow. I cleared my throat, my voce came out shaky, "What's the second theory?"

"They are the same person."