A Path Through the Woods(A RiaEgg Story)

CHAPTER 2: "Don't Think Too Much of it."

It was the same story the next week, too. From Monday to Thursday, MrEgg was gone from 8:30 in the morning to 10:30 or 11:00 at night. And he never answered any phone calls past five, which was when he got out of work. All the while, Ria's patience continued to drain.

Something was happening that she wasn't supposed to know about. That she was sure of.

Now it was Friday. 5:30 in the evening. And she expected the same to happen again.

Tomorrow, she said to herself. ...Tomorrow, I'm gonna get to the bottom of this whole thing with him. And I'm not gonna back down.

She frowned at the thought of being mean to MrEgg; despite his improved confidence, he was still a bit on the sensitive side, and he tended to be emotional. But it'd gotten to the point where she didn't see much of a choice if she wanted answers.

And if the worst was true, then she had EVERY right to be EXTREMELY angry with him...So she desperately hoped that wasn't the case.

"Come on...Player's got a point," she reminded herself. "Just take his word for it. The odds of him doing something like that are close to-"

The sound of the front door opening derailed her train of thought, and she was met with quite a surprise when she turned to see who was coming in.

"MrEgg?"

"Hello, Ria!" he greeted her as he raced into their bedroom, barely making eye contact with her. "I forgot a few things when I left this morning, I just came back to grab them really quick!"

He rushed back out of the bedroom as quickly as he'd entered, his hands now full with papers and writing utensils. But before he could make it to the exit, his lime-clad girlfriend stepped in between the two, blocking the front door with her body and wearing a stern look on her face.

He skidded to a halt just before he slammed smack into her, and finally looked her in the eye...He shrank back a bit at the sight of her expression, but was not swayed enough to stick around for much longer when he had somewhere to be.

"Ria...I-I have to go, love, I have something important to do."

She reached out behind her, and MrEgg's first hope was that she would open the door for him...But when he saw her secure the deadbolt, he felt as though his heart had stopped beating.

"No," she said to him firmly. "You're not going ANYWHERE until you tell me WHERE you've been going and WHAT you've been doing after work that's so important."

"Can't I just call you over the phone once I'm there to explain?"

"You haven't been ANSWERING my calls past five! Let alone calling me first! What on earth have you been DOING the past month!?"

MrEgg's visor started to gloss over with tears nearly the minute Ria started to raise her voice, and there was a twang of guilt in his tone as he answered her again.

"Ria, dear...Can this wait until I come back tonight?"

"What, at 11:00? I don't think so. So you better start talking."

The orange crewmate began to lower his head, and he emitted a sigh.

"Alright," he finally gave in. "I'll tell you...For the past month, I've been doing a friend of mine a few work-related favors after getting out of my job."

"A friend."

"Yes, Ria."

"...Who?"

"Oh, um...just an old colleague of mine," he answered plainly. "I-I was offered a decent amount of pay for it, so I figured I might as well."