Colors of Rain

Chapter 8: Warmer days ahead

A couple of months since Gregory's departure, Eliza had nothing better to do than ponder about the letter and stare at the pictures. The rainy days had finally rolled in and it was getting colder. She had just arrived at the campus when it started to rain. That's when she realized she forgot to bring an umbrella and wear a coat. So much for thinking about the letter too much.

She contemplated for a second before finally arriving at the decision to just make a run for it. She placed her bag over her head, got out of the vehicle, and ran. In the middle of her run, she remembered that her papers were still in the passenger seat. Groaning she ran back and just as she had retrieved them, the rain got stronger. She got wet and just decided to stay in the car until it stops. She sat in the driver's seat soaked and still holding her bag having a mental argument with herself as to why she forgot to bring her coat and umbrella.

A knock on the window then startled her. She rolled it down to see Evelyn standing. "It's not going to stop anytime soon," she said.

Eliza then caught on with what she meant and went outside of her car to join the woman.

"Here hold my things," she ordered. Elizabeth didn't argue and held her bag. The umbrella was quite small for two people but they managed to fit in as Evelyn put her arm around Eliza to squeeze her in. Eliza hugged their belongings to protect them from the rain until they got inside the building. She gave Evelyn her bag and as she was just about to walk away, she felt something warm wrapped around her. She turned to see Evelyn walking away without a coat and that's when she realized she had given it to her.

Eliza was about to call her when suddenly, "Liz! You're all wet! You'll catch a cold!" CC came worried. She took Eliza's things and escorted her to the lounge to dry off.

The rest of the day went by with Eliza feeling butterflies in her stomach as it slowly dawned on her what Greg said in the letter. "Does she really care? Or was it just pity?"

"Pity. Don't get too full of yourself."

"Yup. Dr. Craige cares for no one remember?"

"But Greg said-"

"Greg said what he had to say because he has nothing better to say."

"What?"

"I don't really know. Point is, it's just pity."

These were the thoughts that kept bothering Eliza for the rest of the day. She was so preoccupied that she had forgotten to return the coat. When she returned home, she immediately took a bath and changed clothes. She then dialed CC. "Hello?" the other line spoke.

"C, it's Liz. Do you happen to have Dr. Craige's number? I forgot to return her coat."

"Can't you just give it to her tomorrow?"

"I was thinking she might need it tomorrow."

"Liz, it's Evelyn. She's rich. She's got lots of those. Now go have some rest."

"Okay." The line then ended.

...

The next day came with Eliza stuck on the bed as she had caught a cold. Thankfully, her brother decided to stay in the country for a while. Roger knocked on the door to see why Eliza has not come down yet. To his surprise, his daughter was sick and so he decided to call Eliot. In a whiff, Eliot came and took charge of Elizabeth's responsibilities as well as informed CC about the situation.