The Experiment © [Completed]

Chapter 56 - Free Fall

"RJaaaay!!!" The guys from his team called him, jeering as he walked into his and Ken's cubicle.

"Guys!" he groaned, plopping on his seat and dropping his face on his hand. The boys laughed some more.

"It's okay, RJ. At least you didn't go down without a fight. Your girl's a little feisty but you didn't let her just win," Ken said, patting his shoulder.

"It was a nice game actually," another guy quipped. "I enjoyed watching it more than playing it to be honest." he added, laughing.

RJ was red ind the face as he swiveled his chair to face his desk. "Get back to work guys!"

He turned his laptop on and checked his email first. There were a couple of emails from the management - one sending a congratulations to the new winning team and then another one bearing the monthly newsletter. There was an email from Matt too and a few more from his editor. He scrolled down a little more and saw three emails from Christine.

He frowned, opening each one of them. The emails were similar; all containing a video clip that he had to download before playing. He immediately deleted the first one, and then the second.

When he reached the third email, his mouse cursor hovered for a moment on the delete button and he clucked his tongue for a few seconds while deciding what to do. He finally heaved a deep sigh and clicked delete.

...
...
...

Dammit, RJ!

He quickly opened his trash folder and recovered the last email. His curiosity was getting the best of him and he hit the download button on the video.

His heart was pounding hard but he convinced himself that whatever Christine was up to was nothing. He silently cursed himself for still going through it but he couldn't stop now with the video already downloading at 95%.

96...

97...

98...

99...

100...

He clicked play.

The video showed Dei and James inside a coffee shop.

When was this? he thought. He couldn't remember the two of them going out without her other friends.

They were smiling as they talked and James said something that made Dei duck her head and blush. RJ felt a pang on his chest as he watched her do that. Then James said something that made her laugh hard and her head threw back as she let out that gleeful sound - like how she usually did when she laughed with him. Dei moved closer to James and placed one of her earphones in his ear, and then she played something on her phone. She watched his expression and James looked happy at the attention. RJ bit his lip hard and his hands clenched into fists as he watched them listen happily to whatever song she had for him.

"What's that, RJ?" asked Ken but his voice sounded so far away as RJ became more immersed in his feeling of betrayal. He didn't respond.

The video was cut and transitioned to a zoom-in shot of James and Dei standing by the mall entrance, obviously waiting for a ride. A cab stopped in front of them and James pulled Dei in a tight hug, which she returned without hesitation, her arms wrapping tightly around his waist. RJ slammed his fist on his desk when the video showed James leaning in and giving Dei a kiss. He couldn't see clearly where or how he kissed her from the angle the video was taken, but there was definitely a kiss. He stood up from his chair and slammed the laptop shut.

"Hey, where are you going, dude?" Ken asked as RJ walked out of their cubicle.

"Home." RJ replied shortly.

++++++

"Hello?"

"Christine," said a cold voice on the other line.

"RJ?" she asked.

"When was that video taken?" he asked, his voice low and intense.

"I'm not sure," she answered, a smile playing on her lips as she glanced at Dei sitting on her desk.

"What do you mean you're not sure? Was it taken two weeks ago? Was it? Tell me!" RJ demanded.

"Yes. Yes, it was taken two weeks ago. Did you have a fight then?" she inquired.

RJ exhaled sharply. "She was acting weird during that weekend. I called her but couldn't reach her... She said she was with her parents and her phone went dead. She called me late that night though and explained," he relayed, recalling the events from that day.

"Oh." Christine said. "Well I told you she's something else, didn't I?"

"I bet you're jumping up and down with glee now," RJ said acidly and hung up.

Christine looked at her phone as the call ended, but even with her heart celebrating in triumph, she couldn't help feeling a twinge of guilt as she recalled the tangible hurt in his voice when he spoke. She couldn't understand why, but even with the success of her plan, her triumph didn't feel so sweet at all.