Heart's Tempo (Wattys2014) [EDITING]

Chapter 20

Nisa woke up and saw Henry sleeping on the lazy boy beside the bed. Did she just pass out? Most likely, because she couldn’t remember what happened next after she got down from the stage. She sat up and looked around and saw that it was past eight in the morning already. She stood up to pick up her purse when Henry woke up as well.

“Nisa…how are you feeling?”

“Does that really matter to you, Henry?”

Henry was taken aback with Nisa’s answer. He can see anger in her eyes this time.

“What’s going on, Nisa?”

“You’re asking me? I should be the one asking that question…why did you give Fourth the Prague scholarship? What is going on, Henry? Answer me.” She was trembling again, not because she was feeling weak but out of anger.

"You planned this all along...that night, when I came to you, you pretended you knew nothing! Of course you knew where Fourth was, you practically pushed him to go to Prague! You also told me...Fourth left because he still couldn't get away from Raina's memories...he didn't really tell you that, did he? You only told me that so I would hate him more, so I would forget him. Why, Henry?"

"Because I couldn't let you go. Because I love you..."

"Really?! How much selfish can you get? How many more lies will you create?"

"Nisa, please..."

Henry embraced Nisa; this time, she was struggling with all her might. She couldn’t stand the thought of being embraced by someone like Henry.

"Let me go!"

Clearly, he wasn't about to listen to her pleads. So the moment Nisa got a chance, she pushed him away, with just enough distance for her to hit Henry on his face, so hard that even Nisa felt the pain in her own hand. Shocked, Henry stared at Nisa, with almost a bewildered look in his face.

"What you did is unforgivable..."

Nisa walked out of the room, leaving Henry in despair. Nisa was leaving him and there was nothing he could do.

“Nisa? Hey, Nisa! Where are you going?

Christalle was carrying a food tray with a bowl of oatmeal, fruits and juice. She was quite surprised to see Nisa so agitated that early morning, and she was literally marching when she passed by her – and not even a good morning.

“Home.”

“What’s wrong? Why don’t you stay-”

“Staying here with Henry is that last thing I would do.”

“What?! Nisa, wait!”

Nisa ignored Christalle and continued walking towards the exit.

“Nisa, what’s going on?”

“Ask your brother. He can answer all your questions…”

Christalle immediately put the tray down on the floor and went into Henry’s room , where he found him standing in the middle of the room with a red, left cheek, looking devastated.

“Henry, what happened?”

But there was no response from her brother. It was obvious that she wouldn’t get any answer from him at all. He simply walked outside, slowly…very slowly, like taking his step one at a time, almost dragging his feet. Christalle watched his brother with concern. If he’s not going to talk, she better talk to Nisa, soon.

Henry was so puzzled, thinking about how Nisa found out. Could Fourth have told her? He didn’t think so; he was too far now, according to the private investigator he hired. Either way, he didn’t think Nisa would believe anything he would tell her. Then how could she have found out? Like his mother always told him, no matter how hard you try to keep a secret, one time or another it will be revealed, no matter how careful you are.