Kryptonite

Clarity Amidst Chaos

James watched as another incoming call from Ivan came through.

And like the prior calls, he refused to answer and allowed it to go straight to voicemail.

Bringing his phone closer to his eyes, he took a look at the amount of missed calls and texts he accumulated.

"What else can I do now..." James said to himself.

He spent the night in his car as he had no energy to confront Lauren anymore.

Upon leaving, he found himself immediately regretting admitting how he felt about Nadine. 

But at that point, he didn't know what else he could do or say. And given that he got into an argument with Ron--the status of his mission was unclear. 

He could very well be fired and if X found out, he'd be taken out immediately. He wasn't sure which would come first at that point, but he found himself lost in what to do next.

All he knew was he couldn't go back and given what happened with Ron, he needed to stay away from the mansion and consequently Nadine.

He opened his conversation with her as he began to read through their last messages. 

After she asked him to leave, they haven't spoken since. James felt tempted to text and call her as he worried what transpired after he left, especially in seeing how angry Ron was, but a part of me held him back from doing so as he wondered if Nadine was mad over what he did.

Deep down, he had a feeling he probably made the whole thing worst and she did not want him involved at all with the issues between her and her father.

For the sake of his mission, it was best he stayed away as well. But he couldn't handle it anymore. He loved her too much to keep seeing her get hurt - albeit he felt hypocritical in that sense as he knew that not backing away and arguably getting even closer to her was going to hurt her more at the end.

"I just hope she's okay," James said to himself as he placed his feet up. 

Taking a deep breath, he was about to dial her phone number when another number called in.

Ron Lustre

"Of all the fucking people," he muttered as he read the contact name. 

He moved his thumb over the call button, fully prepared for whatever he was about to hear. It was going to happen one day and rather than prolong the uncertainties, he preferred to just hear the truth.

"What is it now?" James snarled. "Wait--what?"

His eyes widened as the reply he got was not at all what he expected.

--

"Wala pang signal, wala pa ako sa destination ko. Talagang namalas ako, no?" Nadine muttered as she walked through a long, winding road under the scorching heat.

To her side were farmlands with various animals roaming around. Not many cars passed by except a few busses--including the one she had went on when she decided to run off.

After such an exhausting fight with her father, Nadine fell into a deep sleep and ended up missing her stop to get to Marlo's family resort.