Walls of heart

Chapter 3 - The betrayal

The summer wind blew her hair wild as she gazed outside the car window. A familiar scent of spring flowers was spread in the Cheshire air.

Michelle loved the spring- summer season as it turned Cheshire into one of the most beautiful places in the world. Otherwise bustling with the industry noise, summer gave it a fragrance and vibe which was resemblance of outskirts and country sides.

 As her car approached the main city, a number of tall and large buildings started appearing. Some were offices for new startups, other apartments,but majority of them were banks and financial aiding outlets. After all, how do you survive in a business space without financial aid?

Her own office was acquired with financial assistance of her dad's bank. She was against using her father's money, but he had insisted on lending it to her. His reason being ' You are the only daughter of the owner of CP Corporatons.' His pride was never a matter of debate.

Her father had always been commanding. She feared that he would not let her pursue architecture and force her to join his business. However, with strong determination and her ensuing power, he had agreed. This time too, she was prepared to be stubborn.

She had finally arrived in the city suburb where  Thomas's office was located.

 Thomas was a lawyer by profession and owned half of a building for his association. This building stood in the heart of Cheshire and Michelle's car stood in front of its door waiting for him to come out.

The cruel heat of summer sun was hitting the car roof mercilessly and the temperature rose as the clock struck 12 of noon. It had been 15 minutes and there was no sign of Thomas Hardwood.

Michelle decided to step out of her car and lock it as she headed inside the Thomas&Bach pvt ltd. She entered and navigated herself across the floor towards the elevator. She had been here enough to know where to find him.

As the elevator door opened and she stepped out, Michelle could see the glass walls that separated Thomas's office and his partners. On her way to Thomas, she found Bach Vroom wandering around with some papers in his hands.

'Bach, where have you hid Thomas today?'

Bach rose his head from the papers and lit up when he recognized Michelle.

'Ah Michelle, how are you?'

'I'm good Bach. Is Thomas in his room?'

'Thomas? He didn't come in today.'

'What do you mean?' Michelle felt bad.

'Did he not come to work today?'

'No, he didn't. The chap might be busy. Why don't you call him?'

'Yeah, sure.'

Michelle trusted Bach, he was old and a nice person but she had to check herself.

She opened the door to Thomas's office and it indeed was devoid of human presence. Where could he have gone? He could've at least told her.

 She came back to where she had parked her car and opened its door. It was full of heat and warm air. Summer was nice but it had some problems too.

Driving past a number of outlets she held her phone in her left hand while steering the car with right. He had not picked up her calls. She decided to park her car at the side and redial his number.

No answer.

She opened her contact list and searched for Michael Horstorm. Thomas's best friend Michael always knew where this guy was.

There was a time when they had gone to Barry's bachelor party, who was Michael's friend and Thomas had switched off his phone for the entire night.

If it hadn't been for Michael, she wouldn't have been able to tell Thomas that she had bought an office for herself and would be working as a professional architect.

Time flew away quickly. Her father had brought someone to marry her away. She had to make a move if she wanted to be with Thomas.

The phone rang but cut off after a beep.

Hi this is Michael. Please drop your message after the beep.

'Hi Michael. This is Michelle. Do you know where Thomas is? I can't find him.' She dropped a message and hoped for a response.

The day was strange. Perhaps they both were caught in something serious.

Caught in thoughts, Michelle felt a pang of hunger as her stomach started to rumble.

She needed to eat something.

 Lèmbros had opened up in Bronte street and both Michelle and Sophie had wanted to try it for a while. This dine in restaurant was situated opposite of her house route and therefore would take another 20 minutes to reach. God, what a day to be hungry.

The traffic had started to increase in the streets of Cheshire and vehicles were stuck one behind the other. Moving inch by inch, it felt like she'd been stuck there forever. She was in the northwest street and Bronte was still another ten minutes' drive. Why was the city so congested even around the noon?

There was a truck behind her which was honking consistently.

The hunger and the honking caused a dreadful headache that was hard to ignore.

Finally, the car ahead moved and she hit on gas. Another feet of drive and the traffic stopped moving. God what a dreadful day to be out.

While the traffic was a sore sight, people were beginning to come out of the church after offering prayers. Or so it seemed.The largest church in the city was situated on northwest street which was often full of people coming in and out.

Another inch of driving brought her car in front of the church gate where a group of people gathered around. It looked like a wedding indeed. There were balloons and shrouds of flowers decorating the doors and windows of the church. Someone was having the time of their lives while she was driving like a snail in the traffic with a painful head.

The crowd started cheering when she noticed and recognised one of the faces in the crowd. Michael Horstorm. Was he attending a wedding? Should she call him again? It was very unlikely that he would pick it up.

The truck honked again and she hit the gas to move an inch forward.

Unsurprisingly she picked up her phone and called Michael. While she did so, the crowd started cheering louder for the two figures who came out of church and were already descending down the stairs. The bride and the groom. Holding hands. Smiling and laughing.

It took a second for her to register the image in front of her. She could've recognised that face anywhere in the world.

That smile. Those eyes. Those hands that held another woman. That man that she wanted more than anything in her life. That man was married.

Thomas Hardwood was married.

Hi this is Michael. Please drop your message after the beep.

She ended the call with a shaking hand.