Fan Fiction |
by Rain
Because winglin does not allow any formatting such as bold & italic, some parts are hard to differentiate. For this chapter, I did try as much as possible by bracketing them for italic ones, cos otherwise it wudn't make sense to readers. But there are a lot of formatting in every chapter which winglin is actually missing out on. I don't like to use "" punctuations for thoughts or overheard conversation (like Ray's case) cos I want to differentiate them from real converstaions. The full formatting one is available at AF.
http://asianfanatics.net/fanfiction/-story681.html
Chapter 27: Doubting Hearts
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Monday, 5th August 2002
Michelle stared out of the window as her mind wandered back to the petrifying moment she had fallen over the cliff. The knockings and bumping of her head onto the uneven ground and tree roots had shaken out some memories she hid away from her conscious mind.
The flashes in her mind while she rolled down endlessly were unnervingly unforgettable. She did not feel any pain while tumbling down, because the memories in her mind were just too charming for her to ache…
No, Michelle, you’re no longer the youth or teenager who can be immature and obstinate as you like… You are already an adult, Raymond’s wife, and going to be a mother… Michelle grimaced unconsciously at the twinge of guilt.
Raymond watched Michelle looking longingly outside the window. She was so deep in her thoughts she did not realized their meals had been served.
“Michelle?” he called, gently touching her right palm across the table.
“Huh?” she turned her gaze away from the window to him.
This is my husband, my soul mate who will accompany me for the rest of my life… He loves me so much! I must be true to him… I must give my child a happy family I never had. I’ll love Raymond till the day I cease to breathe… she vowed to herself.
She’s thinking about him again… He thought heatedly but raised his knife all the same, cutting brusquely into the medium rare steak before him.
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“Ray, is there anything bothering you?” Michelle asked Raymond who turned to the other side of their bed. He usually hug her to sleep. She had the feeling he was avoiding her lately.
“No Mich, I’m just tired. I’ve got lots of work piling up,” Raymond assured her without looking back.
“I’m always here you know. You can share whatever your worries are…” Michelle crept behind him, snuggling in.
Raymond gently pulled apart her hands. “Michelle, I’m fine… I just need some… rest.”
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Tuesday, 6th August 2002, 10:30am
Michelle stepped down from the examination bed and took a seat before Steven’s desk.
“So how’s my baby doing doctor?” Michelle smiled at Dr. Steven.
“Well, what can I say? A baby who survived such a fall is a strong one after all,” Steven gave her the full report for her view.
“You’re so lucky the baby’s hardly affected by such a tragic fall of yours, Mrs. Lam,” Myolie added.
Michelle beamed. “Well, I have a wonderful doctor and nurse who took real good care of me!”
She picked up her bag as Myolie showed her out of the consultation room.
“Don’t forget to come back for your next checkup!” Myolie called, waving at Michelle.
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Tuesday, 6th August 2002, 12:30noon
“So how’s your baby doing?” Wallace asked, stirring his glass of iced tea with a white striped blue straw.
“He’s doing fine!” Michelle replied happily.
“Glad to hear that,” he said. “You scared me to death rolling like a ball down that hill.”
“Really?” Michelle asked in a tone more earnest than intended.
Wallace looked at her, his eyes searched for her true intention, but found none. He leaned back at his seat, staring straight into her eyes, searching for the right words to phrase his concern.
“Do you want me to roll down once for you to experience my fear?” he cracked.
Michelle laughed. “You’re doing me good. I’ll have to keep seeing you then. It’ll help to cultivate this into a healthy and cheerful baby…”
“You’re really in love…” Wallace shook his head at Michelle who looked excited to be a mother. “Careful, Ray’s going to be jealous…”
“Well… I guess he’ll just have to put up with my ‘affair’ then, I’ll do what’s best for my darling baby… and I say the baby needs you for the laughter. Ray’s not very cheerful for the baby lately,” she laughed again.
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Raymond could not believe what he had heard. He looked at the caller ID on his phone again but it was unmistakably Michelle’s.
He had picked up his phone when it suddenly rang in the middle of his meeting. Upon seeing that it was Michelle, he excused himself to answer his call as he knew that she was going for her monthly checkup.
“Hello, Mich? How’s your checkup?” he asked excitedly.
There was no answer or greeting at the other end, but he could clearly hear her speaking to another person. Michelle was asking the person something rather solemnly.
(Really?)
Raymond had wanted to hang up presuming that she had accidentally auto-dialed his number. He did not want to invade her privacy plus he did have a meeting waiting. However, when the person replied her, it was no doubt Wallace’ voice, a twinge of curiosity got the better of him.
(Do you want me to roll down for you to experience my fear?)
Michelle’s laugh rang into the phone
(You’re doing me good. I’ll have to keep seeing you then. It’ll help to cultivate this into a healthy and cheerful baby…)
(You’re really in love… Careful, Ray’s going to be jealous…)
(Well… I guess he’ll just have to put up with my ‘affair’ then, I’ll do what’s best for my darling…)
Raymond had not bothered to listen more, and clamped his phone close, storming back to his meeting.
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Tuesday, 6th August 2002, 10:00pm
“Ray!” Michelle cried seeing Raymond returning in a terribly wasted shape. She caught him just in time, and half carried him into their bedroom.
“Michelle…” he called in his dreams. Michelle wiped his face with a warm towel.
“Ray… What’s gotten into you? You used to be such a cheerful man, but you changed the day you became my husband… Do you have anything to tell this wife of yours?” she whispered to the half asleep husband of hers, touching his face lovingly.
Raymond, who had looked as though he was asleep, suddenly opened his eyes wide, staring right into Michelle.
“Ray… are you okay?” Michelle helped him to sit up. He shook her hands off, and staggered towards their own mini bar, drinking more.
“Ray!” she cried in irritation seeing Raymond drinking even more.
“Can you stop being so irrational? There’s nothing that can’t be solve! Why don’t you just talk to me about what’s bothering you?” she snatched away the bottle from his hand.
“Oh yeah, so when do you talk to me about anything?!” he shouted at her.
“I do, I want to. But you’ve been avoiding me lately. I thought you’d appreciate some space,” Michelle reasoned.
Raymond snorted sarcastically. “Of course… Give me some space… And then you run to that bastard to entertain yourself with an affair!”
“What? Who are you talking about?!” Michelle was even more mystified by Raymond’s blind accusation.
“Wallace!!! That baby of yours may just be his,” he blurted unthinkingly.
Michelle let out an agonizing gasped and stared at Raymond in disbelief. First her accused her of an affair, and now he’s even doubting their child! She almost wished she was too deaf to have heard his words. Her tears were no longer controllable. She clasped a palm to her mouth, muffling her sobs, not wanting Raymond to witness the ache he caused her.
Was this the man who had protected her, cared for her even though she was never his before? Was this the man who had proposed to her? Was this the man who said ‘I do’ together with her in the church? She could no longer find any shadow of that man in the eyes of the one before her. No, he was no longer the Raymond she knew.
She picked up her bag and started towards the door when Raymond grasped her wrist tightly.
“Where are you going?! To see that lover of yours?!” he bawled at her, still too mad to rationalize his words.
Michelle tugged her hand free, her palm swung violently across his face before she knew it. She couldn’t believe those words actually flowed out of his mouth with such ease. She clutched her heart that seemed to threaten to stop beating, gasped in a bit of air and made her way out of the place they called home.
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END of Chapter
Author:
Whoops, RM trouble, hehe, cannot be smooth sailing all the while eh? Sorry I know these few chapters’ are boring but I promise the highest peak is coming soon, let me check… Okay it’s 2 chapters away. Oh yes, this story is ending soon, be prepared, hold your heart so that it doesn’t goes further than this story takes you. ;P Oh yes, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to sour lemon again!!!