Chapter 44 - Separated (4)

"Are you breaking up with me?"

Nida's face fell into a frown as she heard Randell.

She looked around the workplace to see if anything else was odd, but Randell was the only one acting strangely.

She inquired, "What the heck is wrong with you?"

"Hey, fight outside," Manager Bungal arrived, then eventually says, looking at them as though they were a typical couple having a little altercation.

'Is this also an illusion? '

"Let's go," she said as she dragged Randell out of their office and took him into the smoking area, which was still vacant because it wasn't yet break time.

Suddenly, Randell softly held her hand and walked closer to her, asking, "What's wrong? Did I do anything wrong?"

Slapped!

She slapped his hands away from her once again, then slammed her hand against the wall, trapping Randell in between.

Randell looked like a soft big man getting bullied. 

"How did we get back here? Where's Daniel?" She seriously asked while her toe was working hard to tiptoe so she could level with Randell's eye.

"What do you mean? You've been sleeping, and who is Daniel?" He said, puzzled.

"Daniel Olitoquit! Really! What's wrong with you?" She backed away from cornering him as she stomped her feet in frustration.

'Maybe the two of us are in an illusion now?'

She decides to slap Randell's cheeks to wake him up if they are really under a spell or illusion. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

"wha— hey! hey! stop!"

After so much struggling, Randell finally caught both of Nida's hands as he raised them and held them up.

"Hey! Let go!" She glares at Randell while she struggles to pull her hand off his grip, but it is useless.

"Nida, what's wrong with you? Are you protesting?" 

"Shut up? Just let go of me!" She thought they were going nowhere. She needed to meet with Daniel since he might know how to escape this illusion.

"Are you jealous?"

"J-jealous? Me? No?"

"Then why are you acting like this?" His eyes were clouded as he didn't know what to do, and his grip was also starting to get loose. They were doing well until recently, and he has no idea why she suddenly looked at him with displeasure and indifference.

"I.. I... I have to go!" Nida took the chance to escape from Randell, then fled to the nearby café to clear her mind.

She's not allowed to get out of the office yet, but she doesn't care about work now, especially if it's inside an illusion.

"Do I have any money?" She searched for cash in her pockets but there was none. That is why she pulled out her phone to use it to pay for the tea she was going to buy.

"Aah!" she suddenly shouted, at the same time throwing the phone on the floor. Everyone inside the café turned their attention to her, wondering what was so shocking about her phone that made her scream and throw it away.

She didn't care about her surroundings as she picked up her phone again.

"W-what kind of sorcery is this?"

She stares at her phone's wallpaper in disbelief. 

Viewed on her screen, Randell and Nida were posing for a sweet couple photo. Randell's arms are wrapped around her, and she is kissing his cheeks lovingly.

She blinks her eyes repeatedly to check if she's not hallucinating. 

"Excuse me, maam? Are you alright?" The café staff asked with concern.

"Ah, sorry. I'm fine, thanks." She approached the counter to order first. She needed cold tea to clear her chaotic mind.

She used her phone to pay, then hurriedly chose a seat for herself to check her phone again.

"There's more?" She mumbled as she opened her phone's gallery. A lot of photos of them show off how close and loving the two are, and some of them are taken in bed and in a hotel.

"What the fuck is this?" she can't stop cursing.

"What kind of illusion do I have? I need to move out of this now!" She opened her hand to try to release her silver dust, but nothing came out.

"What the? I don't have powers here?"

She aggressively sips her tea due to frustration. 

"What's the purpose of this mission?"

She's thinking that she's been sent into a different dimension, or a parallel world where her relationship with Randell is still good.

"Should I act as his lover to break this illusion?"

She chews on her straw while thinking about different scenarios that could be helpful. 

"Nida." She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Randell calling her from behind.

He is breathing heavily because he is running around the street looking for Nida.

"Why follow me?"

"I'm sorry." He apologized again, but he froze and was unable to respond to Nida after she asked this, "What are you sorry for?" 

Nida observed him for a moment, fidgeting like a child.

"Don't apologize if you don't know what's your fault. It doesn't solve anything." She stood up and walked past him.

The Randell in front of her had nothing much any difference to the current Randell. Both apologized easily without thinking if it was really their fault. It was Randell's character that she hated the most.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Going back to work, it's not break time yet." She sips the 12 oz of tea all at once, then tosses the cup into a nearby trash can as if she were playing basketball.

"Sorry for making a scene."

She was about to walk ahead, but Randell grabbed her hand and walked with her.

She didn't stop walking nor let go of his hand. She decides to start acting as his lover for the sake of finishing the mission.

The café was kind of a distance from their office, so their walk took some time. She doesn't feel good being too close to him and holding his hand while walking.

She doesn't hate him anymore since he's been a help to her for a while, but there are still doubts and wariness she feels towards him.

It was like her brain was trying to remind her that the person beside her should not be trusted and she should not let her guard down.

She feels like she's going to suffocate as she cannot understand how she should be feeling right now or how she should express this current situation. 

As she feels her hands sweat and her forehead form beads of sweat, she tries to start a conversation to divert her attention.

"Is your pack, okay?" She randomly asked since that is the only thing she knows about him currently.

"Pack?"

"Why do I feel like, you keep returning my questions with question?"

"Ah no, no, I just really don't get what you mean by pack."

"Ah pack! a group of wolf!" She impatiently explains, but it doesn't clear up for Randell. He still looks clueless.

"I still don't get what you mean? Why do I have a pack? Taking a wolf as a pet is illegal."

Nida stopped walking and seriously looked at Randell.

"You're not a werewolf here?"

"We-werewolf?" Randell tried to held back his laugher from hearing his girlfirend saying eccentric things in such a long time. "Are you into Werewolf novels nowadays? Should I be acting like an alpha so that you won't be upset anymore?"

"What do you mean you'll act? you are an alpha! You're a werewolf!"

"Ah, yeah, yeah, I am a wolf. Don't worry, I'll search about werewolfs later so that I can play with you." Randel laughed and didn't take her words seriously.

"Hey, can you tell me what happened after your graduation in high school?"

"high school?" Randell stopped laughing as he tilted his head. "Ah, that time we were scolded because we made our own graduation ceremony at the rooftop? that was one of the happiest time of my life." He smiles brightly as he remebers their childhood.

"You're happy? I was happy too?"

"Why you don't? You played so much at that time, you know."

'This world is different!' she said internally.

"Come on, lets go back we still have a lot of work to do." Randell held her hand again then they walked again on the way back to their office.

Nida was speechless as she processed the current situation in her head.

"Nida think... So this illusion is like a parallel world with no werewolf and no dust. And the wolf attack didn't happen either." She mumbled to herself.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Nothing. Can you go first? I needed to pee. I gulped down a cold tea."

"Should I wait for you?"

"No I am okay."

She let go and let Randell go first.

She clenched her hand while watching him walk away.

She thought of the world she was in again.

"Here he is my lover...

Here I am happy with him...

Here I don't have the past from getting attacked by the wolf...

What is this? This illusion is too damn fake!"

She maintains her frown as she stands in the middle of the long hall, contemplating her situation, which she refers to as a "shitty illusion."