Chapter Fourty:
She'd texted Indiya an ominous message as soon as she'd left the station and driven back home. As guilt-ridden as Ria felt, she knew Indiya was the weakest link within the group. She'd be the first to crack and unleash the truth.
As soon as she unlocked the front door, she stumbled in an ostensibly intoxicated state, except this time, fury splashed within her vessels, not ethanol. They'd all lied to her, making a travesty of not only her grief but also of Rayhan's death.
Whilst it was true that Ria didn't quite have written confirmation of the truth, she had a pretty damn good idea of what had gone down that night. Someone would have to pay for this, and for all his faults, Ria knew this wasn't Blaine's crime to atone for.
She remained at the lounge entrance, observing how Reid and Lydia were splayed out on the coach. Lydia intermittently making impertinent remarks about the contestants on some show, and Reid playfully shunning her. On the other side of the room was Sihem, sitting at the dining table, arms perched on her abdomen as she tapped away on her laptop.
Behind Sihem's chair lay the ignored rotated picture frame of her father in the exact place it had been when Reid had shoved Blaine against it. It felt callous; the same man who had fought for justice in life had been denied that very justice in his own death. Ria wasn't overtly spiritual, but she wondered if the afterlife existed, would Rayhan ever be at peace in it?
The doorbell tolled, bringing Ria out of her stuporous state and earning the attention of the remaining three beings in the room. Ria breezed to the door, opening it to a disorderly-appearing Indiya.
The latter girl appeared dishevelled in every sense of the word. Her hair was unbrushed and thrashing in the nippy winter draft, her almond eyes wide and moist, her lips chapped, and evidently, Ria's text message had served its purpose a little too well as the girl seemed to be dressed in night-wear suggesting she'd sprinted out of her home without much thought. "Ria? What's happened?"
But Ria wouldn't answer. Not yet. Instead, she ambled back to the lounge, knowing Indiya tracked closely behind her.
"Ria? Are you back?" Reid called out first, his elbow bearing his entire body weight as he leaned on the couch. His eyes narrowed as he noticed Indiya behind his sister. "What...what are you doing here?"
"Ria asked me to come." She replied meekly, unquestionably mortified by the dearth of enthusiasm at her presence.
"Oh, lovely. I hope you'll stay for dinner because I made some Lahmacun, and we've got some Baklava too. I remember how you loved my Baklava when I made it for your birthday a couple years back." Sihem uttered merrily.
Ria's expression hardened at Sihem's words. How could she act like everything was normal? How could she be so indifferent to the fact that an innocent man was behind bars? Was it a mere facade, or had she simply lost her principles in the years she'd been away?
"I've just been to see Blaine," Ria spoke sharply, the bitter words trickling out of her mouth.
She could almost hear the shuffling as all ears in the room perked up at her words. "Is he alright? Has something happened?" Indiya enquired from behind her.
"Are things with the cellmate better now?" Reid followed up, clearly aware of the bashing his best friend was taking and, subsequently, giving.
Lydia remained silenced, but something was telling in how she peered up at Ria from beneath laboriously mascara-coated lashes, in the very way her glitter-glossed lips parted that suggested she had more than an inkling of where this discussion was heading.
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Under My Skin
General Fiction[COMPLETED] High-flyer Ria Aslan thought she had her entire life planned out perfectly. Except her plans didn't quite foresee the still unsolved hit-and-run that prematurely claimed her father's life. The unfortunate tragedy only amplifies Ria's n...
