CHAPTER 87: WINE AND MISUNDERSTANDING

He stood beside her for a second, weighing his options. He knew saying too much could ruin the fragile peace that had just started to form. So, in the end, he pulled over another chair, sat beside her, and kept a respectful distance.

Several quiet seconds passed. Alaric looked ahead, not turning toward her. He sipped his coffee first, letting the warm bitterness settle in his mouth before finally speaking in a soft voice.

"Are you... dealing with something?"

There was no eye contact. Alaric kept his gaze straight ahead, making it sound more like a passing thought than a question. But he meant it. He just didn’t want to overwhelm her.

At first, the woman didn’t respond. But slowly, her hand moved to wipe her eyes, now dry from the earlier tears. Her lips trembled slightly. That simple question struck hard against the emotional wall she had built for so long.

She tried to hold back a sob. But at that moment, her eyes began to well up again. Not because of her failed attempt to end her life, but because someone had finally asked how she felt.

Alaric glanced at her from the corner of his eye, catching the subtle movement. He understood. He could tell she wasn’t ready to speak.

So he lowered his voice further, spacing out his words.

"Alright..." he exhaled, took another sip of coffee, then continued, "If you can’t talk about... whatever it is you’re going through, or how you feel... that’s okay."

The woman turned her head slightly toward him, but Alaric still didn’t look back. His gaze remained fixed on the large window ahead, where a slice of blue sky peeked through.

"I’m just a stranger passing by," he added in just a few quiet words.

Then he sipped his coffee again. The small sound of slurping seemed so ordinary, yet brought with it a strange sense of calm to the woman sitting beside him, her heart still in turmoil.

The conversation ended there.

After everything that happened on the rooftop had settled down, Alaric finally made his way down through the hotel lobby. All he wanted now was to go home, with a quick stop at the electronics store to buy a special kind of battery he’d been needing for a while.

He walked at a relaxed pace, hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans. Blending into the flow of people coming in and out of the hotel.

As soon as he stepped outside, the blaring sound of car horns hit him, mixed with the clattering of suitcase wheels being dragged across the pavement by hotel guests in the courtyard.

Alaric let out a quiet sigh. Part of his mind was still caught up in what had just happened earlier. He descended the short staircase that led to the front area of the hotel, a spacious open space bordered by a large iron gate separating the property from the street.

But then, suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. Off to the right, on top of a slightly raised concrete platform. Something like a step or ledge often found around hotel exteriors, he saw someone he recognized. That woman.

She was sitting there alone, staring blankly out at the busy street in front of the hotel. In her hand, Alaric could clearly see a small knife.

His brow immediately furrowed. From where he stood, the scene looked worrying. A chill crept through him as his mind jumped to the worst conclusion: that she might be trying to end her life again, after her first attempt was stopped earlier.

"Is she... trying again?" he thought, suddenly uneasy.

Without giving it much thought, he raised his voice so she could hear him. "Miss!"

The woman, startled by the sudden call, flinched hard. Her body wobbled and she lost her balance, slipping off the raised platform and falling to the ground with a thud, landing awkwardly on her rear. Luckily, it wasn’t high, so she didn’t seem hurt.

"Ow!" she exclaimed as she quickly got back up, brushing off the back of her skirt, probably trying to wipe off any dust from the fall. She shot a sharp glare at Alaric.

"What is wrong with you?! Look! You made me drop all my grapes!"

Only then did Alaric realize the truth, she wasn’t holding a knife to harm herself. She was simply peeling grapes. He scratched the back of his neck, a reflex of awkwardness even though it didn’t actually itch.

"Heh... sorry, miss," he said with a sheepish smile. "I thought you were trying to... you know, do it again."

He mumbled to himself awkwardly, "Why eat grapes out here, anyway? You could’ve done that inside."

Now he just looked like the one at fault.

The woman let out a sharp huff and clicked her tongue in irritation. "No! I’ve changed my mind. My life... it’s too valuable to throw away like that."

Alaric raised his eyebrows slightly, as if a weight had been lifted. He gave her a double thumbs-up and let out a small chuckle. "Now that’s more like it."

Meanwhile, the scattered grapes on the ground were still lying there. Alaric, without a second thought, crouched down and began picking them up one by one, placing them back into the clear plastic bag that had been holding them. It was the least he could do after startling her and causing the mess.

The woman watched him with an expression that still held a bit of irritation.

Once all the grapes were gathered, Alaric stood up and got ready to leave. "Alright then, I’ll be on my way. Hopefully the grapes are still good to eat."

But just as he turned to go, her voice called out behind him.

"Wait... hey, excuse me!"

He turned around. "Hm? What is it now?"

She looked down for a moment, then met his eyes with a gaze that felt unusually sincere. "I think I want to talk."

Alaric turned to face her fully, his eyes widening just a little. "Wait, what? I thought you said earlier you didn’t want to talk about it?"

She gripped the plastic bag of grapes tightly. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly, trying to calm the unrest swirling inside her. "Yeah... at first I thought I didn’t need to. But for some reason... I just feel uneasy. Like... if I don’t share this, the weight of it is too much to carry alone. Maybe I’m not strong enough."

Alaric stared at her for a few seconds, then gave a small smirk and shook his head. "So when it comes to burdens, I’m the one you want to share them with? You should’ve just offered me the grapes instead."

He held up the bag of grapes he was still holding, pretending to be casual.

She pouted slightly before letting out a soft smile. "Just eat some... while you listen to my story."

Alaric paused for a moment, then without any small talk, he dropped himself into a seat beside her on the edge of the concrete ledge. He placed the plastic bag of grapes on his lap, while his gaze rested on the woman with a calm and nonjudgmental look.

"Alright. What’s the story?"

He leaned in slightly, ready to listen carefully. One hand held onto the bag of grapes he had picked up earlier.

From time to time, he chewed on one, though his eyes would occasionally flick to the woman sitting next to him. After taking a quiet moment to gather herself, she finally began to speak.

"So... I have a husband," she said with a long exhale. "My husband now... he owns a chain of hotel businesses. This hotel is one of them."

Alaric, who had just been casually chewing on a grape, immediately choked. "Hhkh!" He coughed and quickly reached for the bottled water he’d brought with him, taking a few gulps. His face clearly showed his shock.

"What on earth? The wife of someone who owns a place like this... thinking of ending her life right here, at her husband’s own hotel?"

But even with all the questions spinning in his head, he didn’t interrupt. He only gave a slight nod, signaling that he was still listening with focus.

The woman noticed his expression and gave a faint, bitter smile before continuing.

"The reason I... almost jumped earlier, is because my family life is no longer what it used to be. My husband and I... we’ve drifted apart. Back then, he wasn’t a man of status. When we got married, he was still working his way up. I married him out of love, not for money."

"He married me after his first wife passed away. At the time, he was broken. I thought I could fill the emptiness, that I could stay by his side until we both grew old. And for a while, that’s exactly how it was. A simple life, warm and steady. We supported each other. Even now, we still don’t have children."

She paused, holding back the tears that threatened to fall. Her fingers, still holding the small knife, moved automatically to set it down on the plastic bag of grapes, as if afraid her emotions might get the better of her.