Reyona’s Revenge

It started with Fiona.

According to Toria, Fiona was the one who told Reyona about the deception that she had been dealt for years.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

When Reyona’s family told her that it might not be such a good idea to meet the woman, all she asked was, “Why?”

She could see that they still believed that she was merely suppressing the pain of her divorce, and they were afraid that any little thing could affect her and make her spiral.

“Don’t worry. I will be fine. I want to meet with her tomorrow. She sounds like it is important. I will just get it done and over with. Like a bandage, you know,” she said with a smile, but she could see that none of her family was in the mood to share the joke with her.

So she faced Toria. “You’ll drive me tomorrow morning, so get your head out of the sheet early,” she said as Toria rolled her eyes.

She excused herself and went to call Fiona back.

She greeted the lady more warmly this time, unlike the first time when she had been busy trying to remember if Fiona was anyone that her employees or family had mentioned to her.

She promised that they would meet the next day, and she woke up earlier than usual the next day so she could still put in the time for her exercise and get to work on time.

Reyona gave her chiropractor the day off and just did what she could on her own. After which, she hollered at Toria to get her ass moving.

Toria was just coming out of the bathroom by the time Reyona was fully ready to go.

Soon enough, they were on their way.

Though Reyona had not thought much about the meeting she was about to have, she couldn’t help but feel increasing anticipation as they approached the bistro where she had agreed to meet the woman.

Reyona had told Toria to go do whatever she could think of for the duration of the meeting.

That was after she had pointed the woman out to Reyona.

Fiona was an older cousin to Thomas; though she had met her before, it had been long after their wedding.

Fiona was married to a soldier, and she had chosen to stay close to his base with her two children.

She had not been able to attend the wedding, but they had met later when the woman’s husband died, and she came to stay with Ruth for a while with her kids.

That was when she must have discovered what Ruth and her son had been keeping from Reyona.

The woman left Kayooma hastily after she told Reyona the truth and they had never been in touch since then.

The year they met was part of what Reyona couldn’t remember, so the only thing she knew about the woman was what Toria had told her.

Thankfully, Toria had been in Kayooma the first day that Reyona was going to visit the woman after Thomas told her that she was around.

So, Reyona wanted Toria to point out the woman before she left.

That wasn’t the only reason, of course.

There was a truth that Reyona had been keeping from her family. She didn’t want Toria to learn about it in case it came up.

So, she simply handed her card to Toria when the latter asked for it and promised to max it out before Reyona could blink.

The bistro had an adjoining bakery, and the pungent air filled with tantalising aromas was what greeted them as they alighted from the vehicle.

It had an external arrangement of wicket chairs and oak-planed tables, and a few office-goers could be seen downing their first cup of caffeine of the day before digging into the assortment of bagels, toasts, and many other baked goodies and simple meals in front of them.

Some were on the phone even as they ate, while others just enjoyed the few moments of quiet before they would plunge into the chaos of their work.

It was such a simple setting, and one could easily spot everyone sitting there with a glance.

“Can you see her yet?” Reyona asked as Toria looked around.

Almost immediately, her eyes alighted on a woman seated away from the other sharply dressed workers.

It was easy to detect that she was not rushing off to anywhere, nor was she there for breakfast. All she had in front of her was a steaming cup of liquid that Reyona couldn’t see from where she was.

She was not drinking it at the moment, nor were her eyes on the cup or the people around her.

She was looking directly at Reyona.

Or at least, that was what the tilt of her head indicated.

She had on dark glasses that complimented the black dress and black scarf she had on.

For a moment, Reyona felt overdressed in the lemon-chiffon top she had on with black jeans.

It would be glaring to a stranger who was in mourning and who wasn’t.

“I can’t tell behind those glasses, but I think that is her?” Toria said uncertainly, out of the corner of her mouth. “I remember that she is blond.”

“She is the one,” Reyona said with certainty, even as the woman stood up from her seat.

Toria looked sharply at Reyona and asked excitedly. “Can you remember? You remember her?”

“No, that is not it. I just had a feeling. She… stood out. Look, she has seen me too. You can leave now. I will call you once I am done.”

“Tsk.,” Toria said with a shake of her head. “People use you and don’t hesitate to dump you. I will take it out on your card anyway. Don’t do anything silly, Rey,” she said as she turned to go to the car.

As Reyona walked towards the woman, who simply stood without moving forward, she wondered what Toria would say if she knew what she had done already.

Since she could imagine what they would all think, she decidedly took her mind off that and focused on the blond woman waiting for her.

And the annoying headache that chose that moment to return.

“What bad timing,” she thought as her head started aching steadily.

Why now?”

She ignored the people turning to watch her approach with the single cane she had chosen to use that morning.

“Fiona,” she said in greeting as she got to the table.

“Reyona,” the woman said in a wispy tone as she looked at the cane in Reyona’s hand. “What happened?”

The soft voice sounded like a gong in Reyona’s head, and she almost blacked out as she quickly held on to the chair in front of her.