Chapter 84
Celeste parted the curtains. The rain outside had layered the windowpane
with water droplets, and the downpour continued relentlessly.
The world beyond was cast in a gloomy vibe, almost as if it heralded the
apocalypse.
The hurricane had intensified?
What a bad luck! Rain, power outage, and no transportation.
“Stay in the hotel and wait me.”
After ending the call, Celeste glanced at her phone screen, which displayed
a worrying 30% battery. It suddenly struck her how dire the situation was.
She ventured downstairs to the hotel lobby to seek help, only to find it teeming with fellow guests facing the same predicament.
The crowd seemed jittery, and a tour group was making a fuss, demanding that the hotel arrange transport to send them to the train station.
J City had been pummeled by relentless rain for a full day and night. They had initially predicted the hurricane would ease up in the early morning. But unexpectedly, it intensified, upgrading from a hurricane to a super hurricane.
Now, the roads outside was waterlogged, rendering any vehicular movement impossible.
The hotel manager patiently explained the situation, but the guests
remained agitated. Celeste realized she might have no way to seek help here, so
she headed to the front desk to buy some biscuits, instant noodles, and bottled
water.
Amidst the hubbub in the lobby, someone suddenly shrieked, “water had
surged into the room!”
Everyone lowered their heads.
Indeed, water continued to pour in from the cracks. The clamor subsided,
and people went back to their rooms upstairs.
Luckily, Celeste had bought the provisions early, and by the time others
grasped the reality that they were marooned in this hotel, the food had been
snapped up the shelves.
Celeste returned to her room.
The room grew even darker. The hotel had handed out candles to all the guests. But Celeste found it eerier to have only one candle lit in the dark room
So, she blew out the candle, and the room once again succumbed to darkness.
Outside, the wind was howling, the howls that were like straight out of a horror movie.
Alone in the room, with the door securely locked, Celeste’s mind started to
wander.
She pondered what her life might be like if she hadn’t met Kendric.
On a rainy day like this, she might have been at home, with a light on, waiting for her husband to return from work.
But when she tried to picture the man she might marry in the future, she drew a blank.
Redeemed From Caged La
Chaptera
Although she refused to admit it, Kendric’s influence ran deeper than she
thought. She could passionately hate him or firmly decide not to love him, but
she couldn’t forget him. His name felt etched into her bones, coursing through
her bloodstream.
Just like this moment when she was trapped alone in a foreign city, in a
dark rainy evening, Kendric was the first name came into her mind.
Then her heart would ache, but her rational side reminded her that she had
made her choice, and she couldn’t look back. This helped calm the turmoil in
her heart.
She checked her phone and found it had just over twenty percent battery left. She attempted to plug it into a socket, but still, no electricity.
She sent a quick text to Sienna, letting her know she was safe.
[I’ll tell brother come pick you up.]
[Nah, don’t bother him.]
[You’re too polite to us. My bro is your friend, too.]
Celeste always seemed hesitant to inconvenience others. Even now, trapped
in her current situation, her instinct was to either find a way out herself or wait for the rain to stop and the floodwaters to recede so she could make her own way home.
- up.
Sienna insisted on asking for her address and having Manuel come pick her
Celeste texted. [My phone’s dying. I’ll contact you when I return.]
Sienna responded with three angry–face emojis.
Celeste had no crush for Manuel. So, whenever Sienna tried to play
matchmaker, Celeste did her best to sidestep the topic.
After nibbling on some compressed biscuits and sipping bottled water, she
managed to stave off her hunger.
She pulled the blanket over her head, hoping to wake up with daylight streaming in, the floodwaters gone, and her path back home clear.
Soon she drifted into sound sleep.
Her next awakening was after eleven in the evening.
This city was inundated with severe flooding, and the drainage system was almost entirely incapacitated. It seemed unlikely that she would be able to leave anytime soon.
She sighed, counted her remaining instant noodles and compressed biscuits. Luckily she had at least two more days‘ worth of food.
Out of the blue, her phone screen lit up with an incoming call. Her hand shook when she saw the name.
Kendric’s voice reached her ears, accompanied by the sounds of rain and
wind.
“Come to the second floor.”
The ground floor lobby was pretty much flooded, and the water level was almost up to the second floor now.
Celeste blinked in surprise. “What?”
“I’m downstairs.”
Celeste felt like she was in a dream that she hadn’t fully woken up from. She
stared outside, then suddenly leaped to her feet, flung open the door, and
rushed out.
Her room was on the fifth floor. The elevator was out of order, so she
sprinted towards the emergency exit.
He actually came!
She reached the end of the second–floor corridor, where there was an
open–air balcony. Several flashlight beams pierced the dark, rain–filled night.
There were people down below.
Kendric, on the other end of the phone, could hear the heavy breathing and footsteps. “Take your time, I’m right here below, waiting for you.”
Celeste dashed onto the second–floor balcony. When she saw the man below,
tears and smiles both showed on her face.
The fierce wind howled, and the rain came down like a torrent. Kendric,
clad in a black raincoat, stood at the front of a boat.
The boat’s propellers churned up the muddy water below, but he remained unfazed by the storm.
Celeste stood on the second floor, staring at him in a trance.
Their eyes met, and they exchanged a smile.
