5 CHAPTER 5

It was always going to be an interesting morning when a stirred up rich, elegant woman stopped by the nursing station. Most of them came with complaints, general complaints about the nursing home, and fewer carried complaints about a single person, and those were the most dangerous of them all. All the nurses at the nursing station stopped what they were doing just to hear what the woman was there to say,

"Where the hell is Lanelle?", angrily, the woman asked,

Not one person at the station was Lanelle's fan, so after they knew that catastrophe was upon her, the woman gained more support than she had anticipated,

"She'll be here very soon, ma'am", said one nurse,

"How about you sit down and wait?", said another nurse,

"Would you like a cup of coffee while you wait?", and added another nurse,

"I'm going to stand right here, but I'd like that hot cup of coffee",

"Right away",

Whispers commenced, and impatience dominated the area. When her cup of coffee arrived, she never took a sip, but she made sure to keep it hot for as long as it took as that coffee had a whole nother purpose.

…

Lanelle threw the car keys at Yuster and she caught them. They had just arrived at the hospital. So far, the day was as usual, nothing strange outside, and no weird feelings to both of them. Lanelle had her water bottle in her hands and her bag hanging on her shoulder, and Yuster was on her third apple bite, exactly how their days started.

But that was outside; when they stepped inside, the air was different. Lanelle was used to people staring at her, but that day they all gave her scheming looks like she had a surprise ahead, which she did.

"Why is everyone looking at you like you're about to be doomed or something?", whispered Yuster as she was also being pulled into the circumference,

"I don't know", said Lanelle, "I hope it's nothing serious",

"Well, start praying, because the cloud darkens with every step we take",

They finally took the hallway leading straight to the station. Their approaching footsteps alerted the nurses and everyone waiting,

"She's here", one nurse told the woman, "The one with braids in a topknot", with extra clarifications.

The woman, with eyes as sharp and kinda strict turned around, the coffee cup resting between her palms, still hot. She scanned Lanelle from top to bottom, then bottom to top. Her lips curved in disgust. Her head swirled with too many dangerous ideas of how to hurt her, but the best one was already in her hands.

Lanelle slowed down after noticing the uglier looks, and the woman who seemed like the mastermind,

"Is everything alright", she asked as she looked at everyone,

"There you are", said the woman, her tone a bit satisfied,

"Who are you?",

"Who am I?", the woman chuckled angrily, "Who am I? Let me jog your memory",

It was at that moment when the woman splashed that hot, black coffee on Lanelle. She aimed for her face but fortunately Lanelle was quick to block it with her bag hence burning her hands instead. She let out a short scream as the heat traveled fast through her nerves. Everyone around, although some expected it, was surprised. The woman placed the empty cup on the station desk,

"Did that give you a clue?", she asked, arms folded on her chest,

Lanelle lowered her hands. She was infuriated but still in disbelief. She glared at the woman like she could kill her right there,

"Who the fuck are you?", she asked,

"Are you really going to pretend like you don't know me? Or is it because we have people watching? Every slut like you knows the wife of the man she's sleeping with", murmurs grew, "I'm Tevyn's wife",

To some, that was the confirmation they needed to finally believe the already existing rumor. But to Lanelle, it was a big shock, not that she's Tevyn's wife, but the fact that she said she slept with him. Yuster was standing on a junction. She stared keenly at Lanelle to see the look on her face, just in case she lied about her situation with Tevyn to her. But Lanelle was as shocked as she was.

"I've never slept with Tevyn", said Lanelle, knowing damn well that nobody would believe her, "Tevyn is just a son of the man I'm taking care of. I've treated him as nothing more than a family of the patient. So what is this nonsense you're trying to spread?",

The woman huffed, "You must think I'm a fool, you bitch! You two were seen leaving the hotel together yesterday",

Yuster turned to Lanelle again. It was news to her,

"I ran into him there",

"Oh yeah, then tell us what you were doing there in the first place",

Lanelle looked around her. Everybody seemed eager to know. She met Yuster's stare. Her eyes whispered, "Is this true?". But Lanelle was done trying to prove herself. First of all, ninety nine percent of everyone in the room hated her. She knew better, and that was to leave them wondering and insinuating,

"Instead of asking me what I was doing at the hotel, how about you go ask your husband what he was doing there when he was supposed to be home?", she said,

"I'll make sure you lose everything you care about, starting with this job", declared the woman,

"Be my guest",

"And I'm never going to divorce Tevyn!",

Lanelle said nothing. She turned around and walked away. Yuster went after her.

…

Outside, Yuster walked faster and stood ahead of her. She blocked her path. Lanelle was already frustrated. She didn't need a lecture, or her head would explode,

She exhaled sharply, "Listen, everything I said in there is true",

"So, you didn't go to the hotel to meet him?", still unconvinced, Yuster asked,

"No, I ran into him",

"You said you had something urgent you needed to do and that's why I took a taxi and left you with the car. Maybe I should've asked you what the urgent thing was",

"I guess you also don't trust me",

"I would if you'd tell me what's really going on",

The air blew insipidly between their silence as they stared at each other. Finally, a taxi stopped at the entrance, and someone got off. Lanelle quickly held the door and looked back at Yuster,

"I'm not saying what you think of me matters, but the fact that you don't believe me hurts me. You know me better than anyone",

"Exactly, Lanelle, I know you better than you think",

Lanelle got in the car and left. Yuster was internally wounded. She didn't need to feel that something was going on. She knew.

…