Page 34 of A Lab Rat’s Guide to Fated Love

Twenty

The Lovers in the end, it will be a sacrifice either side.”

“Please…” Nori whispered. “Please…”

Please… what?

Anita released her hands before slumping back in her chair. Her eyelids drooped, and she stayed like that for a while.

“Oh, no!” she exclaimed when she glanced towards Nori again.

“What happened? Did I say something bad?” She sprung from her seat, and grabbing a box of tissues, thrust a bunch into her hands.

“No, wait… it was something romantic, right? Something about past-life lovers? Oh, Nori. Are you okay? I’m so sorry. ”

Nori stared blankly at the tissues and frowned. What was she talking about? Was there something on her face? Her fingers brushed against her cheek and came off wet.

A heartbeat later, a violent sob built in her chest.

What was going on? Sob .

Why was she crying? Sob .

And why couldn’t she stop? Sob .

Anita rushed to her side as she started hiccupping uncontrollably, right before dissolving into a blubbering mess.

Fate? Past lives? Nori didn’t believe in those things. She’d sooner believe in time travel than she would in such fantastical concepts that only belonged in fairy-tales and fiction novels.

There had to be another explanation for why she was bawling like that. Like someone had died. There had to be a logical reason behind her chest feeling like it was being ripped to shreds from the inside. However, there didn’t seem to be anything physically wrong with her body.

But everything was wrong. And rotten. And hideous.

And everything hurt. It hurt so much.

She was mourning a loss she couldn’t remember, while it felt like she did. Like she remembered it all. Right down to the smallest of details. The sensations on her skin. The fading warmth. The heartache. The guilt of being left behind—alone, alive .

And the cold, cold absence.

Anita held her and rocked her like a baby as she came undone. But the tears didn’t stop for a long time.

A re you sure you’re okay?” Anita asked her again as they got out of the car.

“I’m okay.” Nori nodded, forcing herself to smile. “I don’t know what came over me. Please don’t mention it in front of those two. I don’t want to alarm them.”

“Of course.” Anita smiled back before looping her arm with Nori’s. “Just don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything. Anything at all.”

As they stepped inside the house, Anita walked over to where Adi sat on the couch. He extended an arm, and she immediately plopped down next to him, visibly exhausted.

Nori fished out the biggest smile she could muster as Vir’s head turned in her direction. It didn’t take long for his grin to falter before vanishing completely.

He was with her in three quick strides. “What’s wrong?” he asked, taking her face in his hands while the intensity of his gaze bore holes through her facade.

It made her want to bawl again.

Of course. What was she thinking?

“Later,” she whispered, burying her face in his chest.

She wrapped her arms around his middle, and her brain drew the image of a koala clinging to a eucalyptus tree again. The memory of her first time waking next to him like that made her mouth twitch.

Vir’s lips pressed against her hair while she melted inside the cocoon of his arms.

She stepped away, and heat rushed into her cheeks as she caught Adi’s shocked expression. And on his side, Anita’s knowing smile.

With an audible sigh, Vir took her hand and wove his fingers through hers.

“Wow… Okay.” Adi shook his head. “So, dinner at the beach. Let’s go!”

The beach was actually a small, semi-private island near the edge of the city, only accessible by a short ferry ride. Adi had reserved a private picnic dinner there.

Even though she was still exhausted to her bones, Nori’s mood gradually became lighter and less gloomy as the evening progressed .

After their meal, she leaned against Vir while they sat there chatting lazily, her feet digging into the cool, soft sand.

Vir kept smoothing her hair—absentmindedly, she assumed. And she found herself truly smiling after a while.

More time passed, and she was easily laughing at Adi’s silly comment about some weird-looking fish on his phone.

Her own phone buzzed with a reminder about their flight the next morning, and she realized, amazed, that the idea of going back to Delhi didn’t scare her anymore.

She wanted to get the formalities over with.

There was so much more to do now that her first human trial was successful.

And she wanted to do it all with Vir by her side.

She could try moving her lab to Delhi. Tanya would be all too happy to have her there with any amount of permanence. Or she could ask Vir to join her in Calgary once his PhD was over. If he was okay with that.

But even if not. Even if neither option worked out, they’d find a third. Or a fourth. As many as it took.

She looked at him again, and as his relaxed gaze met hers, Nori knew she had nothing to worry about. Everything was going to be okay.