Several minutes earlier…

Angela's phone had been flashing as Gael's calls came in, but because she had put it on silent mode, she didn't hear anything. She had been asleep since she arrived home from her date with Vincent.

At half past seven in the evening, she finally fluttered her eyes open. Her room was pitch dark from the heavy set of blackout curtains, so she clumsily patted for the lamp on the nightstand and turned it on. The soft yellow light illuminated the place, and for a second, she felt disoriented as if she had been sleeping for years and had only woken up.

Wondering what time it is, Angela reached for her phone on the nightstand. She saw the small icons on top of the screen, telling her how many messages and phone calls she had missed—from Vincent, Oliver, and Gael.

She read her brother's messages first.

[ Oliver: My assistant told me she saw you with Stone at lunch today. Do you like this guy? ]

[ Oliver: btw, Viv finally accepted my dinner invitation. Seeing her tonight. DND. I mean it. ]

If her vision wasn't already blurry, Angela wanted to roll her eyes at her brother's message. Viv was the woman whom Oli had been trying to ask out for months now, so him telling her DND (Do Not Disturb) meant that he was not to be disturbed until at least the next morning. Ew. She didn't want to know that.

Just as she had the urge to pee, Gael's caller I.D. flashed on her phone screen.

She wanted to ignore it, but the thought of him trying to reach her many times made her feel guilty—what with all the messages and missed calls she received from him. A small sigh escaped her lips as she pressed the green button to answer his phone call.

"Angel…" Gael's familiar and gentle voice greeted her ear, and in an instant, she forgot about the bickering they had at the restaurant earlier.

Angela tried to roll out of bed. "Nggghhh… What… time… Aw—Ssss." She hissed and groaned when a throbbing pain clamped on the left side of her head.

"Are you okay?"

She could hear the worry in his voice, but the pulsing sensation on her head made her want to vomit again. Heading towards the bathroom, she managed to talk to him for a bit more until she didn't hear his response.

Angela checked her phone and saw the blank screen. Her phone had died—again. She really needed to get a new one, but she had been putting it off. Just the thought of having to transition everything from the old phone to the new one caused her head to hurt some more.

After plugging her phone to charge, she went to grab a bottle of water from the fridge and popped some pills for her migraine. Whenever she had one, it was always a battle. She'd become so sensitive to light and sounds, so her apartment at the moment was quite dark with only a few soft lights on.

She walked back to the bathroom and prepared a bath for herself. "Oh, come on! Damn it!" She cursed when she felt the floor wet again. That's when she realized that someone should have visited today to check on it, but she had been asleep the whole afternoon. Had she missed it? She decided to call the front desk regarding the matter first thing tomorrow morning.

Once her tub was filled, she dropped a bath bomb into it and watched as the ball fizzled, releasing a pretty pink and white color in the water. The bathroom smelled like rose and vanilla, just what she needed to relax.

Angela lit the lavender-scented candle on the counter near the sink and washed her hands after.

While she had her hands under the running water, she heard a cracking sound by the tub. Turning her head, she wondered where it came from. She startled when the doorbell rang. Her heart pounded in her chest. A couple more doorbells sounded—whoever that was must be so impatient.

However, just before she turned off the tap, water suddenly sprayed out of the wall by the tub.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" She cried sharply in fright. She had managed to turn off the faucet, but the water from the wall still didn't stop spraying her. The tile cracked, and water continued to burst towards her. The floor was already flooding, and she did not know what to do to stop the water from spritzing.

Angela panicked as she tried to cover the wall with her hands, but that obviously didn't stop the water from violently attacking her.

"Angela! Open the door! What's happening?!"

She swore she heard Gael's loud voice despite what was happening. Her mind churned from the split-second decision. She could stay here all night long, and the water won't stop bursting until it floods her entire apartment—unless she did something other than stupidly covering it with her hands. Thus, she got up and sprinted towards the door in a hurry.

The moment she opened the door and saw Gael standing outside, she wanted to cry. It was as if she was seeing someone for the first time after being alone for decades.

The water incident only happened for a few seconds until she opened the door, but it already felt like eternity.

"Help," Angela sniffled.

He looked shocked to see her state. She must have looked like a total mess at the moment, but she didn't care about that. Right now, her apartment was about to drown!

"What happened?" Gael questioned in alarm.

"The pipe—my pipe burst!"

"Your what?!"

"The bathroom!"

She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the crime scene.

The two of them stood at the door. Gael's eyes widened upon seeing the flooded bathroom. Water sprayed violently from the wall behind her tub that was now overflowing with pink water. "What the hell?"

Without any more delay, he entered the bathroom, his combat boots treading through the flood. "What happened in here?" he questioned as he headed straight to the sink. The water sprayed on him, wetting his shirt and jeans.

He bent down, opened the cabinet under the sink, and started opening the white cover on the wall. The metal clanged when it fell to the floor. A cavity was revealed where pipes and valves were found. He turned the handles of the main valve in the opposite direction, stopping the water flow. The water that was spraying from the wall gradually decreased. Then he got to his feet and turned on the faucet—water ran from the tap for a few seconds until it stopped, and so did the water from the wall.

Planting both his hands on the counter, his head hung low as he panted. His hair was partially wet, and his shirt was soaking.

Sensing Angela's presence next to him, he turned to look at her, meeting her concerned gaze. She looked away and let out a gasp when her eyes caught something at the foot of the dresser outside the bathroom.

"Oh, god! No, no, no, no!!! My books!" She quickly tried to pull the heavy box of books away from the water that flowed into her bedroom. The water had already seeped into the bottom of the box, and she feared that it destroyed her books—her babies.

"Let me." Gael appeared beside her. In an instant, he lifted the heavy box off the floor and set it on top of her vanity.

Angela felt drained because of the disaster. She was pissed at what happened, and she felt so vulnerable and cold that the mix of emotions overwhelmed her.

Seeing her state, he released a sigh—of pity because of what she went through and of relief, knowing that she was safe.

Gael wrapped his arms around her, letting her rest her head against his chest as he comforted her. Kissing the top of her head, he whispered, "You're okay."