And this notion of the meaninglessness of our lives here began to inflame us.

-Anne Rice, The Vampire Lestat

***

A WEEK LATER...

Revisiting Berlin was a fresh feeling to Oxygen. He felt that he was connected to Aurelia Bergers. But at the same time, he had various questions popping up in his head. And he had only one answer from his side: Wait for the time.

Unlike last time, he strived a lot to find the right place. He booked a cab and showed him the address, while he took him right to Aurelia's house.

Aurelia seemed to live on the second floor of a five-storey apartment. Oxygen already took a bouquet of white and yellow lilies and climbed up the stairs.

As he reached Aurelia's house, he pressed the doorbell, waiting for Aurelia and hoping for something good.

And there came a young lady out of the house. She had a freckled face, blonde hair, green eyes, and a good physique. She was in her pastel-dyed knotted shirt, which had the words, je t'aime, which means I love you in French, and denim shorts. Her no-makeup look proved that she is naturally beautiful.

But what if she's an ugly human being inside? Oxygen thought.

"Yes?" Aurelia asked.

"Is this Aurelia Berger?" Oxygen asked back.

"Yes," she replied. "This is...?"

"Oh! Hi. I'm Rajat Singh from India. Well, may I come in, first of all?" Oxygen asked.

"Ummm... Sure," Aurelia said, hesitance evident in her.

Oxygen removed his shoes and went inside, following Aurelia. As he went inside, he couldn't stop admiring her house, as it was aesthetically pleasing.

It was a house of white walls with splashes and dashes of pastel shades. She had hung aesthetics of herself, with her name written, and three dreamcatchers of various designs and sizes, whose colours were apt to the house.

"Get inside, Rajat," Aurelia welcomed him, while Oxygen went inside. "Have a seat," Aurelia said further, but before she could complete, Oxygen was found seated on the cosy turquoise couch.

"Nice place to please," Oxygen murmured absent-mindedly.

"Excuse me?" Aurelia asked back, which made Oxygen jump to reality.

"Yeah?"

"Well, may I know about your visit?" Aurelia asked with her eyes looking pleased.

"Ummm, by any chance, do you know Amit?"

Aurelia, giving a disappointed look, said, "Who are you to that jerk?" and leant forward.

Smiling sheepishly, Oxygen replied, "I'm nobody to him. But, I received your proposal message for him."

After thinking for a while, Aurelia face-palmed and said, "Shit! I'm sorry, Rajat. It was a mistake. And I'm so sorry for that."

"No need to, Aurelia. What happened to Amit? Did he accept your proposal?"

"No," Aurelia replied in a robotic tone. "But, doesn't this seem insane to you?"

"Which one?"

"Like, you know, catching up with the stranger who's sent you some wrong message. Maybe if it was me, I would've blocked that number or deleted the message right away. But, why didn't you...?"

With a sharp exhale, Oxygen responded, "Well, my life recently became like a tornado," indicating indirectly Angela's death. He continued, "I've lost everything and all I have is a lifeless life. That was when I received your message. And... I think I need a friend. So... As we say, the rest is history."

"Oh!" Aurelia said, out of sarcasm. "Fine, Rajat," she sighed and stood up. "Shall we take a selfie?"

After thinking for a while, Oxygen said, "Ummm, sure!" and stood up.

While opening her mobile, Aurelia added, "I've your number. I'll call you later. Pretty busy now."

"Ummm, that's fine, Aurelia," Oxygen said.

"Okay, Rajat! Ready for the selfie?" Aurelia asked as she was ready.

"Yeah," he replied, standing next to her, ready to pose.

Aurelia went to his side and clicked a pic. As she was done, she said, "Now, Rajat... I have some plans coming up now. So, if you leave..."

"Well, I was about to leave, Aurelia," Oxygen said, moving towards the entrance.

As he was about to leave, Aurelia called him and said, "Thanks for the memorable day."

He thought that he impressed her, but only God knows the exact meaning behind it.

***

"So, what is my dear Carbon doing?" Oxygen asked Carbon, after reaching an inn, where he had booked a room.

"Your Carbon is in Brussels," Carbon replied.

"Brussels?" Oxygen whispered in a serious tone. Brussels was where the head office of Inspygency is situated. And he knew it must be something very confidential if they had a meeting there. "What happened?"

"Osmium called us," Carbon added. Agent Osmium was the most superior agent in Inspygency. Oxygen deduced that something serious had happened, as Osmium called them.

"What happened, Carbon?" Oxygen asked back.

"Well... Should I say this?" Carbon asked.

"How should I respond to this?" Oxygen asked in response.

"I wish I could tell you. But... Fine! Osmium spoke about you there," Carbon finally admitted.

"Me? In the good sense or bad sense?"

"Ummm, it was a bad one," Carbon said.

Oxygen was silent. He still remembered how Osmium used to appreciate him during the training session. Oxygen was fondly known as one of the best trainees of his batch. He remembered how precious he was to the team. Now, the tables turned and everything became against him.

"What did he say?"

"Well, as if you don't know..." Carbon paused.

"Carbon? What happened?" Oxygen asked, after no response from Carbon's side.

"Agent Oxygen, this is Agent Arsenic here," said Arsenic, standing next to Carbon and giving him a deadly stare.

"Uh... Boss?" Oxygen replied timidly like a kitten.

"What you and Agent Carbon had done is equivalent to treason. So, as a reward for the crime, you both tried to commit, Agent Carbon is suspended from Inspygency for 20 weeks, while Agent Oxygen is unfortunately expelled from Inspygency. Hereafter, he could and would not be recruited by any other agencies. Agent Oxygen will be receiving his order of dismissal soon, and he has to return his gun provided by Inspygency within the next 72 hours," Arsenic said monotonously, thus shocking the best friends to the core.

They never expected that life would be terrible for them.

If this makes them feel terrible, then what to say when the harshest things come their way?

So here we are, at the fourth chapter of Retaliation. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please drop some constructive criticisms. I'm waiting.

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Word Count: 1054 words