Chapter 23

• As she walked, Mina put her palm to her forehead to check the temperature. She was feeling the early signs of a headache and she wondered if she was falling into a fever of some sort. She had closed the shop for the day due to the weakness she felt creeping through her body. It was clear that she needed rest and this time, she would be wise and go get it. She just wanted to stop by the shop close to the house which Max managed to have a few words with him before going home.
• As she approached, she wondered how the young man was holding up with respect to customers. Unlike her father, she hardly checked the records book regularly. She was satisfied, provided they had a little more than enough to eat and save. One of these days, she would look deeper into Max's records to see just how well he was doing, but right now, she could hear laughter coming from the store. She thought it was a customer chatting with Max, but imagine her surprise when she reached the entrance and was presented with a novel sight: a young blonde girl, probably a teenager, was in Max's arms, each of them holding a bottle of drink. Mina was shell shocked to say the least. The lovers were still oblivious to her presence. The world seemed to revolve around both of them alone; they had eyes for no one else. They were chatting and laughing merrily as if they had just set a date for their long awaited wedding. It was the kiss they were about to share that broke Mina out of her trance.
• "Max!"