The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman) novel Chapter 510

Annie couldn't get over how frustrating WhatsApp's design was. It was like the app had no idea how real people felt.

When you retract a message, it’s because you don’t want the other person to see it. But no, the app just had to announce that a message had been deleted.

It was like putting up a neon sign that says, "Hey, something’s up!"

All Annie could do now was pray that Herman hadn’t seen her message before she yanked it back. That he hadn’t noticed the glaring "This message was deleted" notification.

Talk about a social disaster.

All Annie really needed was to vent, to pour out her frustrations to Herman. She was just blowing off steam, thinking he had blocked her and wouldn't see her messages anyway. She treated the chat app like a secret diary, a place to unload her deepest secrets.

Now, that diary didn’t feel so secret anymore.

Her heart was doing somersaults as she waited anxiously. Then, her phone pinged with a WhatsApp notification.

Annie's heart skipped a beat at the sound. The very thing she dreaded most had happened.

Sure enough, it was a message from Herman.

Seeing his message was like a jolt of life, sending her pulse racing and bringing color back to her world.

For months, they’d had no contact. All she knew about him came from the news. They had retreated to their separate lives, no intersection.

Now, his message linked them together again.

It was just four words, but they brought tears to her eyes and made her lashes damp.

Because he had written: "I'm downstairs."

Annie dashed to the window facing the street and there, under the glow of the street lamps, was Herman's car parked at the curb.

He had come.

Hadn't he promised Feiman he would never come to see her again?

Then why was he here?

Annie wished she could run down to him, yet fear held her back.

Logic warned her not to go. She feared Feiman's retribution. She had just regained some semblance of peace, and she didn't want that shattered. Her mother was too old for any more upsets, and Pattie was still so young...