by Akaku Red
“I am fine, too. I think I am slowly getting better. My life right now is really good,” I said, smiling.
My life was nearly complete, I had amazing people around me, new friends, and a beautiful family.
The only one missing was Alice, then my life would be complete.
“I am glad! You really changed, but in a good way.”
As Jeffrey said those words, I couldn’t help myself. I felt somehow shy and flattered.
This was the biggest compliment I could ever get, since it was something that I really wanted to hear …
“You are still insecure about your own achievements.”
He noticed.
“Yeah … I don’t really feel like I have changed.”
Rex pressed up against my leg when he sensed my sad feelings.
“I am sure someday you will notice it, too.”
We slowly walked on a cobblestone path in the middle of the park.
Kids were running around and were playing hide-and-seek between the trees.
Their laugh and joyful screaming were relaxing. They had fun and a great time.
It was something I didn’t have at their age— sometimes I was jealous of them, but then again, I was glad they had a great time.
I wished for all the kids to never experience what I had had to go through.
“And … do you have news about Alice?” Jeffrey asked.
We took a seat on a bench next to a playground.
Rex made himself comfortable as he jumped up to lie down on my lap.
I started stroking his soft brown fur.
“No, not really! Bob can’t help me with it since he can’t give me private information. And he has his hands full, so I don’t want to bother him with my problem.”
Rex started to make a rumbling sound which sounded really funny. He was enjoying my touch.
“Well, Bob is a good man. I hope you can understand the situation he is in.”
“I do. I will figure out another way.”
Jeffrey smiled.
His crystal blue eyes shimmered as he looked up to the sky.
“Maybe she is doing the same… She is looking for you and someday, your paths will cross again.”
The thought was really beautiful. It would be amazing if Alice was searching for me, too.
Maybe my last letter had reached her, eventually she would know that I was in London…
Yeah, I hope it would be like this.
“Jenny, someday everything eventually will come together.”
I nodded slightly as Jeffrey patted my shoulder and smiled.
“I am proud of you.”
Rex agreed with a cute growl, then he jumped up to lick my cheek.
“If you ever feel the need to talk … I will be always there for you.”
My eyes started to burn. His words were very precious to me, since he had promised me way back then that he would be there for me and seeing him keeping his promise meant a lot to me.
“I know. Thank you!”
We stayed silent for a moment.
I enjoyed it.
The weather was nice, a breeze came over, and some leaves started dancing because of it.
Jeffrey shifted so he could face me better.
His white hair moved with the breeze.
“Did you hear the news?”
His arms were crossed over his torso, as he waited for an answer that I couldn’t really give since I didn’t know what he was referring to.
“I mean the news about the suspicious man.”
“Oh.”
I nodded my head.
“Yes, I did hear something about it, but not much.”
“What are your thoughts about this?”
This was also a question that I couldn’t answer, either, since Tyler hadn’t told me much.
I had only heard that the suspicious man was searching around schools.
“I don’t know … I mean, I thought it wasn’t anything to worry about.”
Jeffrey sighed.
“Last time you mentioned something about the orphanage, that somebody was looking for a girl.”
I nodded again.
“Yeah… But I thought the suspicious man was searching for a girl around schools.”
Rex jumped up and laid his head on my chest.
He sensed my uneasiness.
“Err … I guess you didn’t hear the news correctly! He was looking for a girl who was in an orphanage! That’s what the little girl told the police! People saw him around schools, he never did anything bad, but he was suspicious.”
This information was new to me.
“I guess I need to watch the news.”
He nodded and sighed loudly.
“I just hope that this is a unrelated because I have a bad feeling.”
His head moved up, his expression seemed cold, but I knew he was only concerned.
“Yeah…”
I remembered the woman … Her scared eyes when she told me the story about a suspicious man.
And also … the orphanage didn’t really have anything to protect the kids.
But who was he looking for?
What was his intention?
“You should be careful.”
Jeffrey was serious.
“I will try my best,” I assured him.
“Good! I am starving, we should eat something! Right, Rex?”
The said little dog agreed with a happy bark which made me laugh a bit.
We changed our location to a restaurant near the park.
I had a lot of fun that day.
Jeffrey and Rex managed to make me forget my dark thoughts.
I felt at ease.
And even though the news about the suspicious man nagged at me, I still felt good.
Later that day, Jeffrey accompanied me home.
Tyler had already prepared dinner and a movie afterwards.
This time, we slept in our separate bedrooms after the movie.
Even though he wanted to persuade me to sleep together… I kindly refused the offer and went into the guest room with a heavy heartbeat. Taking a pen and a blank paper, I started to write a letter to Alice.
Dear Alice,
I am sorry I couldn’t write to you the past days…
Well, even though I don’t even know if you will ever get the letters.
I am currently living with Tyler since my mother needed to go on a business trip.
His apartment is beautiful, neat, clean, and modern.
Last night he was really tired … he slept on my lap, and I couldn’t move him away.
I thought he needed a good sleep.
My heart beats like crazy when I think of him.
I don’t know how to react, my mind goes blank … He is really nice…
Today, I met Jeffrey and Rex.
I missed them both a lot.
We had fun …
And he said something which made my heart burst with joy.
He said … that it could be possible that you are also looking for me.
And that maybe one day, our paths will cross again. That would be amazing!
We should find the right track soon.
I can’t wait to see you again.
Love,
Jenny.
Monday morning began with a sweet breakfast made by Tyler.
He was making sure that I felt comfortable, he treated me like a princess …
After we finished eating, I cleaned the table while Tyler got into his room to change into his work clothes.
He didn’t take long. I had just finished cleaning when he came back to me with a big grin on his lips and a black tie in his hand.
“Could you help me out?” he asked.
I gave him a puzzled look since I didn’t know what he wanted.
“Do you mind?”
He approached me and pressed the tie into my hand.
I was still confused, and I couldn’t get rid of my confusion even as he pointed at his neck.
“Can you tie my necktie?”
“Err…”
I didn’t know what to say.
Well, normally I didn’t need to say anything since I just needed to act.
But …
I had never done this.
How do you tie a tie?
“I am sorry, I don’t know how to do it…” I muttered.
His smile grew bigger.
“You don’t need to be shy. I will guide you.”
My mind was spinning. His scent was captivating my mind, his blond hair was styled slightly but in a casual way. It tickled my forehead when he bent over so I could reach his neck better. He looked amazing.
“Why don’t you do it yourself?”
I asked, while forcing myself to look elsewhere.
“I want you to do it.”
There was no teasing tone in his words. He really wanted me to do it.
“But why?”
“First of all …”
Wrapping his arm around my waist, he pulled me closer. He started counting the reasons.
“If you do this, then this will be my lucky charm. Secondly-”
He stroked my hair with his hand while the other was still firmly around my waist.
“I want you next to me. And last but not least, I will take any chance to get your attention.”
Well, I couldn’t speak at this moment.
My heart was beating out of my chest.
His smile and words were too sweet and seductive at the same time.
Yet, I needed to pull myself together.
I swallowed hard.
“O-Okay but you should keep your hands to yourself.”
Instantly, he lifted his hands up and put on an innocent smile.
“Deal!”
Why do I always end up being deceived by his flattering words?
I draped the tie around his collar, but Tyler corrected me before I could continue.
“Wait, the seam should face inward and the wider end on your left should be three inches lower than the final position.”
His voice was gentle while he explained everything to me step by step.
“Bring the thick end horizontally across the front of the narrow end, and then pass it back horizontally behind the narrow end. Now you can take the wide end again and pass it across the front of the knot from left to right.”
While he talked, I was totally focused on my hands.
I didn’t notice how his voice became deeper and softer.
“It gets a little complicated now, but you are doing great! Pass the wide end again behind the knot horizontally from right to left and then across the front of the knot from left to right. Then slip a finger under the third horizontal loop.”
I did as I was told, even though I couldn’t really see anything good by my doing.
It was confusing and not easy.
“You are nearly done. Bring the thick end up underneath the loop around my collar and feed it up behind the knot, down over the front and through that third horizontal loop. Now pull the wide end through the horizontal loop and pull it down.”
He stopped talking for a moment.
“The last step… You should adjust the tie by holding the knot in one hand and pulling on the narrow end with the other.”
I gently did the last step and smiled brightly as I finished.
The black tie matched the white shirt he had on.
It was my first time tying a necktie, and it didn’t look bad at all.
“Finished.”
“Oh.”
His disappointed tone made me think he wasn’t pleased with my work.
I looked up at him and realised how close he had gotten, his forehead touched mine, his eyes were on me.
“You did well, but you were too fast. I thought you would take a little longer.”
While he talked, his breath brushed over my lips which started to tingle like crazy.
Now, I was fully aware of him.
My hands were still on his broad chest, while I held the tie. I felt his trained body which made me swallow hard again.
“A-As long as it looks okay.”
My stutter had the best timing, as always.
“It looks amazing.”
His mesmerising blue eyes looked at me longingly, his long golden lashes covered them a bit when he narrowed his eyes. His lips were hovering around my mouth.
“Thank you.”
His whispering voice made my blood rush to my cheeks.
“N-No problem!”
Placing his hands on my blushing face, he pulled me closer, so our lips nearly touched.
“I told you to keep your hands to yourself. Y-You promised.”
“Did I?”
I nodded after his sarcastic question.
“Do you have any evidence?”
“Er… yeah— M-Me?”
He laughed softly but stopped.
“Okay… I plead guilty, and I will face all the consequences.”
As he said those words, he pressed his lips on my cheek, close to my mouth, touching the corner of my lips.
I felt the butterflies in my stomach, rebelling and storming around. This is how I imagined a cloud would feel like. Nice, tender, and soft.
“You are too much!”
I managed to say this without stuttering. I stepped back and turned around, so I could clear my mind.
“I know.”
His agreement made me smile, even though I felt blindsided.
But I didn’t have the time to argue about his behaviour since school would start in twenty minutes.
“We need to hurry up.”
Chapter 15
Linette was already waiting for me.
The school gate was slowly emptying since the students began to enter the building.
Linette wasn’t alone. Dean was standing next to her. He was smiling brightly when he saw me getting out of the car.
Tyler also noticed him and made an annoyed growl.
“This guy… Don’t let him get near you! And don’t let him tease you!”
I rolled my eyes since it wasn’t really necessary for him to make such a remark.
“Why would I let him do it?”
“I am just saying! See you later.”
My confused expression didn’t make Tyler explain his words.
He just looked at me expressionless and sighed.
“All right— Whatever, see you later.”
I closed the car door and moved next to my friends.
“Good morning, Jenny!” Linette greeted, but she didn’t sound happy.
“Good morning! How are you guys?”
“Well, I am fine. Glad to see you,” Dean answered with a grin on his face.
He looked casual today. He was wearing an oversized white shirt with black pants, his brown hair was loose and looked freshly trimmed. The sides were short, while the rest was longer and a bit curly.
Linette, on the other hand, was dressed sweetly, her short brown hair was braided, and she wore a cute spring dress.
“We should get going, we don’t have much time.”
She said while grabbing my wrist.
“You know, nobody would dare to make a problem as long I am with you,” Dean mentioned, but I shook my head.
“We shouldn’t do something like this. We should respect rules of the school and the teachers.”
His smile faded.
“Sorry, you are right.”
Linette was shocked after hearing his apology.
“What the hell? Am I dreaming? Dean knows how to apologise? I can’t believe it!”
“You should stop provoking me because I didn’t do anything to deserve such a treatment.”
She laughed.
“You didn’t?”
“Hello? Could you guys please stop! Why do you always pick a fight with each other?” I interjected.
This was the first time in my life that I said anything like this… The first time that I said out loud what I was thinking.
; “She started!”
“He started!”
Both yelled at the same time.
“It doesn’t matter who started first! Let us start anew.”
Dean hooked his arm with mine.
“Yeah, we should do that!”
Linette got more worked up, but she calmed down as she breathed out deeply.
“Fine!”
We went into the classroom on time.
Punctual, with the toll of the clock!
“I am surprised you started speaking your mind. I love that,” Dean whispered while we took our seats.
“W-Well, you guys made me burst out.”
“That’s good!”
He patted my shoulder and leaned back on his seat.
“I am sure Alice would be proud to see you like that.”
At his mention of Alice, I felt my thudding heartbeat.
It was crazy, he knew everything!
How could I forget him?
And why couldn’t I remember anything?
“I hope so…”
“Jo, I am searching for Alice! And when I find her, I will make sure to let her know about your wellbeing. I miss her,” Dean suddenly said.
“What? Since when?”
I leaned over to him.
“I mean since when were you looking for Alice?”
“Well, just recently. It’s a bit difficult for me since my father is watching me, and he strictly forbade me to visit the orphanage. Which is why I tried to keep it undercover!” he explained, and it made sense!
“I am also looking for her, but it is difficult for me, too,” I confessed.
“So, we are in the same boat,” he declared, and I nodded.
“We should team up! I always dreamed of a big reunion, and I hope we will manage to get one soon.”
I had always had this thought of a reunion.
But I felt guilty since Dean wasn’t really on my mind.
Why had I forgotten him?
“Jenny, you look sorrowful. I am okay! I swear, I am not mad at you. Someday, you will remember me clearly!”
“Sorry…”
He shook his head and touched my arm.
“Don’t be.”
“We will find Alice! She will tell you that I am the best and that you can’t live without me, haha.”
His lame joke made me smile.
“You are really self-confident.”
“Well, I am so sweet that honey drips out of my body.”
His comment made me laugh.
“You are too full of yourself!”
“Baby, I know.”
Some classmates started looking over to us, but nobody dared to say anything. Even the teacher, who was clearly annoyed about our talking, didn’t tell us to shut up.