𝖛𝖎𝖎
THE GLIMPSE
"Go to hell."
A bitter smile crossed Lucas's face. He had heard countless versions of it, but to hear those words coming from her was like a stabbing pain in his gut. It hurt. It hurt him, but he could take it.
Gently, he laid down the unconscious lady in his arms onto the beige bed, removed her flat shoes, and tucked her up with utmost care. He paused and mustered another smile only this time it was faint. His solemn jade eyes were glued to her face.
"I was, milady," he whispered, tenderly brushing the strands of hair on her cheeks.
The tip of his fingers moved to touch the side of her face only to be suspended halfway when a shrill voice from behind interfered, followed by another monotone one.
"Well, well, well. Look at what we've got here, Ace. If it isn't the Great Third Rank Aide about to molest his lady. How impertinent, right?"
"I don't think that's the case, Miss Tierra. Please refrain yourself from stating offensive statements next time."
"Oh, please, Ace! I'm just stating a fact here."
As if swayed by a gust of wind, Lucas's face suddenly became void of any emotion. For one last time, he made sure his lady was properly tucked in before he spun around to face the intruders.
A lady of average height wearing a gothic lolita black frilly dress was there, leaning smugly against the doorframe with her arms across her chest. Her brown almond eyes were glinting in repugnance as she scowled at him. It quickly changed into a glimmer of curiosity when her eyes got fixated on the unconscious lady behind him. "Wait a minute. . ." Her eyes widened. " . . . is that─"
"I believed the sixth flat isn't your designated floor, Lady Tierranesse," Lucas interjected with his rehearsed dazzling smile. His tone was gentle, effectively concealing its underlying edge. "What could have brought you here?"
The question was meant for the man standing behind the lady, but the latter had interrupted.
"N-Not your business, Thirdy," Tierranesse butted in, flipping her long, curly auburn locks to her shoulder. She squinted her eyes at the sleeping lady. And then she scoffed. Huffing melodramatically, she turned to her heels. "Well, then, let's go, Ace. I can't take to breathe the same air with these people."
"Right away, Miss Tierra," the man answered and followed after her.
Lucas eased his gritted teeth and released a long-held sigh. He walked out of the room, not forgetting to steal one last glance at the lady who was now snoring faintly to her sleep. He chuckled. He wondered what would be her reaction if he'd tell her about it. She would probably fluster.
That will be a sight to behold, he thought and closed the door behind.
His hands just released the knob when his pocket vibrated. He fished out a small monitor, nodding at the blue, green, yellow, black, and red color displayed on the tiny screen. The first four colors were scattered everywhere with one particular area of red concentration. It twitched and stirred. Lucas nodded again before he slipped it back to his pocket, and walked through the silent hall of the sixth flat.
He still had a package to fetch.
A NICE, DREAMLESS SLEEP. It had been a while since Celestine has woken up without soaking herself with sweat because of the nightmares she often had since that day. That morning was entirely different though. She just woke up from a deep slumber─warm and cozy; plain and boring─and that felt extremely great.
She slowly peeled her eyes open. A small, contented smile broke into her face as she stared at the painting of the sea on her ceiling. She closed her eyes and snuggled back to sleep. She could hear the chirping of birds outside her huge window, the distant sound of waves crashing through the rock seawalls, and the soft snores of Tessa's lazy German shepherd, sleeping by her feet.
She sighed inwardly. This is life.
Her eyes sharply shot open, immediately looking down her feet where a mixture of white and gray ball of fur was there, lying. She blinked rapidly.
Something is not quite right here.
The ball of fur moved, scratched the back of its ears with hind legs, yawned quite loudly, and stretched its long body with a satisfied look on its face.
Celestine gasped, jaw almost dropping, as a set of intelligent ash-gray eyes stared right through her bewildered ones.
"Dundee?" she shrieked. "How in the world did you get here?"
Dundee, wagging his long tail, only tilted his head to the side seemingly telling her that he didn't have the slightest idea as well. Celestine patted his head and the dog closed his eyes contentedly.
Tessa must have left early, right?
Celestine sat up. Her eyes roamed around the very familiar cozy room. The color scheme of the room played from beige, brown, and earth green. The walls were beige. The furniture like the huge closet beside another door by the south portion was reddish-brown. On the right side of that door was a bookshelf of at least five feet in height, stacked with a variety of books. To her right was a ceiling to floor sliding glass window draped with olive green curtains which were pushed to either side. On either side of the glass window were tall potted indoor plants. If her memory served her right, those were areca palms.
There was a veranda with a red roof beyond the glass and a round wooden table with two cushioned seats situated at the center. Hovering above it were hanging plants of different kinds. Among them, what stood out most was the full-bloom Jade vine flowers, as well as the clusters of hanging yellow flowers by the edge of the veranda's roof, spread around like a curtain. As she drowned herself at the warm sight, a question resonated on her head.
When did I come back home?
Three consecutive knocks by the door echoed through the room. Dundee's ears pricked up. His tail wagging expectantly as he made a goofy grin─tongue sticking out. Perplexed by the dog's behavior, Celestine's eyes shot through the door.
Another set of knocks made her untangled herself from the bed. Dundee, though, jumped off the bed first and barked excitedly as he waited for her to open up the door.
"You're weirding me out, Dundee," she told the dog as she twisted the knob and pulled it open.
"Good morning, milady."
Celestine slammed the door close again the second she opened it. Dundee whined beside her, ears falling. She could only stare back with bewildered eyes at the furry dog who was seemingly telling her the words 'how dare you'.
"What on earth was that, Dundee? What in the earth does a man doing in our house?"
Dundee barked and scratched his paws on the door's surface. Celestine stepped back, a hand against her pounding chest.
"No, Dundee! I will not open it!"
But Dundee continued. Knocks again. This time, the man outside her room spoke with utter concern.
"Milady, is everything all right there?"
Celestine almost shuddered at how the man's voice sounded. It was fruity; deep and strong in a pleasant way, but at the same time gentle. If Tessa or Stella was with her, she couldn't blame them if they'd jump on him.
And you won't? Her nose crinkled at the thought.
"Milady, is everything alright there?" The man outside repeated with worry.
Her eyebrows knitted together. "Milady?"
Dundee barked again and now desperately scratching his paws against the door. He'd walk back and forth, and did the same thing again. Watching him do that, a sudden realization dawned upon her.
Her eyes roamed restlessly around the once cozy room. A dread settled at the pit of her stomach. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face.
T-This isn't home.
Suddenly feeling dizzy, Celestine cupped the side of her head and fell butt first to the floor with a thud. Her back against the side of the bed.
"Hey, Cee! Come on! The party is about to start!"
Tessa's all-smiling face popped into her mind.
"Oh my gosh, can't you move a little faster? What are you, a turtle or a slug? Or maybe a combination of both?"
Stella's infamous intimidating pair of electric blue eyes looked at her with utmost impatience.
A flash of distant memories.
She wasn't home. She didn't have one anymore. It was long gone. It was gone and she couldn't do anything about it anymore.
Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her better vision. Her chest began to rapidly go up and down. She balled her fist and brought it against her right chest, and started to pound it frantically, hoping it would help to calm the erratic beating of her heart. She tried to shut down her mind for she already knew what would come next but to no avail. Flashes of untold incident rolled out before her eyes, vividly, torturing her yet again.
"Run, you idiot! Save yourself!" Stella's cracked yet stern voice startled her.
She didn't know what to do though. No. Scratched that. She perfectly knew what to do yet her body refused to move.
Not far from Stella's dire state, Tessa choked a few words, "D-Don't mind us, Cee . . . R-Run. P-Please . . ."
Tears started to stream nonstop on her cheeks. Her heartbeat doubled its pace and she struggled to catch up her breath, hiccuping in the process. She pounded her balled fist against her aching chest much harder this time, hoping it would stop the excruciating pain. Her limbs shook terribly. Celestine firmly held back a scream threatening to escape her quivering lips by biting her bottom lip which was already covered by her free hand. The overwhelming sensation almost made her retch and empty everything in her rock-hard stomach.
The door burst open, yet Celestine didn't mind it. She was still drowned in the painful memories of the past that everything seemed to dissolve in the background.
A figure loomed over her. She still didn't pay attention . . . not until a pair of strong arms engulfed her into a warm, securing embrace did she lift a gaze.
She flinched and yelped at the sudden contact, and was more than ready to push him away only to freeze when he muttered the gentle words in her ears.
"Hush, milady. Please stop crying. It hurts me to see you in tears."
CALM. IT HAD BEEN a while since she came across that word, let alone genuinely felt it as if nothing had happened twenty minutes ago.
I broke down yet again, huh? Just pretty worst this time since someone had seen me in that awful state. She thought. To a not-so-complete stranger at that.
And now, she could barely face him anymore without being reminded of that moment. If there was something she ardently hoped for, that was he wouldn't hold it against her . . . or even used that to blackmail her to do his bidding. Or maybe enslaved her. It was possible. She knew numerous incidents similar to that. Or maybe she just read too many romance novels to think in such a way. Heat crept on her cheeks at the thought.
Not that I see him that way! She berated herself. Stupid thought!
She sighed sharply, taking the last sip of her cup of chamomile tea.
"Shall I pour you another cup, milady?"
Liquid almost squirted out her lips at the sudden voice to her side. A napkin instantly reached out to her, but she held one of her hands gesturing no. The hand retracted from her sight. She took one of them instead in the tissue dispenser at the table and dabbed her wet lips. The thinning of his lips didn't leave unnoticed to her.
"Don't do that again, please. You're giving me a heart attack," she told him, frowning. "What? What on earth are you smiling at?"
Smiling down at her with amusement glinting in his jade eyes, he replied, "Nothing, milady. I just have a sudden thought that brightens my mood."
Celestine instantly made a long face and squinted her eyes at him. "You always have a smile plastered on your face since yesterday. What could possibly be the reason for your oh-so-leveled-up bright mood today, huh? Care to share?"
Seconds passed by and yet he still didn't answer. Celestine was held unmoving by his stares, and for a brief moment, she thought she just saw a spark of mischievousness in those forest green eyes.
He's not remembering what had happened earlier, right?
Unable to hold any longer, Celestine blinked and diverted her attention to the cluster of yellow flowers. "Nevermind."
Did I just lose in a staring competition?
She cleared her throat and walked back inside her room from the veranda.
Okay . . . What to do next? Shall I take a tour? Right, let's do the─
"I almost forgot, milady."
Grunting a few incomprehensible words, she stalked towards her luggage by the closet.
What now?
His footsteps fell in behind.
"Yes, Lucas?"
He's not going to bring up back that topic again, right?
"Breakfast is served at seven in the buffet hall. After that, the manager would like to meet everyone."
She stopped rummaging her luggage and looked over her shoulder, forehead furrowing. It eventually dissipated to thin air though when he shot her his infamous smile. She absentmindedly reached out for her thudding chest and gulped with a little difficulty.
Oh, boy . . . Please don't smile at me like that.
"Dresses you need are in that walk-in closet," Lucas continued oblivious to her thoughts as he pointed at the door next to the closet behind her. Glancing at his wristwatch, he took the tray of teapot and cup. "Well, then, milady. I'll come to get you in thirty minutes."
Just like that, he walked out of the room leaving her completely lost. The moment the door closed, she released the breath she was holding and massaged her pulsing temple.
"Focus, Celestine. Focus!"
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