Ray looked at her face closely, not recognizing it at all.
"And you are...?"
She sighed like she was disappointed, she looked around at the people in the shop and then looked back at him.
"Do you have like a.. office or something? I wish to talk privately."
"Uh, I was just headed to my work space for the day, does that work?"
"Are there other people in there?"
"Not unless I have a client, no. Why?"
"That works, take me there."
Ray's expression was profound with surprise towards her oppressive attitude.
"I- Uh- Okay." He walked towards the door not looking back to see if she was following him, walking in and grabbing the thermos full of tea.
"Okay, now how do we know each other?" He took a sip of the warm liquid.
"Ray! It's me, Elizabeth, Remember? We dated in freshman year?"
He almost choked on the tea in surprise, coughing.
"Oh my god! Ray, are you okay?" She ran over to help.
"I'm fine, it's fine..."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, its just strange! You're the second ex I've run into today,"
"Oh, if I remember clearly, we broke up because I moved. What other girl did you date?"
Ray started to laugh.
"I don't get it... whats so funny?" Elizabeth's face looked puzzled.
"Oh i'm just laughing because soon after we ended things I realized I was into guys."
Her jaw dropped, "So that's why you actually cried when you watched sad movies with me!"
"Uh... I don't think that was the reason, but sure."
"So, who were the lucky guys you ran into today."
"I wouldn't consider them lucky, and Noah."
"Noah?! But he used to bully you for being friends with Lily! Why him?"
"I dunno, he asked me out one day and yeah."
"Ok, well, I have to go." She said looking at her phone. "See you again sometime?"
"Maybe, its a big world out there."
Elizabeth smiled at his response and walked out the door, "Goodbye Ray."
He waved even though she wouldn't see it and looked down at his watch. It was 6:34, time to head home.
Walking out to the front to sign the clock-out paper; he looked closely at his name for once, ๐๐ข๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ป๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ป, something seemed off at the moment but he ignored it.
He walked outside and into Marley's work space.
"Marley!"
"Eh?" Marley poked his head out of a storage space in the room, "Oh Ray you're here! Going home I presume?"
"Yeah, you done fixing my motorbike?"
"Yup! I was just grabbing that now actually." He walked out rolling with him a red BMW C600 Sport Maxi-scooter.
"Did you spray-paint hearts on it Marley?" Ray said, looking closely at the small pink hearts going down the side.
"Uhh..." Marley had a sly expression. "Nah, you're just seeing things."
"Uh-huh..."
Ray walked over to Marley, Grabbing his bike.
"How much do I owe you?"
"Nothin', Take this as a gift to my new boss."
"He isn't your new boss ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต Marley!" Frank yelled from another room.
"Yeah yeah old man!" Marley hollered back to him crossly.
"Do you ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต to keep your job?" Frank asked.
Marley sighed, "Yes ๐ด๐ช๐ณ."
"Uh, I'll be going now," Ray got on his bike, took his hair down and fastened his helmet on. "See you tomorrow Marley!"
"You too Ray!"
As Ray turned the bike on and got a feel for the handles, he felt a sudden dizziness come on. Ray blinked a couple times and then as quickly as it came, the dizziness faded. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฅ, Ray thought to himself. He rode off, feeling the wind in his hair; letting all the worlds worries melt away.
He drove down a road leading into an unfamiliar path with forest on both sides of him, he continued forward though because it felt nice to have some time to himself.
He looked into the forest, some strands of hair blowing in front of his face, causing small tweaks in his vision. In the forest he saw squirrels running up trees and bunnies scampering along the forest floor. He looked back at the road and continued riding, he watched the autumn leaves slowly glide onto the path. Looking up he saw the beautiful rainbow of a setting sun painting the sky blues, oranges, and purples. The vibrancy of everything around him made him feel at peace, he could hear the ocean in the distance and the sound of children playing on the beach.
He let go of the handles and put his hands in the air as if he was on a roller-coaster.
"Woohoo!" He called at the top of his lungs, listening to it echo, bouncing off trees and rocks. Realizing that he was starting to swerve he quickly put his hands back on the handles, a wide smile across his face.
The forest ahead slowly faded out, leaving trees on the left side of him and traffic barriers on the right, blocking people from swerving off the side into the ocean below. Turning his head to see seagulls flying in front of a sunset, so perfectly placed it seemed as if the sun was drowning in the ocean and would soon be fully submerged.
He closed his eyes and listened in on all the melodies of nature in the distance, and then he heard it.
๐๐. It was calling his name again.
๐๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐บ~
๐๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐ข๐บ~
He road the bike to a small indent that pushed outward, forming a cliff or viewing area for pictures on the road. He got off the bike and placed it leaning against the traffic barriers, he took his helmet off and place it on the seat of the motorbike. Looking out at the ocean, wind blowing his hair in various directions.
"What do you want with me!?"
...
No response.
"Come on! Show yourself!"
...
Still no response.
"Well ๐๐ช๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช and your ๐จ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฅ๐๐ repetitive dreams!" He barked loudly out into the open sea.
Why was he even expecting a response, he must be insane. He turned around and then suddenly felt a force hit his chest and push him backwards, leaving him to fall into the ocean.
Hitting the water was painful, none the less water was flooding into his lungs and eyes. His whole body started to burn and he could feel himself sinking.
He felt a thud as he hit the sand and his eyes fluttered until they shut.
Everything was just pitch ๐๐ก๐๐๐ .