"Wow, who would have thought you're finally moving out of your mansion." Axel whistle completely amazed by his friend.
"Nah, Bella encourages me to move in the neighborhood. She said the mansion doesn't feel too homey."
"You know Dr. Bella too?" Mallory gasp.
"Of course! Lulu is been following her around ever since she moves here last year." Axel tease.
"Looks like Lulu has a little crush on the girl next door."
"H-Hey! Stop calling me Lulu." Lupin blushes.
"You see? He didn't even deny following her." Axel shakes his head and laughs when Lupin blushes even more.
"You know we got his nickname from Bella, isn't it right Lulu?"
Lupin stumps his foot like a kid. "I-I better get going. I have a lot of things to do other than argue with you two."
"Oh before I forgot, here take this Mallory." Axel gave a black card. "It has the payment for the week and bonus for being my assistant the other day."
"Wow, I never had something like these." She traces the letterings of the card. "What am I suppose to do now?"
"Go and do whatever you want. You earned it anyway." He smiles ruffling her hair.
"T-Thank you, Axel."
"Sorry I can't spend the day with you. I need to go to the movie set today to finish my movie."
"This is more than enough. Good luck with your movie!" She smiles patting his back.
"Are you planning to go somewhere special? Want me to give you a ride?" He asks grabbing his car keys.
Mallory shakes her head. "I'll be fine. I want to commute."
"Are you sure?" She gives him a quick thumbs-up, assuring him that she will be alright.
Once she was out of the subway, Mallory hears the trumpets blaring in the distance as the crowds yell enthusiastically. Musicians play exotic pipes and foreign harps, creating a majestic atmosphere. She stops in front of a flower shop and buys a bouquet of Calla lilies, she puts her inspirational card inside as she continues to roam around the plaza.
Soon she spots a guy wearing a yellow crop top and ripped jeans, people keep staring at him and laughing probably because he's wearing too much makeup. "Excuse me!" Mallory follows the guy.
The guy stops in his tracks to look at her. "What?"
"I-I just want to give this to you." She hands out the flowers. "You look beautiful by the way."
"Wow, thank you." The guy smiles.
"Welcome." She waves her hand and checks her bucket list. "I'm done with the cards. What should I do next?"
"How about this one?" A familiar voice points a random wish in her bucket list. When Mallory turns to look at him, she was shocked to see the Grim Reaper wearing white long sleeves and faded jeans.
"Hello, Mallory."
"R-Reaper?"
"Oh look at that guy. Is he a model?" She heard a group of girls talking about the Reaper.
"Quick, let's take a picture of him!"
"Is that his girlfriend? They look adorable together."
"R-Reaper? T-They can see you." Mallory gasp as she tried to cover the Reaper's face with her hands.
"Someone looks jealous." He teases.
"I-I'm not jealous!" She blushes, earning a laugh from the Grim Reaper.
"Don't worry I made myself visible today." He holds her hand. "Come on. Let's do your bucket list together."
"Where do you want to go, Mallory?"
She smiles excitedly as she holds the Reaper's hand, together they head at the ice cream restaurant nearby. "I remember you said you want to eat ice cream." She begins offering him some ice cream.
"I don't know what flavor you like so I ordered a lot." She sheepishly rubs the back of her head. "I hope you enjoy these."
The Reaper's genuine smile makes her blush. "Oh, I-I think we should commemorate this day. Let's take a picture at the photo booth nearby later, okay?"
He nods his head as he takes a big scoop of his chocolate ice cream and gives it to her. "This is delicious, try it." He smirks playfully.
She hesitantly takes a bite and later on savors the cold cream in her stomach. "Wow, it's delicious."
"Here try some more." He gets another scoop and feeds it to her.
"Errr..." She pauses. "We seem like we're on a date," Mallory whispers but the Reaper hears her.
"Aren't we?"
She furrows her eyebrows. 'Is walking in the plaza, holding hands and feeding each other consider a date?' She asks herself hopelessly since she doesn't have any experience dating before.
"I-I guess..."
"I never got to experience dating before so I don't know what I'm doing." She whispers.
"H-How did you make yourself visible today?" She asks, changing the subject.
"It's one of our abilities."
"Wow, I wonder what other abilities you have aside from passing through the door."
He laughs. "We have the abilities to erase memories of the dead, mind control, time-freezing, and telekinesis."
"If you don't mind me asking how did you become a Grim Reaper?" He was taken aback by her question. He doesn't know what to say since he became a Grim Reaper he doesn't remember anything about his former self including his name.
"Why did you suddenly become interested in me?" He changes the topic.
"I just realize that you know everything about me but I don't know anything about my guardian angel."
"You don't have to worry about that." He smiles. "Come closer, Mallory. You have something on your face." He gently leans in but Mallory stops her.
"Where?" She asks rubbing the side of her lips to see if the dirt is already gone.
"Here." He gently rubs her lips even though there is no actual dirt in her face.
When they finish eating their ice cream, the two of them go to the photo booth. "It's smaller than I thought."
"Good thing you're small. You can fit perfectly here."
"I'm not small! I'm 5 feet 2 inches." She said proudly earning a laugh from the Reaper.
"1, 2, 3." The camera starts to click.
"Wait! I'm not ready yet." She argues with the camera but it just continues to take shots.
Once it's done, the Reaper laughs looking at every picture. "We look cute together." She points out the picture where they look at each other laughing.
"Yes. It's beautiful." He said looking at Mallory. Most of their picture is candid, their smiles are real as they tell funny jokes to each other.
"Where are we going now?"
"Do you remember the musicians back at the plaza? I want to perform a song." She smiles holding the Reaper's hand.
She whispers something to the musicians before holding the microphone. "What do you say we make a duet, Reaper?" She hands out another microphone which the Reaper gladly takes.
"I didn't know you can sing." He whispers looking nervously at the big crowd.
"We're just here to make fun."
"What are you guys going to sing?" The guitarist asks.
"Your guardian angel by my favorite band, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus." She winks playfully at Reaper. She takes a deep breath before starting to sing.
"When I see your smile
Tears run down my face
I can't replace
And now that I'm strong I have figured out
How this world turns cold
And it breaks through my soul and I know
I'll find deep inside me
I can be the one"
Her voice was smooth and clear. Swells of power rose up in Mallory's throat as she gets to the chorus, this time the Reaper sings with her as well.
"I will never let you fall
I'll stand up with you forever
I'll be there for you through it all
Even if saving you sends me to heaven"
The crowd is amazed by the duo, they never imagine anyone could sing angelically. Everyone takes out their phone and made a live streaming video of the two. Their performance was indeed beautiful. Mallory wishes the time would stop as she starts to enjoys little things. Her hand went to her heart while she looks at Reaper and her head rose as she belted out the final notes.
"That was fun!" She said jumping in joy and hugging Reaper.
"I didn't know your favorite band is The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus."
"There's a lot you don't know about me, Reaper."
"Do you know the story behind that song?" He asks curiously.
"I always heard there's a story behind every song but I'm too lazy to search what it means. Do you know what's the story behind it?"
"The song is dedicated to the 8 teenagers who were killed by an E4 tornado on March 1, 2007, in Enterprise, Alabama. The boy sacrifices himself by throwing his body over her girlfriend's. He was killed by the tornado, and she's alive today." The Reaper explains
"He did it because he loves her and wanted her to live." She whispers not believing that someone could do that for the person they love. Love is indeed powerful she must say.
"Thus, he's her guardian angel." Mallory looks at his eyes deeply.
"Reaper."
"Mallory!" Someone yells at her stoping making them freeze.
"Lupin what are you doing here?" Lupin was about to go closer to her when he notices the man beside Mallory.
"I-It can't be." He said completely shock.
"Seven?"
"But I thought you're already dead." His face was completely pale like he saw a ghost.