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The man was walking along the side street when he came across a florist's. He stood there, eyeing the display. A certain flower immediately caught his attention.
A Nova.
'How? It's not possible. No one..' he thought. 'Nova's aren't found on earth. Is the realm known to a human? Who?..'
He took a glance at the florist. She seemed to notice his presence. He needed to know how she found them.
He cautiously walked away, his need for answers filling him.
********
Karina stopped by a cafe nearby, to eat lunch.
She was stuffing her face with a cheeseburger when a man strode towards her table. She looked up to him, frowning.
He was short, with silky silver hair parted in the middle. He wore a loose plain white shirt with ripped black jeans that hung tightly.
She was busy staring at him. His lips were plump, his pretty eyes looking at her. She could observe the eyes on him. She couldn't complain about it either.
He spoke in a honeyed tone, "Hi, are you the florist from the shop down the street?"
Surprised for a moment, she paused.
"Yes..how did you know where I was?"
"I came by your shop but you were heading here so.." He stopped midway.
"I'm Milo." He smiled and gave a slight bow. She greeted him back.
"Ah...I see." He looked vaguely familiar.
He broke her chain of thoughts when he sat down across her. "I came here...-"
There was a slight pause as if contemplating something.
"...to ask for a job."
What now?
"I-I'm sorry?..a job?" He raised his eyebrows, enthusiastic.
"Yes...I really want to learn more about this field. And I thought this would be good for me."
"Well...I don't really need extra work, to be honest..." Karina took another bite from her burger.
"I understand! But you don't need to pay me.."
"Why? Do you have another job?"
"No...I'm in my last year of college. I just wanted to volunteer in work to gain experience. It'll be helpful for you, miss.."
"Aberra." He didn't look that young to be a college student though.
"Right...Ms. Aberra. A ton of workload will be taken off your shoulders."
"Hmm.." He would be a helping hand, and he doesn't want money either.
After a moment of silence, she said.
"Okay."
"Oh! Damn..thank you so much, Ms. Aberra! I'll work hard." He flashed a thankful grin.
"No problem..you can help me deliver, answer orders and help in cleaning and arranging. Is that ok?"
"Of course! Can I take part in arranging and decorating more?"
"Well..sure, but be involved in everything."
"Okay, I'm ready." He stood up from his seat. "Thank you for accepting me." He strolled to the door, followed by stares from a few high school girls in the corner.
It's no big deal..you'll be freer from now on.
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Karina was walking in the desert. It was bright red..traces of smoke seen from far away. Her body felt cold and hot at the same time.
Her heart was beating at an irregular pace, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Her hands were shaking...
"Ka...rinaa...!"
She whipped her head around at the most familiar sound...
Mom...?
"Mom? Dad?" She bolted towards the familiar figure, tears forming in her eyes.
She ran straight through the blurry figure
"Wh-..what happened..?" She cried out.
The figure raised one hand, urging Karina to come forward. She slowly went towards them.
"They-"
Before they could finish, she was sucked into a black vacuum.
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She was thrown to the ground. The sky was dark grey..the dimmest light available...It was a humid forest.
Karina moved deliberately, glancing here and there.
She turned her head when she saw a person close to her face. She screamed...with no noise coming out of her mouth. She screamed even harder. Her chest felt like it was being compressed. About to explode out of her own body. The creature had wings. His face was hidden. She closed her eyes letting out a loud wail.
******
A ray of sunlight met Karina's eyes, and she sat up, brisk. Sweating profusely, she could hear her heartbeat as she stared into nothing.
Who was that person? What were they telling me? It's a fucking dream.
Who was that angel-like being? Why am I getting these dreams only after I saw him?
It was too overwhelming..a wave of exhaustion crept up over her, prying its claws in her.
Karina found herself already crying.
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The dream's after-effects were temporarily forgotten when she went to work. She inhaled the fragrance of a nova. Her mind felt free, later carrying on with her work.
Milo came in.
"Hey, Ms. Aberra...I'm here." He looked very hot. Stop. Relaxed, with a grey shirt and black pants.
When he was standing outside the shop, It felt familiar...just like another encounter she'd had.
Wait...
He's the short guy that had come by a week ago.
But maybe he came by because he wanted a job and liked this place. God, she was overthinking so much it annoyed her.
She shooed the thought away.
"Hey, Milo..call me Karina. We don't do formalities here."
"Sure, Karina. Shall we get started?" He gave a small smirk. He looked like he was enjoying himself.
Is there something she didn't know?
She gave an awkward smile, "Okay." He handed me the bouquet.
***
Weeks went by and It felt like Karina finally found a good friend. She was comforted with the start of a new partnership. He knew what to do like he didn't need experience.
Milo and she were just arranging stuff when he came up to her, "Hey Karina.."
"Mhm?"
"What are these? I've never seen them before." He held a nova, strangely deliberate with his words.
"W-where did you find..those?" Shit. Shit. She should've thought about this.
"It was right there. Tell me..what are these?" She looked at him. It felt different. Like he was waiting for her to tell him. Her senses flared with warning signs.
"These are...imported seeds of a rare flower. I got it from a friend.." He ignored her awkward smile.
"Right..okay." She knew he was skeptical but he left it. Thank fuck.
"Um..so my friend is coming here. To check on stuff. His name is Jonah."
"Oh..ok." Karina nodded.
"Speak of the devil," Milo whispered when a man walked in wearing a striped button-up shirt and jeans. He had messy dark brown hair.
"Karina, Jonah. Jonah, Karina." Jonah held his hand out, with a crinkly smile.
Jonah smiled brightly, it was as if he was literal sunshine.
"Hello!" She greeted.
"Hi! Milo told me a lot about you."
"Ohh, really? That's um...I don't know. Milo is very friendly." She chuckled.
"He is. Especially when he gets something out of it." He shared a look with Milo, an inside look. Uncomfortable much.
"Yep. Well, Jonah. Do you need anything?"
"Yeah sure..-"
The day went well. I made two new friends...A fun co-worker who assisted me nicely. Forgetting about all the shit that went down, I felt good for once.
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"What the fuck Milo?" Karina lightly punched him in the shoulder.
"What? You look like a literal dumpling in here." Showing her my elementary school photo.
"No, I didn't. And who the fuck are you to talk anyway? I know all about your little pepper jokes." She exclaimed, giggling.
"Bullshit. I know nothing 'bout that stuff." He said defensively, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Jonah told me everything, bitch." She shrieked, unable to control her laughter looking at his face of betrayal.
"That little piece of-"
"Pepper!"
Milo just smiled in defeat.
After a bit of continuous banter over a bagel and coffee, Milo called out to Karina.
"Karina! Let's go." He was already waiting outside.
They were supposed to go to a little spot to meet his 4 other friends.
"Sure." She grabbed her bag and headed out.
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They reached, welcomed by an attractive two-story house, apparently Milo's. It was of modern architecture, lone and grey. Edged with glass and stone.
Damn.
The living room was vast which lead to a den-like area. Apparently, this was their spot to hang out.
"Shit. None of them are here yet." Milo sighed.
They waited for about 10 minutes when they heard footsteps and the door clicking open.
"Ah, Dario's here." Jonah opened the door.
Karina heard him walk in and felt strange.
When she turned around to see him, she dropped her glass of water.
Oh. My. God.
He's the man..- angel...in the forest.
He met her gaze, blinking a few times before he broke the silence with his deep voice.
"Hello. I'm Dario."
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A/N: Hey guys<3 I hope you're doing well~
Please don't be a silent reader ^=^ Share your opinions and add to your collections if you like it<3