Anika POV
"Kath, I'm so proud of what you did back there! You finally forgave and faced your fear." I said to Kath while we were walking back to the restaurant. I can see the happiness painted on her face and as a friend, I'm happy for her. "Well, I'm also proud of myself that I've done that even though I thought it will never happen. Thank you Anika for coming with me," she said as she holds my hand and gave me a smile. "Of course, you're the only friend I have in this world," I said to her. I'll always do anything to help a friend of might. Just to make her happy and not suffer anymore.
"Now the only thing to do is to show your mother about the money that you kept. Then after that, you are able to go to the afterlife," I continue. She stopped walking and just smiled at me then said, "You know, I will be also proud of you if you have already done your first move." Kath said, I also thought of that but I think that it will take more time to know what is the first thing that I needed to do. I still have no clue about what are the things that I should do.
"I don't know Kath, you're might be already in the afterlife when I achieved that," I said to her. "Then I will wait for you!" she happily said that to me. I don't want to make her wait, she already waited much longer than me. "Kath..." I was about to say something but she immediately cut me off. "Come one! I wanted to see you happy too just like me. I'll wait for you and that is finally. Okay?" she said, I never thought that she will be willing to wait and see what I will accomplish. I promise to do whatever I need to do to achieve the thing I needed to be done.
The next morning, Kath told me that I should start wandering again because it's been a few days since I go out and wander. So, I started again to wander around, not knowing where I'm going. My feet started walking and I went to the park near the campus again, hoping I could see something again. I saw the woman that I last saw a few days ago. I walked closer to her just to looked and observe her. Somehow she has a lot in her mind, she looks very sad. I looked at her hand and she's holding the picture again, I wanted to look more closely but I heard someone say, "Faye!" Dylan suddenly came. Did she call her Faye?
"Hey Dylan!" she waved at him happily like she's excited to see Dylan again. I looked confused because I didn't know that Dylan knows someone else. Maybe they were friends since before. "Come join me to eat lunch." I still looked at him with confusion. I just got back after a few days then this happened? What is going on? I wanted to know and I'm curious about it! Then they suddenly walk away together, I know it's not good to follow them especially since Dylan can see me but I'm a bit curious about what are they going to talk about. I know Dylan will not like it if I follow them, but I'm curious and I can't help it. I want to know what they are going to talk about.
"I know it's lunchtime but I wanted to eat barbecue." I heard Faye told Dylan while they are walking to the parking lot. "There is a barbecue place that I know nearby, let's go there," Dylan said, she just nodded with excitement. Maybe they will go to Kath's restaurant, which is just nearby.
I started running back to Kath's so that I can come before them. When I got there, Kath saw me catching my breath. "Anika? Are you okay? What happened to you? You're out of breath," Kath said as she helped me sit down. I gave her a sign and point at the door that Dylan is coming but she doesn't understand me. I tried calming myself first before speaking. "Dylan is coming," I said before taking a deep breath. But as I said that, Dylan just entered the restaurant.
We had eye contact but of course, Dylan will pretend he doesn't saw me, but I noticed something. That woman, named Faye, also had eye contact with me. It seems like she saw me too, or maybe I have just mistaken it. Dylan and Faye sat at the table next to us, I'm really curious about what they are going to talk about so I sat at the empty seat next to Dylan. Pretending that I'm with them, I saw Dylan took a deep breath. I guess Dylan doesn't want me to be with them. Well, he doesn't have a choice, he can't talk to me or look at me because someone might see him again.
"I guess I won't be leaving this place again," Faye said out of the blue. What does she mean? She's not going back where she came from? Why? "Really? Do you have a lot of things to do here?" Dylan asked as he looked at the menu. "Maybe, but I chose not to go back. I want to stay here because I have a lot of memories here and I want to look at them again," she said, memories? Like the one in the photo, she was holding on to a while ago at the park?
"Nicole must be happy to know that your back here," he said as he raised his hand to call for the waiter and get their orders. "Faye, I would like to know the name of the other girl you talked about. The other friend of yours, I want to know her name." Dylan asked, but Faye just smiles. "I'll tell you about her soon, I still need to do something," she said. Other friend? Maybe she's talking about the person in the picture that was ripped off. I wonder why is the picture ripped off and who is that other friend she's talking about.
"Dylan, may I ask if are you in a relationship?" Faye asked, then Dylan almost choke himself after he heard about Faye's question. Dylan just quickly looked at me before saying, "No, why do you ask?" Dylan said. Faye just smiled and continue on eating her food. Something is off about them, do they have something before? I smell something fishy and I wanted to look at it.
After they ate lunch, they went back to the campus because Dylan still has classes but of course, I followed them until they split up. But before they split up, "Dylan, thank you for the lunch. I really enjoyed it and I hope to treat you too next time." Faye said with a smile on her face. Why do I feel like I always got irritated when she smiles like that to Dylan? "We can still catch up next time," Dylan smiled before saying goodbye to her and walks towards the campus.
Okay no, what? Where should I go? Should I follow Dylan inside the campus but he might scold me because I joined them while they were eating and I also had a feeling I should follow Faye. I'm really curious because she suddenly shows up out of the blue. In the end, I chose to follow Faye.
I kept on following until she went to a house, this might be her house but I was about to enter the house then suddenly I felt a pain in my chest again. The pain that is frequently happening to me this year. "Aaaahhh!" I screamed because of the pain and the heaviness in my chest. Why do I always experiencing this? What is this? I felt this pain more frequently than before and I want to end this pain now!
After a few hours, I'm already calm, and right now I'm sitting beside the campus building where Dylan's office is located. I just wanted to wait for him, even though my strength is drained because of what happened to me a while ago, I still chose to wait for Dylan.
It's already night time but Dylan still doesn't go out of the building. I wonder he might go home early today. I started walking until I got to the parking lot just to see if Dylan's car is still there. But I looked around to see if Dylan's car is still there, I started to feel weak and suddenly fell off the ground. Because of what happened to me, that pain I felt a while ago, drained my strength. I was looking at the bright moon as I lay on the ground unable to help myself stand up. "Why is this happening to me?" I asked myself and closed my eyes as I look at the beautiful night sky.
To be Continued...