The evening sky was hazy as it started to drizzle. The deserted memorial appeared so grim and mournful in the rain. It looked black and white and grey, like an ill-omened autumn day.
A tall man in black stood silently before a snow-white tombstone, coldly looking down at a brass-framed photo. The man didn't seem to mind the cold water saturating his head of dashing black hair as he stood frozen in time.
Besides Ashlyn, he was the only other person in the dull memorial. Ashlyn had noticed him only just then when her head lifted from her mother's photo, her eyes sodden.
She stood up, feeling heady and cloudy. Squinting her teary eyes, she attempted to sharpen her vision but everything remained a blur.
Her lips pressed into a thin line before standing up steadily. She ambled past the man-who stood rooted to the spot, his dark fringe splashed over his face.
Their shoulders brushed momentarily and the man flinched imperceptibly. As though struck by lightning, his head suddenly snapped to gaze intensely at Ashlyn's retreating figure. His eyes, tinged with doubt, flitted with an inexplicable glint.
His scarlet eyes searched the woman leaving. Her cold and silent back was enveloped in a long blue army coat and her glossy black hair that was tied in a loose bun; her face...
As her back was turned to him, he could not see her face.
The man hesitated before gulping. He stuttered, his voice raspy and hoarse as though he had not spoken for eons. The lady didn't seem to hear him call out. Her silent figure in the drizzle only continued to trudge away with a slight limp.
"Excuse me...miss...Miss? Please turn around for a moment."
Huh- Ashlyn snapped out of her trance upon hearing the anxious, raspy voice of a man. Perhaps calling out to her, but who else would it be in this empty place?
She turned on her heel and faced the tall, imposing man in a midnight black coat. This man was actually quite handsome but looked very disheveled with his stubble and the rain wetting his black regalia. Nonetheless, his inherent charm was still there.
At this moment, the man was gazing at her intensely, his sharp eyes seemingly staring into her soul. His deep gaze made Ashlyn tilt her head questioningly. "Do we know each other?"
A light shone in his eyes suddenly but disappeared before she could notice. He was silent for a second before he coughed and apologized with a thin, limpid smile. "I seem to have mistaken you with someone. Apologies for disturbing you."
Ashlyn nodded but she didn't move. The man was still looking at her and with more intensity. She grew anxious with speculation. Although she was trained for self-defense, with her current state, she wasn't exactly in the right mind to counter strange people with malicious intentions.
Ashlyn's brows creased tightly. Avoiding his sharp ogle, she asked, "Anything else?"
The man didn't answer. As though having found an answer to one of his questions, he nodded slightly-more to himself-and turned his back to leave in the calming drizzle.
Ashlyn looked at his back and shrugged. "Weirdo," she muttered as she left.
****
Noah's breath had grown rapid, not due to the rain, but instead, the intense emotions surging in his heart.
A gentle, exquisite face crystallized behind his vivid eyes. The face was sodden with tears and drizzle but added a cold and distant elegance to her deep-rooted grace as she turned to look at him. Her long, fluttering eyelashes had lowered in a suspicious glare.
His heart had skipped a beat. That wasn't normal for him. She was clearly glaring at him; so why did he not feel provoked and instead felt...
His breath felt hot in his throat. His cold hands unconsciously shifted to his chest and the wild thrumming rang against his frigid palm, reverberating in his head. Echoing.
"I should have asked for her name..." he mumbled under an audible and shuddery breath, not noticing his assistant, drenched in rain, who was rushing towards him anxiously from a silver sports car.
"Sir—"
****
"Damn jerk!" Noelle shouted emphatically and drunkenly, her voice heavy with seething acrimony. "That Joe, I never would have thought he was such a heartless scumbag. I'm sure he's worn a mask for so long that he's forgotten who he is beneath it!"
When she heard the name, something gloomy shortly passed on Ashlyn's face. She sighed, disappointed that even alcohol could not soothe her pain. But such pains could only be cured by time. Nonetheless, she smiled and said, "Let's not speak about him. Instead, how was your presentation? Your grandpa has always been stiff-necked and stone-faced, did he agree to..."
Ashlyn feel silent and looked at Noelle funnily. Noelle was grinning widely like a kid that got first to suckle its mother. Following was a series of assertions.
"Yes, he finally did!! He was actually smiling a teeny-weeny~ bit when I cemented my presentation! Then there was applause—applause, Lyn-Lynn! That..." Noelle's face blanched as though she was about to cry.
Ashlyn smilingly gave her a kerchief and gently patted Noelle's back. Noelle snickered.
"That has never happened to me before, Lyn-Lynn. Normally, they only ever ignore my opinions. B-But today was d-d...different...wuwu, Lyn-Lynn mummy, award me with a hug for my hard work!" Noelle's hands swiftly encircled Ashlyn's body in a warm hug.
They both smiled. The silence in the well-lit living room was broken by their light and blithe giggles. As though nothing could destroy their happiness.
Ashlyn giggled, her eyes twinkling. So what if a jerk left her—good riddance to him! He had just tossed away a gold ingot!
She stood up suddenly on the couch, her feet steady on the bouncy material. A simper was plastered on her rosy face.
Noelle gaped: "What are you doing?"
Ashlyn smirked, her face reddish from the alcohol. "Today's party time!! Let's paint the city red like mad fools! Noelle, bring it!"
Noelle jumped instantly onto the couch and shouted excitedly. "Yes, sister! Let's crush this city like mad fools!"
Ashlyn suddenly shifted her arms nimbly and tickled Noelle. The latter burst into a wave of laughter, palming her thigh in surrender. "Hahaha! Enough, enough...You're killing me! Hahaha!"
Noelle's body slumped onto the fluffy white carpet, gasping for air. Ashlyn giggled from her place atop the couch, not feeling the slightest bit sorry.
"Alright! So this is how it is huh? Okay, you just invited trouble!" Noelle jumped upright energetically and pounced onto Ashlyn with a pillow, pummeling her with the thrown pillow. Then she escaped to the kitchen, laughing happily.
"You! Get back here!" Ashlyn shouted and carried the pillow to rush to the kitchen.
***