Prologue

I frantically felt the door, trying to find the lock. I let out a small sigh of relief as I reached for the door handle and attempted to open the door. The handle let loose and fell to the floor with a resonating clang.

"Amanda?"

I called out her name as I realised that I was stuck inside. She had told me she would be outside the washroom, waiting for me, that I needn't worry. I called out her name again.

No response.

"Amanda, are you there?" I shouted, banging loudly on the door this time.

I looked around, trying to find a way out somehow.

"Is anybody there!?" I yelled.

"Customers please leave this area as the mall will close by 8:30pm..."

I started screaming at the top of my lungs, knocking hard on the door. I began to cry, my throat going dry from shouting for help. I let out a loud gasp as the lights suddenly switched off.

"Anyone-"

I struggled to breathe, and clawed at the wall desperately attempting to get air into my lungs but I ended up slowly crumbling to the floor. I laboured to breathe. And it felt like the kind of breath which was near to death.

Carnival

Mom and I were playing Pictionary after dinner, at the table in the lounge. We would both usually play games after I'd get back from my shift and her drawings always made me laugh.

Like always, I was chuckling at mom's drawings when Ebba and her brother, Adam joined us. They would often come to our place for a game or two. Ebba and Adam were my close friends and neighbors, you could say we had known each other since we were infants.

We met each other for the first time in fall when they and I shifted into this street. It was one rare coincidence.

After that game, we decided to play another game, where we had to close our eyes and one player would say a sentence and the other players would have to write it down. And the one who gave the sentence will compare how they have written it.

"Adam is the best." Adam said which all made us giggle. We all wrote it down.

After writing it we all opened our eyes and saw it. Mom and Ebba's writing was as if they had written another language and I was surprised to see mine. I had written it perfectly well! I should count this as my hidden talent, I thought myself. "Nice try but you all are losers!" He taunted. "Why? How come?" Ebba said, confused.

"That's because it's written in this way," and he wrote it down: "@dam is the best."

"Hey, that's your Facebook profile name!" Adam laughed.

"You are so mean!" Ebba playfully shoved him as we all were laughing. "Since it was very clever of him to trick us that way." Mom appreciated it and laughed joyfully.

Now it was Mom's turn. And she said "Charlotte the lioness." I felt a bit weird and quirky because Adam always teases that I am a freak and he really thinks that but I don't know what he is trying to imply. So Adam was about to laugh but managed to control it by keeping his fist over his mouth.

We didn't pay attention to him. While we were writing it down Ebba's phone beeped "Oh! Hold on." She received it and turned the loudspeaker on. She used to do it every time, out of habit.

"Hey Shampain," Ebba greeted.

"Hi Ebba! I won't be able to make it today because our family has planned to go to a carnival set up near your street." At this, Ebba looked at us happily surprised. We all looked at her excitedly.

"Also my cousins are visiting us, they are coming from abroad."

"Wow! When did they come?"

"Yeah, yesterday."

"Great!"

"Ok so see you tomorrow."

"No… see you today." As Ebba winked and ended the call. This made us all crack up. "Good one Ebba." I said to her.

"Charl have you read that story called 'Behind the Curtain?" Ebba asked as we were sitting in the car and Mom was driving, heading to carnival. I was sitting in the passenger seat.

"No." I said, turning to look at her.

"You haven't?"

"I have read its novel."

"You have to see it dude. It's an amazing movie. It's become quite popular."

"Who are the main characters? I judge movies by their character's acting."

"Denver Reckon, Leena Russel."

"What is it about?"

"Can you guys just shut up!" Adam snapped. "You guys talk so much!"

"You listen to your favourite metallica songs. Yuck!" Ebba said. "At full volume. Enough to explode your ears."

I shook my head, rolling my eyes and faced forward thinking they will never stop fighting.

"Never ask for your advice." Said Adam, sarcastically. He lit a cigarette and started to smoke.

"God Adam! Quit it!"

"Stop being a phony drama queen and roll down the car window."

"Here we are!" Mom said joyfully as if she was a teenager.

We got out of the car and as soon as we got out Adam's friends came high fiving and hugging him and then they went for a hangout. Mom, Ebba and I were left deciding where to go, and who is going with Mom, Ebba and me. So we ended up deciding as mom wanted to try things alone so she went the other way and left us. We both entered through the gate. Before that a ticket collector took our tickets.

A huge open area which was occupied by different colorful stalls and rides. The haunted house, game and food stalls, stage for a concert was set up in which a guy was hosting. Pop music was on on the deck. Blaring out of it.

At first we tried all sorts of stalls, then sat on rides, later had food and we enjoyed it to the fullest. We also had an encounter with mom at a cookie and bakistry item stall.

We then decided to get a tattoo.

"But where is it? Can't find it?" Ebba said. Looking on a map pamphlet.

"But she is making tattoos over there near the photobooth area." I said looking at a girl who was doing it.

"But not with machines. A narrow cone like thing." She said.

"Let's check it out." I said.

We reached there and gaze for a few seconds at the magnificent art she was making on a girl's hand.

"What is it?" Ebba asked.

"It's called henna."

"Henna?"

"Yeah it's a henna, it is a form of body art originating in ancient India, in which decorative designs are created on a person's body, using a paste, created from the powdered dry leaves of the henna plant."

"Oh..." I said.

"What do you think of Charl?"

"Try something different then." I said to her.

Ebba and I told her to make an elegant design, a kind of flowery bracelet attached with a ring that looks dainty.

"Hey you guys putting Henna?" Mom came eating Khaosai.

"How do you know that?" I said to her. "My sister is in India so she used to put it there." She said, taking a bite of Khaosay.

"Some people also put them here too."

"Let it dry and wash it later. It will leave a beautiful red brown color." That girl said.

Coming back from carnival I decided to watch a movie Behind the Curtain as I was feeling excited. After several seconds Denver Reckon as Amos Trotter gave an entry on the screen.

"Holly molly...." I said, this guy is so gorgeous. A gorgeous person on this existing planet. I thought. Brown hair swiped right in a messy way complimenting his tight jaw line, pale skin with grey blue eyes. Wearing a charcoal shirt, made his features more prominent. And he deserves all the attention as his charm makes every girl's heart drop. His character and appearance was quite attractive. That's why I was wondering why Ebba was blushing when speaking his name on the way to carnival.

3

Unconsciousness

After watching the movie, like any other fan, I began to search for the Denver Reckon interview, his movie bloopers, scrolling through all of his pictures on the internet.

His smile was the best because it made me want to smile. And I have a crush on him.

I hoped I would meet him one day.

I spent my whole weekend shamelessly staring at his pictures in a magazine and casually reading his biography. I quickly skimmed the pages to reach a cover where he was holding an Oscar, while on the cover on the right, it was a selfie with his castmates.

Lying on the bed before sleeping, I kept watching his pics on mobile until I got sleepy.

I tried to settle down the butterflies in my stomach when my manager told us that night that a considerable mob of celebrities are going to come to Uranus Restaurant tomorrow by evening.

It was 5:30pm. The atmosphere of the restaurant, the afternoon sunlight reflecting on the sea, making it glisten, the gentle waves and the cool breeze, all resonated with my feelings. It was my lucky day, I could feel it. I couldn't wait to see Denver Reckon in person.

I made sure that the staff and I had everything prepared for the guests as soon as they began to enter the restaurant in the evening.

I attended to all their needs while keeping an eye out for the time. Mom was on her way to a nearby town through the rain for an important task and said she would call as soon as she got there.

I couldn't help but be excited as I chatted and took orders from the celebrity guests, but my heart slowly started to sink into disappointment when I couldn't locate Denver Reckon.

"It's okay Charlotte, it's okay, he might be late." I thought to reassure myself.

I continued taking their orders, joining in on their conversations a little bit while getting back to my work from time to time. I finally got the chance to collect all the plates, glasses and loaded them all on a tray, making my way towards the kitchen.

I was slowly adding all the cups and glasses on the counter, and just as I was adding the last one, my phone started to ring. I shifted the wine glass onto a tray and took out my phone, knowing that it must be my mom, most likely telling me that she got home.

"Hello,"

"Hello, Is this Charlotte Nicole's number?" asked a deep voice, a voice of a mature man.

"Yes," I quickly replied, my heart starting to pound faster in fear.

I felt as if everything was going in slow motion, unable to breathe due to the shock, when he spoke again.

I started to gasp for air as I slowly fell down to my knees, losing the balance of the tray and the glass shattering into a million pieces.

My eyes were half-closed, seeing familiar faces gathered around me while feeling the unconsciousness slowly pulling me in. Suddenly I felt someone pick me up, running, shouting for an ambulance. I wanted to tell them to lower their voice, but my eyes were falling to a close.

"Mom"

I opened up my eyes weakly as I was discharged from hospital, thanking Ebba and her brother Adam for bringing me to their home. The same dreams would come every night for the last two weeks. They felt surreal that I began to sleepwalk, quickly trying to make my way towards mom who had her arms spread out to hug me.

"Mom"

My heart sunk in even more disappointment when Ebba woke me up, and I realised that it was all a dream. I couldn't help but cry the whole night, thankful that Ebba was there to console and give me emotional support.

One night it got so bad to the point where I cried until I got an asthma attack. I had no air going to my lungs, and for a second I thought I was going to meet my mother, but luckily Adam and Ebba tried their best to save me.

"Charlotte, it's going to be alright," assured Ebba as she held me in her arms, gently patting my head. I let out a small mutter of approval. After a few minutes, Ebba lifted my head off her shoulder and looked at me in the eyes, her fingers straightening out my messy hair, "Are you feeling a bit better?"

I nodded tiringly, letting out a small yes.

Ebba gave me a warm smile, pulling me in for another comforting hug,

"Life can be hard, but it shows mercy towards you sometime later by giving you an unexpected beautiful thing, something you wouldn't have dreamt of."

A few weeks went by, and I was feeling slightly more stable, the grief was slowly dissolving into numbness. Ebba pleaded with me to stay at her house because she was worried about me, but somehow I managed to convince her that I will be alright.

This morning was the first time I was home alone. I quickly made lunch for college and made my way towards the table, making my morning cereal.

My eyes couldn't help, but water as my heart ached for the presence of my mom working in the kitchen in a hustle. A tear came strolling down, but before it fell down my cheeks, I swiftly wiped it off and continued eating my cereal. I sighed as my heart sank even further in sadness, pushing the bowl away, not hungry anymore. I grabbed my backpack, looking away from the seat where mom used to sit to accompany me and walked outside, making sure to lock the door.

It was a cloudy day, the roads full of vehicles and people walking in a hurry, as usual. I quickly stepped down the stairs and made my way towards the subway stop. I let out an inaudible sigh of relief as I stood there, the breeze swiftly moving through my hair. A few minutes later, the subway arrived, and I made sure to get off at the school stop.

I also worked as a substitute teacher, helping the students with their maths work and being late was a decrease in my paycheck. I quickly finished explaining a maths equation to the class just as the bell rang, indicating that recess has started.

"Right, I need this work finished by the next class. Out you go." I announced. The students quickly threw their books into their bags and left the classroom, leaving me alone. I let out a small mutter of motivation as I decided to sit in class and finish the rest of the classwork.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching me. The kind of steps as if someone is coming to harass me. I felt cautious, subconsciously gripping the exam papers tighter but I managed to ignore it. Then those footsteps approached to stop.

"Charlotte Nicole, right?" A similar gentle voice boomed into my ear. I looked up, and surprisingly, it was Denver Reckon in the flesh, right in front of me.

It was as if he had just come from the magazine cover because he was wearing the same white shirt with a black leather jacket in which he was taking a selfie. My feelings screamed into exhilaration, and my pulse was pulsating too high. Oh, my God! Another stroke of luck for me. I had so many unanswered questions. "How does he know me?" " Am I watching a dream?"

I was utterly stunned.

" Oh, wow! What a surprise!" I exclaimed in a whisper so that no one could hear the encounter. "I am a huge lov - I mean a huge fan of yours!"

He smiled humbly at my fan declaration.

"Can I have a selfie with you?" I asked excitedly.

"What?"

He was confused as he looked around consciously.

" Can I take a selfie please," I asked as if I was on a red carpet.

"Umm..you can," he politely replied as if he understood my feelings, "But right now I have a problem in sociology. And - I want to discuss it with you."

"Me? A celebrity asking me to explain sociology to him? Wow! " I asked, stunned.

"Yes, I heard from Miss Pattinson that you are good at sociology."

I nodded "Oh, I see."

I quickly tried to calm down my beating heart as it soared at the compliment.

"Can I sit here." He questioned shyly, pointing beside me. "Yeah - sure," I replied, hesitated to take a gulp. I moved aside to give him space, knowing that I was blushing like fresh farm tomatoes. I felt like my heart was floating. Pulsating million times per second.

"Which topic?" I asked, flipping through the pages of his book, finally getting serious, calming myself down. "Family." He answered. "Nuclear family, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay," I let out a sigh just to ease down my nerves. " So, family refers to a married couple living with their dependent children. It consists of two generations."

"So the nuclear family gives each other psychological, social support and financial, emotional assistance to the children."

I looked over to him only to be met by a confused, glum face.

"Did I say something wrong? Why the sad face?" I rapidly thought.

" Family does these things, right?" I asked to assure myself, but he shook his face.

"What?" I spurted out in shock,

"I have no idea about family, I haven't seen it in my entire life."

I lay there, my eyes wide with surprise. I couldn't believe it.

"A famous celebrity, the heartthrob thousands of women want to date, a guy who seemed to be having the ideal life, doesn't have a family?"

"Why? I mean, how come?" I asked as my heart sympathised with him. I put my pen down on the book and began to listen curiously using my hand as a chin rest.

"I was raised in an orphanage, and I grew up there in all of my teenage years. That's why I haven't seen what families are supposed to be. I never really had one. "

"How was the orphanage centre?" I asked directly.

Denver stared at me quietly for a few seconds and then shook his head, avoiding eye contact.

"What's wrong?"

Denver looked at me with a small smile, his eyes showing some sort of unknown emotion.

"I've never told anyone about my years in the orphanage, but I can't help but confide in you although we never met. It's pretty strange, but I can see that you are sincere with me, you don't judge me like others have"

I couldn't help but blush at his statement.

" Thank you, now go on, tell me, what was it like?"

4

Denver, a celebrity's story

"The orphanage where I ended up was very harsh and cruel. Eventually, the child protection departments found out, and the orphanage was closed down. I spent my entire life over there, in a very discouraging phase. The leaders would always give us hard and tough work."

I realised as he was speaking that I was nodding, understanding him as if I was his counsellor. A person's counsellor given by luck.

" I was helpless, I didn't know where to go and how to escape."

"Then how did you become an actor?" I asked. He laughed "It was a stroke of luck, one day, they gave me a ton of work along with school work to do. So I went to one of the leaders and rebelled against it."

Denver continued " He was so angry that he took us to the director. I pretended to cry, saying I have severe back pain and that I can't work. Meanwhile, a guy , a film director was roaming around and saw the whole scene. When the principal excused me and gave permission to leave, I walked out, and my friends started laughing at my act. That film director was so impressed by me that he advised me to join an acting school. He led me to the place, and the rest is history.

I laughed "Wow, nice story."

He chuckled as I looked down towards my book,

"You are a powerful person, you know that?" I encouraged him. "How?"

His dark eyes glowed in admiration. I nodded as I smiled, which led him to play a small smile on his face to which I again blushed.

"I mean, you had such a sad upbringing and yet look how far you have come. A multi-awarded oscar celebrity, a guy with great acting, your recent movie "Behind The Curtain" has one of the highest ratings here and here you are looking to improve even further. You made me speechless Denver."

"Thanks." He blushed.

"No problem" I said,

"I also read a book which completely changed my life."

"Oh, so you love to read books too? Which book completely changed your life?"

"A Gift For An Unfortunate Person by Ilda Ferr," He replied.

That was another surprise for me which made me super glad.

"Oh! You read my book?" I exclaimed.

"What?" He was surprised. "You wrote that book?"

I nodded as I giggled feeling cool about myself.

"Oh my God! Wow," he said. I could see his face had brightened up.

"Thank you so much, your book was a real help for me."

"No problem..." I said.

Denver smiled, " Thank you, talking to you made me feel a lot better."

Suddenly the second bell rang indicating that recess was over. I took out the two grilled cheese chicken sandwiches that I packed for lunch and split them between both of us.f

"Thank you Charlotte, you are like a firefly to me. You threw light on the dark pathway of mine. But can you please not tell anyone this?"

I smiled, the butterflies in my stomach resurfacing.

"Don't worry, I am a pretty secretive person," I said to which he smiled and left before the kids came back to class; otherwise they might start rumours.

As soon as I got home, I went to my room and connected my phone to the Bluetooth speakers and turned up the volume.

I couldn't help but jump and start to dance until I got tired. But the truth was that I couldn't stop dancing, the rest of my grief was slowly vanishing into thin air, and I liked the feeling of happiness that was spreading through me...I couldn't believe that he decided to share his problems with me.

Oh my my!! I was buzzing with excitement. Now I will see him in school most of the time. He gave me real motivation to go to school happily without feeling alone. I hoped that he might talk to me every time.

5

Stepping on my hand

One week, after meeting with Denver at college, I was back to work. My duty shift was on the Ground Floor, and I was loaded with plates and glasses heading towards the counter. Some children were running around, and they mistakenly pushed me due to which some glasses clattered on the floor. Immediately I had everyone's attention. I hissed in pain as some pieces of glasses got into my hand, and it started to bleed. I ignored the pain and brought all the plates in the kitchen, making sure to grab a dustpan and a mop in the process.

I quickly put up a "stay away" sign and make my way back to the kitchen,

"Hey!"

I ignored it, thinking he would have called someone else.

"Charlotte"

I look up to find another waitress coming towards me in a hurry,

"I will take it from here, he keeps calling you."

I nod and make my way towards a guy with spiked hair wearing a sleeveless shirt with a tattoo from his shoulder towards his wrist.

"Hey, pretty waitress!"

"Can you please clean the gravy off my shoes?" He asked mockingly.

His left leg was outside the table, and some of his friends were already laughing. I resisted showing any signs of disgust towards him.

"There is a napkin placed on your table, you can wipe it by yourself."

I replied politely with built-in anger. Some people should learn how to behave in public.

" Wow, Charl! Love the way you spoke to him." I thought as I felt slightly empowered. However, in return, everyone let out a roar of whoop followed by laughter. The guy stared at me in shock.

"Excuse me?" He was stunned,

"Do you know who I am?" He asked in a threatening voice.

"I am the son of your restaurant's manager." He lied, " So you better wipe it off or...."

Everyone was looking, and the silence was immaculate, you could hear a pin drop. I walked towards him and grabbed the napkin, my heart burning with anger and slight embarrassment.

I could hear everyone giggling as I started to wipe the gravy off his shoes.

"Aaaaaah!!" I screamed in pain as he suddenly stomped on my hand. I could feel everyone looking, and yet no one dared to say anything, I wondered where the manager could be? Sleeping in a pot? Not aware and alarmed by my scream. "Are you going to apologise for talking like that to me?" He asked politely, but I could sense ego in his voice. I kept back from letting my screams get too loud, my eyes watering as he started pressing his foot against my fingers even harder.

"Are you!?" He asked, stomping on my cut hand. I shook my head as I let out a muffled cry. Suddenly the guy was thrown off his chair, as his head was slammed into the table behind us. I look up and miraculously Denver is there, landing a hard slap against the guys face.

"Learn how to treat a woman, you pathetic piece of trash."

The guy groaned, holding his head as his friends started to help him up. Denver walked towards me and grabbed hold of my left hand, pulling towards an empty area. I followed him, tears falling down my face, holding my red, stiff right hand close to me.

Denver pulled out a chair and motioned for me to sit as he stood up, holding an aid box.

"I'm sorry." He said as he crouched down and took out the healing equipment. Denver held my red, stiff hand and dabbed the soaked cotton gently, tensing every time I let out a small hiss of pain. He then put on the medicine and started to bandage it.

"You dabbed my wounds and healed them emotionally, and today I decided to heal you in the same way physically." He comforted and then kissed my hand, keeping eye contact.

"Thank you," I whispered, a slight blush on my cheeks already forming.

He shook his head, "Don't say that. He was already an animal."

I laughed. He smirked. "How come you're here?" I asked as he let go of my hand.

"I forgot an essential item of mine here when I came with the group of celebrities last week.

"Oh...I see,"

As soon as we heard someone coming, we switched ourselves from romantic to ordinary people as if we were unaware of each other.

I'm not afraid of being caught by the paparazzi and ending up in the newspapers, but there is nothing wrong with being a bit cautious. Uranus was a place where the paparazzi and fans had no access to, not to mention if the celebrities inside took photos of others without consent, there was a hefty fine that had to be paid. This place was a safe place for celebrities to hang out and dine without the fear of getting caught, anything to do with social media was strictly not in the norms. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

6

At the sports club

That Saturday, we decided to go to the Albino sports club. I wore a long white shirt, with an adorned blue denim jacket and to finish the look, white sneakers. I parted my straightened hair to the side as I added some blush on my cheeks, not forgetting to add some lipgloss.

I got up on my feet, grabbed a bag, and walked out, heading for the subway station. I stood at the subway station, waiting for it and let the cool breeze brush my hair. The light, sunny weather was perfect for this date. Suddenly my phone started buzzing as soon as I stepped inside the train.

"Hello."

"Hey, Charlotte, have you reached?" asked Denver.

"Yeah, on my way, just stepped into the train."

"Okay, we are standing beside the gateway."

"Why we? Who else is there with you?"

"Yeah, Jordan?.... Yeah, I am waiting for Charlotte, she will come and then...." The call disconnected abruptly as my phone battery died.

"Just great" I muttered helplessly.

As soon as I reached the area, butterflies started to kick in. I looked over to my left to find Denver, a guy that might be Jordan and girl talking to each other. Denver's eyes found mine, and he jogged towards me,

"Hey,"

"Hey," I said, smiling.

We gazed at each other for a little while with a small smile on our faces.

"You look pretty." He complimented.

"Thanks." I blushed.

"Come," he gestured as we both walked towards his friends. "Who are they?" I asked while walking alongside him. "Jordan and Amanda. They are siblings, and they are newcomers, they joined this school with me."

"Oh..."

Denver introduced all of us to each other, and I shook hands with them as we both greeted each other, "Nice to meet you." Amanda welcomed, but I could see the hot jealousy in her eyes. She was wearing a crop top with tight jeans, the frizzy hair and long black nails stood out the most. I shook hands with Jordan taking note of his unbothered handshake. We all decided to go bowling as we entered the sports club. Jordan and Amanda were bowling one after another, but they didn't seem to be enjoying it. Denver and I, on the other hand, were on the other side of the hall, high fiving each other when we gave a strike. I loved that we were enjoying the game to the fullest, constant laughter and secret smiles.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Jordan and Amanda were looking at us in jealousy. They seemed to be tired, as they were resting. Amanda had her arms crossed and was biting one of her long one nails while Jordan was saying something to her.

However, when we all came together, they became delightful and kind, as if they had realised that they did something wrong.

Denver and I then sat on the "Dodging Car" where we talked about our favourite sport. I couldn't help but laugh at Denver's bad dodging skills. Jordan and Amanda were on the other side of the club on the pedal boat.

After that, we did horse riding. I couldn't help but pet the white horse that I chose. Denver chose a healthy dark brown horse, and we began to race each other. As I was climbing off the saddle, the horse moved forward, and I lost my balance, expecting to hit the ground hard. I closed my eyes tightly, bracing for the impact only to find myself wrapped tightly in Denver's arms. I looked up at him in surprise, unable to break the eye contact. All of a sudden, my stomach growled loudly. Denver let out a small chuckle," let's get food, we can't have your stomach waiting much longer."

I laughed and followed him as we headed inside a restaurant.

"Is it okay if I place our order?" Denver asked me after looking through the menu card.

"Sure" I nodded.

We quickly chose a table near the screen, which showed the number of orders being served and prepared.

After a few minutes, we received our order packed up in a brown paper bag. We decided to leave the restaurant because it was too crowded and sat outside far away from it. We sat on the grass with folded legs, and Denver began to unfold the paper bag and took two boxes out, handing one to me. I took the forks from the pack and gave him one.

My stomach growled once again at the smell of food, and I quickly opened my box only to stare at the mouth watering sight of chicken steak dipped in mozzarella cheese with noodles at the side.

I gave Denver a sign of approval and began to dig in, ignoring his laugh.

"Where are you from Denver?" I asked, after taking a bite of the chicken steak. "I'm from Los Angeles."

Denver took a bite of chicken steak too. "I love this place, Uranus. It is the most secured and safe place for celebrities too."

"No paparazzi, no screaming fans, no showing pictures to media outlets. No one is allowed to transfer the news to other countries either. "

I nodded, agreeing as I was cutting the chicken into smaller pieces.

"That I know, you don't need to waste your energy," I said, looking at him while chewing, giving him a small smile. I took out a drink from the packet and took a sip, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach when he laughed.

"But why-?" Just as I was about to ask him a question, Denver spoke, " Now your next question will be, how I came here, right?" I stared at him in surprise.

"You're clever," I laughed.

"Thanks."

"Have you seen my movie behind the curtain?"

I nodded "Yeah" in disbelief.

"And that girl Leena Russel whom I acted alongside with? "

"Yup,"

"Well, the movie was a massive hit on the blockbuster. A few days later, someone spread the news, a rumour that Leena and I were in a relationship. So everyone made a huge deal out of this rumour, and they came up with some of the most bizarre stories ever.

"What was it?"

"We married each other, but then, later on, I found that she is lesbian. There was another one that was like" Leena divorced me and kicked me out of the house." Denver shook his head tiringly.

"Wherever I go, the paparazzi just manages to get on my nerves all the time."

He took a forkful of noodles" That's why I came here; the most peaceful and convenient place but I live on rent,"

"Oh."

After having lunch, beside the railing. On the other side of the railing there were horses, the golden sun was about to set. We asked a man to take our pictures on Denver's phone. We laughed again when we saw the photo which showed me losing my balance.

"Remember how I saved you?" He recalled, as we reminisced about the fun moments. I leaned my head against his chest as he hung an arm around my back. "You are like my family, Charlotte; you are home to me." He kissed me on my head and we both chuckled, looking at the sunset.

7

My birthday

Charlotte

On Friday, it was my birthday. Denver had prepared a small birthday party for me at my house. He had also invited my friends, Ebba and Adam, and his friends Jordan and Amanda from his class. Amanda had her younger sister and some of her cousins, who were big fans of Denver Reckon tag along to the party as well.

I blew out the candles, and then cut the cake. Denver was the perfect host and had organised all the dance shows, comedy skits, games and songs and kept cracking jokes time and again. Ebba volunteered to sing a song for me, and then her brother, Adam sang afterwards. I was stunned at how both of their voices were amazing. Everyone let out loud whoops when they both finished.

Adam had also prepared some comedy skits which cracked us up so much that some were on the floor, holding their stomachs. After a few games, Jordan wanted to sing a song even though his voice was so off tune.

After some time, we all started to get bored later in the day when suddenly Denver whispered into my ear, " Charl, the guests are getting bored. Are you?"

I nodded with a small smile, agreeing with him. "Why don't we show them our dancing skills?" He asked.

"Now?" I asked in shock. I had never performed in front of an audience, and I could already feel my hands starting to sweat.

"Yeah, you showed me how to tap dance, remember? We practised it yesterday while watching that cool couple dance in the tv show," said Denver.

"Yes, but..." I started, however, Denver stood and was walking towards the little stage, just as Jordan finished singing.

Denver waited for the claps to die down and then walked up to the stage.

"Thank you Jordan, now Charlotte and I will perform a dance."

Everyone started to shout words of encouragement as I stepped on the stage and held Denver's hand. He connected his phone to the speakers, and we began.

We did a backward clap, and then we danced to each other's side. We began to do a bit of hip-hop. Then holding each other's hand, we began to do hip-hop again, and once again, I followed Denver's dance step. Everybody was cheering us on like crazy. We held hands back and began to tap dance. I could not help but smile as the sound of our feet hit the wooden floor. We shuffle danced, and then holding each other's hands, we tap danced. I was doing so well that Denver looked down at my high heeled shoes in inspiration as we started to speed up and let out a laugh. Audience whooped in encouragement. Ohhhhhh!!! Keep it up, Charl!" Ebba exclaimed in encouragement, clapping her hands.

I mouthed a thank you back, smiling from ear to ear. I didn't know I was this good. Denver was fantastic. We looked at each other and smiled, hitting our feet one last time as the music came to an end.

Both of us were smiling broadly as we danced. Then, Denver spun me around twice and we ended with a bow of curtsey to the audience.

"What followed instantly was an eruption of claps of praise and cheers. We then hugged each other as we jumped. Someone said "love birds!" At this we both giggled and blushed.

"Charver! Charver! Charver!"

We both laughed as the audience mashed up our names together, and gave a courteous bow, both of us not letting go of each other's hand.

8

Blind

Finally, it was my time to sing, and they all encouraged me on. I came on stage and leaned closer to the microphone. I closed my eyes, gulping in fear and let out a small inaudible sigh. I rolled my shoulders back slightly, and I let my voice be heard. All of a sudden, halfway through the song, a strong wave of nostalgic emotion whirled around my mind and heart. I paused and tried to take a breath; however, I wasn't able to sing.

"Sorry," I apologised, giving them a small smile, making it seem as if it's not a big deal. I took a short breath and resumed singing. A few seconds later, I felt as if I couldn't breathe. I dropped the microphone, holding my throat with one hand, trying to find a way to get air into my lungs. I couldn't help but slowly crumple to the floor. I felt familiar arms wrap around my waist just as I was about to hit the floor, Denver abruptly held my body.

I woke up to the feeling of needles in my skin and numb toes. I looked around, trying to find out where I am. It was pitch black. I let out a groan at the strong smell of disinfectant around me.

"I must be in a hospital of some sort," I thought. There was no one I could see. "Charlotte." Denver's voice whispered in my ear. "Denver." I called out his name, "Can you turn the lights on?"

"What?" His voice seemed to be confused.

"Switch on the lights. I can't see anything."

"What do you mean by that Charl, Your eyelids are open."

"What?"

There was a silence between us.

"No..."

"Am I blind? No.....!!!!!! No.....!!!!" I felt my whole body ache in pain as I began to cry. "This can't be happening to me...."

I felt Denver's arms immediately hug me tightly, consoling me as he sat beside me. "Its okay, shhh....it's gonna be alright."

" I can't see Denver! How it's gonna be alright!" I let out a sob.

"It's okay, it's okay, calm down...." he said as he kissed my head, patting my back in circular motions. I held onto him like my life depended on it, sobbing in disbelief that I have gone blind.

Denver held my face softly wiping away the tears, " "I am here for you. I am here for your support. I am here."

I could sense the worry in his voice as he placed my head on his shoulder, hugging me tightly. I wrapped my hands around him, trying to believe that he meant it, but I couldn't believe in him, his words weren't enough to calm me down. He was trying his best, but I couldn't accept what was happening.

I am blind forever.

Forever. How am I going to live? How am I going to go to work? Have I lost my vision of the world forever? I can't see the beauties of the world anymore? This can't be happening to me—this can't. But... I know I have to accept it. It's hard for me, but I have to...

I was discharged from the hospital a few days later and was at my home. I was on the bed, leaning weakly against the pillow settled on my back, and my hand was on Denver's. I could sense Denver sitting in front of me. The lights were switched off, but I could see a grey monotone colour because half of the room was filled with light.

"Are you ready to go to school in this kind of state?" Denver asked.

I stayed quiet.

"I can admit you to a blind school." He reassured me.

"No, that's okay." I replied gently. "I can handle it,"

"How?"

"I can."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

" I don't believe in you." Denver chuckled slightly, trying to lift the tension in the room.

"I can show you how I am going to write. Hand me a pen and paper."

He gave it to me which was on the side table.

And then I wrote, "Charlotte, the lioness."

"Wow! You wrote it quite well." He appreciated it. "How come?"

"Actually when my mom was alive I used to play this kind of game with her, hide and draw..."

"Charlotte." He interrupted.

"Yes?"

"I have a question for you if you don't mind,"

"Okay,"

"What suddenly made you fall down at the restaurant when you were working as a waiter?"

I let out a small gasp in shock. " You were there? How do you know about it?"

"I was one of the few people that rushed forward as soon as you fell," Denver replied gently. A small "oh" left my mouth as I remembered the event.

"I had an asthma attack."

"Oh.."

" Because my mom died in a train crash."

"What about your dad?" wondered Denver.

"He left us all alone when I was 11 years old as he married another woman," I replied coldly. We sat in comfortable silence for a few seconds before he pulled me closer to him.

"I feel so sorry for you, Charl," he whispered gently as he caressed my cheeks.

"It's okay Den."

9

Rebel

Denver went to his rented house only to find his suitcases outside. Apparently, they were tired of his attitude, so he decided to stay at my home. That night, he asked me if I would marry him. I said yes, excited for our future together. We signed the papers and started to plan everything out.

Denver woke me up the next morning as he got ready for work.

After getting ready, I called Denver to help me climb off the stairs. I could hear his footsteps as he ran upstairs. He held my hand in a firm grip, and we climbed off the stairs very slowly, one step at a time. Denver helped me sit on the table. "I'm making breakfast for you." As he left for the kitchen, pans cluttering all around. "I can't believe I'm eating the breakfast made by a celebrity" I teased as I took a bite of the Spanish omelette. I let out a small groan as I closed my eyes, enjoying the taste.

"Too good."

Denver laughed and kissed my head. "I'm glad you like it."

As soon as we finished eating breakfast, he grabbed both of our backpacks and took my hand, walking out of the house.

I let out a smile as he stayed with me until we reached the classroom, seating me into a chair. I tried to ignore the feeling of everyone staring at me, whispering to each other. I heard the clicking of the heels and quickly straightened up a bit as they entered the classroom. I could feel the teacher staring at me as she greeted the class. My heart was pounding faster and faster with every minute that passed by wondering if she would ask anything from me as I had disclosed my weakness to everyone. I let out a sigh of relief as the bell rang, no one had asked any questions.

During the break, Denver came to my class so I could go with him to the cafeteria, holding my hand tightly as we passed through the hallways of students rushing past. I found out from him that he told my class teacher about my problem and that's why she didn't bother to ask anything from me. Ebba was right; life becomes hard on you, but sometime later it will grant mercy on you.

The school day ended, and Denver and I were sitting in a circle with Amanda and Jordan on the grass field. Barren and Diego who were from different grades also joined us as they were Jason's neighbours.

It was partially cloudy, and the school students were rushing about trying to get home as quickly as possible.

Denver was reading a book while Jordan and Amanda were doing their own thing. Barren and Diego were busy in school work. Barren was helping Diego solve the physics questions that he had for homework. I sensed someone staring at me, burning holes into my forehead and slightly pulled Denver's jumper towards me. I felt him lift his head and gave a sharp look in Jordan's and Amanda's direction, who was sitting in front of him and then went back to reading his book. I let out a small smile at his indifference of what they thought about us.

"Hey, Denver?" asked Jordan

"Yeah?" He replied calmly, not lifting his head from the book.

"We made a rule for this cute little group."

There was suddenly a movement from Barren's and Diego's direction.

"What crept into your mind to make a rule for this group out of nowhere?" asked Diego.

All of a sudden, Amanda spoke,

"You know that group of 4 people? Tacos, right?"

"Yeah." Denver said as he

closed the book .

"They broke up today."

"What?!" yelled Diego in shock.

"Seriously?" asked Barren.

"Why?"

"Because the two boys of that group found out that they were gay and they kept a rule that no gays or lesbians are not allowed."

We all stayed quiet as Miss Maddy came and asked Diego and Barren to go with her for a while. As soon as they went away, Denver continued,

"So...what's the link between them and the rules in our group?"

"We are scared that our group might break up like them, so we need new rules just in case."

Silence fell among our group, and when all of a sudden Denver burst out laughing, making me smile. He then slammed his hand on the book as he bent forward, "You guys are hilarious!" and continued laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" asked the siblings confused.

"They have gone nuts, seriously," Amanda said to Jordan.

"Because that doesn't make sense." Denver continued laughing.

"Okay, okay listen, listen to our rules then decide whether to laugh at it or not," Jordan demanded, shooting a dark look at Denver's way.

Denver apologised as soon as his laughter died down.

"So what's the rule?"

"As you know, my sister Amanda has no boyfriend to hang out with, and she tried to befriend a guy, I think his name starts with D, I guess," Denver let out inaudible scorn. "The guy was not interested in her, but Amanda was interested-"

"Why are you telling this to us?" Denver cut in.

"That's why," Jordan continued " Amanda feels a bit depressed when she looks at you with Charl."

"Get her a proper treatment then," Denver responded with a shrug.

Jordan continued, "Second is," ignoring what Denver said "No disabled person is allowed in this group. That's it."

"Hmm.. love it," Denver replied sarcastically. "That's a pretty nice rule, isn't it Charl?"

I let out a small sigh, not saying anything.

"And if I break one of the rules?" He snapped. As he got up.

"Answer is simple, in a few days you will be standing, mourning in front of Charl's grave."

I quickly tried to get up as I could sense the anger radiating from Denver's direction, making my forward and wrapped my arms around him.

"Hey, calm down, no need to make such an angry face," Amanda stuttered.

"It's okay," I whispered as I rested my head against his back.

"What if I kill you first?" Denver backfired at him.

I sensed Jordan come closer to him and all of a sudden gave him a hard punch to his face. I let go and tried to keep my balance. I suddenly felt a gust of wind go by as Denver rammed into Jordan violently and they both fell to the ground. Amanda kept shouting to stop, and I could hear that everyone was slowly gathering around. Denver and Jordan were throwing fists at each other which came to an end when Barren and Diego pulled them both away.

I came out of the director's office as Jordan and Amanda blamed me for this mess. Denver, who was sitting in the waiting area, grabbed hold of my hands gently and pulled me towards him.

"What happened?" He asked, concerned.

I stayed quiet, pretending to be brave, controlling back my tears as I gulped. "The director has suspended me."

"What?" Denver shouted, shocked. I didn't say anything, looking down.

"Come with me,"

He held my hand, and we got out of school, taking me to an empty basketball court and stood there. Denver took my hands in his, surprising me with what he said next,

"You have to write an apology letter."

10

The Apology letter

I don't get why Denver is doing this to me? It was not my fault! Why should I write it? But somehow Denver convinced me to write the letter.

At night, I was in my room at my study table, in front of the window. The study lamp was on. And on paper I wrote only these lines.

Apology letter

Dear Mr Trotter,

I am sorry for...

And then my other hand became restless, my fist clenching and unclenching. This is what happens when anger, anxiety, sadness take control of me. I sniffed and soon began to weep.

Just then, I heard Denver come inside the room. He saw me from my shaking back that I was crying. He cautiously came up behind me and peeked over my shoulder on my paper to see what I had written. He then leaned forward, held my restless hand gently, kissed on my cheeks and made me write it. All the while, his cheeks rested on mine, while I wrote what needed to be written. I felt as though God had sent an angel to me, and I saw how wonderfully I was able to write everything down - swiftly, smoothly and effortlessly.

"Done," Denver said. "I am keeping this letter in your bag."

"But I don't understand. What is this all about?" I said, growing nervous.

"Soon, my love. You'll know soon," said Denver.

***

At school, we were all in the main hallway beside our lockers. I was standing at my locker, I reached inside my bag and felt for the letter I had written last night.

Denver was just standing beside me, for support, leaning against the lockers. Denver met Jordan's eyes. He was holding an electrical shocker, his eyes were aimed at me. He walked towards me but tripped over Denver's foot which he had suddenly placed in front of Jordan. But doing so, he accidentally pressed the button of the electric shocker. Electric current passed through Amanda's leg, instead, who was talking with her friends nearby.

Later, after giving the apology letter, I learned from Denver who was joyful, that Jordan and Amanda had been suspended for a couple of weeks. I didn't smile. I didn't know what to say but Denver just hugged me. "You are safe now." He said.

"Thanks Den, you are an angel for me." I said.

***

It was a beautiful evening with a beautiful sunset. Cool summer breeze was blowing, birds chirped and I could hear a ball being kicked that bounced off into the distance. It felt good but I felt guilty too. Denver was sitting beside me at the bench.

"Denver," I said.

"Hmm.." He responded.

"I - I am sorry."

"What? Why are you saying that?"

"For breaking your friendship. I can understand the pain you are feeling."

Denver didn't say anything but I knew he was listening. So, I continued.

"Even though I can't see, I can feel your vibes. I have decided something." I said and felt Denver turn to look at me. I looked down and shook my head.

"You have to leave me." I said, quietly. "And you have to befriend them again. Because I am an unfortunate person, and-"

"Hey, hey, hey..." Denver said gently. "Don't be so hard on yourself Charl. You are the luckiest person for me, you know that. You saved my life. If I continued with them having no idea of their intention, I would be in trouble."

Just then, Denver's cell phone rang.

"Hello..... Why have you called me..? How can you expect for me and Charl to forgive you, Amanda!"

I then held his hand as Denver looked at me

"Forgive them.Just for me...please.." I said.

Denver stayed quiet, confused while Amanda was pleading his forgiveness.

I spoke again. "Just for the sake of my happiness, Den." This somehow calmed him, and then he said

"Okay....it's okay." He said, though unwillingly and then ended the call. I felt him turn toward me.

"You have disappointed me, Charl."

"I want your happiness, your happiness is my happiness." I said.

"God, Charl you have no idea how Amanda is. She was the one who used to force me to keep a relationship with me. And I don't like her because her personality was not appealing to me. You are the perfect person for me Charl, and that's something I have always wished for. And secondly, I can't leave you like that in your condition."

He leaned in closer to me and I felt his leg touch mine. He stroked my hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ear. He then caressed my cheeks.

"I want to live with you, Charl." He said and kissed on my forehead. "I can't live without you."

11

The Washroom

Jordan called Denver, me and Amanda as he wanted to meet us in the mall's espresso coffee shop where he worked there as a waiter. Denver was not willing to go with them, but just for the sake of my happiness, he made up his mind to meet them. I had forgiven them but Denver hadn't.

Denver can't tolerate if a fight has gone against me. Amanda was talking to us as I was giving responses except Denver, who wasn't paying any heed to her conversation and kept ignoring her altogether, almost as if she wasn't there.

We then chose to sit on four chairs around a coffee table which was located beside the entrance. Denver was sitting on the left side of the table. We were all quiet. Amanda took the mobile out from her jeans pocket and texted her brother Jordan to come.

Few minutes later, Jordan arrived.

"Hey! What's up, bro!" He said, patting Denver's shoulder. Denver didn't acknowledge him at all which made Jordan redden a bit with embarrassment. He looked around to see if anyone was watching them, and bit his lips.

"So," He said, collecting himself as he pulled out a chair and sat on it .

"You both must be thinking why we called you here after our big fight? Right, Charl?" I could hear Denver breathing heavily, trying to hold in his frustration. He swallowed, as though swallowing anger, and looked down at his crossed legs, moving them back and forth. His discomfort was palpable.

"Just for the celebration that you guys have forgiven us." Jordan beamed at us.

Denver laughed mirthlessly. "Really?" He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Anyway, Jordan decided to hold a coffee party for us." Amanda said.

"Oh wow!" I said.

Jordan asked what we needed from the menu. All of us ordered except Denver.

Amanda started talking to me. She and I were having a great time sharing a laugh while Denver got busy with his mobile. I felt happy and relaxed, enjoying Amanda's company.

Meanwhile, Jordan walked towards our table with our orders on a tray. He had brought a wrap and coffee for Denver too. I grabbed my coffee and took a sip. Amanda looked at Jordan meaningfully, and something passed between their eyes. A slow, wicked smile crept almost simultaneously on both their faces.

While Denver was immersed in his mobile, his coffee was getting cold. After a few seconds, I felt like I wanted to go to the toilet. So Amanda got up and offered to help me get there. She held my hand and led me to the washroom. Meanwhile, Jordan stood up to clear the table, leaving Denver alone. He didn't seem worried about Amanda and Jordan as they had both apologised.

As we got close to the washroom, Amanda saw a CCTV camera. She took out a device and pressed a button on it. After a second, the red light of the CCTV camera blinked off, indicating that the camera had gone dead.

There was no one inside. Amanda led me to one of the cubicles. I went inside and locked the door. I could hear Amanda moving about outside and then I heard the washroom door open again. There was a few minutes of silence after which I heard movement outside my cubicle again. She took out a paper from her bag, on which was written "under construction" and stuck it on the washroom door."

"You okay in there?" asked Amanda.

I replied that I was. After I was done, I tried to open my door but the handle fell off and I got locked inside.

"Amanda!" I called out her name.

There was no answer.

I called out her name again. "Amanda?"

Again, no response.

"Amanda, I think I am locked inside. The handle fell off I think. I can't get out. Where are you?"

There was still no response. Where the heck is she?

***

Back in the cafe, Denver glanced at his watch and wondered where Charlotte was. Suspicion slowly creeped inside him.

Amanda and Charlotte hadn't come back yet. He began to get worried.

Just then he heard the mall's announcement.

"Customer Announcement!

Dear Customers, please leave this area as the mall will close by 8:30pm due to construction work."

Denver stood up hesitantly. He looked at his watch again in nervousness. It blinked 8:25PM at him.

***

Charlotte

I looked up as I heard the announcement. Where the heck is Amanda! Argh, screw it!

"Help!" I cried. "Somebody! Help! Help!"

This was what I had always dreaded. The nightmare of being locked somewhere. Alone and unsafe. How could Amanda leave me like that, I thought in disbelief. Suddenly, I heard the click of lights going off. I felt my throat go dry in fear. I kept calling for help but my efforts were all in vain.

It's dark. I'm alone. No one's coming to get me. I'm stuck here. I can't breathe. Fear gripped my heart. I thundered my hands at the door, hoping desperately for someone, anyone to come get me. But there was no one.

***

Denver

Denver reached the restroom area. He looked around and noticed the washroom door, perplexed. There was a sign posted on the door. "Under Construction", it said. But, I saw people going in and out of the washroom so what's this? He thought.

He ignored the sign and still walked towards the door, grabbed the door handle, opened the door and entered the ladies room.

It was completely dark inside except for a single red and white emergency fire exit light glowing at the far end. He waited a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the partial darkness.

He felt alert and could suddenly hear someone inside of the cubicles. It sounded like someone was gasping. Charlotte!

"Charlotte!" He called out.

Denver followed the gasping noises and stopped in front of the cubicle where he saw another sign posted which said the same "Out of Service". But this was the exact cubicle where the gasping was coming from.

With all his might he tried to push the door open but it didn't budge. He gave three strong kicks at the door, causing it to fly open and saw Charlotte lying on the floor, struggling to breathe.

"Charlotte!" He shouted, frantically. "Jesus!" He then immediately dragged her out of the cubicle. He fell on his knees and pulled her up so that she was lying across his lap, giving support to the back of her head with his hand.

He took out her asthma inhaler which he had forgotten to give her before she had gone to the washroom with Amanda. He placed it inside her mouth and implored her to breathe.

"Breathe, Charl! Breathe! Please!" Denver begged, tears welling up in his eyes. It took a few minutes for Charlotte to come to and she inhaled.

Charlotte's eyes fluttered open. Her breathing was evening out. "Denver," she said weakly.

Relief flooded through Denver as he stared at her.

He supported her so that she could sit up.

"Relax. Relax... I am here now. You don't need to worry." he could see that she was shaking.

She then burst into tears. He enveloped her in a hug until she could stop shaking.

"I am sorry," he said, stroking my back and kissing on my cheeks. "It's fine, you are safe now." He said as he wiped his own tears.

12

On a deck boat

Charlotte

Denver took me to Albany Marine Club because he thought that water would calm me. I was feeling shaken due to yesterday's horrifying trigger that I had gone through. The Club is part of the Uranus Ocean. It is divided by a wooden boundary as its gate which makes the boundary between it and the sea. The restaurant where I used to work as a waitress could be seen far from the club. Uranus Ocean laped peacefully in the background, its waves crashing gently on the smooth beach.

I was six years old when I had first visited this place with my parents. But now I only have a vague image of it.

Denver was constantly holding my hand. We went to buy tickets.

"Hey!" I heard a familiar voice of a young girl. "Oh, hi Barren!" Denver greeted.

"How are you?"

"I am good." She said to me as she hugged me. "How are you Charl?"

"I am good." I said.

"How come you guys are here? And where is Deago?" Denver asked.

"Yeah," She turned back then looked at them. "Oh, he is coming." the three of them saw him running towards them..

"Hi guys!" He said as he hugged Denver.

"So, you guys must be headed to the deck boat right?"

"Yeah, you too?" Denver asked.

"Yup. So, how about we exchange partners? Like, Charlotte with me and...Deago with you?"

I tightly held Denver's hand and grabbed his forearm as well. I got goosebumps. Denver looked at me as my face was frantic. I took a gulp. We both got nervous. I don't want Denver to leave me alone with a stranger. I thought and I was sure Denver was thinking the same. The fear of being trapped and suffocated was still fresh in my brain. The horrendous incident of yesterday shook me.

Barren saw the hesitation in both of us and made an apologetic face. "It's okay... I know..."

"Yeah it's fine." Deago added. "We can understand your feelings. It must have been terrible for you both with the trouble given by Jordan and Amanda."

"Yeah, they are hooligans. We also broke friendship with them."

"Yeah, they are not good people." Barren nodded.

"Can we get on the deck boat?" Denver cut in, not wanting to talk about them. "Yeah, lets go." Barren said and led the way to the ticket booth to get the tickets.

"Okay, you guys go get the tickets. We'll be heading to the deck boat." Denver said.

"Okay." Deago said.

We then went towards the large white deck boat and got on.

"Soon Barren and Deago also joined us."

Denver sat in the front while Deago rode the boat. Barren and I sat at the back. Deago then turned on the engine and began to take control of the boat by its steering wheel.

We then snuck out of the club's gate attached to the boundary. We were far away from the club's gate. There was no one in that area. After a few minutes Deago stopped the deck boat to have some break, letting the boat bob gently on the surface of the water. We then snacked on the things we had bought from the tuck shop.

The sky was getting darker. The black grey clouds occupying the sky gave an indication of rain. The waves were getting stronger, gushing up the side of the boat. It then started to rain lightly. Denver and Deago stood listening to music while Barren took me to the other side and we stood there talking.

"Hey! That dolphin just jumped and kissed me out of nowhere!" She cut in while talking.

"Really?" I said, feeling curious.

"Yeah, bend forward because it's approaching again towards us."

"This music is so good, isn't it?" Deago said, aiming to distract Denver. Denver was feeling uncomfortable as he felt worried about me." Deago noticed this and he turned the music volume high. This made Denver suspicious. He took off his headphones, and turned around but saw Deago was not there.

And at that moment he heard my shrill cry of help.

"What? Wait... Charlotte!" The panning lighthouse made him locate me. As he shouted frantically. "Charl!"

"Oh my God! No!" He rushed towards the edge of the boat and jumped into the sea.

The sea waves were so strong that they were pushing against me. The more I tried to swim closer to the boat, the more the waves kept pushing and dragging me down towards the waterfall. Denver swimmed with his might as best as he could to save me, fighting against the waves..

I was helpless, hopeless but hopeful that I may die. I had given up, and could feel the waves taking me almost to the waterfall at the other end. Just when I was about to fall, I felt Denver climb me on my back. And I felt relieved.But it was extremely horrible for me.

Somehow, Denver pulled off the ladder attached to the boat and managed to climb up. He immediately took a towel from his backpack, wrapped me around and hugged me, stroking my back quickly as I was shivering and gasping. Then a light shone on us: Denver shielding his face with his hand, allowing his eyes to adjust. He removed his hand slowly. He saw that there was another deck boat where Deago, Barren, Jordan and Amanda were sitting, having fun laughing while having cold drinks as if enjoying our show.

Denver was shocked. But his face turned into a mask of ferocity and outrage. I heard him shout something at them.

"GO TO HELL!" But they continued laughing as if his comment didn't affect their feelings. Now they were laughing more as if he had cracked a joke. "You guys are the most hideous people on earth, you know that!"

"Thank you!" Jordan said, laughing with others.

This enraged Denver even more. He made me sit on a seat nearby, ran towards the boat bobbing in the water near them and immediately sat on the driving seat turning on the engine and the boat sailed off. Denver aimed to chase them by driving. He saw them moving away. Soon Denver's boat was beside Deago's boat who was driving it. Deago gave a hard push to our boat and then, so hard that we were about to plunge into the river again.

Denver turned the steering wheel and gave a hard push to their boat which made it go off into the river away from them. And then he took me back to the club as I was still shivering.

13

Fight

Next morning, Denver opened his eyes as he stretched, yawning. He looked to his left to see me. I was covered with white blanket.

He got up and went to brush and change. He came back wearing a dark purple shirt with black pants with brown timberland shoes. He walked up to the window to open it. Sunlight flowed inside giving a shine to his brown hair, which he combed. He caught the reflection of me in the mirror, sleeping.

He was happy that I was safe but a bit gloomy because of that night. He walked towards my side of the bed.

"Charlotte sweetheart," he said gently as he approached me. His slow footsteps clearly sounded on the floor of our silent room.

"Charl, baby?" He said again as he bent down a little and turned me forward so that I could face him. My eyes were closed. He decided to wake me up by stroking my hair. But when he kept his hand on my head, he was shocked. "Oh my God Charl! You are burning!"

I weakly opened my eyes at the sound of his worried voice but something was wrong. Very wrong.

I realized that my whole body was oven hot. I felt sweaty and like I was in a dark and super suffocating heated oven.

I heard Denver run somewhere and then come back with what felt like pillows which he supported me with for me to sit up, placing the pillows behind me and making me lean against them. He then placed the thermometer in my mouth.

He then grabbed a chair, which was leaning against the wall near him, brought it closer to me and sat on it. He kept looking at me somberly, realizing the kind of torture they had given to his beloved one. He continued staring at me, he looked down as he began to tap his feets as if he was stressed out.

He then looked up at me, held my hand as my eyes closed. I felt him lean forward to take the thermometer out carefully from my mouth.

He checked it and found that I had a high grade fever. Denver quickly went to get a mug of water with a piece of cloth and dabbed on my head. He did it for a minute and some seconds.

After that he went downstairs to make breakfast for me. He walked upstairs with a tray and entered the room. He kept it on my side table, sat on the chair and made me eat that breakfast.

Denver fed me one bite and the other he ate himself. I felt like I was the luckiest person on the face of this planet. I have the most caring and loving husband who is a famous celebrity too who fell in love with an ordinary girl like me. I hoped I was not living in a dream.

His mobile beeped, indicating that there was a voice message. He stood up, walked around the bed towards his bed's side table. He grabbed the mobile and listened to it in a low volume.

"Yo...Den! Whats up?" He heard Jordan laugh. "You thought that we were killed forever. That's your thinking Denver." His voice sounded menacing. "You tried to give us death but you couldn't. Now be prepared and wait and see an excruciatingly terrible death of your lover." Then there was silence. Denver looked at his phone's screen, his face giving away no emotion, he brought the phone to his ear again. The voice note had not ended. There was more.

"The kind of death that you would be unable to bury her. See you soon bro..." He laughed and the voice note ended.

Denver was horrified as he gulped and looked at me but he quickly and bravely turned it into a face of ferocity, anger and a determination to kill them, what so ever. He threw his mobile on the bed, rushed towards the study table where he grabbed a pen from the holder and quickly wrote something on a piece of paper.

He then grabbed a syringe filled with sleep medicine from his backpack and quickly walked towards me to inject me with it. He grabbed the car keys and rushed downstairs to go outside to his car.

He walked to the driveway in frustration, got into his car, slamming the door shut loudly. He turned the keys to start the engine and zoomed off with a screech.

Denver drove his car at full speed, his face set in rage. Charlotte's face swam before his eyes.

"I love you Denver..."

"My mom died in a train crash and my dad left us alone..."

And then he had a flashback in which Charlotte grabbed his forearm when Barren asked if Charlotte could come with them. This led him to more exasperation.

Another flashback came of how Charlotte was drowning in the endless sea... And how she was trapped inside the washroom... How she was gasping for air, her cries of sorrow and pain echoed in his mind which further fueled Denver's rage and the determination to avenge their enemies. The whirl of such strong emotions brought angry tears to his eyes.

Denver brought the car to a stop with a screech in the corner of the road. He cried and leaned his head forward and kept his head on the steering wheel. He then leaned against the seat as if he was defeated. His head slightly tilted up.

He gave himself time to cry as much as he could. "An excruciatingly terrible death of your lover... " Jordan's voice echoed in his mind. "The kind of death you would be unable to bury her… See you soon bro..."

He collected himself and made up his mind about what to do as he slowly looked in front of the mirror, Taking quick deep breaths, with angry tears in his eyes. He abruptly slammed his foot on the accelerator making the car zoom off with a sharp screech.

The car stopped in front of Jordan's house. He got out and looked at his house, surveying each and every corner, clenching his fist tightly to keep control. He then turned his face right and saw that the window was open. He took a step forward and walked towards the window. He peeked inside and saw no one except the view of Amanda's pink and white room. It was immaculately clean.

Denver decided to attack them without giving any sign of him being there. He quietly climbed inside through the window and made his way towards the door to the bedroom.

He found himself in the dining room and was startled when he saw Amanda bent over at the dining table writing something down. Her black hair was spread open. Denver approached her slowly from behind and peeked over her shoulder. She didn't even hear him come so close, being so engrossed in whatever she was writing, or sketching. He studied what she was doing on the paper and was shocked to see that she was sketching a plan of some sort to kill Charlotte.

He abruptly grabbed her nape. Amanda yelped in surprise. He dragged her to the washroom as she fought against his strong grip. He pushed her forcefully on the basin's counter where she hit her abdomen and bent over in pain.

She slowly looked up at Denver who slammed the door shut never leaving her eyes. She could see rage in his eyes. She smirked. He took a step toward her but Amanda was quick to move away from him but he caught her just long enough to give a tight slap across her face which made her lose balance and hit her head on the wall across the basin. She winced in pain and held her head. Denver then held her mouth and squeezed it tightly.

"Did you really think we are that weak, Amanda? That we can't fight? That we can't kill people like you, hmm?" He grunted.

Amanda moaned in pain.

"You think Charl is alone?" He deliberately took Charlotte's nickname to make her jealous. "That's your pathetic thinking!" He spat out.

Amanda suddenly lashed out at Denver, wanting to scratch his face but Denver knew all the fighting techniques he had done in his movies behind the scenes. So, this was easy for him to anticipate her moves, but this time, it was different. He grabbed her wrist, turned her arm and gave a kick on her back making her bump her head on the wall. Amanda fell down with a thud, unconscious.

Denver stood over her, breathing heavily. Then when he was about to turn around, Jordan rear choked him, making him spurt. But Denver brought his leg behind Jordan's leg, shot a hard elbow in Jordan's face making him fall to the ground. Holding his collar, he gave three punches to his face but Jordan blocked another punch from Denver and kicked him in the abdomen. Denver fell far on the ground, bumping his head on a wall. He bent forward and groaned in pain.

Jordan grabbed Denver's collar and was about to punch when Denver stopped him and kicked him in the abdomen. Jordan fell down, clutching his abdomen and moaning in pain. Denver approached towards him and then stomped forcefully on his pelvis making Jordan scream in agony..

Denver walked towards Jordan's arm which lay straight on the tiled floor, looking at him with ferocity.

"Thank you Jordan, your voice message motivated me to kill you," said Denver as he stepped hard on his forearm making him scream in pain. Dènver kept looking at him writhing in pain.

Denver leaned against the table, watching Jordan. Then he abruptly turned around and kicked at the table, making it tilt and fall. It crashed near Jordan's head and some of the glass entered Jordan's eyes which caused him to shriek in pain.

Denver left him screaming as he walked towards the door to exit. Just when he was about to step out, Deago slammed a stool on his head. Denver wailed and bent down in pain. He staggered to keep himself from falling down, trying to keep balance. Just when he was about to turn around, he was hit by another massive blow to his face. His head bumped the table. Another blow to the back and Denver found himself lying on the floor. Denver tried to open his eyes and see through the searing pain at what was going on. He saw that Deago had a small knife in his hand and that Barren had also joined him. Both Barren and Deago walked over to him and began to beat and kick at him.

14

Recovery

Charlotte

She saw a dream made up of past happy memories: of how Denver, a celebrity as well as her husband had come into her life. He had saved her with all his might, strength and bravery from a critical situation which was leading me to near death. The voice of his kiss on my cheeks echoed in her dream, the way he held my restless hands and made me write that letter, the way he had hugged her, telling her about what the school director had said after giving the letter to him. She had felt really protected and safe, the way he used to caress my cheeks when she was stressed out. These memories were coming in waves, overlapping and taking control of the darkness. She had never seen a dream so vivid, so crystal clear, a dream so beautiful and so, so real. It almost felt like it was happening in real life.

She opened her eyes and saw everything blurred. The blurry images slowly gave way to clearer ones. A window was slid open letting in the warm winter sunshine, making the white room alight.

She slowly looked around and saw that the room was done in brown wall paper printed with small beautiful little tulips patterned on it. There was another room through which she could see wooden stairs leading downstairs. A large cupboard stood in the corner occupying the greater part of the room. A framed beautiful scenery was hanging on the wall.

At first she felt she was still dreaming. Then she realised that this room belonged to her parents. And that she was no more blind. She understood that happiness and love seemed to heal her blindness, that sadness did the opposite, blinded her.

She felt like butterflies, birds fluttered wildly inside her heart. She felt exhilarated and elated and could not think of what name she should decide for that feeling more accurately. I can see it more crystal clear. It seems like I am born again but in a grown up form.

I turned left towards my side table and saw a piece of paper. I picked it up and saw that it was a note which read:

"I am coming. Don't worry."

But this didn't console me so I decided to call him. I got up from the bed and walked towards a small white table by the far wall. Small vases, monuments and a green-coloured telephone were sitting there together.

I picked up the telephone, and made a call to Denver. I heard his phone ring from within the room. I turned and saw that it was lying on the bed, as though Denver had thrown it in a hurry to go somewhere. I put the telephone down and picked his mobile up. I went through his call log and saw a voice note from Jordan. I clicked on it and listened.

Blood drained from my face as I realised where Denver must be. Or what he must have done. With dread, I realised with certainty that Denver had gone to Jordan's house to kill them. I wasted no time and dialed 911.

Denver

Denver was lying on his stomach on the floor. He could vaguely feel a weight on his back. Like someone or something was keeping him held down. He heard a voice over his head. Barren. It was his foot on his back. Denver groaned in pain. Deago crouched down in front of Denver and cued Barren to hit him hard on his back once again which he did, sending Denver in a fit of pain. He heard someone load bullets into a gun. And felt the barrel press on the side of his temple.

"That's it dude, you tried your best, but the game is not over yet…" said Deago, chuckling. He then put his finger on the trigger. "Now, your game's over."

Suddenly, the door flew open and police barged inside, with their guns out. "HANDS OVER YOUR HEADS! NOW! DROP YOUR GUN! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"

Deago and Barren were arrested along with Jordan and Amanda.

Denver was panting hard, his face smeared with blood. He saw me get out of the police car. Charlotte was shocked to see his face. she rushed towards him.

"Denver!"

I turned so that he could face me. I sat down and placed my hands on either side of his face.

"Denver... sweetheart," I said to him gently.

"Charlotte..." He said in a feeble voice. I could see his tears roll down and I realized that I was crying too.

"Thank you."

He said and then I hugged him as I began to cry. I kissed him and hugged him again. I was happy and relieved that he was not dead. He was alive and with me.

He then held me weakly with his bruised hand at my back while I supported him so that he could stand up and lean in to me for support. We both walked towards Denver's car. I opened the car's passenger door and carefully sat Denver down while I took the driving seat. We drove off into the night.

Miracle

For the wedding, I was wearing a maroon gown that flowed behind me. I was standing on the terrace, looking at the sky. A cool breeze was blowing and I saw a cloud gradually forming the shape of what looked like a heart. I was thinking about how happy and safe I was feeling. Music bleated from the speakers which I had turned on previously.

Then a beautiful scent carried onto the breeze. I closed my eyes and felt it. When I opened them, I sensed someone standing peripheral vision.

Denver.

He was standing right beside me. Looking at me.

"God! Denver you made me scared!" I said as he chuckled. He was wearing black suit adorned over a grey shirt.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

I faced him. Approached closer and leaned forward, closing my eyes and a wave of beautiful thoughts of how we first met swiftly drove into my mind. All the memories washed over me. How he had saved me from all the critical situations I had found myself in.

"I like it." I said.

"What?" He asked.

"Your scent. It reminded me of something nice."

"Like what?" He asked.

"The time when we first met, the way you saved me from when I was in trouble."

"Not them?" He joked.

"Who?"

"Jordan and Amanda were also present at that time."

"Oh.. shut up…" As we both laughed.

The instrumental version of the song named 'Miracle' began to play. It reminded me of the asthma attack I had had at a birthday party when I was singing this song. Denver sensed my glumliness.

"Hey, don't think about the past. Think how I saved you and took you out from the tough times, think how you felt when you gained your eyesight back. Miracle is the perfect song for you. It's meant for this."

I looked down and then Denver held my hand and brought his other hand on my waist and then we began to move lightly. Moving our feets according to our dance moves.We began to dance. He then sang over the music. His voice was captivating.

"From up above I heard

The angels sing to me these words….

And sometimes in your eyes

I see the beauty in the world…."

"Now you sing." Denver said and then I sang another verse.

"Oh, now I'm floating so high

I blossom and die

Send your storm and your lightning to strike

Me between the eyes.."

"Eyes ." Denver completed. And then we both joined our heads with each other.

He sang with the music. And then I sang.

"Sometimes the stars decide

To reflect in puddles in the dirt...

When I look in your eyes

I forget all about what hurts"

And then we both sang those verses of that song. "Oh, now I am floating so high. I blossom and die. Send your storm and your lightning to strike me between the eyes. Eyes….." (music began).

"Denver," I said

"Hmm…" He responded.

"Thank you,"

"For what?"

"From taking me out from terrible tough times. Healing me from blindness and asthma. You made me feel as if you have shown me the blue sunny sky through your strength by shoving away the dark smothery clouds from life."

He smirked as he looked down, shaking his head "That's because I love you.."

"And I love you more than your love, Denver."

I then hugged him which later made him kiss on my cheeks. "You really showed me the bright sunny sky by shoving away...The smothery clouds."

The End.