[ Saturday, July 16 ]
Today's the 16th day of July.
It's my mother's birthday, which will be celebrated in our villa. It isn't a huge event, just a simple dinner with her closest friends and some family members. The garden has few tables covered in red fabric, for that's her favorite color. A buffet table was also prepared, with three hired men to assist the guests for their chosen meal. Of course, the party won't be complete without some drinks. Champagnes and red wines are some of her favorites, and so there's also a table for the guests who are interested to drink.
Now that I think about it, five months from now, it'll be my wedding day. A few days ago, the thought about Vaughn and I who weren't in good terms was quite bothering, I haven't talked to him for like a week. It was so immature of me, to hide myself to my own betrothed, being busy as an excuse. I'm just glad that we were able to fix it last week. Now everything seems to go well, but I believe that I should still keep an eye on my sister, Sasha. This wedding cannot be canceled, not by her.
It's 6:47 in the evening. Summer went out of her room, wearing a black evening dress with a bateau neckline in embroidered lace, a belt on the waist and side slit, revealing her left leg. Her hair was tied up, braided and knotted like a crown. Her clothing is too much for this simple event, but I'm pretty sure that I managed to catch up since I'm in my lace-paneled silk crepe de chine blouse and silk crepe de chine maxi skirt.
"Hi there sweet cheeks," Summer greeted, pulling me into a light hug. She seems to be an incredibly good mood, which I'm quite thankful of because I'm one of the reasons. For many years, we almost rolled our eyes whenever we see each other, but things are so different now.
"May I ask, are you trying to scare people? Ironically, it's mom's birthday, and you're wearing black. Seriously, not welcoming." I joked, but part of it is true.
"Depends on how people see it. How many people do you think are coming tonight?"
"Well, perhaps around 50 guests will be here in our villa. Anyways, I'll leave you for now. I need to talk to Vaughn. I'll look for him." Summer nodded as I leave her behind to look for Vaughn.
I looked around and greeted some guests with a simple handshake and nod, while I'm looking for my fiancé whom I don't know if is already here. I believe it's quite early, but I don't think searching for him is a bad idea.
I walked to the unoccupied part of the garden, where no one is. A few moments later, two people completely changed my assumption – seeing Sasha grabbing Vaughn under the tree as if it's a secret meeting.
Tears started flowing from Sasha's eyes as she expressed everything in her heart with her words.
"Look, I know you care for me at the very least, but can you even imagine how I feel whenever you tell me that you can't because you're engaged to my sister? I love you, Vaughn. For many years I do. I kept on telling myself that I should move on but I can't and I don't even know why! I can't forget you, you hear me? I kept on looking for love by distracting myself with different guys, but it's still you," she confessed. She tries to compose herself, wiping off the tears from her eyes and Vaughn just stood up, his eyes fixed on Sasha, with an expression that I couldn't read. "Let me ask you, Vaughn Alcantara. You said you love Amethyst, don't you? If you love her, why can't you be honest with her and tell her that I keep on bugging you, I keep on doing ways just to make you follow me and guess what? It works. You are too kind. You care so much, but you can't be honest with her at all. You're pathetic, and I'm stupid because I see your kindness as love even though I already know that I'm fooling myself."
My knees buckle, my heart beats like a drum. So fast that I feel like I'm going to burst. Her words drain me, and my blood feels like it's some kind of water boiling inside a kettle. I tried my best to hold my anger, but I doubt that I can even last for long. I want to know what Vaughn will say.
"Just give it up, Sasha. There's no point in –" Long before Vaughn explains his side about Sasha's confession, she pulled him towards her, pressing her lips to his.
Tears started pooling my eyes. I clenched my shaking fists beside me, but something inside me stops me from moving. I couldn't feel my legs. I couldn't move and breathe, and I don't know why.
It felt like the world was tearing apart and everything that I saw made me lose my sense of self.
Meanwhile, while I'm stuck to where I'm standing, hurting myself every second as I watch the two traitors in front of me, kissing, I heard footsteps from behind. It was Summer, who witnessed the same thing.
Vaughn looked back, his eyes widening as he saw us watching, and he ran towards me. "Amethyst, let me explain, I –"
Without any word, I slapped him as hard as I could, too hard that I felt how painful the slap was in my own hand. But that was nothing than the pain that I felt when my heart was shattered into thousands of pieces.
As I ran out of air to breathe, I decided to run away because it was too much for me to handle. Two weeks ago, I avoided him because of Sasha. A week ago, we talked to fix this crappy relationship that lasted for around seven years. But now, it's over. I'm too tired. Everything that happened recently are hints that I should just let him go. Now it's time to apply that.
Vaughn was calling my name, and I hear Summer, scolding him. Slapping sounds included. But I didn't look back. Not again.
I don't care about mom's party. I don't care about Sasha. I no longer care about Vaughn. I don't know what to do, but there's only one thing that I'm sure if – I have to get out of here.
I entered my car and turned on the engine, and as I leave our house's gates, the rain started to pour hard. Even the sky weeps for my loss. As much as I wanted to stop myself, tears won't stop on flowing from my eyes, turning me into a human faucet. I couldn't help it. I don't even know where I should go. Will there be a wedding? Why did that happen? Why didn't he tell me about Sasha before? How long has Sasha been fooling all of us? Was that their first time to kiss? Is she happy now that she ruined everything? What did I ever do to deserve all these things?
I don't know what to conclude anymore.
My sight began to blur because of my tears. I couldn't see much aside from some lights from the other cars, and the lightless road made things worse. As I pass Jeoyeon bridge, I saw a bright light from the opposite side of the road. I turned my steering wheel to move my car away from the other vehicle, my car hitting the sides of the bridge. I hit my head on the steering wheel, my car falling straight into the river.
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[ Sunday, July 17 ]
My sight was blurry when I opened my eyes. My memory is still fuzzy and my head hurts like crap. The room's walls and ceiling are white in color, green curtains covered the window, hiding the sunlight. I don't know if it's just me but I can't recall the last thing that happened to me.
"You're finally awake," a man in a white robe said. "You were almost dead if you didn't know."
I narrowed my eyes as I look straight into his eyes, trying to recall what happened.
"You don't remember? You had a car accident. You're lucky that someone came to rescue you since you were unconscious inside your car. It was a big sacrifice, but you're just lucky that there was some stranger who risked his life for you."
The doctor moved the dark green curtain meters away from me, revealing a pale and unconscious man, lying down on the bed, like me. Who is this person?
"This man saved your life. If he didn't come to rescue you, I would've signed your death certificate already, and people will see your name in the obituary." he left the room after saying those words.
Seriously, that's so mean for a doctor to say. How can someone be that heartless to his patient? He should've rethink about the profession that he took up. But anyway, this isn't about him, but him.
The man slowly opened his eyes, probably got awake from of our noise. My head feels light, and I can't feel the strength in my legs. I believe standing up won't be a good idea. With this condition, I think I can sleep for two or three days straight.
"Who are you?" I asked as he turned his head to face me.
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. An awkward silence surrounded us for a couple of seconds and finally, he spoke with a lifeless voice. "All I thought, I'll be hearing a 'thank you' from you as soon as you wake up. But I was wrong," he closed his eyes. "I deserve something better."
"Oh yes, thank you, of course. I owe you my life. If you didn't save me, I'll be dead now. How can I thank you?"
It would be ugly to just say 'thank you' and not give anything in return for someone who risked his own life for me. Although, I can't imagine the value of saving a life in cash. Probably millions?
Priceless? Gee, I don't know what to think anymore. I can't even think straight at the moment.
"Owe? You don't owe me anything. I received my thank you, I think that's fine. Believe it or not, I'm not interested with money or anything. I just … saved you because I know that it's the right thing to do. Funny, I don't even know you at all. I think it's just the instincts. When your car fell into the river, I left my car and jumped into the river. It was dark and cold. It wasn't that hard for me to look for you, because your car's headlights were on. I tried to get you out of the window, and fortunately, you weren't wearing your seatbelt," I closed my eyes, trying to remember those things. Chills ran down my spine as I imagine the image of how my car fell into the river.
"Which made me think," he continued, "What kind of reckless driver were you, huh? Were you trying to kill yourself? Don't you even have dreams to fulfill? Tell me, did I do the wrong thing to save you? Because I can't imagine someone who values her life who won't bother to wear seatbelts."
For a while I thought, this man was full of compassion, but hearing those words gave me the second thoughts. I guess my assumptions are wrong. He was like my mother who was giving me 'when I was your age' lectures. Still, whatever the case, this man was the one who pumped blood into my heart, breathed his own air back into my lungs, and brought me back to life when I was in the verge of dying.
"That's exaggerated. I was … let's say I'm not in a good mental and emotional state that time, so I didn't bother to put them on. I don't even know where I was going. I have a life, and I'm thankful that you saved me. But I'd be lying if I'll say that I'd be upset to see myself dying like that. You know what? I should've died." I almost choked out the last words.
"What the heck are you talking about?"
"My life is basically over, you see. Something … happened that night and that event caused me to lose everything, and I no longer see the point of living. I don't want to talk about it. Maybe not now."
"Suit yourself." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Man, I was expecting that you were already dead, honestly. Because I had to come up to the surface because I was out of air. Then I dove down again to continue. Seeing you alive after being down there for … I don't know, perhaps 20 minutes in total, is just a miracle. I think that means that you still have a role to finish in this world, it's not yet your time."
Role to finish, he said. I seriously doubt that. Everything is gone, it's over. I can't imagine myself going back home. What I can imagine is the people murmuring around about the cancellation of our wedding and my sister is the main reason why. I'll be living a life full of shame and criticism.
"I just want to go home. You should, too. Try calling someone who can pick you up or something." he advised.
"Actually, I don't have plans on doing that," I took a deep breath before saying my next statement. "I already lost everything and I want to start from scratch, forgetting my past. Please, just take me with you."
His eyes grew wide, but eventually, he furrowed his eyebrows, giving me the hint that it's a bad idea.
"Are you dead serious? You're coming with me? You hardly know me, not even my name." he scowls.
"Then what's your name? I'm Amethyst Monteverde."
"It's Daniel. Daniel something. You don't have to know the surname."
"Why not? C'mon, it's not like you're a criminal who needs to hide your identity."
"Barron. There, happy?"
"It's a nice surname, you should be proud of it."
"I have my own reasons why I don't like that surname. I don't hate it; I just don't like it."
"Since we don't know each other yet, I'm not going to ask something personal. But please, I'm serious about what I've said earlier. Just take me with you. I have a good feeling that you're a good person, that I can trust you. I don't even know why. My stuff, like a wallet with cash, credit cards, my phone … I've lost those already. Just, please. Give me at least a month to rethink about my life. I just need space from the life that I have."
"That's another way of telling me that you'll be a burden. Why would I take home someone that'll be a burden? It only means that I have to support you because you have lost everything, and judging by your tone, you don't want to bother reclaiming those things."
"Let's make a deal, shall we?" I proposed. "Give me a month to rethink my life and I'll pay you twice, probably thrice the amount that you need later on."
"You're a rich girl, aren't you? That's why you're confident to say that. Well, everyone in this country at least heard about you. I know you by name a long time ago since you belong to one of the richest families in this country. But still, no. I'd be sued for kidnapping if I'll bring you with me."
"Then if the police will look for me, I'll tell them that you didn't kidnap me. Please, Daniel. Give me a chance. Where do you live anyways?"
"Edevieth. Have you at least heard of that obscure island?"
"That's very far from here and it pretty much disappeared in our country's map because it was badly wiped out by the storm. I don't know how true the rumors are but I've heard that almost nobody lives there anymore."
"Exactly. It's a dump wasteland. You sure you're willing to live there?"
My mood lightened up, I feel like it's another way of saying that he's already letting me come with him. I know, Daniel's a stranger. I don't know who this person is. But I don't have any better choice. Either I'll go with him, or go back to my old, ruined life. I can't think of any other way.
"Does that mean you're accepting my request and offer?"
He looked at me straight in the eyes, having the expression that I couldn't read. "Not totally. But I have a different kind of deal in mind. It would be a cashless payment."