"Louisanna."
Her friend, Ella, was calling her as she needed to say something important, but Louisanna was just standing while looking in the direction where the path onto their stock room was located. She wasn't even moving as her eyes were shining like she was staring at something beautiful.
"Louisanna, yahoo?"
Ella had her brows furrowed as she also looked in the direction where Louisanna was looking, but there was nothing special in that place. She didn't know that Louisanna would find it satisfying to look in mere darkness.
But there's something Ella couldn't see. It wasn't only just darkness, but a pair of red eyes were hiding behind it. It was something Louisanna was admiring. The red eyes were too captivating to watch, as it was getting brighter every second she was staring at them.
It seems like it was reading her soul— No, they were reading each other's soul. She could feel the pain and anger behind those intimidating eyes. She didn't know why... But it felt like she wanted to know the reason behind it.
She felt like she was also responsible for why that person felt that way.
Just as she was going to take a step forward in that direction, she flinched a bit as Ella shouted in her ear.
"Hey, Louisanna Lohengrin!"
"What?" She turned her head onto Ella, who was just raising her eyebrow at her. "I can hear you. You don't need to shout."
Louisanna whimpered as she felt Ella's voice go straight onto her brain. She hit her head with her hand lightly as she was trying to fight her sudden headache. She wasn't feeling well today. Maybe she should have taken Gianna's advice earlier that she must take a rest, even for a little bit.
"Then why are you not responding?" Ella asked as she placed one of her hands onto her waist, slightly interrogating her.
"Don't you see it?" Louisanna asked her as she remembered the red eyes that captivated her for a while, but now that she had a grasp of the reality, she realized that it wasn't something she should admire.
It may be a ghost... Or some kind of existence that shouldn't be here in their place.
"See what?" Ella was getting confused.
"That," she instantly replied as she turned her direction to the place where she saw the red eyes earlier...
"What?"
But to her surprise, it wasn't there. It's gone by the time she was talking to Ella. Only the darkness in that area surrounds the place. No traces of the previous eyes she had seen were found.
"Where is it?" Louisanna was confused. "It was there earlier," she even added as she massaged her forehead while trying to remember if it was just a creation of her imagination, or if that creature was playing with her sanity.
Ella shook her head while looking at Louisanna. Her hunch was right. Her friend was seeing something she couldn't see.
"What are you talking about? There's nothing there. Even if you were staring in that direction earlier, I can't see anything," Ella explained to her in an annoyed yet worried tone.
She went in Louisanna's direction as she placed one of her hands on her friend's forehead, checking if she had a fever or something. Louisanna's brows were furrowed because of the sudden physical contact.
"Stop..." Louisanna said in a low tone as she felt her energy getting sucked by something.
Her vision got blurry for a second as she almost stumbled, but she was glad she was able to maintain her balance as she held onto the countertop, gripping tightly as if her whole life depended on it.
"What?" Ella asked back, but her eyes widened when Louisanna tapped her hand, removing it from her forehead.
Louisanna didn't know why but she wasn't fond of physical touches. Except for her mom and Gianna, when someone touches her skin using their hands even just for an amount of short time, she feels like her energy is decreasing. Just like today, she felt like her exhaustion doubled as she was panting hard and fighting against her ragged heartbeat.
"Tell me, are you okay?" Ella asked for the nth time. "It looks like you're exhausted or tired—"
"I'm in my right mind, Ella." Louisanna cut her sentence. "Just don't mind me."
She was so fed up with her being worried. She didn't know why, but she became so pissed. Her emotions right now were too far from the happiness she felt earlier as she started onto the red eyes at a far distance from her. She wasn't like this with someone as everyone knows how approachable she was, but right now, she couldn't help but whimper as she wanted to see that creature again.
"What do you need, anyway?" Louisanna asked, slightly hoping that Ella won't recognize the hint of irritation in her voice.
With that, Ella suddenly remembered that she has something important to say.
"You asked me earlier about Sir Clark's best friend, right?" Ella asked as one hand sneaked onto her waist. Louisanna didn't have a problem with that as it wasn't skin-to-skin contact since she was wearing clothes. "Maybe it's not his best friend you're remembering. Maybe it's his rumored girlfriend!"
"Who?" Her eyes narrowed as she remembered how playboy their boss was. He wasn't the type to settle down with someone.
It was like the guy she remembers in her mind. A man who couldn't commit to someone because it means he will lose his freedom. But, who was it? Why can't she remember him, or even his face? And on top of that, why won't everyone remember him beside her?
"Ellaine Belleza Smith," Ella answered as she pointed to the other side of the table.
Louisanna's gaze traveled to the right side where a girl was sitting beside Clark. She was wearing a black body-hugging sleeveless dress, a black ribbon at the left side of her hair, and black killer-high heels that can be used to kill someone because of their sharp heels.
With a slim body, intimidating aura, long, straight black hair, and a snow-white complexion just like hers, her choice of clothes complimented her fully. Although she was a head-turner, her name, same as her appearance, didn't ring a bell.
"Is she a celebrity?" she asked. She didn't know that Clark would date someone from the showbiz industry. The girl suddenly turned his head in her direction, which is the reason why Ella pulled her onto the side by pulling the hem of her shirt.
'Thank goodness, she didn't touch my arm,' Louisanna sighed in relief at the back of her mind.
"Don't tell me that you don't know her?" Ella murmured.
Louisanna raised a brow because of that question. "Is she popular for me to know her?"
"Dummy!"
Ella didn't know what to do. She wanted to smack her friend because she wasn't even updated about the news on how popular Ellaine was. She's not just a celebrity and an international model, but she's a well-known businesswoman as well. Everyone even not interested in the business industry knows her— Oh well, except Louisanna.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you to go to their table."
That's the important thing Ella has to say, but due to some circumstances, like Louisanna staring at the darkness for a long time or them chit-chatting with each other, she almost forgot that they're at work, and Clark would preach to them when he knew that they're being complacent as of now.
"Miss Smith specifically requested you to serve them." Ella couldn't help but feel excited as Clark called her earlier to look for Louisanna.
'Maybe they were going to make her friend enter the showbiz industry, too!' Ella exclaimed on her mind as she clapped for a bit, while Louisanna was getting weirded out because of what was happening.
"How did she know me?"
Ella raised a brow before she answered, "That... I couldn't tell." She tapped Louisanna's shoulder as some customers are calling her. "Do your best, okay? She may give you a huge tip. It would be helpful for your mother's medical expenses."
Louisanna just nodded before she went to the table where Clark and Ellaine were sitting— No, Ellaine was sitting on Clark's lap while they were making out. This is what she hated in the night shift. Until now, she wasn't getting used to people kissing and sucking each other's souls out when she went to their place and taking their orders, or even cleaning their tables.
Clark's bar is a restaurant in the morning and a bar in the evening. If she can only combine going to school and work at the same time, she wouldn't need to deal with this kind of scenario every damn time.
"Sir Clark..." She managed to call her boss as she cleaned her throat. She was playing with the hem of her shirt because of extreme nervousness.
She can feel that her blood was going up onto both of her cheeks as Ellaine stopped kissing Clark and sat confidently on the couch beside him as if nothing happened.
"Miss Smith..." Louisanna called her as she noticed how Ellaine's gaze traveled from her white hair, down to her old and faded black shoes.
Ellaine stood up as the side of her lips rose while thinking about something. She extended her hand to the woman in front of her. Ellaine may have a snow-white complexion, but it was nothing compared to Louisanna. At just a glance, she can tell that her skin was delicate, innocent, and pure.
Just like her soul.
"Finally I met you, Louisanna Lohengrin," Ellaine said as her smirk widened while waiting for the girl to take her hand. "Nice to meet you."