Chapter Eight

"T-t-there w-w-was this time I even t-t-thought about b-b-becoming an actress," Juley told Gary, before swallowing a scoop of ice cream.

They were seated outside an ice cream parlour. It wasn't quite as lavish as the others Juley had been to, but she had to admit that it was quite nice. The atmosphere surrounding it was very jovial and warm. Gary also seemed to be acquainted with most of the workers here as well as some customers.

"I'm a regular here," he had explained to her when she gave him a questioning look.

"W-w-what about you? Any crazy dreams you once had?" She asked him.

Gary seemed to be in thought for a while before he replied, "Well, there was a time when I was obsessed with mermaids. I wanted to get married to one someday. I kept on looking for every excuse possible to go to the beach. It took a lot of convincing on Solange's part for me to believe that they weren't real."

"B-b-but I believe mermaids are real," Juley interjected. "Though not quite as p-p-pretty as the ones in the m-m-movies."

"What makes you think they are real?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She shrugged as she continued consuming her ice cream. "I d-d-don't k-k-know why, I j-j-just know it. Or maybe I j-j-just want it to be true."

Gary laughed before saying, "I guess that means you're a fan of the supernatural."

She nodded a little excitedly. "Of course. I believe in nearly every s-s-supernatural thing there is. Mermaids, Greek mythology, love, r-r-reincarnation, even f-f-fairies." They both chuckled when she added this last part.

"Since you believe in Greek mythology, which of the gods is your favourite?"

She didn't even waste a second before replying, "Poseidon. I j-j-just r-r-really love him. Especially his love s-s-story with Amphitrite. It's j-j-just so r-r-romantic. Of course, ignoring the fact that it was kind of planned."

Gary couldn't stop laughing as he listened to her. "What's so romantic about them?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.

Juley looked at him as though he was asking the answer to one plus one. "Are you even s-s-supposed to ask that? He loved her so much t-t-that he changed b-b-because of her. I mean, does such love even exist? I highly doubt t-t-that."

"But I thought you said you believed in love."

"Yeah, I do b-b-believe in love. But I also try to be r-r-realistic about it. Look at w-w-what we're calling love t-t-these days. The w-w-word has literally b-b-become a nice way for boys to say 'I w-w-want to s-s-sleep with you' , and for girls, 'I w-w-want you s-s-spending your m-m-money on me.' "

Gary was quiet for some time before he seemed to be able to find words. "So what you're trying to say is that you believe that love exists, but just not in this generation?"

"N-n-not exactly. Of course, it exists in t-t-this generation. But it's rare, and not everyone finds it. And even if you do, you are v-v-very much likely to lose it." She explained.

"But isn't true love like the everlasting type? The one which never fades or dies?"

"H-h-having the most s-s-sincere feelings of affection towards s-s-someone isn't enough to guarantee t-t-that things will work out. Shit h-h-happens."

Gary took a moment to digest everything she said before speaking. "Wow. I've never quite seen it that way before. But when you put it like that, it makes sense."

With a satisfied and quirky smile on her face, Juley replied, "I know right?"

"What about reincarnation? What makes you believe in it?"

"Still another f-f-feeling I can't explain. But I always feel like t-t-this isn't my f-f-first life. Too m-m-many cases of dejà vu." When she noticed that he still had an expression of disbelief on his face, she decided to ask him, "Have you ever met s-s-someone for the f-f-first time but yet you feel so f-f-familiar and free with them?"

When he nodded, she continued, "Then it's likely you're not m-m-meeting them f-f-for the first time. You might h-h-have known them in your pr-pr-previous life."

He gave her a long, hard stare, looked her straight in her eyes and said in a husky voice, "Then I guess that means I must have known you in my previous life."

Juley was dumbstruck for a while, but she looked away uncomfortably and went back to the ice cream she had abandoned during her explanation.

As she gulped spoon after spoon of the ice cream, she couldn't help but wonder why he always had to make the atmosphere tense when things were going just fine.

Gary on the other hand, noticed her discomfort and decided to look for a way to ease that. When his thoughts failed him, he decided to look around. It was then that he noticed a lone violinist playing by the sidewalk. His music was sad and boring, and very few people even paid him any attention. Immediately, an idea sprung to his mind.

Looking at the guitar Juley had put beside her as they sat, he asked, "What do you say to a little music?"

Before Juley could even comprehend or react, he was had already picked up her guitar and was dragging her towards the violinist.

"W-w-where are you taking me? I h-h-haven't even finished my ice cream yet." She complained.

Ignoring her, he walked straight towards his target.

"Hey, good afternoon," he greeted once they were in front of the violinist.

"Good afternoon," the man greeted back.

"I'm Gary, and this is Juley."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Owen."

The man seemed cheerful enough, and this gave Gary the encouragement he needed.

"Juley here plays the guitar. She -"

"No, I don't," she quickly denied.

Ignoring her interruption, he continued, "She even has an audition later on this afternoon. But she's beginning to have cold feet. Could she please just play along with you as a sort of warm up?" Gary asked Owen.

"I don't see why not," Owen replied.

"What?" Juley exclaimed loudly. "He's lying. I d-d-don't even know w-w-what he's t-t-talking about."

"Come on Juley," Gary begged her. He then took her aside and out of earshot of Owen and tried to convince her.

"Juley, I think this would be really great for you. You should give it a try."

"No! I'm too sc-sc-scared and s-s-shy."

"That's exactly my point. I think this experience will help you with that. Come on. If you do this, I'll get you all the ice cream you can eat."

She shook her head continuously.

"Please," Gary continued to plead. "I'll even sing while you play."

Juley immediately stopped and asked him, "P-p-promise?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I promise."

She gave a sigh in defeat and said, "Alright, alright. But only b-b-because you pr-pr-promised me ice cream."

Gary chuckled and said, "You wish," as he handed her her guitar.

"Whatever," she replied.