Chapter 8: One Fated To Another
The steam comes out dancing from a cup of latte, it’s not too thick nor too thin. There is a swiftly sound made by the lineup of man and woman working behind the counter, pulling the creamer, mixing the coffee, and steaming the espresso. The sound behind the counter is not too loud, it is steady, almost white noise like. Glass clicks with one another, some made with ceramics, some with stainless steel, and some are pure transparent glass, and each makes a distinguished sound.
Murmur can be heard from each corner of this coffee shop. Regardless the noise is still calm as ever, maybe because this is a Saturday morning, and most people probably take this time to rest. But the boy already woke up and sitting down by himself, playing with a small spoon, twirling into the soft surface, created whirlpool liquid inside the cup.
Soft music blends together with people chattering, they are classing yet not a nuisance. Clock hanging on the wall ticking slowly, makes a small vibration illusion from the ground to the rooftop, despite the entire shop already occupied by some noise. Maybe the boy is conscious of the ticking since he is waiting for someone.
The boy finger makes an uneven tap, sometimes they are steady, and sometimes they are frantic. His heels keep on shaking nonstop, albeit his face looks calm, but his other features speak otherwise. He has been up for a couple of hours now, and been waiting inside the coffee shop for quite a while. His hot chocolate is no longer hot, it is just cold sweet liquid at this point. Alas, there is nothing he could do but wait for the person that demands his appearance.
>>>>>>>>>>
I keep looking at my phone, inspecting the clock, the hour and minute keep changing, and I’ve been here for almost 2 hours already. One hour late for some degree can be acceptable, but now, it just looks like I’m the fool who keeps waiting. She was the one who forced me to meet her today, persuading me to reply to her email as soon as possible.
This is supposed to be one of the days where I’m resting, where I cool down myself.
Yet, here I’m.
Listening to someone else whim.
This drink was not even edible anymore at this point, I was thinking she would be here by the time I ordered the first cup. Trusting people is never a good idea after all, and yet I always fall just in the exact same location. But messing with people like her is more trouble than actually ignoring her. I can see what kind of person she is by the way she persuades me and drives away her manager.
But in any scenario I will be the one who got fucked.
Run away kind of meaningless.
Or I’m just giving up quickly…
My eyes keep staring at the rippling surface, the waves that keep circling in one point keep at a steady pace. The more I stare into it, the more I go deeper into my thoughts. Every slice of the memory, the slice of dream keeps coming one after another, but they don't come back like trains that line up together, they are like burnt film and as if some of the part was cut off, leaving some picture behind.
When I’m about to go deeper, a sound of knocking on the window brings me to reality. I turn my focus to the frantic girl on the other side, she looks like mouthing something, but I can’t hear any of her words.
Knock! Knock!
Her fingers keep tapping to me and to the door. I groan and facepalm myself, trying to look at her again, she still does the same thing, even much quicker and angrier now. I shake my head and start to stand and walk out, just like she wanted.
The funny thing is she keeps acting like she is followed by someone, even going as far as looking everywhere but me cautiously. Her attire is also out of place, she is wearing an oversize jacket that covers almost all her body and face. Her face is covered by black fedora hat and big sunglasses that almost cover her entire look.
Her foot stomps for each step she approaches me, quickly grabs my arms and drags me away to different directions. She tried to cover her face with her jacket using her other hand, the pacing is quick, yet not as quick as she thought.
Her finger tightened around my arm, the pressure made me seriously need to ask people like her what actually they are consumed. We walk to the parking lot at the back of the shopping cluster, this place awfully quiet and deserted. My eyes looked everywhere but straight forward.
Yank!
And suddenly, I was thrown into the black SUV that parked around the corner. The girl quickly undressed her odd overgrown jacket, and immediately looked at me. Her initial frowning face turned into crying mere seconds later, only for her suddenly hugging my arm.
“Why do you have to ask me to come to this down town!!!”
Her tear stream down despite this is her faking it.
“That was a close one! Why can't I just go to your house instead?!”
I roll my eye ball, and thinking to myself, am I that stupid to share my personal information easily to stranger like that?
“Do you purposely want the paparazzi all over me?!”
“Actually if you did not act as panicky like that, nobody will notice”
Her face went blank, and her body froze, her mouth gaping and her eyes seem thinking of something.
“You right”
It seems she comes to realization, her face seems like someone that just struck with the fact of their stupidity.
“Why you ask me to come out with you, in this early of morning too”
Her face whipped at me, and her palm with decorative long nails covered her mouth.
“Right! We do not have much time”
Her foot immediately kicked the driver seat lightly.
“Let’s go Andy! Before Megan or any paparazzi find us!”
The man in his forty looked at her with a smile and lightly tipped his hat and smiled at both me and Kristin.
“Yes Miss Kristin, right away”
And just that the car drove away from the parking lot. Kristin seems to be enjoying herself and keeps grinning at me, while at it, her posture leaning to the front and her chin resting on her palm. I just murmured to myself, giving a warning, to brace myself for whatever that was coming.
>>>>>>>
The boy sitting silently, his eyes looking through to the outside the window. The scenery keeps changing, and they are getting farther away from the previous place. And the girl also occupied herself by inspecting the boy that was sitting down beside her.
The car journey is slow to their destination, since today is a holiday for most people, the road is quite packed but not enough to make traffic congestion. It is crowded but the ambiance, not exactly the one, can drive you mad. Therefore, it is a smooth trip for them.
The boy's mind is blank, as nothing in particular resides in his mind. But the girl is definitely having a good time, a humming can be heard beside him. The boy only glances and snorts to the girl thinking that he will be the one who isn't having a good time.
The big building can be seen slowly, and their vehicle leisurely drives inside. The big fountain with beautiful statues can be seen from the car window. Despite this it is morning time and there is plenty of light, for some reason the building interior really shines bright, as if they are inviting.
In an instant the car stopped and the door where the boy put his arm to rest open up by the mall staff.
They are immediately bowing and directing their hand into the mall entrance.
Very welcoming.
There is one thing that crossed Joshua's mind right now.
Kristin is a big shot.
>>>>>
At this moment questioning Kristin power is meaningless. I seldom watch TV or any kind of show, but by this display I know she isn’t just a low season artist. I can see she step away from the car swirling like a dancer, taking the hand from one of the mall staff.
She looked at me and proceeded to warp her arm to mine and direct me inside. Once we step into the mall, the inside is oddly quiet, almost nobody inside. I know right now still in the morning, but in fact today is a holiday it is supposed to be brimful. There are probably only four to five people walking on the first floor, and the rest just mall staff.
I looking at her again, and she still clinging to me, like this is the most normal thing happened in her live. She smiled and showed me her white teeth, grabbed my hand and locked her hand with mine, leading me forward while giggling.
“Come on! Let’s go! While the mall is still empty!”
I just let her drag me again, let her do whatever she wanted. I will just follow her whim as long as we can end this day quickly.
After all it’s probably too late to even back down from all of this.
She is bounced from one shop to another, her eyes sparkling like jewels she is holding right now. Her long and white finger tracing the surfaces, and making some trying gesture, probably wondering whether these high price accessories fit her or not. Her shining eyes face me now.
“Look, is this good? Do you think this kind of style will fit me?”
“Definitely miss! You look pretty with those”
The sales lady quickly jumped in before me.
“Shush! I’m not asking you! I’m asking him!”
The face of that woman becomes dejected with the anger stare from Kristin. I let out a low scream, feeling frustrated with her. Her faces soften up when looking at me but still waiting for her answer from me. I put both of my hands on my hips, already feeling enough before this day even ended.
“You do look good with those… just like she said”
She immediately jumped with joy, adding another item to the tab.
I quickly step closer to her, feeling irritated even though we just spend just a couple of minutes here.
“Listen, why am I here? If you want to go shopping you can do it yourself”
“Oh in fact I need you alright, especially for shopping and spending my day today”
She is pouting trying to act cute in front of me. I exhale all my trouble, she is giving me a headache, and I do not appreciate it. At the same time a bunch of people with suits, the staff of the mall, come and take all her items and assume her car.
If she already has this much help, what actually she needs from me? I’m not here to pay, nor to hold down to her item. She wastes so many resources in a short time, I wonder what her bill each month is like.
She quickly gets out of the shop dragging me as usual, she looks really happy, I guess if you can do this much, nobody can feel sadness after all. We jump from shop to shop, to accessory and jewelry, to dress and clothing. I didn’t see any sign of slowing down anytime soon.
Does she need me just to be a doll for her?
Rich people are in a different league from me.
I can’t really understand their needs.
When we get inside this shop, I’m not expecting that this shop is one of those shops which have a special room for the member card holder. When Kristin walked just one step, all the staff inside the shop immediately bowed at her and directed her to a special door. Inside that door is quite dark with only some light enough to focus on the wardrobe showcase. Each of them look special and expensively made.
I sit down on the seat inside the expensive dress shop, Kristin busying herself trying expensive dresses by herself. At this point I do not care what she is doing nor what she is planning, all I want just to go back soon.
I cover my face with both of my hands, running the finger along my skin, trying to massage the pain away, trying to be more content with my emotion. I never knew to be a person that good with emotion after all, the last thing I want is I snap at all the nuisance she created.
“Do you want something to drink sir?”
“Uh… yes?”
I look up and my eyes meet with the staff of this shop, she bowing and smiling at me politely.
“Ah… sure, will a glass of water troubled you?
“No sir, not at all, please wait a moment”
She goes to the counter and pours cold water into the empty glass. She kindly gave it to me, which probably at this moment looks like a person who had a massive migraine. I quickly drained the cold liquid in one go, forgetting about manners, at this moment I need to cool down my head.
“Your girlfriends seem having a good times sir, is there something bothering you”
“Girlfriends?”
I cursed slowly at myself. This woman initially helped me with my pain now just adding more to it. The idea itself is enough to make me scowled.
“No… I do not even close with her, I’m here just because her whim”
I sighed at her, this is not helping at all.
“Oh my! I’m so sorry, she so clinging with you, I thought you are in relationship”
People need to put me in the electric chair to just make me and her simple friends, let alone more serious than that. I just shake my head, and while doing so my eyes catch a glimpse of dress.
A red and white dress with red rose as decoration. The top part is a lace tank full with red rose petals as the pattern, while the below part is a clean white dress with red rose petals scattered around, it looks like it’s fallen to the very below part where all the petals bundled up together and sewed beautifully. A soft medium bow bound loosely on the dress back, it’s colored white with faint red color.
>>>>>>>
Joshua really-really cute, he has this distance aura about him, but his build can’t really hide his other side. Despite his cold and rough around the edges personality, I can’t really help but keep trapping him, having him around me is fun.
I can’t really point it out, but he really reminds me of something. Perhaps like a puppy? They will keep barking, but don't have teeth to bite you, but not quite. And perhaps that is what drew me to him too, he gave me the impression like he was dancing around my palm, but slippery as it is. And despite him following my whim he never actually went easy on me either.
And the most important thing is…
Does he even know my value is? Who I am?
He isn't affected by my cry.
He does not even bat an eye on me.
Originally I brought him with me as a companion, it’s not like he will follow through if I ask him to hold onto my mountain of items. But the more my eyes follow him, the more I can see that something about him is just so put off.
The moment we step into the mall, he is not surprised with all the things that happened. In fact, his face was very calm as if he had seen something similar. The way he interacts with all the staff also seems odd, like he trained to communicate with them or something like that.
It is a weird information to process, reminding myself he appears to be plain as paper, nothing seems stand out, he just wore a normal long sweater with hoodie, and normal jeans, yet he still stands out because of his attitude.
When we were at a jewelry store, after I yelled at one of the staff, he proceeded to coax and talk to her, and the way he speaks it’s not like a normal person either. Weird, why I smell something familiar from him. But he is really just a plain person, more plainly than any average person that I ever encounter.
“This is Merry Scarlet’s isn't it?”
His gentle voice can be heard on this side of the wardrobe of the collection, and I’m surprised he can ask that kind of question. The store clerk quickly answered him without hesitation.
“Ah, yes sir, this is the newest model from Miss. Merry, just arrived last night”
And he is right too, he recognized artists by their model. I let my eyes study his back again, and my feet slowly brought myself to him, I tilted my head with curiosity.
“Her taste always mixed between soft look and gothic, just like her mother clothing style”
Joshua…
How could you know this much?
Clothing that was made by Merry not well known for simpleton, she is a designer that specially handles top tier customers, and her dress is not usually shown to the public either. Maybe I can try digging and find something about him.
Let see…
“Hey Joshua!”
He slowly turned himself to facing me, both his hand inside his jeans pocket.
“You are done yet?”
See? He is not acting like he is putting me on pedestal, this is annoying.
“You see, I actually need to attend a party a few weeks from now…”
“What kind?”
He is not even letting me finish my sentence.
“I’m sorry?”
“Ballroom? Charity? Family gathering? Grand wedding?”
My eyes widen up with his answer, he knows that much? I fake a cough and correct my posture in front of him.
“Um, for Bilderberg conference”
“I see, so gathering to show off, the media and the most richest and influential person will be there, their invitation always change annually, you definitely need dress to impress”
He knows! That is also detailed information!
“Uh… yeah! So can you help me to pick a dress to wear?”
His thumb points to the dress behind him, the one made by Merry Scarlet.
“This dress should be sufficient”
He is not wrong, it’s better to go all out in that gathering. But again, how do you know that much? Not only can you absorb information so much in the class, you also have knowledge with stuff that not usually for normal people like these.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He is still looking at me boringly, I’m still busying myself with a fitting problem with a bunch of store clerks circling around me. This is bad, I feel like I fell deeper with Joshua, he is just a plain boy! But why does he have this aura that is so different from him? The more I see him the more he feels different.
“Anyways Joshua, how do you know all about this stuff?”
He closed his cold eyes and he shrugged at me.
“Watching too much movie I guess”
I rolled my eyes with his answer, all your knowledge is definitely not because of the movie you watch, and do not try to fool me, and you aren’t even a moviegoer either.
“Movie huh? Must be awfully a lot, yeah?”
“Yeah, you can say that… you stay put”
His response gave me the impression that he does not even want to talk about it whatsoever. Just when I’m about to drop everything, a sudden pain surges from my back.
“Ouch!”
The needle that they use just pierced my skin, and in instant my anger just burst out to all these incompetent store clerk.
“Can you work properly?! How could you hurt me like that?!”
“I… I am sorry! I… I…”
My hand swung directly toward the store clerk, I cannot take this, how dare she treat me like this. Do they didn’t know who I’m? They will definitely get fired! I’ll make sure of it! But before my hands can make an impact, something stopping my hand.
I saw Joshua hand warped around my arm, his eyes colder than before, I stumbled back, never saw that kind of look before. His pleasure is strong but not enough to hurt me, but enough to stop me from teaching the store clerk in the front of me a lesson.
He yanked my hands away, and proceeded to ask whether the store clerk was fine or not. How dare him! I’m the one getting hurt here!
“Enough is enough”
His voice is cold, there is no gentle and the soft tone comes from his mouth, his eyes not even facing me.
“You treat another human being like they are your stepping mat”
“What! Did you just see what…”
I couldn’t finish my sentence and his another cold voice struck me once again.
“It was because you did not stopping move”
Now he slowly comes toward me, his eyes in face level with me despite I’m standing on a pedestal. His eyes were no longer friendly, it was full of welcoming feeling despite his attitude, but everything was already gone. I start trembling, but why? I’m higher than him, I have much power than him.
“If a spoiled princess like you can’t appreciate another human being at bare minimum…”
His eyes looking at me from the top to bottom.
“You are nothing but disgusting woman who can’t even understand the true beauty is”
I gasp with his words.
“lucky you that most of people stupid enough to believe what appear on the surface, but what in the inside nothing but rotten trash”
I just stood there frozen, when I regained my consciousness, he was no longer there. I frantically looked for him. I step down and start to follow his shadow.
“Wait!”
He kept on moving leaving me behind.
“I said wait!!!”
I stomped my feet to the solid floor, yet he did not even slow down.
I know I was right! I know I’m the one that's right! Joshua is wrong!
But…
But why does it feel like he is right?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am standing in the front of my mirror, wearing the dress that Joshua suggests, it is very pretty. He has good eyes. In the end, he just went from the mall, leaving me alone there. I tried to ask Andy if he came back to the car, but he didn’t.
Why do I feel heavy inside my heart? Why do I feel like I’m wronged?
I feel humiliated by him, but at the same time, I feel like he slapped me without even touching me.
Why is he so different?
I kept looking at myself, but my thoughts just flew to the scene at the mall.
I keep remembering how cold his eyes and tone toward me.
Knock Knock*
A knock from the door snapped me to reality, a tall and well built man leaning against the door. I stare at him, smiling and circling to show him how pretty I’m. He whistled and clapped his hand, walking closer toward me.
“Is this dress that you are going to wear for the Bilderberg conference?”
“Yes! Do you like it?”
He smiles softly toward me, I proceed and hug his arms.
“You look pretty in that”
“Thank you Albern!”
I jumped and hugged him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He crouched down a little bit to be on the same level with me, holding me and hugging me back.
“If you like Merry design, why didn't you tell me? I can take it personally for you”
“Someone picked this up for me, aren’t they pretty? He have good eyes too”
Albern eyes grow colder.
“A he? Who is he? Do I know him? Why didn't you tell me about this?”
“Hush! Do not be like that! You always overly jealous”
Albern looked at me like I grew a horn on my forehead, proceeded to point out me and him rapidly.
“You know I have all right to be act this way”
I cover my ears and pretend I do not hear him and look at myself in the mirror, looking at myself with the dress. But with a low voice I tell myself…
“He probably hating me now”
“What did you say?”
Albern quickly picked up my voice.
“No, Nothing. You know what! Let’s dance! Let’s practice for the ballroom dance, we will make people there jealous!”
Albern shook his head and extended his hand, inviting me to take it.
>>>>>>
The man and the girl are dancing, face to face, laughing and sharing their night together. The classical melody can be heard through the window, they both already play their scenario, imagining how the night that will come will happen. The sound clacking on the floor full of rhythm, becomes one with the melody, with their laugh.
On the other side of town, a little boy hung his leg through the window, looking at the night sky full of stars, his hair damp with water, and his eyes still cold just like this afternoon. He hummed a melody, closing his eyes and letting the night wind playing with his skin.
A melody that comes from different places comes into one, from distant to near. Connecting with one another just like fate, they are inevitable, they will dance with one another, and they will make noise, make ripple of times.
However, at the end of the day, one harmony will be the one who takes over everything, but which one? Which of the melodies will make all the humans dancing in the theater? Will it end up with happiness or tragedy?