Rebirth II

He looked at her.

Her was a static figure holding her bow in her right hand while her left hand still held the last chord on the strings. She looked like a sculpture, part of the park's decoration. Her cello mingled with the white landscape as it was also white, excluding the pegs, fingerboard and tail piece that were black.

It was a very beautiful cello.

She had combined her clothes with the cello in colors; though the type of clothes would make anyone think she was insane since she was only wearing a long-sleeved dress. Black hair barely touched her shoulders, framing a small face with thin eyebrows, a small nose and thin, rosy lips.

What surprised him more was that she was barefooted.

With this weather!

After some minutes contemplating her, he took a step forward. The sound of crunching snow alerted her that someone was there. She opened her eyes, showing a pair of stunning blue eyes – as blue as the summer sky. With those electrifying eyes, she looked at the person in front of her.

Male, no more than 25, tall and a nice build. His face features indicated he was mixed, including those thick and elegant eyebrows above a pair of expressive dark eyes, that simple yet well-formed nose, those small and thick lips that gave him an air of an aristocrat of European and Middle East culture.

Everything in him was in its right place.

Instead, she looked more Asian: doll-faced, more cute than beautiful. Her blue eyes revealed she was half European. The combination gave a charming air around her, making many who passed beside her turn their heads to have a second look.

"Hello." She said in a calm voice.

"Hi." His voice turned to be deep.

"Were you passing by?" With calmed movements, she began to put the cello and the bow in the case she had beside her.

"Ah, yeah, I was... I was walking back to my room." He was having difficulties forming a coherent sentence after going through that marvelous state from before.

"You live nearby? It's pretty late, so I guess you should." After putting the instrument in the case, she proceeded to put on her shoes he had no idea from where she pulled them out.

"Yeah, I, I live, study in the university near here, so yeah, I live nearby." He mentally smacked himself for acting like a fool, but he couldn't help it. She slightly smiled at him and sat on the cold ground, not taking her eyes off the young man.

"Ah, you're a student. My name is Rei. What's yours?" She practically ignored the conditions of the situation; past midnight, cold weather and the fact she was wearing inappropriate clothes to sit on the freezing ground, and started having a conversation with him.

Not that he complained. She was the very person he wanted to play together with in a duet. He had finally found the person with whom he could play to his heart's content! It was her. He knew it!

"Judd Faez." He replied, now even more enthusiastic.

"You want me to call you by your surname or your name?" The question was asked with such a calm tone that he didn't notice the hint of sarcasm in it. Seeing that he didn't understand why she was asking that plus his confused face, she continued. "You told me your whole name so, either you are expecting me to call you by your whole name, your surname or by your name. Which one is it?"

Judd was a bit taken aback. She was so direct in her words. He was used to the flattery way people addressed him by his surname, all with ulterior motives. He didn't consider her behavior bad nor refreshing, just something he never imagined he would see it happen.

"My friends call me Judd, so it's ok if you call me like that." He replied with a smile, hoping to demonstrate his good will towards her.

"You're trying to make me become your friend?" Judd was really flustered at her straightforwardness. He was about to explain his wording, but she didn't let him. "You are an interesting guy. Ok, since you have seen me play the cello. I will let you hear something good. Come."

Judd hesitated a bit when she patted the ground beside her, clearly indicating him so sit there. He was wearing warm clothes, so he thought there wouldn't be a problem if he did so.

The first thing that crossed his mind was that it was a horrible idea. The moment he touched the ground, a shiver ran through his body. He feared he would catch a cold anytime. Though, seeing her calm state on that cold environment made him feel a bit embarrassed. He decided to endure as the man he was.

Like that, he patiently waited for the good thing she told him he would hear. It wasn't until after a few minutes of being silent that he heard it. It wasn't, in the least, something he expected to hear. Especially in that kind of place, and at that time, with that kind of weather.

He could somewhat understand the place and the time. The weather, though…

By the bushes, behind them, he heard how a couple were comforting each other in the most ecstatic and hottest way.

"You like it? I should have taken you to Italy to rip this red dress of yours." Fabric being torn sounded. A moan. "You're making me crazy. I can't wait… can't wait to love your body." The man said in a rushed and more than obvious lustful voice, to which the woman could only reply with a series of moans.

Judd was petrified in his place. Not even in his wildest imagination he could have imagined the 'good thing' was the scene developing behind him. It was his favorite park, and the fact that people went there just to do that kind of stuff made it lose a bit of the charm in it.

He just hoped he would never ever again encounter another couple like that one whenever he wishes to walk at night in the future. It would be extremely uncomfortable.

"Let's give them some privacy." He heard a soft voice say. He reacted moments later, when the owner of that voice was already far away from him.

He wanted to catch up, but she had already disappeared from the area; as if her existence had turned into smoke and dissipated in the air. Judd wouldn't doubt if that was the case as everything he had just gone through had been like a dream to him.

He heavily sighed and decided to continue his way back.

When he arrived at his room, he took a warm shower to prevent himself from catching a cold as a result of sitting on the cold ground. Then, he slipped into his bed and instantly fell asleep. The next day, he woke up at noon with a mild hangover and the beginning of a fever.

He heated some food he had stored for those cases. Going out to buy food or eating at the cafeteria was somewhat tedious to him. That's why he tended to buy food packages that were ready for consumption after heating them.

Taking out the fragrant and warm meal from the microwave, he ate it while watching the news in his little TV.

"Early this morning, the corpse of one the leaders of one of the most famous gangster organizations in Europe that is rooted in Italy was found in the room of a hotel. It is presumed that he was killed, although no evidence of the crime has been found. The police has opened an investigation for the murder; however, the government itself insisted it wasn't a really necessary measure due to the condition of wanted criminal the man possessed. We will provide more details in the night emission." The reporter said.

Judd's hazy mind barely processed the news. Either way, it was nothing important to him. They were completely forgotten after waking up from a recovery nap, product of the cold medicine he took.