Smile through the Gloom

"My dear Lord! I'm COMPLETELY drenched...ughh... cannot believe I used to love rain." Oriana fumbles through her bag to get tissues to deal with the unwanted dripping situation at hand.

"Yeah, no wonder you weren't born here." Fabian takes off his specs and sets them on the front table.

"Right." she snorts.

After finishing a whole pack of tissue to dry her clothes and hair to a civilized level, she looks up at Fabian to catch him staring at her.

She awkwardly smiles at his fixed gaze without knowing how to react.

He shakes off his stare with audibly clearing his throat only to wince at himself inwardly. He's too dumb in this area to function as a normal creature.

"Guess we should order something." She gets up from the stool. "Yeah...sure! Hot or cold?"

"Um...it's raining, Fabian. In case you're wondering!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" he narrows his eyes, truly failing to understand her implication.

"That means a hot beverage would be more suitable, no?" she smiles...her crooked tooth flashing...his heart skipping two beats at once...him clearing his throat to hide the slight blushes on his cheek.

"Ah! Okay...then I'm the odd one out."

"You prefer cold drinks during rain?"

"I prefer them all the time, no matter rain or sun. Hot drinks don't sit well with me."

She smiles, "Alright! That's settled then...one hot, one cold." "You alright now?" he scratches the back of his neck.

"Me? Yeah, why?"

"It's just...you looked so out of it back there?" he gestures back with his thumb.

"Ah! That? We'll talk about it...it's sad and shocking if what I'm assuming is true."

Fabian lets her take her time while ordering and getting back to their stools.

"Well, how much do you know about Ilona?" Oriana starts.

"Ilona? I thought we were talking about Raya and Alexina. Am I missing something?" He shoves up his specs making her inwardly smile and shudder a bit.

"It's all connected if I'm not wrong. Just answer the question, how much do you know?"

"Okay, so I know for a fact that she's a spoiled and extremely annoying person. Don't count it as a gossip cause I'll be more than happy to say the

same thing to her face."

She gives a tight-lipped grin, "Okay, go on."

"She has endless needs to attract guys of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities and ages."

She nods with a subdued laughter. This guy surely hates Ilona. "She lives with her sister, Solar who's not her real sister..."

"Wait...wait! Not her real sister?" "Uh-huh! That's what I heard."

"Tell me more? How's she not a real sister? They have similarities...like their facial features kinda look alike."

"Ah! I never met her sister but heard it from a guy who's been obsessed with her for a while before getting kicked out of the tuition center."

"He used to work at the center? That obsessed guy?"

"Yeah! He was there for around 3/4 months before Ilona complained to Landon."

"This tuition center is honestly a wondrous place! Tinder or bumble would fail for sure..." she shakes her head with a smirk, "Anyway, What did she say? I mean, what was the premise of her complaint?"

"O my God! Mr. L, this freak is making my life a literal hell...like he's stalking me or something. He's literally so creepy that I might just quit this job."

Oriana cannot help suppressing the laugh this time making Fabian smile.

"You can do impressions impressively well." "Yeah, thanks for noticing."

She laughs again, "But anyway, let's morph back to the main point. So, Solar isn't her real sister...could they be foster siblings? Then, what's up with the similarities?"

"No clue. Like I said, I'm just conveying the information as I've received them from Mr. Stalker. Now that you're saying they look similar then they might be half-sisters."

"Okay, let's say they are half-sisters and Ilona had a different father who isn't so rich... On the other hand, Solar's father was extremely rich and when he died, he left his ginormous possessions..."

"Miss? Wait...do you think the rich-ass wife who inherited the fortune from her old man... is the sister of Ilona?"

"Love how little clue you needed to piece together the scattered bits." she smiles before continuing, "Yeah, if that's the case, then Axel married

Ilona's sister for her money while keeping up his Casanova moves. Raya is one of his strictly sexual partners, according to Alexina...which is quite

unfortunate given her age." she lets out a prolonged exhale.

Fabian silently nods without interrupting the flow of her thoughts with any verbal intrusion.

"Well, that means Axel might know something about Raya's disappearance."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because Axel was there at the party."

Fabian quirks her brows, "How do you know?" "I saw him...well, his silhouette to be precise." "Uh-huh...I need a bit more clue here."

"I saw him with Ilona. Seems like she might be one of his strictly sexual partners or maybe more..."

"O woah! Wait, is this what Leilani yelled about during that death trap of a discussion with Landon?"

"Yeah! She knows and she's the one who told me that he's Solar's boyfriend...well, there's this one problem with our theory. Leilani thinks Axel is Solar's boyfriend and so did I... But Alexina said that guy's name is Axel and he's married to that rich woman who...we don't know for sure is Solar or not. And we have no clue if Solar is actually rich or not as Ilona's party was quite lavish but not Kardashians level lavish, if you know what I mean...Gaaah!"

"It's alright. Leilani might not know the truth as I doubt she's learnt that information from Ilona, who can change it as she wants. Besides, Solar might not be interested in spending her money for her half-sister's stupid

parties."

"Yeah you're right...and maybe that's what we missed. I kinda noticed there was this tension going on between the sisters...maybe it was over money and guys...in this case, the disgusting Casanova, Axel. What do we do now?"

"We need to talk to Leilani. Or maybe you need to as you have that tell- me-everything aura about you. It's a compliment by the way." he nervously chews the inside of his cheek."

She grins, "Yeah, thanks! Looks like the hydrological avalanche is dying down. Shall we head out?"

"Yeah, we shall." He looks out at the street, as sunny as it could be. "Thanks for today. I mean, you're a good investigation-partner."

"Partner in crime sounds cooler...but sure, thanks." He smiles in reply sending a ripple down her spine, in a good way. "Likewise, miss."

"Hey, Fabian?"

"Yeah?"

"What about calling me Oriana only when we're investigating, you know. Outside the work."

His cheeks heat up a little as he looks down to the ground, "Sounds...doable."

She laughs, "Doable? Come one, I know I'm too old but..."

"No, that has nothing to do with your age, miss... I mean, Miss Oriana...

I mean, Oriana." he winces.

"Aah! Progress. I'll count that as doable." she winks before heading to the station.

He sighs in reply and smiles once again thinking how smiling has become almost a second habit for him today.