Hard Love: Reminiscence - Michaeng || Book II

-1-

:: "And the saga continues." ::

[6 years later, 2025]

Where sunshine got blocked by the layers of dark clouds that's forming upon the sky, taking away the best bit of the warmth from people in this frigid winter at the city of Nelson, New Zealand. 

A woman sitting beside the window in Deville Cafe, one of the best cafes in the city. Her eyes wander around on the street, looking at the few people that are hurrying home before the rainstorm comes at night. Sipping on her hot chocolate and letting out a resonant sigh after. Thinking about whether the choices she made were right.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but we're about to close, the storm is coming." The waiter came to her table and said with an apologetic smile. The woman smiled back warmly telling him it was fine before taking out some tips and handing them to the waiter which he accepted quickly. 

"Here are some tips, and I'll be heading off now, thank you." The woman smiled once again before turning her heels to where the entrance is.

"She's always here, isn't she? The woman who just walk out?" A waitress behind the counter asked the young waiter, cleaning up the rest and ready to close the cafe. 

"Right. There's always these unreadable flashes in those eyes of hers, even the aura around her is full of sort griefs and regrets." The two nodded their heads in agreement with the woman's sorrowful state. "What do you think happened to her, Nancy?" Nancy, the name of the waitress. Finally finished cleaning up the counter when she looked up and faced the waiter in front of her, with a name tag on his upper left uniform displaying his name. 

"Probably some personal problems that we shouldn't interfere with much. Now let's close the store and make sure to pull down the double rolling shutters and the sandbags are stacked well for better protection, so the cafe won't be filled with water inside after the storm, Jake." Nancy said with a shrug as she reminded him again about the important matters now, not really interested in the stranger's life since they've never talked to each other besides ordering. 

Jake, who's being curious about the woman chose to put aside first, focusing on locking down the store first after wearing his coat and gloves before heading out to the street, exposing himself in the frigid air. 

Nancy excused herself first and heads into her friend's car, waving goodbye to her co-worker Jake while the waiter hops on his car and drives off home before the storm arrives. 

-

On an empty road, where another woman is standing beside her car that's breaking down by it. Feeling anxious as the sky slowly turns darker with only the dim streetlights giving her a view of her car. She can feel the storm is near with the strong wind that's blowing upon her, making her hair turn into a mess like the mane of lions. She grabs out her phone, dialing the only number she has saved when the battery perfectly died at the time right before she can press the call button. "Ugh!" 

Freezing by the chilly wind that blows into her spines brings her a shiver, giving her a serious running nose now. "Fuck." The woman cursed once again not knowing how many times already. Standing beside her car feeling helpless. She had tried to restart the engine, but it still didn't work. She checked her tires and opened the engine to see the problem, but none was found. In short, she has no idea why her car has broken down in the middle of nowhere when a storm is coming. Rubbing her hands to create some heat as she does the same to her freezing toes in those furry boots she got herself with her first salary, which is likely years ago.