The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 19

Saturday

Sean looked around but all he could see was pitch-black darkness. Walked and walked he went, but he couldn't find anything. Suddenly, a light appeared not far in front of him and he squinted his eyes. Running straight up to it, he was shocked when he saw what was waiting for him there.

It was Allison. She was in a long white dress, looking like an angel without wings in his eyes with her glowing shine. There was a smile on her face, but he noticed her gaze looked... hurt. Her face was as pale as the long dress she was wearing. He wanted to blurt out how much he missed her, but he couldn't because his voice wouldn't come out. He wanted to come closer and hold her tightly, but his feet were stuck to the ground.

Tears began falling down Allison's cheeks, but her smile remained. As she turned around and walked away without saying anything, Sean shouted her name and tried to chase after her. He kept shouting and running, but it was bizarre how he couldn't reach her while her glow was further and further away.

"Alli!"

Sean opened his eyes as he jolted up. His breathing was ragged and sweat was dripping down his forehead. After his eyes examined his surrounding, he identified that he was sitting on the bed in his room. The clock on his bedside table told it was 1:42 AM. He covered his face then tousled his hair, upset. It had been two weeks since the last time he saw Allison and now he had just had the worst dream ever that made him get a really bad hunch about her.

***

Today was the day Kirsten was going to meet Kyle and right now she was sitting uneasily in Liam's car. Glimpsing at him in the driver's seat, Liam definitely didn't look okay with this, but he tried to conceal it. She figured that was the reason why there hadn't been any conversation in the car since she got in.

After parking his car, they walked into a café in SoHo and her eyes landed on a guy with messy quiff, dirty-blond hair dressed in a black bomber jacket with dark gray Henley t-shirt sitting alone at a table in the corner. When the guy was aware of her arrival, he waved at her with a taut smile. But instead of waving back, Kirsten turned to her boyfriend.

"Okay, babe, I'm leaving."

Liam's words made her startle. "Wait, you're not joining us?"

He shook his head. "No. You both have to talk about this without anyone."

"But—"

"Besides, I don't think I can stand being at the same table with him."

Kirsten gave him an understanding nod. "Where are you going, then?"

"Don't worry, I'll be around. Call me when you're done, okay, babe?"

She pouted before Liam landed a deep kiss on her lips then walked out of the café. Sighing, she headed to Kyle. With a nervous smile, he welcomed her to their table and she took a seat across him.

"Hi, Kirsten," Kyle greeted with his Irish accent. "How are you?"

"Good."

"Thanks for meeting me here."

"Sure."

The first thing Kirsten noticed from him was how different he looked now with his five-feet-ten sturdy build from working out, a trace of facial hair, his clear braces removed and the way he dressed. Aside from that, the way he smiled, the way he stared and the way he talked were still the same. Right away, she was reminded of what had made her fall for him in the past.

"Was that your boyfriend?" Kyle asked after the waitress took their order of a cup of coffee, vanilla milkshake and a platter of fried calamari and fries.