THE LUNAR ECLIPSE

CHAPTER SIX

"Aria!' I looked up as Aki walked in to the office.

"Are you not going home?" he asked as he avoided my eyes. "I'll stay here to complete my painting" I told him. He looked up, scratching the back of his neck, "Hm, Ria!" he started as I raised my brows. Let me tell you something: Aki has never called me Ria since he started working for me. I travelled to Manchester with my parents for a conference meeting five years ago. There I encountered a man who was bleeding in a dark alley, terrified and sobbing in pain. With the help of my parents, we took him to the clinic that belonged to my dad's friend. For a week, he didn't say anything, let alone tell me who he was. I tried to communicate with him, but he wouldn't say anything and I was quickly losing patience. So, I yelled at him, assuring him that he could trust me and that I would never harm him.

That was the last straw before he broke down in tears in front of me and told me his name was Aki and that he had come to Manchester to look for job since his parents had disowned him for being gay.

He was suppressing something else, but he did promise that when the time comes, he will tell me everything I need to know about him. We became good friends after a few weeks, and I told him everything about my friends, parents, my café, and New York City. I thought about it and asked him to go with us to New York city and work with me. He agreed, and we flew to New York City, where he met Zac. It was love at first sight.

"Ah, I'm sorry about how I acted today" he said, he glanced at me sheepishly as I snapped out of thoughts. "It's fine, Aki, don't worry about it," I reassured him.

"You can go home," I told him.

"Oh, and you should ask Zac out." "Don't allow your fears stop you from getting your man," I reassured him, "It's better to tell him about your feelings now than to regret afterwards." "I will!" he groaned as he waved me off and walked away. However, I could not stop thinking about what I heard few minutes back. why was Aki talking about me? I didn't dwell on the matter much as I finished the report I needed to submit.

Today was the first lunar eclipse of the year and the day I decided to start with the painting for my art class. Before starting the painting, I wiped down the counter, tables, and cleaned the area.

Third person narration

The brush stroked the edge of the white background as the streaks of blue, yellow, and white at the background appeared like water running down the entrance of the cave. The yellow and red color strikes from the reflection the suns ray. The blue streaks appear as the illusion of water running down the entrance of the cave. The moon was reddish in color as the lunar eclipse started, the café was dark with the luminating of streetlights gave Aria the better vision of her painting. Her eyes glows with anticipation as her fingers move the brush lightly along the lines of the canvas.

Her heart began to race faster, breathing becomes shallow as she wipes the sweat on her forehead. Redness of the paint lightly smeared on her forehead as her concentration was on the strokes of the brush. A looming shadow appeared in her sight as she gasped, dropping the brush, turning around to see a man standing outside her café.

Her eyes loomed over the man as she tried to see his face. The man stepped forward as the door chimed open. She tried to control her breathing as millions of thoughts ran through her mind. What if he's a psychopath who ran out of jail and is hunting girls to kill them and remove their organs.

The man stepped inside the café.

Aria couldn't tell what the man looked like because she couldn't see his face. He was dressed in a black hoodie with a black cap on his head, with the hoodie covering his face. This man was well-built, with definite curves that could be seen through his attire.

"What do you want?" that was the first thing Aria said. There was a light tremble in her voice as she spoke to the stranger.

"I'm here to meet Aki" the man spoke. His voice husky, dripping with exotic accent, and a little growl was on the edge.

'H-he's not here' she said as she tried to keep her voice steady. 'Can you give me his address?' he asked as Aria took a step back. she frowned as her eyes narrowed at the stranger, 'That information is confidential," she said with gritted teeth as the man stilled. The man growled as shivers run down Arias spine. 'How are you related to Aki?" she asked as her hand creeped behind her back to find her phone. If he was a psychopath, then she had to do something.

"That's none of your business" he pointed out to her as Aria flinched from the roughness of his voice. "Fuck!' she heard him mumble under his breath.

Before Aria could retort, the man spun on his heels and walked out of the café as Aria sighed, Well this is one hell of a day she mumbled, making a note to always close the door of her café.