Water Heart | P.Sh

| 2 |

"Thank you sir," I happily smiled as the last costumer paid for his bread by handing me the money in my hand.

I smiled to myself as I grabbed the checkered cloth from the basket and battered it against the skirt of my dress as I only held onto the edge of the basket, letting it hang down along my skirt as I wandered back towards the bakery once again.

I had barely even reached the bakery and placed down the basket beside the door to continue dusting off my cloth, whipping it against the wall of the house to get the last flour and breadcrumbs out of it before the evening bunch had to get sold. I would wash the cloth tonight so that it was clean and fresh for tomorrow morning, letting it lay on the eastern windowsill so that the early morning sun will keep warm it for the bread as well.

As if in a flash a dark shadow had passed me, making me frown in confusion as my head turned and followed the back of a tall man dressed in all black. His pants looked awfully slim on him compared to what it did on the other men in town. His black shirt flowed softly against his back as he marched and I was sure it was muscles I was able to sense through the flowy fabric.

However, what had caught my attention was something shiny falling out of his pocket in his rush. I hurriedly ran up to grab the thing. A long necklace with a black and red charm hanging in the chain. It looked to be made out of gold as two crystal like stones created the framed charm that had the black and red colors.

"Excuse me!" I called out and picked up in my skirt, running after the man, "sir, you dropped your necklace!"

Abruptly the figure froze and stopped in his steps. I hurriedly ran up to reach him, patting his shoulder with the hand that initially had held my skirt.

"Your necklace, sir," I shortly replied and he only turned his head slightly, glancing down at me.

His raven hair seemed almost as dark as his clothes, which must be a horror to wear in this scorching sun. His nose sloped down to create a perfect side profile with his sharp jawline and plushy rosy lips. His eyes looked sharply at me as his one eyebrow looked to be furrowed, a slit cutting the very tip of his eyebrow off from the rest of it.

"Your necklace," I persisted and held up the chain.

The man let out a small sigh as he abruptly glanced over his shoulder, back to where I had come from. Only causing me to look over my shoulder in confusion.

From afar I could hear a ruckus of yells and running footsteps. As if I was a ragdoll the man had easily pushed me into the nearest alley, pushing me against the wall and caging me in. Standing a lot closer than I would've liked for him to.

"Sir-" I started and he immediately hushed me as he placed a hand over my mouth and listened with eyes closed.

His eyebrows stayed furrowed as I just listened to the nearing footsteps of the yelling men. If this man was some sort of criminal I would be having trouble very soon. If anyone caught me in relation to a criminal it could break the bakery completely and Sunoo surely wouldn't have any chance with Lin.

In realization I tried to push the man away by pushing on his shoulders and chest. But it didn't work. Instead I was only left with the sensation of the thin fabric of his shirt in contrast to how solid his shoulders and chest seemed.

"Stand still," the man hissed, letting me hear his word for the first time.

His voice was deep and threatening, but somehow there sounded to be a small lisp to him. The lisp seemed so odd in comparison to what I had expected from him.

I widened my eyes as the footsteps neared and I directed my eyes straight ahead as if I would've been able to look through the man's chest. My eyebrows furrowing in both fear and confusion. Around his neck hung a slightly rusty necklace. But I could see it's old shine through the rest. The small locket hanging in the necklace looked all too familiar.

Perhaps it was the M.S that was engraved in the front of the locket that immediately set off alarms in my head. I hadn't seen that locket for three years. It had been gone ever since I dropped it in the ocean when Sunoo and I had sailed from England to this island. It had been towards the end of the two months aboard the ship that it had slipped out of my hands while I was trying to clean it before our arrival at the island.

Sunoo had to comfort me for the first month of our time here, only putting stress onto our opening business. But if I had dropped the locket in the ocean, how had this man gotten ahold of my locket.

"They're gone," the man murmured as he let go of me and suddenly I realized how he had had his body pressed up against mine. Only because I suddenly felt a lot colder than before, "the necklace," he shortly demanded and extended his hand towards me.

"Are you a thief?" I questioned as I squinted my eyes at him and tightened the grip around the necklace he had dropped.

"Sure, let us call it that," he snickered slightly, clearly refraining himself from rolling his eyes, "now hand me my necklace. Which I have not stolen but own."

"How do I know you haven't stolen this either?" I murmured and clutched the necklace close to my chest, "for a starter you just pulled me in here, how do I know you won't kidnap me or kill me?"

"By any chance miss... you're way too loud for my liking," he sighed and wiggled his fingers slightly, "I don't intend to get violent with women, but if you keep denying me my possession I'm afraid I'll take further meassures."

"Isn't this from the old Jeweller Johnson?" I questioned furthermore and he only sighed and dropped his hand down by his side, pushing his tongue out into his cheek.

As handsome as he was I was still not going to coorporate with him. No way. If he was a thief he was a criminal, and I wasn't gonna be helping him with that.

Abruptly the man grabbed onto my shoulder before grabbing the hand I held the necklace in. Somehow he forced my arm out straight and he easily ripped the necklace from my grip, making the chain burn marks into my palm, by how tightly I had held onto the chain.

"Don't let me run into you again while I'm in town," he shortly excused before turning around and walking off, leaving me stumped.

I watched in confusion as he simply turned right around the corner, before I actually set after him in reality of what just had happened. By the time I reached the street I looked after his back, but he had somehow already reached the harbour once again, walking out onto one of the bridges towards a big boat, from which a red flag was getting pulled down by other crewmen on the ship.

I sure hope those men will be able to do something about him, that I couldn't do.