A Glimpse of Past

Chapter 19

AYNE’S POV

As we step out of the elevator of my unit, Anna immediately runs towards Hans’ unit and is thrilled in pressing its doorbell repeatedly, laughing as if she doesn’t create chaos right now.

“Cousin! Open the damn door!”, Anna shouted repeatedly.

“What are you doing?!”, Franco irritably said as he kept on pulling Anna’s hand away from the doorbell button. But Anna is reluctant and she decides to kick the door instead.

“Mr. Domino Hans Riddlestone!”, Anna shouted, “You better !#%&@”, but before Anna continued making a scene and shouting, Mat covered her mouth and together with Franco, they pulled Anna away from the door. But then, the door opened and showed the owner, Hans, sweating and wearing only his blue silk pajama pants. I can feel my face burn so much that I unconsciously fanned myself using my hands and swallowed my own saliva. I can’t stop staring at his body as I bit my lower lips.

But that stopped me when Lucas put his hands to my shoulders, “You alright?”, he asked.

I composed myself, “I’m alright.”, I said it while trying to be serious.

“Cousin!”, Anna cutted and strongly went inside Hans’ unit. Hans just scratched his head and invited us to come in then, he went in a hurry going to his room and in seconds, he went out wearing a fitted white shirt.

The unit is different from mine, a bachelor type of interior with a mix of minimalistic. Lights are distributed to dims to lighter which suits the character of Hans, timid. I unconsciously smiled when I thought of it.

“Why are you smiling?”, Lucas asked.

I shook my head, “Nothing.”.

“Hey, brat!”, I heard Mat talking to Anna, frustrated, “We’ll leave you here!”.

“No!”, Anna shouted.

“What are we gonna do here? In his unit?!”, Mat answered.

“Sleep over!”, Anna happily replied.

“Are you kidding me, Cousin?”, Hans interrupted.

“No!”, Anna answered as she firmly hugs the couch pillow.

“You’ll regret this.”, Franco calmly said to her as he kept tapping Anna’s shoulder, “Let’s go home. Okay.”, then he smiled.

Anna suddenly pouted, “I want to be here, Franc.”

I wasn’t able to comprehend what I saw between them. Their actions, gazes and even touches. What’s happening here?

“The show is already done, Anna and Franco.”, I sarcastically said. Anna looked at me so fiercely that she’s about to eat me. “Stop your immature attitude, Anna. Let’s go!”, I calmly said as I ignored her stare threats and about to walk out of the unit when I received a throw at the back of my head.

I turned around and saw Anna standing, “You know why I want to be here? I want to lose stress!”, she shouted as she cried like a sulky child that didn’t receive any gifts.

“Then, not here.”, I firmly said. “Let’s go!”, and about to walk towards her. She looked at me begging and teary.

“I am in an arranged marriage.”, she said with a trembling voice.

I stopped and looked at her, feeling sorry. I even forget that people around me have their own struggles, problems. Seeing her, nothing to lean on and helpless makes me weak and small. You should’ve told me, Anna.

“Then, I’ll make it stop.”, I seriously talk.

“How?”, she asked. I wiped her tears then patted her head.

“I have my way.”, I sighed, “But for now, let’s all take rest.”, I calmly suggested. She nodded as the answer and hugged me tightly. I smiled.

After that, we decided to stay after a thousands of demands by one and only, Anna Kaye Crimsoft, who is now sleeping soundly in the room of Hans. We were so thankful that Hans welcomed us eventhough, we came abruptly, without notice. Mat went home because he has duty tomorrow morning and needs to talk to Dad. Anna and I will sleep inside Hans room while Lucas, Franco and Hans will sleep in the living area.

1 hour has passed. All of them are already sleeping except for me. I can’t sleep. I guess my insomnia is attacking me again.

I went out of the room and straight walked to the balcony. Watched how the city is still busy even though most of the people are already sleeping, taking a rest after the long day.

“What are you doing here?”, a voice coming from my back.

I looked back, “Hans…”, I murmured.

“It must be so tiring.”

“About?”

“My cousin.”, he giggled.

I smiled and leaned towards the steel railings, “I am used to it. Why did I even choose her as a friend if I don’t know how to deal with her?”, a pause came from me when I reminisced about the times she’s with me from the start, “I am already grateful for her presence because she became my umbrella despite my strong serious vibe and stubbornness.”, I felt the cold breeze that was blowing through us, woken me up harder, however it changed when I felt a warmth at my back. I slowly looked back. It was Hans, putting on a checkered knitted blanket to my back.

"You'll catch a cold.", he smilingly said.

"Thank you.", after that I changed the topic, "By the way, I heard you just came back here after 10 years. That's quite a large gap. I absolutely salute you for your dedication to live alone, away from your homeland and even parents. You are lucky enough to have your parents' permission to do that.".

He smiled, "I was never lucky, I just decided on my own and acted upon it."

Luck…

I gazed from a far as I thought about something. Everyone has their own luck but it doesn't mean it can change the whole point. Just a grasp. Therefore, the luck that Nardel has was not his but it was given by his parents. That means they protected him. The love of a parent can hold until their last breath.

"Ayne?", Hans called.

I smiled, "Yeah, it's a matter of decision.", and looked at him. And also him, he is also looking at me. The warmness that I can feel from him through his eyes but it changed when I saw how his expressions changed. It became full of worries. "Are you alright?", I asked, worried.

He forcefully smiled, "Nothing.".

"Then, if that's the case, we should go back. If Anna saw us, she'd probably asks me questions.", I sarcastically said, then about to start to walk when he held my wrist, stopping me. I looked back while he was staring at my hands.

"If anything happens in the future, don't ever leave us.", he sounded deeply concerned. But I am more concerned about my heart, it keeps on beating loudly and fast.

I let go of his hand, calmed myself for seconds but I failed. He looked at me. I tapped his shoulders and smiled to cover my wriggling feeling, "Why would I ever do that? My heart is always here. This is where I belong.", then messed up his hair but he held my hand again, stopping me from doing it. Looked me serious in both eyes.

"Just promise me.", his deep voice covered my ears from the loudness of the streets and his stare warmed my face from the coldness of the wind, "Ayne….", and lastly mentioned my name, dearly.