Just Like Bonnie & Clyde III

V

The familiar nursery outside the villa had grown over with weeds due to neglect.

Lisa verified her fingerprint, and with a "beep," the iron gate slid open.

She leaned on the door, moving falteringly inside, thinking she would see Jennie sitting in the courtyard, but to her dismay, there was no one.

Her eyes brimmed with tears as she aimlessly drifted around the yard, muttering to herself.

"Jennie, Nini, come out; stop hiding from me." Her voice hoarse, she pushed open the glass doors of the hall.

The window decals they had put up before leaving were still there, lending the house a cheerfulness it no longer held.

But the fresh flowers in the vase had withered away and slumped over, emitting an aura of death.

Once bright and shiny, it was now covered with a layer of dust.

At the doorway, two pairs of couple's slippers were still placed on the rack.

Lisa pulled open the wardrobe, rummaging through the mountain of clothes as she kept on muttering, "Jennie, stop hiding; this game isn't fun at all."

The vast wardrobe was eerily quiet; it all hung up neatly, as if nobody had touched it.

Staggering, Lisa dashed out and scurried through the kitchen, bathroom, shower room, gym, and even her laboratory to search.

The air still carried traces of Jennie's scent, but she was nowhere to be found.

Lisa was on the verge of breaking down in this prolonged search, tears streaming down her face without her realizing it as she hunted around.

She fell once again at the foot of the stairs, clenched her teeth, and climbed toward the second floor, as if clinging to her last shred of hope.

As Lisa climbed, she seemed to see her own figure carrying Jennie past her.

Lisa curved her lips into a smile, reaching out to capture the image, but it vanished again.

Jennie's bedroom door was just a stone's throw away.

She came to a halt, as if stricken with a case of stage fright.

Pulling a ring box from her pants pocket, she hesitated, pondering the right gesture and expression to present it to her.

Lisa wiped away her tears with her sleeve and tried to muster a smile, clutching the tiny ring box and talking to herself.

"Jennie, Nini, marry me. No, that's not right. Do I kneel first, or do I say it and then kneel?"

"Will she like it? Or will she find it too cheap?" Lisa looked down at the cuff of her hospital gown and had an epiphany.

"Is this all too rushed?" She hesitated, smoothing down her hair and trying to tidy up her disheveled hair.

"Why did I even come here dressed like this? I should go back, take a shower, and change my clothes."

Lisa murmured to herself.

A draft breezed through, and with a gentle "creak," it nudged the unlatched door open.

Her heart almost leapt into her throat.

Without looking, she closed her eyes, her hands presenting the ring box, completely forgetting the script she had prepared earlier.

"Jen... Jennie... to marry... No, not that, I want to marry you... that's not it either... Marry... marry me..."

Her tongue seemed to be in knots, leaving her proposal all jumbled and reversed.

With her eyes shut, Lisa's heart pounded like a drum, waiting for an answer.