Begin Again

[ 3. the zone ]

Galvin stared at the message plastered on his phone screen; he had a feeling that he is going to do another errand for his aunt Freya. He would never receive such well-typed words if his precious presence is not of significant help to his beloved aunt.

He reckoned his mind for reasons and he knew, the succeeding months would be long and stressful.

"Your flight to Atlanta would be 6 in the morning tomorrow. Remember what I told you. Let her string along and when I say so, crush her." Even if he only received a digital message from his aunt, he could hear her voice coated with uprightness and menace.

Even if only his services were needed and not his direct lone presence, he could use a break from all the stress he has been handling. London was a fast-paced concrete jungle incapable of letting him close his eyes for even a minute. His aunt Freya moved to London a few months ago due to Damon's tumors that were wrecking havoc his artistic life once more.

Back when they were kids, Damon has been clouded with tumors all over his body; some were successfully removed as time progressed yet one was incorrigible and too dangerous to pull out. Aside from that, his cousin's family couldn't afford the treatment and surgical fees way back.

Yet one day, luck has somehow settled and the tumor in Damon's brain was announced as benign or non-cancerous; but not until months ago, where it resurfaced again and screamed bloody hell that it still existed across the years that have came and went.

Gavin was always sent to smooth and fix all the cracks Damon caused. All his life he did everything for his cousin, truncating his time for himself. He regretted nothing; he was just sorry for the time he lost for himself.

Albeit his aunt and Damon living in the same country as him, they only see each other once or twice a month at a maximum. Damon had daily appointments at the state medical center and he barely saw them because of that. Despite that he loved and respected them for they were the only family he has left.

His mother died of colon cancer when he was ten and his father left him after his mother's death. He didn't fancy his childhood for all it held were memories that caved a big void on his heart and his identity.

And now after everything he has been through, he is tasked to break a thing that he has long gone lost.

* * *

"Oceane, we shall go out and eat every ice cream existing in this city!" Aleph's voice resonated across the vast dark room she was in. It was a struggle to convince her weary sister Oceane, out of her melancholic haven.

"I suggest you should go on without me so you could have all the ice cream for yourself." Her sister replied in a raspy voice that resembled a sinister that has been isolating herself for decades.

"Come on walrus! Get some sun! Pamper yourself!" she retorted dragging Oceane out of bed and out of the room.

"Let go of me Broncalle! This is rape! Obstruction of justice! Plunder! Murder! Arson! Draft! Corruption!" her sister accused, running back to its bed, screaming every act of felony that crossed her mind, mentioning THE NAME.

One thing Aleph despised is her second name and Oceane, out of all people would nonchalantly use it against her every single time she had the chance.

"That's it! I give up! You can rot and stink in here. Spend your remaining days in your battered bed, with bedbugs as your friends and your knee length armpit hair as your husband." She shouted at Oceane, turning her back, aiming for the door.

Aleph has never lost to her little sister and knew very well that reverse Psychology would always sustain her demands. Oceane then instantaneously got up from her bed, changed her clothes and dragged her sister out of the house.

Aleph, the victor, flashed her grinning face to her defenseless little sister and let it lead the way.

Oceane brought her sister to the local diner that was only a block away from their house and it served a variety of both their favorites, including the shimmering, glistening, enticing ice cream that fueled their taste buds even by the mere though of it.

They settled at a table shoved near the window and called in a waitress.

"Hey Broncalle, imma go to the zone. Be back in three minutes." The zone was the comfort room, one in a million of the siblings' crazy codes.

She took humongous steps leading to the zone as she kept her head down, avoiding the black tiles and only stepping on the white ones. She examined the proximity of the diner and it was basked in so much light from the outside that light bulbs were no prerequisite.

She then reached the zones' door in a blink and almost unzipped her jean's zipper when she saw a guy that was peeing in a stall inches away from her.

The guy stared at her intently and then its eyes suddenly went wide. She froze on the spot where she stood, unconsciously holding her breath while still clutching her jean's zipper. Without a second thought, she dashed out of the zone and went careening back to their spot.

She did not just enter the male's bathroom.