Chapter 19: The Whisper

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Like a circle in a spiral
Down a hollow to a cavern
Like a wheel within a wheel
Up above to the spinning wind
And here I realized,
It was the windmills of my mind

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"So, I knew it from Alex. This is something that I haven't told you in the first place because I knew you would walk away so I decided to remain silent. Paul, Alex and I were middle school friends. I had liked Paul since middle school because he used to protect me from bullies and so did Alex, but he was more in charge for vengeance. But Alex has changed, he has become a person that is more mature and responsible in everything now. I have no idea how he changed but since I moved to Italy when high school because my mom had business there, I barely contacted them then I moved back to Paris for college with a thought that I could tell Paul what I had been feeling all that time, he was literally my lifesaver in middle school but turned out, that I found him already dating you. I never thought that I would be friends with you because it would be awkward, I once disliked you because you stole Paul from me but then I realized that you are such a warm-hearted and genuine person I've ever met. And I think Paul more deserves you, you two are a perfect match. I shouldn't get bothered with that," explained Mikaela as she played with her fingers.

They decided to get relaxed in Lou's apartment. They sat on the white couch in the living room with strawberry smoothies on Lou's favorite white marble table. Lou reached her glass of smoothies and took a gulp.

"And how did Alex tell you about me and Paul?" that was only question of Lou which she craved for an answer from Mikaela.

"Alex contacted me after years informing that he was with Paul. He wanted me to go to Cambridge too actually for a small reunion. But I didn't want to complicate things, I believed Paul was there to chase after you and actually not, he also had no idea that you were there," said Mikaela as she put the strand of her hair to the back of her ear. "I kept asking Alex what you two had been up to there, I knew he was bothered of me asking him but I wanted to catch up since you never replied my messages."

Lou bit her finger as she tried to tell Mikaela about Alex, "So, how's Alex? I wanted to say thanks for everything to him. He took me to Paul so that I could talk to him but later after that, he was gone."

"I don't know. Since that day in the pool, he never replied my messages anymore. But I could give you his number if you want to," offered Mikaela as she shrugged.

Lou finally got his number but she still had no idea whether to message him or not. He was gone after he had driven her to Paul. And the last time Lou knew about Alex was he just graduated yesterday. Lou acted as if she didn't get bothered when Paul mentioned about Alex though deep down, she had been wondering where he was and how he was doing. Lou kept thinking about his disappearance, the carving on stem in Arnold Arboretum and the unspoken talk he wanted to speak in Boylston Hall.

Mikaela left the apartment because she had another class to catch up. Lou went to her bedroom and grabbed a black rectangular box under her bed. She sat on her bed as she put it on her lap. She opened up the box cover and saw a book and a photograph. Lou printed the picture of the stem in Arnold Arboretum, she believed that Alex left a clue there. She wasn't really sure but she kept thinking about the possibilities and evidences she had. Lou also didn't return the book to the library. It was basically her first crime in her whole life, stealing a book from Harvard.

"What do you want me to do with Prospero, Alex?" asked Lou as she squeezed her forehead.

She took the book and re-read the line that Alex carved over and over again. Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan. The line is placed in the beginning of the play where Prospero frees Ariel from entrapment within "a cloven pine" and that's when Prospero states the line.

"Prospero. The Beginning. Ariel," Lou kept thinking as she tapped her nose with her finger twice. "What message are you trying to convey, Alex?"


One Year Later

He was there standing still in his gray tuxedo. His gray skinny tie with 1.5 inches wide made by silk perfectly completed his look for that night. His face was very clean as he told Lou, "I shaved for you". His bronze hair was combed over but also had a professional and business man's quality, it went short on the sides and left two until three inches on the top. He showed the world that he was eventually the owner of Durand Enterprise. His father decided to retire from his position and let his son took over the company and Paul did it well. Lou wore a pearl color gown with tutu that ended on her knee and showed her magnificent collar bone on top and her skinny calf on bottom. She changed her haircut into pretty waves and a sweeping side fringe with the color of the gradation of light brown into lighter brown on the edge of her hair.

Paul threw a feast at his new penthouse in the heart of Paris, boasts awe-inspiring views of the Seine and Eiffel tower. Everyone was coming included college friends and Paul's friends of other influential companies in Paris. Paul wrapped his arm around Lou's waist as he introduced her to his friends.

"Mr. Neville, this is my fiancé, Lou Moreau and Lou this is Mr. Neville, the owner of Neville Enterprise," said Paul as Mr. Neville shook Lou's hand.

Paul was very talk-active to introduce Lou to his friends since he had proposed her in Luxembourg. He made a musical proposal where all people nearby suddenly reached the hidden guitars behind the trees and the benches then sang along like one of those scenes in Enchanted. After the song, he knelt on the ground in front of the palace and said, "Will you spend the rest of my life with me as Mrs. Durand?"

Lou smiled as she remembered that moment. Everyone was busy talking about business and none of them cared about arts and literature as much as Lou did. She somehow missed people in Cambridge and Boston, she missed to see how they value it so much. She missed writing poems for Mrs. Smith and someone behind those poems, she missed Alex. She couldn't stop wondering where he was since Paul and Mikaela said that he never answered their texts, e-mails and calls. Lou leaned her face closer to Paul as she whispered, "I need some fresh air, I'll be in the balcony."

Lou stood near the frameless glass railing as she put both of her hands on it. The wind blew her hair gently as she took a deep breath and sighed. She was happy with Paul, he had changed and he always gave her surprises with little things most of the time and that made her happy. Lou knew that the picture of Alex had been shaded in her thoughts. Lou shook her head as if she tried to brush the thoughts of Alex away. She stared at the sparkling lights from Eiffel Tower as she said, "It was mine Art, when I arrived and heard thee, that made gape–".

"The pine and let thee out," somebody followed while Lou was saying the line of Prospero. Lou's eyes widened as she heard the voice of a man that suddenly gave shivers down her spine.

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