My Tragical Happiness

CHAPTER ONE

Aaron's POV

The walls in the place were in bright sky blue color, with floor to ceiling length windows. Then they have their pastel pink chairs pairing it with the cream white tables. It wasn't really a big place.

There were quotes about ice cream posted on the walls with creative designs and written in calligraphy. The place is also air-conditioned with the aroma of vanilla circulating around. They play soothing music because most of their customers are either studying, working, or having a meeting.

I was eating my ice cream but Fabs suddenly scooped a spoon full of mine. "Hey!" I complained. I hate sharing my food. Especially my favorite ice cream flavor, caramel.

"I just want to taste it so stop whining. You sounded like a girl and it doesn't suit you Sebs," she said with a disgusted look on her face as she ate her own favorite flavor. Chocolate chips.

Cody Fabian Mercado is childhood best friend. We have a nickname we call each other. Yeah, we are aware that it is indeed cringy. That's the reason why it was invented anyway. To annoy each other. Until we unconsciously got used to it.

"I am not whining," I stated with a frown on my face but she just laughed at me.

I did the same thing that she did. I scooped a spoon full of hers. Karma is a bitch. "Hey!! How dare you? That's a lot!" She pouted and I just laughed at her. She looks cute pouting like that. Yeah, we share the same attitude to food. "Now that is what we call whining," I smirked and she just rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Fabs. Check out the girl on the table beside us." The girl's table is also beside the wall. While ours is beside the floor to ceiling length window. So that makes our table visible from the outside.

Fabs glanced at the girl secretly and looked back at me. "What about her?"

"What can you observe about her?" I smirked challenging her. She smirked back as a sign of accepting the challenge. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she observes and studies her.

The girl is typing on her laptop when suddenly her cellphone rang. She answered it, and we could hear what she is saying because the place is obviously quiet. She looked at our direction while she is talking, I guess she felt Fabian's stare. Fabian transferred her look pretending that her attention was all in the quotes posted on the wall above her. Smooth.

Then she looked back at me and leaned forward. "She is obviously rich by looking at the items she is using. Like her Louis Vuitton handbag, Apple MacBook, her simple yet elegant genuine gold accessories like her earrings and her iPhone X, which is, by the way, the latest design in Apple. By looking at her uniform, if I'm not mistaken it is from Luccos High, which is one of the most expensive private schools. She is also well disciplined by her family by looking at her posture, and her being prim and proper in everything she does. Like how she eats her ice cream and being so clean in clothing and also the way she talks politely to her caller. I also assume she is waiting for someone. " Suddenly the bell at the door that rings every time it's opened or closed rang.

Both of us looked at the girl who came in who is also wearing the same uniform. However, this one was wearing heavy makeup, a short skirt that shows off her skinny legs, and a revealing blouse that shows of her cleavage. Her eyes roamed around the place like she is searching for someone. The girl we were talking about raised her hand to get her attention and she did. The girl walked towards her while swaying her hips. "And that is the girl she is waiting for," Fabian confirmed.

"How did you deduced that?" I asked.

"Simple. Time to time she was looking at her rose gold Rolex watch as if she was waiting for someone. I confirmed it when I heard her telling her caller a while ago about the location of this ice cream parlor. Yeah, I know that that information is too obvious. Let's give this a thrill." She leaned close that's why I did the same to listen to her. "Although she is obviously very rich, she still chose to meet up here in a not-so-high-quality ice cream parlor. Why do you think so? She can go to those famous coffee shops or fancy restaurants instead. That is where rich kids like her usually hang out, right?" I nodded listening to her deduction. "But she chose this place. Why?" She asks then answered her own question.

"Simple. She is one humble, modest, and simple woman. She doesn't brag about her being rich and loaded. By looking at her undeniably gorgeous features without makeup, I'm certain she has a lot of suitors. The reason why she chose this place is probably because she hates attention. That's why she chose this hidden Ice cream parlor where people solemnly visits. End of my deduction."

I smirked, she smiled satisfied. "Impressive as always," I comment.

"Now your turn." She looked around for someone perfect for me to observe. Then not long enough, the bell at the door rang again. "That guy." She pointed at the one that just stepped in.

His hair was messy and he was obviously in a hurry as he ran to the counter. "He is probably a host to a party," I stated.

"Sorry, I'm late! The party wasn't finished at the time it was supposed to and it was also traffic. I'll go change." He said to his manager breathlessly. He didn't give his manager a chance to respond cause he ran to the staff's room immediately.

"How can you say he was a host? He could be a guest, right?" Fabs asked.

"If he was a guest, he is for sure aware that at this hour, there are for sure heavy traffics along the way. So he would leave the party early if that's the case."

"But how are you sure he is a host? He could be the one serving the foods. Right?"

"Yeah, but I saw a stuck little confetti in his messy hair. Probably when the party is ongoing, the food servers were only gathered to one side where the food could be. They were patiently waiting for the time the guests will eat. Since they were only on one side, it is far from the stage where the confetti was probably popped. So it is impossible that he was a food server. Aside from guests, only the host could get the confetti stuck in his hair. It's also impossible because food servers usually wear hairnets."

Fabian looked at me obviously thinking fo a question I can't answer. "He could also be a family member?"

"I doubt that. So let's say he is a family member and that means he's an important guest. There could be two scenarios if that's the case, it's either his family would understand if he needs to go early for work or his family will tell him to skip work and stay. If he's a family member then he should be entertaining more guests instead of going to work."

She smiled at me"Okay. That was a good one. "What else?"

"Judging his age, he is in his 20s. Therefore, he's in college and a working student. He is a part-timer to two different jobs. Who knows? Maybe he is also a part-timer somewhere at night. Why could he be joggling two or three works every day? Obviously to make money. For what? To pay for his tuition fee for the next semester. Actually, I also saw a keychain in his bag with keys. Probably keys for his apartment. So he needs money to pay the rent, and also for his basic needs like food. It's either he is independent or he doesn't want to depend on his parents. One reason could be because they have financial issues. Obviously, he only took a simple course. A course that he could afford. And that's it." She clapped her hands impressed. I pretended to bow my head like I just did a stage performance. We both laughed at ourselves.

We enjoy being mini detectives for entertainment. We both dream to be one someday. It actually feels satisfying to know a lot about someone just by observing them. You just have to look closely and think smarter.

I stared at Fabian while she was laughing. A wonderful view to see. Seeing her happy. We live a simple yet happy life. We have a loving family and we have each other as best friends. I won't deny it, I am really happy she's been a part of my life since childhood. We almost did everything together.

Having our life that feels so perfect is something that actually terrifies me.
In our world today, it seems like happiness is not for free. It's either you get it as a reward from what you've been through, or you'll have a tragic payment for receiving it. In our case, I know that something big is waiting for us out there. That something terrifies me as I imagine how chaotic it could be?

Author's note: Guys! For my first readers, thank you so much for reading until the end of this chapter! Please comment your opinions and let me know what you think about my first detective story. Please vote if you liked it! Thanks and I love you guys!

September 15th, 2018