13th of February (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter X

Please read the note at the end. Enjoy :) 

With his coffee in his hand and music blasting in his ears, the man walked down the street. As though it was his second instinct, he avoided the few looks he got, though they were ones of awe and admiration.
Sipping his coffee, he walked through the gates of the cosy looking, moderately sized house at the end of the street. It wasn't until he reached the door that he looked up from his phone, surprised to see a formally dressed man waiting for him.
Pulling out his earphones, slightly annoyed at having his peaceful evening interrupted, he asked "Yes? How may I help you?"
"Mr.Matthews-"
"James. Call me James." he said, opening the door and gesturing the man to come in. "Have a seat. And speak."
"James," the man corrected, and continued, now sitting on the couch and watching James move around the room, pulling off his jacket and making himself comfortable. "I'm here from Daily Tea Agency, and we have an offer for you. We would like you to write only for our publications and blogs. The pay will be higher than you can imagi-".
"No."
"Pardon? I'm sorry, what?"
"I said no. Was that not clear? Well, let me make myself clear then. I write for myself and about what I wish to, not for the pay. I will maybe write for those who want and value my work, not for those who want to profit from it. Please leave." said James, not even sparing the man a glance.
"But the pay-"
"The door's over there, close it on your way out please." said James, cutting the man off yet again. This made the man scoff and finally leave.
Sighing, James fell back on his couch, running a hand through his hair. Today was the one day he wanted to spend peacefully by himself, but the news agency just had to send an annoying employee to propose something that he would obviously refuse, he had made that much clear in the interviews.
Sighing for the millionth time that day, James got up again, heading to the place he had already visited twice that day.
Walking to a corner of the cemetery, the 22 year old sat on the slightly frosted grass in between two identical tombstones. "Hey mom, hi dad" said James, trying not to let the horrendous replay in his mind, but failing. Taking a deep breath, he started speaking. "So, it's been exactly six years. Here I am, again, on the 13th of February. You know what's funny? It's been exactly five years since I saw.... Sherin. The same day. What a coincidence, huh?" James dryly chuckled, despite the tears going down his face.
Sherin. Despite how rarely he said the name out loud, it still rolled off his tongue with a painful familiarity.
Trying to hold together his composure, James continued his little soliloquy. "I promised her I'd become a writer and earn enough for the two of us. I promised to stay with her forever. I could only keep one of the two. My life's been amazing, hasn't it? Having spent three and a half years in a rehabilitation center with no contact with the world outside, I saw everyone who once cared forget, or show how they didn't actually care, or just....leave." he said, looking sadly at the tombstones.
"After the three of you, I just couldn't bring myself to trust or love anyone like that again. Look where this stupid fear has gotten me, I have,quite literally, no one." he humorlessly chuckled, though at this point, he was silently sobbing. "Sherin.....I know she's still alive, I know she's just there somewhere. I don't know what more I can do, but I'll still look for her. I'm not gonna give up on her. I promise. And this time I'll keep the promise."
James spent the rest of his evening with his parents, heading back home when he noticed how dark it was getting. As he walked down the dark streets, he dragged along his heavy heart, somehow feeling better yet worse, clutching the extremely patched up locket for some sort of comfort.

If only he'd known what he was in for....... If only he'd braced himself for it......
If only.....
______________

Unedited.

This is kind of how I imagined James, but with longer hair. The original pic looks better because it's in colour and has more effects, but I prefer black and white, I didn't have the patience to finish it either.

It's a picture idea taken from Google, but I changed a lot of details. The two photos are the same, it's just that they were taken on different phones, and I couldn't select one.

Thanks for reading!
- Tristophobic