RED

30. Marigold

When you love someone, their pain becomes yours. Their joy becomes your joy and you share one heart with this person.

All he could see, amidst the few people that walked past him, was her. His eyes followed her every move and turn. He knew he couldn't miss her. He really didn't want to and when she finally made it out of the building, he hastened his pace. Finally, when he stood outside, he searched around with his eyes for any sight of her, in hope of accomplishing his heart desire. Gratefully, he caught sight of her trying to hail a cab, but that didn't seem to work for her. The act alone showed him how desperate she was to head to wherever she was going, because the Kiana he knew was the type who often made use of public buses for transportation. It only made him desire to find out what was really going on.

He took in a deep breath as he stared at her.

Kiana ran her hands through her hair. She could barely think clearly or control her emotions. Her eyes had gotten teary and the tears began trickling down her cheeks. Each second she spends trying to hail a cab or get some sort of transport to wherever she was going felt like an utter waste of time. Unable to take it anymore, she had attempted trekking, but that didn't do much for her. Her head felt like it was spinning and each sound echoed in her ears, as the very last words that put her in this state replayed over and over again in her mind, causing her to finally come to a standstill, fingers dug into her hair.

"Are you okay?" The voice as well as the hand placed on her, caused her to turn in an immediate startle.

She stared at the last person she imagined would surface at this moment. He stared back at her. The look on her face, heart-breaking to him. He wished more than anything for him to wipe the tears off her face, but he just couldn't. An invisible barrier had already been drawn between them.

"Where do you need to go? I'll take you." He finally spoke up and although everything seemed a little fuzzy for her at the moment, she was somehow able to comprehend his words.

He had offered to help her and she didn't know if this was a good thing. After days of having ignored her, he finally spoke to her. She should be jumping with joy, right? But, she just couldn't. Finally, she looked away from him as she wiped her face.

"I-I'm fine." She stuttered a bit, before attempting to walk away. He quickly took hold of her hand, causing her to come to a halt and turn to take a look at him.

"There's not much time to waste and you know it, so I'll take you." He explained once more and as much as she would love to run into his arms and let him comfort her, even for a moment, she really couldn't. She didn't want him tagging along and finding out about another side to her life. A part she had never mentioned to anyone else. Plus, he was probably helping her out of pity and she didn't like that very much.

She placed her hand on him in an attempt to get rid of his grip, but his hold remained firm. "Thank you, but I can manage."

"No, you can't. For once, Kiana, don't be stubborn." He told her and something about his tone reminded her of his anger towards her. A strange sort of warning for her not to repeat the past. She really wanted to give in to his demand, but she was really scared. She was scared of the fact that if he does discover the other side to her life, he might really distance himself for good. Not everyone wants to be associated with a criminal. He might finally judge her as the liar she was. He might even think the worst about her and she was already satisfied with him just remembering her as the Kiana he met in high school. How was she supposed to make him understand her plight?

She opened her mouth with an intention to say something, but before she could succeed, he suddenly dragged her along with him much to her surprise. She needed to say something, right? Yet, she couldn't. She found herself silently going along with him then watched as he opened the door to his car and eventually made her have her seat.