Jada huffed and stalked towards the dock, clenching her hands into a fist, her right one feeling bare now that the small diamond was missing. Her nostrils flared, and her sharp heels avoided the rocks scattered about the ground.

She saw the familiar flash of dirt blonde peeking out of a hat, adorned by a man with a loosely-tucked ivory shirt and a wand in his back pocket.

She knew it was him.

The same infuriating so-called magician who'd stolen her precious ring.

She stopped a foot away from his back, and for a few seconds, she watched as the side of his sharp jaw clenched and relaxed as he stared out onto the dancing waters and the sunset that stared at its reflection within them. The man was unaware of the storm approaching him, and instead was trapped in tranquility.

Jada snapped out of her trance and cleared her throat. When he remained in his stance, she groaned and tapped his shoulder, causing him to slowly turn around.

His icy blue eyes met hers, and she almost caught her breath at the way that the light chose to dance within them. So that's where the sun went after bidding adieu to the earth and giving its place to the moon.

He offered a crooked smile, displaying his slightly crooked teeth, and leaned back onto the railing, his arms crossed in front of him.

"Jada," he mused, tipping his hat.

She scowled and inched closer to him; she was almost as tall as him, and the hurricane brewing within her jaded eyes, framed by thick eyelashes, was enough to intimidate anybody, but his smile remained eternally frozen.

"You stole my ring!" She accused, pointing a finger at him. Her face was reddened with anger, but concealed by the deep bronze of her skin, and one hip was jutted out to the side.

He simply laughed, digging his hands deep into his pockets. "I didn't steal anything."

Jada cocked her head to the side. "Listen, that's a very valuable ring, and it's probably worth more than anything you've ever seen. So. Give. It
Back."

She was rude; she didn't care. Jada wasn't one for sugarcoating or for sympathy; she was just the monster she needed to be in order to run an industry like her father's.

He clicked his tongue, shaking his head in disappointment. But he wasn't offended; or, at least, his amused expression didn't show it. A lock of his messy hair was defeated by the wispy winds and fell over his forehead.

"Will you let me finish my thought?" He prompted, making her shoulders relax the tiniest bit.

Jada, her expression still as stonelike as the ground her heels dug into, raised her eyebrows in anticipation.

"I didn't steal anything." He proceeded to reach into his pocket and pull out the ring, the silver and diamond catching a glint of the light emanating from the lamppost. "You didn't let me finish my trick yesterday."

Jada gasped and reached for her piece or jewelry, but he recoiled his hand.

"This isn't funny," she said slowly, drawing out her words, her gaze prey-like. She stepped towards him so that the leather of her pointer finger dug into his firm chest, and his back pressed into the railing that separated him from infinite waters. "Give it back. I can call the cops on you!"

"For what?" He looked like a confused child, his bottom lip pouted, thick brown eyebrows furrowed, head tilted.

"For the ring! What do you think!"

He looked down and pulled out his pockets so that they were empty, and held his bare hands up in the air innocently. "What ring?"

Jada narrowed her eyes and searched his for answers, but the sapphire jewels remained clouded with maniacal mystery. She removed her finger from his chest and stepped back, shivering from the way that the frigid air nipped at her bare neck.

"You're wasting too much of my energy, and I don't appreciate it. Keep the ring; you need it more than me." She spun on her heel and cursed to herself as she began to walk away, murmuring profanities under her breath. 

Who did this guy think he was? Stealing her ring, showing it to her, then pretending like he didn't even have it? 

Her mental rant was cut short when her fingers met a solid item inside her pocket. She froze, and grasped the mystery item, bringing out of her pocket slowly. Her eyes widened when she saw her ring laying in her palm, back in the hand on which it belonged.

She should have kept walking; she'd gotten her ring, what else did she need?

Her head snapped back to the dock, but he was gone. She spun around and searched frantically, until she spotted a familiar man walking away and into the plaza. Without thinking, Jada began to chase him, dodging the citizens who gave her lingering strange looks. When she finally reached him, he was boarding his bicycle, which was leaned up against a mailbox.

"Hey!" she shouted, waving her hands in the air as she ran towards the man. She couldn't let him leave without finding out how he'd known her name; it would eat her alive. "Wait!"

He looked up at Jada, puzzled as he slowly took his hands off of the handles of his bike. A pleased smile conquered his lips, but he pursed them in order to conceal it, and his gaze dropped to her hand. "I see you've found your ring."

Jada had taken her gloves off and slipped the ring onto her finger. She looked down at it and shoved her hands back into her pockets. "How do you know my name?"

Laughter chimed from the stranger's mouth, and he shook his head while he swung one leg over the bike. He tightened his backpack and placed his hat on his head. 

"A magician never reveals his secrets." He winked and attempted to ride away, but Jada rolled her eyes and stopped his bike. She tightened her hand around its handle, and he almost fell off.

Shocked, the man looked up at her. "You ruined my grand escape," he said, catching his balance so he didn't fall.

Jada shrugged. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me how you know my name."

"That's fair," he settled back on the seat lazily, with one foot on the ground maintaining his balance. A shadow cast over his expression, but only temporarily. He rolled his shoulders back.

"Correct me if I'm wrong. You are Jada of Storm Industries. Here to build yet another useless development that only benefits the rich. Here to kick underprivileged men, women, and children out of their homes."

Jada's jaw hung in shock, goosebumps arising on her arms. She averted her gaze from his entrancing one, unable to digest the accusations he'd so nonchalantly uttered.

"How—"

"I read the news, love. May I go now?" his words were soft, gentle. Coming from the mouth of anyone else, they would've been accusatory and pointed. But he was stating facts. Facts that Jada had heard countless times, but never from the mouth of a victim.

She silently retracted her hand and pushed her hair behind her ears, even though it was already in its place. A sharp phantom of a pain pierced her chest, but it was foreign and a feeling she couldn't identify.

She mustered up a nod, and the magician tipped his head before riding away on his bike, away into the darkness that enveloped an unknown street, and away from a jaded Jada, who had just broken her own heart.