SONG: YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL BY WORREN WEBBE

"It is funny how seeing you gives me both joy and pain at the same time."

❛❛「₪」❜❜

Ash's P.O.V.

After being done with work, I went to John's cabin only to find it empty. He wasn't there. I checked a bit around on the floor, thinking that probably he must have left already and been to my cabin before I reached his. But, I failed to find him. I waited outside his cabin, thinking that he probably must have been to the washroom and that he'd be on his way to come back. But even after waiting for long, I found no sign of him.

I went down to the reception, thinking that he probably must have been waiting for me downstairs. I went to the receptionist and asked her, "Hey Sam, did you see Jonathan?"

"Sorry ma'am did you call me?" She replied, and as I looked up at her face I realised that the receptionist had been changed two days back.

"Oh yeah. Sorry what was your name again?" I asked.

"Anna." She smiled.

"Yeah right. Anna it was. Did yo-"

And before I could even complete my sentence, another flash came to me.

"What?" A fair looking, young guy- who wasn't Jonathan this time- told me, or precisely, told Candice. "Don't give me that look. I've got no sad stories. I am here, just because I love my Anna." He looked at a girl.

She was pretty. She had brown eyes, beautiful ones. Short black hair, running down to the end of her neck and kissing her soft cheeks. She wasn't as fair. She had a slightly dark complexion, and it suit her quite well. She looked cute and sweet. But her eyes, at the same time, made her look bold and confident. She had those gorgeous looks which could make any guy- who cared only about the looks- fall for her. She was pretty. Quite much.

"Stop lying Aidan." Anna told him.

"He does." She told me. "We all do." I looked around to see the 'all'. There were two more people. Another guy. And another woman. But nowhere could I find John or- maybe- Ed. The place where we were, was beautiful, though. It was a hill with greenery all around. And from there you could see the lake. The area was abandoned, and the trees and bushes, though kind of dried up, were tall, covering the interiors of the place from the exteriors of it.

"Well yeah." The guy- who apparently was Aidan- said, nodding. "We all have a story. Mine being the death of my mother. I was ten when she passed away of Cancer. And my father became abusive to me since then. So I escaped with Anna."

"Did you turn deaf?" Somebody whispered in my ears from behind me. And it seemed so real that I freaked out and jumped, losing my balance.

"Woah woah. Careful." John said, holding me. That was when I realised I wasn't dreaming anymore. "Anna had been calling you for like so long. But you were just lost in your own dream world." He laughed.

"Where the hell where you?" I said, changing the topic.

"Oh, me?"

"Yes you."

"Me?"

"Yes John, you."

"ME?!"

"No me!" I said, annoyed.

"Oh okay. So answer." He said, folding his hands.

"What?" I asked in complete confusion.

"What do you mean what? You said you asked the question to yourself. So now answ-"

"Fare thou well. I am going home. In your car."

I walked towards the exit, laughing inwards.

"Hey no. Wait. I'm coming!"

As I reached his car, I could hear John's fast and heavy footsteps approaching towards me. He held me from behind and started panting.

"Don't ever try to mess with my car." He said in the middle of his heavy breaths.

"So your car is more important than me."

"No." He said. "It's more delicate than you."

I mouthed a 'whatever' as he took a seat in the car. I did the same.

As he started driving, he told me, "I have called Ryan and Syra for dinner at my place."

"Ryan? Why?"

"I just thought we could uh- get better friends?" He said.

"Okay...... and what will you cook?"

"Lasagna? Pizza? BuRgEr?"

"Hamburger?"

"Okay." He shrugged.

"I love you!" I said.

"I like to cook calorie-free food. So stop buttering me."

"My love is BUTTERING for you?" I said, going all dramatic, opening my mouth wide to make an 'o' and cupping my hands on my face. "How. Mean."

And out of nowhere, he took his eyes away from the road, turned it towards me, and gave me a kiss.

"Oh GOD!" I said, still dramatic. "Now you are buttering me."

"Why would I?" He chuckled, looking back at the road.

"Because I was mad at you."

"As if I care." He smirked.

"Wait." I shook my head. "Did you just-"

"What I just?" He interrupted.

"Did you just-"

"What I just?"

"Did you-"

"What I?"

"Uggh shut up!" I said, puffing my cheeks, to which he laughed more.

John's P.O.V.

Once we were home, I texted Ryan my address and asked him to be there by 9.30 p.m.

I got Ash comfortable on bed and asked her, "Do you want to wear my clothes till they come?"

"Sure." She smiled.

Handing her my comfortable shirt and shorts- that would apparently slip down her thin waist- I changed into my own casuals.

I went to the kitchen and after making sure I had all the supplies, I started to work on the ham. That was when I sensed something on my shoulder. Her hand.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm here to help-"

"Ash I can do that. You should go and rest whenever you get a chance to."

"There's a whole night for resting. I wanna cook too."

I turned around to explain her that she needed to rest when I noticed her shorts hadn't slipped down. As she saw the confused look on my face, she said, "Oh I tied a knot."

And she turned around to show it to me.

"Look." She said.

"Wow. Y'all have the ability to do anything." I said, getting back to the ham.

"Y'all?"

"Women." I sighed.

"Well yeah." She stood beside me and took a piece of ham and copied whatever I was doing.

"That stubbornness of cooking." I laughed.

She did not reply. She just smiled. And shrugged. And kind of... blushed.

"Who blushes on being called stubborn?" I asked.

"It's not about what you are being called; it's about by whom you are being called." And she blushed again.

"I need to get a training from you on how to blush."

"Teach me good cooking amd I teach you how to blush." She shrugged.

"Why? You can't cook?"

"I can. But mine is average food. Yours is gourmet food."

"Oh god when will you stop flattering me?" I laughed, putting my last ham on the plate while she was still struggling with the first.

"Here." I took it from her and showed her slowly as to how it was done.

After we were done cooking, we finally gave rest to our delicate, weary and sweaty bodies.

As we laid on bed, we didn't even realise that we dozed off.

*9.23 p.m.*

When I opened my eyes, I realised we were almost on time. Ryan and Syra could be here any moment. I woke Ash up and we changed back into our fancy clothing.

I put the hams in the microwave to heat and kept everything ready to assemble.

Around 10 minutes later, the bell rung. It was them.

"Hey man!" Ryan said, hugging me and patting my back. "How are you doing?"

"Awesome." I said, while Syra gave Ash a hug.

"You look great!" I heard Ash give Syra a compliment. "Come in."

As they both stepped in, Ryan said, "Oh Man! That aroma! What have you made?"

He started sniffing in the air.

"Hamburger." I said, chuckling at how fascinated he looked.

"Gosh! Its been long since I've had one."

"Just a little more long then." I smiled, walking towards the ham and assembling two for each.

Ash's P.O.V.

As John went into the kitchen, I asked Ryan and Syra to take a seat and talked to them.

"So what do you do?" I asked Syra.

"Am a journalist."

"Oh that's awesome."

"No man! it is not. Her journalism has got me annoyed in the worst possible way." Ryan laughed.

"What? Why?" I laughed.

"Her knowledge! She DrAiNs it on me." He sighed.

"Doesn't that add to your knowledge?" I asked.

"Nope. Just adds to my pressure."

"He's a poor lil soul." Syra laughed.

"Yeah right." Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Well these hamburgers will help your soul alot." John came out with plates in his hands.

We all stood up, walking straight to the table, without wasting time. After all we all knew the important business.

"Who's in your fam?" Syra asked.

"Fam? Family?" John asked.

"Ye." Syra said. The way she used short forms so fluently really was fascinating.

"My parents and sister passed away." John smiled nervously.

"Oh I am so sorry. I-"

"No it's- it's okay."

"How about you?" I asked Syra, changing the topic.

"I have a sister, a younger one. And my parents. They live in Peru."

"Oh that's cool."

"What about you?" Ryan asked me.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to ruin the happiness around us. I didn't open my mouth. I just sat there, flabbergasted. I looked at John. 'Open up' he mouthed.

"I had had an argument with my mother a few years back. We never met or talked since then." I sighed. It felt good to express your feelings.

"So like do you know where she's?"

"Uh- no." I said.

"Maybe I can help you out in finding her." She said, taking her first bite. Apparently, we had been too busy in talking. "Mmm. Give me the recipe later on." She said, pointing at John.

"Sure." John smiled nervously, his eyes sticked at me as if waiting for me to announce my decision. He had a hope in his eyes. So did mine. I was hopeful. Hopeful about being able to meet her. Hopeful about being able to talk to her. Hopeful about being able to tell her I could die. Hopeful that she would come back. I had hated her for what she did. But I loved her. I loved her to the core. Because she was my mother. And that word had a lot of power.

"I would really appreciate if you could." I said finally.

"Help ya find your mum?"

"Yes."

"Aight then. I'll need her name, her picture if ya have one and a few things 'bout her. Like what she did an' all. I'll tell ya all the info I need, after food." She smiled.

That's it. One last try. Just. One. Last. Try.

Author's Note

Ahoy Who-Man Beans (changing my official intro cuz this one is cool!)

Ye. So. You can kill me now.

Kill me. C'mon. KILL ME!

Kidding lol. Don't xD

Anyways so I wanted to say that I MAY NOT UPDATE FOR LIKE 2 WEEKS MAYBE cuz I want to complete my short story. Now don't worry. I usually take 2 to 3 days to write down a chapter for AIDS and one chapter of this book is as big as 4 chapters. And the short story is 10 chapters long (plus 3 chapters are already published) so do the math! I won't take long lol.

Btw, HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY FELLOW WHO-MAN BEANS!

Next Chapter (probably) Coming Soon!

TPWK.
Vreha x