❝𝐵𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠; 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑡❞

On a dark and cold night. A lone figure in a white sundress was standing on the edge of a cliff. The moonlight was reflecting on her back, giving a cold and lifeless vibe. Her neck-length thin hair was moving along with the chilly wind.

Slowly, Lonimi made her way towards her hesitantly with the notion of the unknown emotion and curiosity in her heart.

Before, she could touch her shoulder,

"...Emma!"

A soft voice called.

Although the voice was gentle as the warm sunlight in the winter or a peaceful melody, it pierced through her ears. It seemed like a cold bucket of water was poured into her.

Lonimi's rosy face turned pale and her limbs started to shake.

" ...No" She staggeringly moved back.

"Did you forget me? ", the gentle voice turned cold and she gradually turned back.

But before she could show her face, Lonimi blacked out.

The damped pajama shirt was evidence of her nightmare. She sat upright in her bed and reached for the glass of water on the nightstand. Her hands were shaking and her long curls were scattered messily.

The low light from moonlight was reflecting at her through the window. Her face was pale, eyes filled with tears and deep in a haze but a knock on the door broke her loneliness and silence.

" Lonimi, Are you asleep?" A gentle voice was heard.

Lonimi couldn't utter a single word. She was immensely petrified.

The door was unlocked, the light was turned on and a tall blonde made her way in.

She must have returned just now from her office as she was still attired in formals.

"Lonimi, are you okay?" She anxiously pulled her into her arms.

Slowly caressed her back and comforted her in her soothing voice.

Lonimi unhurriedly pulled her thoughts together and tighten her arms around the beautiful blonde.

"...Rebecca" she called in her cracked voice.

"hmm"

"I...saw her" she softly replied, grief integrated into her voice.

Rebecca didn't inquire any further. She caressed her head and gradually Lonimi fell asleep in her lap.

Putting her deep inside the quilt, Rebecca locked her room and sat on the couch of their apartment's living room. After a thought, She dialed a number on her phone.

After trying a couple of times, the call was finally received.

"...I am busy " a deep voice with coldness was heard and the phone was immediately hunged up after.

Rebecca glared at the phone screen, killing intent was born in her heart but masked her anger and went to her room for rest.

But she didn't forget to blacklist the said number.

☆

The night was long and difficult but the warmth of the day slightly urged Lonimi to bring some peace to her mind.

Lots of thoughts and queries were roaming in her mind but she temporarily threw them back in her mind as she made her way to the bathroom for a wash-up.

Her delicate face looked extremely pale and under her eyes was a light bluish color.
She unhurriedly freshened herself and went out of the room while tying her hair up in a slightly messy ponytail while her bag and thin jacket hung in the crook of her right arm.

The light clattering of dishes in the kitchen was quite apparent of someone cooking.

Lonimi curled her lips into a smile and made her way over there.

"You know, even if you reincarnate over hundred  times, you still won't be able to cook. So, why harm the world?" When Lonimi finished her remark, she was rewarded with a smack on her arm.

"Who am I doing this for? You ungrateful brat!" Sweat was clinked on her forehead with tiny blond hair attached to it but her charm didn't diminish.

She was a tall woman in her mid-twenties with an elegant and novel aura around her. She wasn't a top beauty but her short shiny blond hair, dark blue eyes, and tanned skin will still make people have a certain impression of her.

Lonimi hugged her arm and coquettishly replied," I'm sorry. It's this lowly slave's blindness not to recognize the tenderness of a goddess."

"It's okay that you admit your crime." Rebecca grinned at her and raised her hand to rub her head.

Lonimi immediately dodged her hand and shot a playful glare while arranging her hair.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Rebecca asked gazing at her knee-length light pink flower print sundress.

Her soft features were devoid of any heavy makeup except her usual skincare.

"Turning point of my career." Lonimi pursed her lips by checking her watch.

When she realized the time, she immediately explained to Rebecca in short and dashed for the bus downstairs.

"Director Edward have invited me to meet him. I'm somewhat late ,dear. So I'd taste your masterpiece some other day."

She blew her a kiss before running out.

Rebecca sighed at the retreating back of the little girl.

Later, When she tried to taste the 'food', she could only comfort herself by ordering pizza for lunch.

Cooking is boring ah!

▼・ᴥ・▼

"...I know, I missed you too." A sweet smile was etched on her tanned skin, and imaginary pink bubbles were floating around her.

Lonimi smiled subconsciously at the girl in a few seats in front of her.

The little girl who looked no more than eighteen years was expressing her love to her partner through the phone.

Love and relationship were a faraway topic for Lonimi. It's not that she was against it but it never came across her twenty years of life.

Some guys asked her out during her high school years but she always lost interest in them after the first or second date.

Her friends teased her for keeping her standard too high. Maybe they were right or not but one thing she understood was that she was way too conservative as compared to others.

She doesn't fantasize about fairytales but just wanted to spend her life with someone she gave her every first to.

She knows it's impossible but can't change her mentality that's why she never had any hope to find the 'one' who could give her the courage to take a risk and melt her frozen heart.

Once her literature teacher said that each person will have the 'one' for their life but everyone won't be fortunate to be united with them in this life.
When she said this, Lonimi saw something in her eyes.

She at the age of fifteen, couldn't understand but now she can recall the emotion as longing for some unknown.

Later, it was known that the teacher died alone in her apartment due to a heart attack at age of forty-two and she was still single.

Suddenly, Lonimi took out her DSLR from her bag and snapped the side profile of the girl who was still giggling while staring at her phone.

She smiled at the photo on her camera and sighed, chanting the same mantras again and again.

𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔!

𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚!

But even she has the same longing that she couldn't understand back then.

༺♡༻

"_you are the stupid one!" A brunette in her late teen smacked the head of another youth grudgingly.

The youth ran away laughing on the way before he could get another round of beating while the girl was running after him.

The warm sunlight during winter afternoons created a halo of a carefree life for high school teenagers who were uncertain of their future but never lose hope or courage to move forward.

But in the next moment, the peace was broken mercilessly.

The youth was jogging backward while teasing her when suddenly a car came into the view and he realized, it was already too late.

The girl was pulled backward by someone already but the tragic scene before her traumatized her seriously.

The driver tried very hard to avoid the boy but it was already late. The vehicle was already out of control.

Before him not only did the boy lose his life but the youth's future, ambition, and hope were crushed as well. The pride and happiness of his parents were lost in his last breath too.

Many people get crowded immediately and an ambulance was too on its way.

The nineteen-year-old girl was trembling all over her body but she gradually made her way toward him.

Some people were trying their best to stop his bleeding.

The blood was gushing out from somewhere on his body and his clean face was messy due to large spots of scratches, dirt, and blood.

She could see he was struggling to keep himself alive but he was too much in pain to endure any longer.

'You can do it.' She whispered to him as she knew the ambulance was nearby.

She knew he was way too stubborn to even win against death.

She believed him but why her mind was having doubt?

The mere thought of losing him  chilled her heart. She immediately clutched his hand, tears were gushing out from her eyes.

She was encouraging him to wait a bit but he was already tired because of the pain.

He was fighting hard to not lose consciousness.

Suddenly his lips struggled to form some words before she could react, and he took his last breath. He was already too tired to wait more.

At the same moment ambulance arrived but the patient was already gone.

The girl remembered his promise to give her surprise on her birthday but a week before, fate gave them a shock.

A week later, she went to meet him for last time in his funeral. He was cleaned and kept in the casket like a sleeping doll.

She kept staring at him and suddenly folded his right cuffs upwards and a string of butterflies were tattooed and in between were two initials.

She

Later when she unwrapped the bandage, a string of two letters was tattooed.

'M.S'

M for Mason, him, and S for Scarlet, her.

_

_

"𝑪𝑼𝑻!!!" The director finally called.

Everyone in the crew suddenly seemed to wake up from the daydream. They started moving again.

"Naomi, your overall performance was good but fix your posture in the crying scene, alright?" Once the camera stopped rolling, the director James praised Naomi, the female lead.
"It's great to have you back. Even after two years break, your overall performance hasn't diminished. That's good."

Naomi smiled and humbly thanked him. Then, she turned towards the young lad who was standing with the help of the crew member.

"He is quite good." She smiled at him and glanced back at the director. " Where did you manage to find such a nice seedling?"

"Of course he's excellent. I found him through my friend in Spain but he's still raw... a little honing and he'll be perfect."

He replied with a hint of pride in his smile.

"If he maintains this rhythm, he'll become big."

"Afraid that he'll surpass?" James teased her and he was greeted by her chuckle.

"Of course! But thank God he's male. These younger generations are getting powerful day by day," Naomi joked fake sighing but was greeted by a small pat on her shoulder.

" What younger generation!? You're just twenty-nine-"

"I'm twenty-eight and five months." She cut him in between and also managed to glare at him but James just broke into laughter.

James and Naomi had known each other since she first started her career at the age of fourteen.

While she was a newbie in the whole circle, James wasn't any better as he was just a small unknown director in the field.

But James was the son of Jasmine and Charlotte, the famous Lesbian couple in Hollywood. Jasmine was Hollywood's darling singer while Charlotte was a talented fashion designer.

He maybe was been born with a golden spoon but everything he achieved was his sole hard work and talent.

At the age of 34, James was one of the most talented and respected directors in the industry. Even with his young age, no one dares to underestimate his work.

While Naomi debuted as a child actress, she wasn't much success and was on the verge of quitting but at the age of 19, she made a grand comeback with a second lead role in the debut movie of James.

At first, no one was optimistic about this movie but it became one of the dark horses in the industry. Although the profit was not much, it gained a lot more positive fame and feedback.

Since then their friendship was impeccable.

▼・ᴥ・▼

An unhurried knock was heard in the lounge room of the set.

"Come in." The door gradually opened to reveal a tall figure.

The person inside was none other than Director James.

He gently smiled, "Hayes, you're here."

___

___

To be continued...

No one is worth less or is useless until they think of themselves and lose hope.

𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭:

"...what is acting for you?"

"...My escape world...from failures and poverty." _Hayes.