Miss Charlotte Rose, one of the elites from Eva, the same rank as Rita, from Capital town invited me for a formal meeting. I was told not to bring William along. Not that he wanted to join anyway. William was acting strange lately. I would have preferred to meet Charlotte without him.

When I entered the office, I already knew I was late. She was waiting on the chair while her eyes stuck on the door, from where I entered. Charlotte Rose was a busy woman and had very little time to waste on having tea or a drink. Today, for some reason, her one eye was hidden beneath an eyepatch which was different from what I saw her in pictures.

"Mr George Watson." She said. "Ex-military member from special forces, an assassin, and a detective. Your reputation precedes you. A pleasure to finally meet you."

"Pleasure is all mine, Ms Charlotte," I returned her a smile. "Senior investigator, and an Elite from Eva."

"To be honest, looking at your records and work in special forces, a shady title like assassin doesn't suit you."

"I do have some history behind that," I said. "Maybe next time. . . when you have time for Tea."

She lightly nodded, "I shall not take much of your time. Let me put this straight." She said, sitting straight on the chair with a cautious face. "I know, the things that happened with William and you were recent. And you should have your break, but I'm afraid we might need you and William to visit the Capital at your earliest convenience."

"Your tone doesn't sound normal," I said. "Might I ask why?"

"I'm afraid I can't provide you details right now," She still had her serious tone. "For now, I can just say, things might not be normal in the capital town, the city of Amber's, and there is a possibility that it might, somehow, be connected to something sinister. And again, it's a Capital, a town where the royal family resides. So, it's a high-priority thing."

"Me and William, what about the Elite, Rita?" I asked. "I recall she's an Eva Elite. If things are critical, should she not be the more useful person?"

"As of now, we are not sure what we are dealing with," She said. "There should be someone to look after this area. And, you and William have worked together before. So the Director thought it would be better to call you both."

From the beginning, something wasn't right. I could sense fear and disappointment in her voice. A feeling rose in my mind to confront her and ask what was bothering her, but she was a senior and that would have been rude, so I had no choice other than to let her leave with that face.

She was in a hurry, as always. She handed me a card from her bag with the address and the name of the place mentioned. She stood up, took my permission to leave, and walked toward the door.

Before she left, she turned back, said, "And, I know William can be stubborn at times. I hope you can convince him to visit." A faint smile appeared on her face, hiding that serious tone and life force of hers. Soon, she left.

The anxious feeling in her voice told me I had no time to waste. I went to William's place, but he was not home. I was told he had not returned from yesterday. At first, it felt strange. The sun was already up and, in the past, he'd not been in the woods for so long.

Trying not to think much about it, my feet moved toward the old mansion. Opening the Rusty gate, again with that irritating sound, I walked toward the back of the house. Presuming, he would be standing near the lonely gravestone. I noticed him, silently sitting on the tree nearby the grave. It was a decently large tree and had small white flowers. I'm not sure what they're called, but they were small, white, and had small droplets of morning dew on their tiny petals which shined with the morning sunlight.

I walked forward, noticing the Roses of yesterday, still resting on the marble grave. William's eyes were looking at the pond nearby. He was calm, quiet, almost like a different person and I, by this time, was used to it. I walked near the tree.

"Hey! Would you mind climbing down?"

His eyes glanced at me, noticing my presence. William stood up and simply jumped down from that not-so-high branch of the tree.

"Long time no see, George." He said.
"We met yesterday morning."

He gave a curious look, "Oh- did we? Pardon me. Many things are going on in this head. . . you must be here for a reason, though?"

"Can I not visit without a reason."

"Well, you never visit without a reason." He said, side-eyeing me.

Laughter escaped me, and I calmed myself. "I assume you know Ms Charlotte Rose, from the Eva,"

"I sure do," he said. "She's an interesting one, actually. I once met her through Rita and she, for some reason, said we had met earlier when I was with someone called Steve Tradis."

"You visited the capital before?"

"I did not," he'd say. "But she thought I met her, for some reason."

"Well, she visited me in the morning," I said. "She was here to invite us to the capital. There's some work we might help her with."

"Isn't she the Elite from Eva," he snapped, keeping his eyes on the roses. "She wants us, some two people from the outskirts of the nation, to help her?"

"The thought sure crossed my mind," I answered. "But our not-so-normal work and cases are observed by them. They're technically the seniors, and it would have been rude to ask that to her face."

He nodded. "About the visit to the capital," William paused. "I'm sure there are other, more capable, people to handle such matters."

Was he really busy? A thought crossed my mind.

William, from the looks of it, always had something going on in his head. He showed himself as busy and serious and always avoided talking about his mother or himself. The day before, he went into the woods and instead of returning to the town, wanted in the mansion.

"That was rude." I'd say. "If she wants us, there must be a reason."

"Then, I guess we just have to visit Eva soon." He said smiling. And this was the first time in forever when he had smiled, which was not forced.

That's it? I'd ask myself.

Well, he didn't give a bunch of reasons to not leave his place or did not argue, which was anything but normal for him.

"So. . . when are we leaving?"

He glanced at me, "Soon. I need some time alone."

"You already had a month of time alone." I protested.

"I sense an urge in your voice, George," he mentioned. "And you're never so eager about things. Why is this capital town visit so important?"

"I sensed fear in Charlotte's voice," I answered. "She mentioned, there's something sinister happening in the Capital, and noticing her tone, I'd doubt if she's exaggerating the situation. I'm sure your mother would have not liked you being so careless about things."

William went cold, quiet for a moment following my words. His hands went in his trench coat pockets, he turned and walked ahead, away from the grave, and I asked myself if I had gone too personal about things. I kept looking at him while we walked.

He, for a moment, glanced back, "We leave in the evening." He said and silently left the place. I waited in the area for some time, looking at the tiny white flowers on the tree before leaving the place. His agreement to visit the town brought a faint smile to my face and a sense of satisfaction in my heart. I could not have been happier to see him, at least, trying to move on from things that happened to him and trying to move ahead.

After all, at the end of the day, what does one long for- a fine, satisfied end to the day? I find many, wondering why they should smile if there's no reason. A person can die in 134 different ways in a single day. In such a way, if a person survives and is fortunate to see another day. How fortunate and happy one should be.

Good days bring joy, bad days bring experience, and the worst days prepare one for life. It's a cycle of life, a cycle of one's existence. Which embraces and enhances one's mind to walk ahead and push through the situations, push through life.