GARY KING: THE ORIGIN

It was 4 years ago, I was living a simple and happy life, with my beautiful wife Qristina along with our 8-year-old daughter Emma. I was the same bad-ass detective, well actually I was even more of a hot-headed detective back then. On a Thursday evening, our station received a call from a bystander witnessing 4 men in all black shoot a man killing him, who was entering the Central Bank. Myself, my then assistant Diane and the team rushed to the crime scene after receiving the call. 

When we got there the crowd was already around the victim’s dead body, while some were recording the situation and some were just standing there in shock. “Isn’t that the town Mayor, Nicholas Klauss”, Diane said when we got there, it took me a minute to realise that and quickly the police force started clearing the crowd as we started questioning the eyewitness who saw the shooting happen. “It was a black BMW, 4 guys came out from the car and started shooting and they left right after he was on the ground, I’m not so sure about the number”, an eyewitness said. 

“This is weird Gary, why would someone kill Nicholas Klauss, that man was nothing but a pure soul, he did a lot for the community, why would anyone kill him”, Diane asked me while the forensic team were checking the victim’s body and the crime scene. I nodded my head agreeing to the statement she gave before taking the cigarette box out of my pocket and pulling out a cigarette bud. Before I placed the cigarette on my lips and lit it, I looked at Diane and said “The answer is in your question itself Diane, he’s a good man, that is why” before lighting it up. 

As the forensic team took the body for postmortem, the crowd was cleared of the crime, we asked two of the eyewitnesses to come to the station for inquiry purposes the next time by taking their personal and contact information. I walked towards the car with Diane joining me, we got in and Diane asked if there were any plans tonight for me and Qistina. “I’m not sure Diane, I have to ask her if she has anything or you know Emma, sometimes she wants to go somewhere with us so yeah”, I told her as I started the car and drove back to the station. 

When we reached the station, Diane got down and walked in before I got down. As I was about to walk into the station, someone called my name from outside the station, and when I turned around to look who it was, I saw a man wearing a Skull mask in a black tee and jeans holding a gun and pointing towards me. Even before I could take my gun out he started shooting me, I managed to duck and jump to the left side near the big flower pot before taking out my gun and taking my position to return fire, but he managed to escape by then. 

Diane and the rest of the team came rushing out of the station with their guns after hearing the gunshot but it was a little too late as he managed to escape. Chen the youngest in the team tried running after the shooter who escaped in a black BMW but it wasn’t successful. Diane rushed towards me to check if I was okay and helped me get on my legs before cussing out loud after seeing a bullet manage to pierce through my right arm right below my shoulders. I sighed seeing the bullet wound while Diane was panicking and asking someone to call the ambulance. 

“There’s no need for an ambulance Diane, I can drive to the hospital don’t worry, okay at least you can drive and I’ll just sit quietly”, I told her as she then agreed and we walked towards my car. She then drove to the nearby hospital and rushed in to bring the doctor to check on me, while I slowly got out of my car and walked in calmly. They then got me in the operation theatre to start the surgery on removing the bullet which was still in my arms. About an hour or so I was brought out to the observation room and Qristina and my daughter Emma greeted me. 

They both looked so worried looking at me as I was pushed in a wheelchair to the observation room. Emma ran towards me crying, slowly followed by my wife trying to console our daughter, and she leaned to kiss me on the forehead giving me a weak smile. “I’m okay, trust me, it’s just a small wound, I’ll be fine in no time”, I said looking at both my wife and daughter convincing them. As I was with my daughter, wife and Diane in the observation room, Chen knocked on the door and entered inside. 

“Hope you’re feeling better Sir, and I managed to get the car number plate as I was running behind it”, Chen said as he passed the car number plate that he noted to me before giving it to Diane. “Good job Chen, run through the plate number and check the CCTV footage near the Central Bank from today’s incident to see if it’s the same car”, I told Chen as he nodded and left to get the work done. I looked at Diane who was still standing there, because I needed a senior officer other than me to watch over the team. 

“You want me to leave King–I mean Sir”, Diane stuttered as I looked at her, that made the 3 of us laugh and Diane was standing there feeling embarrassed. “You can call me King in front of my family, it’s fine Diane”, I told as my wife nodded agreeing to it before holding Diane’s hand and mouthing thank you to her. Diane smiled and left the hospital to continue with the investigation leaving me with my family. Qristina looked at me with her eyes filled with so much worriedness as I smiled at her while Emma lay on my left arm. 

I was then discharged from the hospital later in the night and I got home with Qristina and Emma. While on the way back home, I called my station and requested armed officers at my residence for my family’s protection which they said they would be sending in a short while. By the time we reached home, there were already 2 armed officers waiting in front of my house. As I got out of the car with the help of my wife, they saluted and helped us with the door. I came out of the house to talk to the officers after both my wife and daughter went into the room. 

“Thanks for being here boys, you don’t have to make it too obvious that you guys are guarding the house, keep it cool and just update me quickly if there’s anything suspicious, I told them before walking back into my house and locking the door. The night went peacefully as there was no disturbance or anything suspicious. The two officers left in the morning as I was up by 7 and was at the hall till Qristina and Emma got up around 9. I asked Qristina to request to work from home and Emma not go to school for at least a week for safety purposes. 

While recovering at home, I still managed to call up my team regularly and get the current updates on the case that had been going on. Diane updated me that the killing of Nicholas Klaus could be due to the upcoming election, and this could be the work of the opposing party members. “Thank you, Diane, good job and that makes perfect sense, have Chen got the CCTV footage by the way”, I asked Diane to which she replied he did and he was actually on the way to my place to show me in person. 

I then put the phone down and walked towards the kitchen to make myself a cup of black coffee but then I was interrupted by the ringing doorbell. Just as a safety measure, I asked Qritina to take Emma into the room, and I quickly grabbed my gun holding it at the back as I walked to the door. Slowly, I opened the door and found Chen waiting outside with his notebook hand and his tab. “Diane just said you were on the way, didn’t expect you’d be here this quick”, I said looking at Chen before asking him to enter. 

Qristina and Emma joined us in the hall quickly after hearing it was Chen who was at the door. I then walked to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee for myself and poured orange juice into a cup for Chen before joining him again in the hall. “I managed to get the CCTV footage from the day of the incident and guess what Sir, the car plate number matched. It belongs to Mark James, the brother of Joffrey James, the business tycoon and the next leading man to be the town’s mayor”, Chen said before showing me the CCTV footage from his tab. 

I looked through the CCTV footage multiple times before handing the tab back to Chen and taking a sip of my coffee. “I’ll be back to work on Monday, make sure the footage is sent to my email by this evening and I want the details of Mark James and his brother on my table Monday morning”, I said before finishing my coffee. Chen then stood up, saluted and left my home after taking note of what must be done. “Do you have to be back to work this quick”, Qristina asked softly holding my hand gently from the back and I could just smile at her as a reply.

It was 8.00 in the morning on Monday and I walked into the station after parking my car, greeted with shock by the officers as I entered and walked right into my room. The details of Mark James and Joffrey James were on my table as asked, and I started pinning them on the board quickly before calling Diane and Chen into my room. “Take note of all this, later today, we are arresting Mark at his place, gather the team by 11.00 a.m, is that clear guys”, I briefed Diane and Chen before asking them to leave for their workstations. 

It was 11.00 in the morning, and I left my room, equipped with my gun and a bulletproof vest as Diane, Chen and the team were waiting for me at the station door. “Let’s make this quick and easy, we go there, call him out, arrest him and leave, let’s try not to use any unnecessary violence”, I briefed the team before walking out of the station towards my car. Diane and Chen got into the car with me and we led the team to Pine Wood Manor, the place where Mark is based on our findings. 

As we reached the place, 3 of our cars parked right in front of the Pine Wood Manor, and we all got down as we were approached by the butlers and guards of the manor. “We are here for Mark James for a suspected murder”, Chen said as the guards tried to stop us. We then got inside the manor and the team started searching the place for Mark. I was standing there checking the place around and I confronted a bodyguard who tried to stop Chen from getting into the study room. Before we could enter the study room, we heard Diane’s voice coming from up the stairs. 

“King!! He’s here!!”, Diane shouted and as we all rushed towards the stairs, we saw her Diane behind Mark’s back with the gun pointed towards him as he walked down the stairs, with both his arms on his head. As they came down the stairs and stood in front of us, Diane quickly grabbed his hands and cuffed them as he kept his eyes straight on mine. “Next time try to be a little smarter and another advice, aim for the heart”, I said to Mark before pulling him out of the manor and into the car. “Roll out”, I said before driving away from the place. 

We reached the station and threw Mark into jail before starting all the procedures to be producing him to the court. A few hours after we got Mark arrested, 2 cars came to the station quickly and 4 of them in each car rushed out from the car, got into the station, and started making a fuss. I heard a loud noise outside my room, I got out of my room and saw a group of people making a fuss to the officers and Diane tried talking to them. “So are you all trying to join Mr Mark in the cell too or you’re willing to talk”, I said with a stern voice which made them stop and look. 

A man suddenly appeared from the back of the crowd, wearing a white suit and gold Rolex on his left wrist, it was the man himself, Joffrey James. “Well, you’re Officer Gary King, huh, mind having a 10-minute talk, Mr Gary”, Joffrey said placing his right hand on my shoulders. “Call me King and hands off Mr Joffrey”, I said before asking him to follow me into my office room. We got in and he being a business tycoon, a man with so much influence and power, as expected started bribing me to let his brother go. 

My answer was no continuously and Joffrey got angry. He then got up from his chair, sighed and smiled at me before threatening me, “Hear me out you punk, it’s not difficult for me to find out where you stay and all about you. You better accept this offer or you’ll face the consequences”, before leaving the room. With a smile on my face and feeling calm, I exited my room as Joffrey asked his guys to leave the station before looking back at me and saying, “Think carefully Mr King”, to which I just smiled and waved sarcastically to them leaving. 

Days passed and we managed to get James to be produced at the court and got him a life sentence for the crime which he had committed. Weeks passed and things were going smoothly, work was hectic as usual, life with my family was amazing and only my wife and daughter were keeping me happy. On a sunny weekend in September, Diane joined me and my family on a picnic at the city park. It was the first time we all tried Diane’s cooking to be honest, she made egg sandwiches and butter chicken, and it was truly spectacular. 

As we were enjoying the food and sharing a good time, suddenly a car got into the park quickly, getting our attention, and I got close to Qristina and Emma protecting them. Suddenly, 5 men got out of the car, wearing all black with a skull mask covering their faces, and started firing towards us. I quickly took out my gun and returned fire before pulling Qristina and Emma to run as Diane also started firing towards them. It was an unexpected attack at this moment and we were outnumbered, even before I could get my wife and kid to safety, I got shot in my arms and leg. 

I groaned in pain and looked around to see where are Qristina and Emma but to my horror, I saw one of the men approaching them. I got on my feet quickly, aimed towards him and took my shot, getting him right on his head. But my happiness was cut short, even before I could get to my daughter and wife another bullet struck my body, making me fall to the ground. I screamed tears rolling down my cheeks as the last thing I saw before another bullet struck my body was my wife and daughter getting shot right in front of my eyes. 

A week later, I opened my eyes, and I saw I was admitted to the hospital after surviving the shootout. The Doctor who checked on me as soon as I opened my eyes told me that they removed 5 bullets from my body. 2 in my abdomen, 2 from my arms and one from my legs. The Doctor also said that Chen, along with other officers were waiting outside the room. Chen came into the room after the Doctor left, his eyes were filled with tears and he was trying hard not to cry in front of me. 

“Jjj–ust tell me, Chen, I saw what happened”, my voice stuttered as I tried speaking clearly. Chen started bawling his eyes out before telling me that my wife Qristina, my daughter Emma and Diane didn’t survive that shootout the other day. My eyes filled with tears, they started rolling down my cheeks slowly as I heard what Chen told me. The doctors and nurses rushed inside my room as the machine that was monitoring my heart rate started making a loud beeping noise. “Sir, please wait outside”, the nurse told Chen before ushering him out. 

“Now you know why I killed him, Amanda?” I said looking at her after telling her the reason why I murdered her husband, Joffrey James. Tears were rolling down her cheeks silently as she was in shock after hearing what happened 4 years ago and the reason why I did the crime. “I’m ss–sory for your loss King, I’m truly sorry…but trust me, I won’t say anything about this…please leave me”, she started begging me as she was bawling out in tears and struggling to get out of the chair. 

I just laughed wickedly at her as I was walking around her, placing a large plastic bag on the ground before standing in front of her again. I took my gun and started fixing the silencer at the front of the gun, with a wicked smile on my face. “Well you see Amanda, I didn’t want to do this, but you’ve already heard and knew a lot. You’re innocent, yes, but sorry, I am not”, the last words I said before pulling the trigger after pointing the gun towards her head, killing her right there at the moment. 

I looked at her dead body, sighed and quickly started wrapping her body using the large plastic back which I placed on the ground after untying her from the chair. I made sure I had my gloves on to prevent any fingerprints on her. After wrapping her body in the plastic, I exited the lakehouse quietly and placed her in the car booth, before driving back to the manor. When I reached the manor, I saw there was still no sign of anyone there, I continued driving to the back of the manor and stopped the car there. 

I got out of the car quietly and carried her body from the back of the car before dumping her body at the back of the manor. I looked around to make sure nobody was in sight before looking at Amanda’s dead body one last time as I left the place in my car quickly. While on the way back home, I called Chen and when he picked up the call I laughed before telling him, “Thank you Chen”, to which he replied with a peal of laughter. I reached home, parked my car and got into my house. I switched on the lights and walked towards the cabinet where I placed the picture of Qristina and Emma before smiling at it with tears rolling down my cheeks. 

-THE END-

GARY KING

“What do we know so far Chen”, I asked my assistant who came to the crime scene in the morning after getting the call from Mrs Joffrey, the wife of the victim Mr Joffrey James, the mayor of the town and the owner of The Pine Wood Manor. He was found dead in his study room, with a stapler puncture on the back of his neck and no other wound on his body. I’m Detective Gary King, appointed specially to deal with this case as the victim is a well-known man, yes the mayor of the town and just like most rich businessmen, he’s corrupted too.

“Nobody was in the manor when the incident took place, Sir, his wife was out of town and she came to know about his death when she came back in the morning”, Chen tells me with his notebook in his hand listing down every detail which he had collected since morning.  “Let’s start by interviewing the staff and family members”, I said to Chen before entering the Manor and lighting up my cigarette. I looked around the manor and I have to admit, it does give out the rich man feels and it’s creepy too. 

Mrs Joffrey, 7 of his Manor staff, 4 of his guards and his bodyguard were all sitting in a room, Chen and other Junior Detective’s were inside taking their statements one by one as I was looking through the Manor and the crime scene. “No other injury on him, no bullet wound, no stabbed wound, just a puncture wound, using the stapler–that’s something new and pretty weak for a cause of death”, I was having some thoughts in my head as I was looking at the crime scene and the victim laying on his desk, but suddenly something caught my eyes. 

“Chen get here, quick!!!”, I called Chen loudly after seeing a glass of whiskey which was on the table, and the left hand of the victim’s hand was near the glass. After seeing the glass I had a feeling that he might be poisoned through the whiskey first and that could be the cause of death. “Then why did the murderer use the puncture if Mr Joffrey was poisoned”, Chen asked me looking confused. I looked at Chen and even before I could say something the look of Mrs Joffrey caught my attention, she looked like she knew something about all this. 

“Get me Mrs Joffrey quick, and privately”, I told Chen before walking out of the crime scene area and exiting the manor. As I was standing near my car, lighting up another cigarette, Mrs Joffrey was walking towards my car followed by Chen. I looked at Chen, signalling him to leave us alone out here which he understood and left us before walking back into the manor. “Detective, I know you might feel like I knew something about all this but no, I didn’t leave the town because I knew about this, but I was asked to leave the town, by my husband”, she said. 

“She was asked to leave the town, by Mr Joffrey himself? Was he expecting something going to happen earlier? But he was unarmed, wait, maybe not!!, I need to check his room again”, the thoughts were running through my head as Mrs Joffrey was telling me what happened, sobbing and wiping the tears running down her cheeks with her hands. I placed the lit cigarette in my mouth, took my handkerchief out of my pocket and offered to her before asking her to get back inside the manor. 

 I looked at the manor, took a few long puffs from the cigarette and threw the cigarette bud on the ground before letting out a big sigh. “This is going to be a headache”, I told myself before walking inside the manor once again. I walked into the study room once again to check the place once again all over. The study was adorned with antique furniture and shelves filled with books, it was too clean, the furniture was all in place, the books were arranged nicely on the shelves, and even the files and papers on his desk were neat and in place. 

I then took out the gloves from my pocket and started to check the drawers of the desk where the victim was. The first drawer contained nothing but his box of cigars, and the second drawer was filled with letters, and when I opened the third drawer I found a revolver in it. I took it out and checked its chambers, the bullets were all in, and it was not fired. I showed the revolver to the team and asked them to run a fingerprint test on it before moving towards the window side. There was no break-in sign from the window side, it was all intact and clean. 

Chen came into the room and stood before the victim’s body before calling me,  “Sir, the staff and the guards are waiting in the room, you may come and question them”, he said. I nodded towards him and walked out of the room to the other room where they were all at. I went towards his butler and asked him how long has he been working for Mr Joffrey, to which he said it’s been 25 years now. “No, sir. I retired to my quarters early”, he said when I asked him if he saw anything unusual last night. The answers were quite the same from all the other staff. 

“Everyone left early, seriously, this seems fishy Sir”, Chen said while rubbing his head when we were done interviewing all the staff of the manor. “Something doesn’t make sense here, all the workers were not in the manor, they were asked to leave early, and to my surprise, even his wife, he asked her to leave the town 2 days earlier…this is going to take some time” I was lingering in my thoughts as Mrs Joffrey, the elegant widow of the victim, approached us. She handed me my handkerchief which I had given her earlier and said thanks before walking away. 

Chen looked surprised and gave me a look filled with so much of questions, I kept the handkerchief in my back pocket and told him “Just being a gentleman Chen, you got a lot to learn”, before getting in my car as Chen quickly followed me in. As I started my car and reversed, I saw Mrs Joffrey standing in front of the manor looking towards me, her eyes were saying something, something which I feel like only I know, I nodded towards her and drove away. The look she gave me kept running in my head, although Chen kept talking nonstop.

We reached the station and got out of the car, Chen walked in quickly but I just stopped for a moment as the look the widow gave me felt like it meant something. I slid my hand into the back pocket took out the handkerchief slowly, and opened it gently. My pupils enlarged when I saw what was hidden in the handkerchief, I quickly folded the handkerchief and looked around before walking into the station and straight into my room, locking the door. I sat in my chair and unfolded the handkerchief again, revealing the hidden note. 

Dunhill…gun… That’s what was written in the note, but what could that mean? Dunhill and gun? Dunhill is a cigarette brand, what’s related to it? He’s a person who smokes cigars, why did he mention a cigarette brand? And a gun? Yes, there was a gun in his desk drawer, and the fingerprint tests were being run through. I was looking through the note again and trying to deduce something from it but then Chen started to knock on my door distracting me. I quickly hid the handkerchief in my desk drawer and walked towards the door to unlock it. 

“Yes Chen, anything?”, I asked Chen after opening the door and he mentioned that they had sent the victim’s body for postmortem and the report could be received by the end of the week. I thanked Chen and asked him to send me the details which he had collected from the investigation earlier which he said he would send it right away. As Chen left I closed the door and got back to my table, drowned in thoughts based on the note which was given by Mrs Joffrey. I leaned back on my chair, closed my eyes and kept thinking about the words written on the note. 

About 20 minutes later my phone rang and that is when I realised that I dozed off, I then leaned forward towards my phone and saw I was receiving a call from an unknown number. I answered the call, and it was Mrs Joffrey who was on the other side of the call, with her soft voice she said, “I hope you saw what was hidden in the handkerchief Mr King, that note was written by my husband I believe, I found it beside his right hand when I found his body in the morning. I kept it with me since morning and I didn’t want to give anyone as I don’t trust anyone”, she said. 

I told her that I saw the note and I would make sure that I would get this job done before putting the phone down. It was around 8.45 p.m., and once I was done writing down the notes from Chen and going through the staff interview I left the station, I made sure to keep the note with me when I left as I didn’t want anybody to find it if they entered my room. As I was driving back home, I decided just to drive around the town and ask about Mr Joffrey and his contribution to the community. As I thought, there were many reviews, some good while some are just bad. 

After spending nearly an hour asking around about Mr Joffrey, I drove back home. Parked my car outside my gate and got in my house, switching on the lights before taking a seat on the couch at the hall. I realised it’s been a few days since I got back home, well it’s pretty normal to happen, most times I spend my night at the station or just at a friend’s place after finishing up my work late at night. I got up and walked to my room, took off my clothes and went into the toilet to take my shower. 

20 minutes later I got out of the toilet and checked my phone to see whether any messages or calls I have received. When I ran through the texts, I saw Chen sent me a document, I clicked on the message and opened the document. It consists of the details of the victim, some of his criminal records and the things he has done for the community. I replied to Chen thanks before sending the document to my email, just to keep a copy on my laptop. I then got into my boxers shorts and went to the kitchen to get something from the fridge. 

I took a box of orange juice and poured it into a glass before walking to the hall to watch something before getting to bed. As I was drinking the orange juice, my phone vibrated and when I checked it was from Mrs Joffrey. I opened the message, she texted me asking if is it okay for me to come to the manor tomorrow morning as she had something to share. I replied okay, and got back to my room to take the note which was in my pants pocket. I took the note and came to the couch, sat there and looked through the note again and again to find something. 

The sound of my alarm got me startled, I got up in a shocked state just to realise that I slept off on my couch last night when I was looking through the note which was still in my hand, just a little crumbled as I grasped it pretty tight in my sleep. I checked my phone, it was 6.30 in the morning, I sighed and rubbed my eyes before taking the glass to the kitchen and washing it. I then went to my room, placing my phone and the note on my bed before getting in the shower. 15 minutes later I got out of the shower and got ready before leaving my house to the station. 

I reached the station, went into my room after unlocking it and started arranging all the notes according to the date and the time which I wrote down yesterday. I then pinned them all on the board according to its timeline and looked at the board trying to connect all the dots with the note evidence which only I have. Once again I was clueless as nothing was connecting to the note that he wrote, feeling frustrated I took out a cigarette from my box and lit it up, something caught my eye which made me check my cigarette box again. “Dunhill”, I said softly to myself as I smiled. 

I rushed out of my room and left the station quickly getting into my car before driving to the manor. I called Chen while on the way to the manor and told him that I was heading to the manor first and I would meet him later in the evening to discuss. I know he didn’t understand a single thing I meant as he was still half asleep while answering the call. I reached the manor and got inside calling Mrs Joffrey as she walked down the stairs, still in her robe. “I’m sorry, am I too early” I asked her as she was still in her robe but she said no before offering me a glass of coffee.

As we went to the hall, the butler brought a tray with two cups of coffee for us and placed it on the table. “I asked you to come over because I just want to ask if I’ll get in trouble for not handing over the note earlier Detective”, she told me as she took a sip of coffee looking at me. I smiled at her and told her there was nothing to worry about and also told her that I deduced something based on the note that the victim wrote. “Does any of your staff or guards smoke Mrs Joffrey”, I asked her pointing out the Dunhill which was written on the note. 

“Please, just call me Amanda, Detective and to answer your question, Mr Jacob the guard does smoke”, she said before asking the butler to bring Mr Jacob in. Mr Jacob got in the manor and stood in front of us, Amanda then asked him to sit before getting up and saying “Take your time interviewing him Detective, if anything I’ll be up in my room”, before leaving me and Mr Jacob at the hall. I looked at Mr Jacob, he looked quite uncomfortable and worried just sitting there, with his lips getting dry and sweat dripping down his forehead. 

I smiled at him before asking him about his smoking addiction, he was stuttering as he answered. “Mr Jacob hey, it’s fine, just stay calm, I’m not saying you murdered him, I’m here to ask you a few questions and that’s it, I’ll be out of here, just cooperate with me, you wouldn’t want to see the other side of me, trust me Mr Jacob”, I said before smiling at him. He gulped and nodded yes to me before telling me about the cigarette brand that he smokes and also another information which he didn’t mention the other day when Chen asked him. 

“You didn’t tell Chen this the other day didn’t you, why?”, I asked him as I stood up, taking my handkerchief from my pocket and wiping my hands. “I’m sorry sir, I was afraid, I wanted to cooperate with the cops, yes but I was just too scared”, he told me. I looked into his eyes, breathing heavily before asking him to leave as I noted down the information which he mentioned. I then finished my coffee and got up the stairs to Amanda’s room after informing the butler. 

An hour later I walked out of the manor towards my car while texting Chen the information I got from Jacob, the guard. As I got in the car and drove away Amanda was looking at me through her window, waving me goodbye. When I reached the station and got in, Chen walked towards me and asked me why didn’t the guard informed him the other day and I just repeated back the answer Jacob told me. Chen sighed and got in my room with me, standing in front of the board as I went to add the latest piece of information to the board. 

“Our suspect is a smoker, wears a long black coat and drives a Jeep”, Chen was saying as he was looking at the board with me. We got to know about the long black coat and the Jeep only today when Jacob decided to tell us finally. One thing that Chen doesn’t know is about the gun which was mentioned in the note, which is still with me. I looked at him and asked if there was any news from the forensic team to which Chen replied there was nothing for now and there were no prints found on the gun which was in the drawer. 

Days passed and we were at the end of the week when Amanda called me, I picked up the phone and walked out of the station to talk as I was with Chen and the other officers. “Yes Amanda, what’s with the sudden call”, I asked as she giggled and asked whether I was free tonight for dinner. I looked around before answering yes to her, she then asked me to come over to the manor around 7.30 p.m. before hanging up. I then slid my phone into my pocket before joining Chen and the other officers back as they were discussing a previous similar case. 

Around 7 p.m. I left my home to the manor, wearing a black long-sleeved turtle neck tee matched with my black jeans and my black sneakers with white stripes on them. As I parked and got out of my car, I was welcomed by the butler who was waiting outside the manor. “Welcome Mr King, Miss Amanda is waiting for you at the dining hall”, he said before ushering me inside. As a policeman, I’m always armed and ready for everything although I know this isn’t a trap and Amanda invited me with no ill intention. 

As I walked to the dining hall I saw her waiting for me, wearing a long sleeveless red dress with a high cut on the side, looking all so elegant and breathtaking. “Welcome Mr King, are you stunned seeing me”, she asked me with a beautiful smile on her as she walked close towards me. We were then served one of the finest dinners by the manor chef, Julio, who was one of the top chefs back in Mexico. As we were done with our dinner, Amanda then brought me to the whiskey room, I was stunned to see the amount of whiskey bottle which was in there. 

She then poured me a glass of whiskey and one for herself before handing it to me. “Is this wrong Detective? I mean all this, you coming over to the manor, us spending time, having a fancy dinner and all this. It’s not even a week since my husband died, and I’m doing this with the man who’s trying to solve this case, I feel like I’m going mad King”, Amanda said as tears rolled down her cheeks. I quickly went to her and hugged her, consoling her and telling her it was alright before giving a kiss on her forehead. 

We then hugged each other for a bit before finishing up our drinks and went for a few rounds after the first one. After her 4th glass, Amanda was already feeling a little drunk and she lay on the couch near the whiskey racks while I poured the whiskey into my glass for my 6th round smiling at her. I was slowly sipping the whiskey as I kept looking at her slowly closing her eyes, and once she fully closed her eyes, I whispered to myself  “It’s time” before walking out of the room and walking towards the study. 

As I opened the second drawer wearing a glove which I kept inside my pocket which contained the letters to the late Mr Joffrey,  I ran through the letters and found a letter which I was looking for, a letter from me, Gary King to Mr Joffrey. “What are you doing here–King?”, Amanda’s voice stunned me, and I stood up quickly before sliding the letter into my pocket but it caught Amanda’s eyes. I didn’t expect her to be standing there quite steadily after having that much whiskey with me. 

“Why are you wearing gloves King, and what are you hiding in your pocket”, Amanda asked me as she started to sound worried and scared as I started approaching her. I took out my gun from the back and hit her head to make her pass out before she fell right into my hands. I then gently carried her, got out of the manor and lay her in my car before getting back in the manor. I fixed the silencer on my gun and started to hunt every one of the staff who were in the manor who saw me tonight. 

Once I was done, I got out of the manor and drove away with Amanda lying in my backseat still passed out. 45 minutes later, I reached the lakehouse which was only used by me when I had to ‘clear out’ some criminals. I carried her gently inside and tied her to the chair, tried waking her up slowly by slowly hitting her cheeks. She opened her eyes slowly, and she started panicking seeing me in front of her with a gun in my hand and seeing herself somewhere new realising she was unable to move as she was tied to the chair. 

I smiled at her, pulled another chair towards me and sat in front of her before leaning close towards her. “Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, well, first of all, I just want to thank you for making sure the guards weren’t in by the time I came and also for switching off all the CCTV coverage in the manor, it just made my job easier tonight”, I said before letting out an evil laugh. Tears were rolling down Amanda’s cheeks as she felt helpless and betrayed, she then shouted why to me and cried out loud. 

I stood up and walked around her, before admitting that I killed Joffrey James. “Yes, I, Gary King, murdered that bastard Joffrey James, oh please I know you don’t love him either Amanda”, I said as I got close to her. She couldn’t say anything as she was just crying and struggling to move. “The same mistake which he made the other day was asking all the manors staff to leave early, as he was waiting for his young girlfriend to come over, but too bad, it was me who he had to meet that night”, I said which surprised Amanda finding about the affair. 

I then pulled the chair and sat again, rubbing the top of my head as I continued saying “He offered me whiskey, just like how you did, and as we were talking I spiked his drink without him releasing before telling him the reason why I was there and also that he will be dying in a few minutes as his body will slowly paralyse due to the poison which I mixed in his drink. The poor man was so shocked after hearing it and I just went around him before using the stapler to puncture the side of his neck”. 

“ I didn’t expect that he would’ve managed to write down that damn note at that moment”, I said before taking out my cigarette box branded Dunhill as I point it towards her. Amanda was shocked to see the Dunhill cigarette box and the gun that I was holding which was what was written on the note that she found near her late husband’s body. “Don’t worry Amanda, I won’t kill you–yet”, I said before laughing at her as she cried and cussed at me. “I trusted you, King, I gave everything, I gave myself to you, why did you do this”, she screamed at me. 

I smiled at her and walked towards her, I ran my fingers along her beautiful face and played with her hair before sitting back on the chair. “It’s pure revenge, my dear Amanda, now the score is even, that’s all”, I said which made Amanda look at me all confused. I laughed again and leaned forward towards Amanda who was feeling defeated and confused at that point before saying “You want to know why, you really want to know why I killed him–well it’s because…”

-THE END?-

Priscilla

I looked outside my room window, it was raining quite heavily I couldn’t even see the building next door due to the heavy rain. With both hands, I closed my face and wiped it down before leaving my bed. I walked to the toilet before turning around to my bed again as my phone rang. When I saw it was my friend, John, I picked up the call and told him that I was heading to shower and I would be meeting him at the cafe in an hour. He then said okay before cutting the call, and as I put the phone on my bed I remembered about last night’s dream. 

I took off my clothes, got into the shower and stood down the warm water poured out the shower head hitting the top of my head and my body. I kept my eyes closed as I was thinking about the dream and questioning myself why I suddenly dreamed about that person for God knows why.  Around 15 minutes later I walked out of the toilet and wiped my face dry before applying moisturiser. I then sprayed the body spray before getting dressed and checked my phone as I received texts. 

I got out of my room and walked to the kitchen to have some water before leaving for the cafe. As I was about to leave I saw a mug which was gifted to me by her, I stood looking at it for a while before asking myself whether the mug reminded me of her and I ended up dreaming of her. I just smiled, shook my head and left home with my umbrella as it was still raining but not as heavy as just now. Before I started my 10-minute walking journey to the train station I took out my AirPods and plugged it in my ears playing some classic songs.  

About 10 minutes later I reached the train station and tapped my train pass on the ticket gate before walking down to the platform. 2 minutes later the train which I was supposed to get in arrived and I got in before taking my seat on the middle coach. I took out my phone, opened WhatsApp, searched for her name and opened the chat. I realised the last I texted her was about 2 weeks ago asking how is she doing that’s all. I then breathed in and took my courage to text her today, asking how is she and maybe telling her about the dream. 

Hey, how are you doing? Hope things are going well for you–well I just texted just wanted to ask how you’re doing as I don’t know why but I dreamed about you so yeah, was just you know wanted to make sure you’re all fine and safe. 

I typed out the message and looked at the message for a bit before tapping send. The message was sent and delivered, and at the same time, I also reached the station which I needed to get down to. I got off the train, and walked up to the exit from the platform, by the time I got there the rain had stopped completely, it was easier walking to the cafe which is about 5 minutes away. 

As I got near the cafe I called my friend and informed him that I was nearing to which he said that he was already in the cafe and ordered drinks for the both of us. 

I got into the cafe, saw John sitting by the window, walked towards the table and tapped him on his shoulders before taking the seat in front of him. “Were you waiting for long man”, I asked John as I took my phone out to check whether she replied yet. John said it’s just been around 5 minutes since he arrived and ordered the drinks before I reached. He then passed me his phone showing me an e-mail which stated that he had been selected for the next stage of the interview in the dream company he had applied for. 

“OH MY GOD!!!! Bro congratulations!!!”, I said loudly as I was so happy and excited for John as he was really trying hard to get into this company and now he’s just one step away from achieving his dream. “John, oh my god, I’m super happy and proud of you man, you’re getting there buddy, and I’m sure you’ll ace the final interview for sure”, I told John and at the same time our order arrived. “Oh the black coffee is for him,” John said to the waitress and she gave me a weird look before placing it near me. 

John giggled and said “I told you it’s a psychopath type of a drink” before taking a sip of his Matcha Latte. I just stared at John and drank my black coffee with no sugar happily before checking my phone again to see if there was a reply from her. John was curious as I kept checking my phone every 5 minutes and he asked me if everything was alright. I sighed and told him the whole story to which he responded by laughing out loud, it was surprising and embarrassing at the same time because I couldn’t understand why he was laughing. 

“John hey, come on man, stop laughing, gosh”, I was telling John as he kept laughing before finally stopping and apologising to me. He then finished his drink before telling me that she might find it creepy receiving the text all so suddenly or she might just say thanks for asking how is she doing and just ignore the dream part or she might just choose not to reply to me. “That’s not convincing at all John” I told him as he giggled to it before telling me it is okay and just wait for the reply. 

20 minutes later we left the cafe and I told John that I needed to head to the bookstore for a while as I needed to get a book that was related to the research I’m working on right now. He said okay and told me he would be at his girlfriend’s place who had been our mutual friend since high school. “I’ll then just give you a call once I’m done, if you’re still at Jane’s place then I’ll come over”, I told John before walking away to the bookstore. As I walked down the street, suddenly my phone vibrated and received 2 new messages. 

I took my phone out and stopped walking for a moment seeing who the text was from. I smiled looking at the text as it wasn’t as bad as what John said or I suspected. She actually replied to my text on how she’s doing plus she also replied to the message where I mentioned the dream. 

NO WONDER IVE NOT BEEN SLEEPING WELL–so anytime I’m not sleeping well it’s because of you huh, oh I’m so going to come down your house and haunt you, George. 

I giggled and replied to her it didn’t make sense at all, how does my dreaming about her affect her sleep?  She then replied stating that it did make sense and asked me to Google and attached a laughing emoji at the end. I was laughing alone by the street reading her replies to which I replied that it’s not entirely my mistake for her to be losing her sleep along with a laughing emoji before continuing my walk to the bookstore. A few minutes later I received a text from her and when I checked the message she replied saying It isss–YOU OWE ME A MEAL NOW!!.

I just giggled reading that text and even before I could type a reply I received a call, she was calling me at the exact moment. I answered the call, placed the phone on my ears and with her sweet voice she said “Hey George” excitedly which got me smiling. I could hear my heartbeat beating so fast and loud when I was on the phone with her, to be honest, I couldn’t understand why I was so nervous and anxious to talk with her. “Remember George, you owe me a meal okay, you keep messing up my sleep schedule huh”, she said giggling on the call.

I then jokingly asked her back whether a Happy Meal from Mcdonald’s is fine, and I didn’t expect that it would crack her up. She kept laughing before stopping and saying that it’s okay. “You know I’m just joking right, you just update me once you’re back okay, then we can go out”, I told her as she said okay before we hung up the call. As I was about to reach the bookstore my phone vibrated again and it was a text from her saying it was good talking after some time. 

I replied it was yes it was to her and also added And just curious, is this your way of asking me out? with a laughing emoji at the back. She replied with a laughing emoji first before continuing the text with Maybe as a reply. I just smiled reading the text and replied to her take care and liked the message she sent before entering the bookstore to get the material needed for my work paper. After about half an hour of looking around the bookstore for the material which is needed, I then finally found it. 

After paying at the cashier, I then walked out of the bookstore and texted John saying that I was done with the purchase and I’d head to Jane’s place to join them for lunch together. As I was walking to the train station, I walked past the park where I first met her during my college days.  4 years ago, on September 28th 2019, John and I were walking at the park while discussing about assignment when suddenly someone bumped into me from the back. I turned around and I saw a petite-sized girl, in a red dress with a black backpack standing looking all confused. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you, I tripped over the stone when I was walking” she said with her soft angelic voice while pointing towards the stone she tripped over. When I saw her I realised that she was one of our classmates, she sits at the front and doesn’t talk much, only when there’s a need for discussion or when someone asks her a question she speaks then. I said it was okay to her and continued walking before asking John what was her name which he whispered in my ears. “How do you know all this so fast man”, I asked him to which he just smiled at me.

We then kept meeting quite frequently in the college, and slowly we started becoming friends. Day by day she was getting more and more comfortable around Jane, John and myself. She has always been a so-called fan of Jane and John as they were one sweet couple in college, plus they were our best friends. “Excuse me”, an old man’s voice got me back to reality, cutting the memories short. He was struggling to carry his heavy grocery bag and he was asking for my favour. I helped him to carry the bag to the bus stop as his son was waiting for him in the car. 

About half an hour later I reached Jane’s place, John opened the door for me when I knocked on it. We then had our lunch and Jane asked me how my research was going on the project that I was working on. “I’m nearing the final stage Jane, if this goes well then I can pitch this idea to the company and if God will, I might get the job there”, I told Jane while I was filling my cup with ice water from the jug. Jane wished me luck and passed me her cup to get it refilled with ice water too. 

A few weeks later when I was at home working on the project which was nearing the deadline, suddenly the doorbell to my house rang. I was in my room and the doorbell caught my attention, I stood up, and checked my phone to see whether John texted me saying he was coming over or anything but no. I walked towards the door feeling confused as nobody usually comes over to my place other than John or sometimes together with Jane. The doorbell was continuously pressed as I was walking towards the door. 

When I opened the door suddenly a jacket was thrown at me, I quickly ducked and stood up again ready to throw punches but then I just stopped seeing who was it. “Priscilla?”, I said surprisingly looking at the person outside of my doorstep. It was her, it was Priscilla, in front of me, after all these years once again. Looking angelic as always with that star-like bright smile of hers, standing by my doorstep with her luggage. “Are you surprised George”, she asked me as I welcomed her in and picked up the jacket she threw at me. 

“I swear I was surprised, what are you doing here, it’s been so long since you left and you didn’t even tell me that you were coming back”, I asked her as we walked towards the hall and took our seats. She then told me that she wanted to surprise me and she got my house address through Jane. We spoke for hours as it’s been so long since we last met and we hadn’t been texting much due to the working time.  “Priscilla hey, I wanted to tell you something, it’s been in me for quite some time now and I feel like I need to get it out of me”, I told her as she looked concerned. 

“In your eyes, I feel like I’m all lost in the giant Universe, in your smile I see the possibilities of my future, in your laughter I see my happiness, and right now, I’m here standing asking will you hold my hand throughout this journey called life together”, I confessed my long locked feelings to her which got her all shocked. She stood up, wiped her tears and quickly left my house ignoring me calling out her name and apologising. I facepalmed and called myself stupid before getting up from my couch and walking out of my house to look for her.  

I opened the door and I found her waiting outside by the street looking in the opposite direction. I sighed and slowly walked towards her, I then called out her name and apologised to her for the sudden confession which made her upset and probably uncomfortable. She turned and looked right into my eyes before hitting the top of my head, which got me surprised. “It took you this long to say all these huh George, you know how long I’ve been waiting to hear this from you’, she said as tears rolled down her cheeks and a bright smile appeared on her face. 

I was shocked to hear those words from her and when I looked at her, she smiled and nodded her head saying yes before hugging me. We laughed as we hugged each other close and tight before she broke out from the hug, looked at me and said “You still owe me a Happy Meal” before laughing. I smiled at her and leaned forward to give a kiss on her forehead before telling her we could head out to have our Happy Meal together now at the nearest McDonald’s. To everyone out there, I just want to say that, it’s never too late, trust your instinct, it will be okay, I promise. 

-THE END- 

Hannah

It was Thursday, 28th January 2024, at 9.45 in the morning, I was rushing for my presentation at 10.00. This is the only chance that is left for me to prove my worth and get a proper placement. This company allowed me to present a project I proposed to them even though I didn’t match their qualifications. They gave me an opportunity, I’m truly grateful for that and need to make it count. As a man who has been known for his failure throughout his life and who has been working hard every time to break out from it, this is my time. 

I rushed to cross the street but I was a few seconds late as the light turned green for the cars to go. I sighed and waited anxiously before looking at my watch as it was getting late for me. The only thing which was keeping me in place was the Weeknd song which was playing in my earpods. My eyes were moving up and down, checking the light and my watch literally every second before suddenly my eyes met an angel-like smile across the street. Suddenly my fast-beating heart starts beating slowly and I start feeling calmer. 

A girl with a writing pad in her arms, with a brown bag hanging from her shoulder, wearing a red dress with white flowers on it matching with black sneakers waiting for the light to turn green for the pedestrian calmly. She looked beautiful, well as I said earlier, with an angel-like smile, moving her body slowly listening to probably her favourite song in her earphones. She looked carefree and happy, the calm vibe of her plus gosh that smile truly did wonder for me, I was getting calmer.

I started smiling without even realising and our eyes met suddenly which made her stop her little cute dance and give out a shy smile. Out of nowhere, there was a small wave of wind hit us, she adjusted her hair while we still were looking at each other and smiling. The light turned red for the cars and it was green for us pedestrians, we started crossing the road, still looking at each other we walked past each other with a smile. My morning felt better, and my heart felt calmer, as I was done crossing I turned around and looked at her once again before walking away. 

I walked into the office building, walked towards the receptionist’s table and told her about the appointment I had at 10. She asked me to walk to the meeting room as I’ll be joined by the company director and the managing director in a moment. I walked in, adjusted my shirt and took out my laptop from my bag and the papers I’d prepared so that it would be easier for them to understand when I presented. A few minutes later I was joined by the Company Director along with the Managing Director and they asked me to start presenting. 

45 minutes went by and I was done with my presentation, both the Managing Director and Company Director looked pleased with my work. “I was not convinced to be honest till you started your presentation boy, but I got to admit, you did well, congratulations”, said the Company Director shaking my hand with the Managing Director followed by shaking my hand and handing me the appointment letter to join the company as their Executive Program Director starting next week. A sense of accomplishment was running through me, finally, I’d made it. 

I left the office building with a wide smile, my heart was beating smoothly and nothing felt better. I sensed a change in my life, a change which I’ve never sensed or felt in quite a long time. Finally, for someone who is known only for his failures even though I’ve worked so hard for something, this might be a change for everything, a change which might make my life better. I then took my phone out and texted my friend that I got the job as I was walking towards the cafe nearby. 

As I was walking down the road towards the cafe I remembered what happened in the morning before I got to the office. A small act which changed my entire morning and probably my life might sound a little exaggerated but for someone like me, it does feel like it. Her smile kept running in my head, making me want to know this person so badly, to find her, to know her and just another moment to see that smile which changed everything, I want that. “Your order Sir”, the voice of the cashier got me back to reality. 

I ordered my drink, paid for it and got to the table near the window. A few minutes later my drink was served to my table, an Iced Americano with no sugar, yeah it is also usually known as the psychopath’s order I know. I was enjoying my coffee while looking out the window and I suddenly remembered that the girl I saw in the morning was walking towards the park side. Maybe I can find her there if I go now, I told myself as I quickly finished my drink and rushed out of the cafe towards the park with a little hope that I would see her. 

Well, I guess I was a little late, because as I asked around if they saw a girl in the red dress with a brown bag and writing pads with her, one of the gardeners in the park said that she left the park around 5 minutes ago. “Ahh should’ve gotten the coffee later I guess”, I told myself as I walked away from the park towards the train station to go back home. As I got into the station, I took out my train pass and tapped on the ticket gate. When I walked towards my platform I was a few seconds late as my train was already leaving and to my surprise, she was on the train. 

“No, No, Not again, heck no”, I told myself as I walked closer to the platform seeing my train leaving and with her in it. I was so close to seeing her again today, but this time just a few seconds late. The good thing is I know she takes the same train as me and I also know that she’s usually in the park too based on what the gardener told me. Now, all I have to do is make sure I’m there at the right time and try to meet her. The next train came and I got in to start my 20-minute journey home. 

Days and weeks went by, work had been great and everyone in the office had been such amazing people, but my luck to be meeting the girl wasn’t been good. It’s been 3 weeks since I joined and not even once have I managed to meet her even on the train or at the station, yes I can’t go to the park during my work hours but I tried going during my break hours and no, I wasn’t lucky to meet her yet. Then on a rainy Thursday evening, I went to the cafe nearby after work before heading home.

 I ordered a hot black coffee with no sugar and took a seat by the window before texting my friend who is also my roommate that I’d be late today. A few minutes later my order arrived and I started having my hot coffee slowly during this rainy evening. As I was enjoying my coffee, suddenly the same smile I saw weeks ago captured my attention. I looked around again and about 3 tables away from me it was her, the girl in the red dress. With the same angel-like smile, enjoying a cup of hot cocoa while drawing something. 

I couldn’t contain my happiness as I was smiling so wide after finally seeing her in person once again after weeks of looking for her. I then stood up and walked towards her table with my glass of black coffee. “Is the seat occupied”, I asked her while standing in front of her to which she said no and slowly looked up at me. Our eyes met once again, and a smile automatically appeared on both our faces, I was surprised that she could remember who I was even after all these weeks. 

“There’s no way this is happening right now”, she said covering her mouth before asking me to sit. I took my seat and asked her if she remembered me to which she said “How can I not, it was such an embarrassing moment for me when we first met”. She covered her face as she was embarrassed but gosh she looked even more beautiful during that moment. She then looked at my cup and asked “Black coffee”? To which I added no sugar too which made her give me a very weirded-out look. “Yes, I know, a psychopath drink”, I said while sipping my coffee. 

“You wouldn’t believe this, but I’ve been looking for you since the day we met in the street and I’m not even kidding. On that day I was just seconds late to be on the same train as you but yeah it is what it is.” She was listening to me say all that while sketching something looking at me and handed me a sketch of me talking to her. “Did you want to draw this or do you just want me to shut up and leave you in peace”? I asked her jokingly to which she laughed out loud. I smiled looking at how beautiful she was and how that smile of hers changed my life till day. 

She then started to pack her things and was about to leave, I told myself that this could be the only chance to confess what I felt or at least get her number. “Hey, we’ve been here for the past 30 minutes and I don’t even know your name or anything about you, but what I surely know is, if I have you for the rest of my life, it would be beautiful and heavenly. Yes, this might be cringe for you but since the day I met you my life has been amazing, and that made me realise having you in it would make it even better”, I said while looking right into her eyes. 

She was shocked and said, “Look, this is too fast for me, we have met once yeah and now is the only second time, we barely spoke–how on earth did, no,” she said with her voice breaking and looking all confused with what had happened before leaving the cafe. “You should’ve asked for her number first idiot,” I told myself as I hit myself on my head before leaving the cafe with the sketch of my face she drew. I took out a cigarette and lit it up on the way to the train station, it was keeping a little warm as the weather was still chill after the heavy rain. 

I threw the cigarette bud on the ground and stepped on it before walking into the station. I took my train pass and tapped it on the ticket gate before walking down to my platform. A few minutes later the train arrived, I got on the packed train and put my AirPods on before playing The Weeknd’s music as the train started moving. 20 minutes later my stop arrived and I got off the train looking quite defeated with the cold weather and the packed crowd. I walked out of the station and saw the fried chicken stall was still open by the station entrance. 

I called my friend and asked whether he wanted the fried chicken to which he said yes. I then bought 4 pieces of fried chicken and returned to our place. I opened the door, took off my shoes and placed the chicken on the hall before walking to my room to bathe. 20 minutes later I got out of the bathroom and changed into my shorts before joining my friend at the hall. “You look defeated today Leo, a bad day at work eh?”, Jake asked looking at me with a fried chicken in his hand. 

I sighed and told him it was not about work but what happened after meeting the girl. Jake coughed and smacked his head after hearing what I told him. “Seriously?? You didn’t even get her name? Not even her number? But you went confessing and asking her to be with you forever?”, he said out loud before hitting me on my head. I just sat there looking at him while feeling dumb definitely. “That’s it, just bury the dream of you seeing her again or anything happening aite”, Jake said before continue eating the other chicken. 

Weeks passed and it’s now a month since I joined the company, thank God that our sales and shares in the market have been doing good. The Company Director was really happy as he came to our department and congratulated us on our good job, he even announced that we will be getting a bonus this month. Everyone in our department was so happy and cheered after the Company Director mentioned the bonus. It was lunch break already and I went down to get something by the bakery beside the office building.

As I left the building, I took out a cigarette and lit it up on the way to the bakery. I was interrupted as I was walking using my phone towards the bakery, “Maybe if you don’t smoke this often I can approach you”, someone said in a sweet voice. I looked towards the side the voice was coming from and I was surprised to see her, the girl in the red dress once again after nearly a month now. “Wait, you, how come–how did you know that I work here?”, I asked her as I was surprised seeing her here suddenly. 

She covered her nose and pointed at the cigarette which I quickly threw it down and stepped on it. She then moved her hands from her nose and looked at me with a stern look, I was slightly surprised. “So, what brings you here, and how did you know about my workplace”, I asked her with an excited voice. She pointed towards my office building and I nodded yeah pointing the building too saying I work there. She then sighed and pointed at the office before saying “My dad works there, he’s the Company Director there”. 

The smile on my face just faded when she said that, the girl of my dreams is the daughter of my Companie’s Director? This is not good, what if she tells my boss about what I did? Am I going to lose my job, oh god, so many things were running through my head after what she said as I just stood there frozen. She hit my hand and asked whether I was okay, I just replied I was okay with my voice breaking which made her giggle. “My name is Hannah, and I guess I have the answer to the question you had the last time we met”, she said before looking down shyly. 

-THE END-

Jane

“It’s okay if it’s not in this lifetime maybe in next–someday I’ll be yours and you’ll be mine, we will be complete together. Goodbye, Jane, stay happy and keep smiling, I’ll always love you”, I said before walking away from her doorstep wiping away the blood dripping down my lips after getting punched by her fiancé. I didn’t expect meeting my ex-girlfriend to clarify things between us would cause a ruckus till getting him knocked down and me bleeding. In my defence, he punched me first when I was just talking, so I punched him back in self-defence. 

My name is Ryan, I’m a writer and this is the story of my life. I just got clarification from my ex-girlfriend that she doesn’t love me anymore and wishes to marry the guy her parents have found for her. Am I broken? Am I sad? Well, yes definitely I am but it’s just that I’m more disappointed with what happened and I feel betrayed as we promised that we would fix this but then she suddenly says that everything is over and he’s the one she’s going to get married to. I didn’t expect this, I swear I didn’t because I truly loved her and believed she did too. 

So what’s next? Well, I’ve been asking myself the same question since then, what’s next, what will I do? I believe that no matter what happens, life has to go on, I have to focus on my career, and self-growth and do better in life. Here I am sitting in my room, scrolling through my phone gallery seeing the pictures of us when we were happy together. There was so much love between us, I could see it to date, but it all faded for her. All I can do right now is just wish the best for her and focus on myself. 

Days became weeks, weeks became months, but I was still there, stuck in the loop and the memories. I lost my smile, I started isolating myself, and I started becoming sour and cold towards people. I know it wasn’t healthy for myself and the people around me but I just couldn’t get out of it nor help myself. “When are you going to change yourself, Ryan, it’s been 8 months since what happened, she’s happy mate, please don’t be like this man, stop blaming yourself for everything”, my friend Jake told me as he entered my office room seeing me just sitting there.  

“Ryan hey, we might have a new client aite, a friend of mine recommended this guy and he’s loaded. He needs someone with an amazing talent to write his autobiography and when my friend said it I told him about you and managed to get his contact, so please come out of this sadness and let’s focus on our work shall we” Jake told me as he sat in the chair in front of me. I looked at him and nodded my head to him before getting up from my chair to walk towards the toilet and wash my face. 

I wiped my face and walked toward the balcony taking the cigarette box out of my pocket. I stood there, turned around and called Jake to join me as I took a cigarette out from the box and lit it up. As he joined me, I looked at him and smiled which made him feel a little confused with that smile of mine.” I just want to say thanks Jake, at least you’re here with me even at this time”, I told as I tapped him on his shoulders. “I’ll meet this guy that you’re talking about aite Jake, ask him to come over to the office this Thursday”, I told Jake before heading back inside.

“Let’s go get something to eat shall we”, Jake asked me as we headed out for lunch together. I lit up a cigarette as we left my office building to walk across the road heading to the restaurant. In that short time,  I met a mutual friend of mine and my ex-girlfriend who was waiting for her husband to pick her up. She then asked how am I doing and how am I coping with everything I just smiled at her and said thanks for that before continuing to walk to the restaurant. We then got there and had our lunch together. It felt like it had been so long since I had good food. 

It was already 11.30 in the morning on Thursday and the client who was supposed to meet us today wasn’t in yet. I called Jake and asked whether the meeting was still on because it was already 11.30 and I had another meeting after lunch later that day to which Jake said the client was nearing the office. I wasn’t as impressed with the client’s delay as I’ve always been or I’ll at least try to be as punctual as possible. 15 minutes later I heard the doorbell to my office rang and my assistant went to get the door.

I checked my watch and looked back up as my assistant got into my room after knocking on the door to mention that the client that we were supposed to meet was her. “Let him in”, I said firmly, as she moved and asked the man to enter, the client stepped into my room and our eyes met. Both of us were shocked to see each other, he just stood there in shock as I slowly got up from my chair and cleared my throat. “Welcome, have a seat”, I said with a firm voice to my client, who is my ex-girlfriend’s father. 

“I never knew this was your company, well I know you’re a writer but I didn’t expect to be meeting you”, he said to me with his voice slowly breaking. I just smiled at him and told him “Let’s keep that away can we, whatever happened between us was private now it’s time to discuss business, so let’s keep it professional Mr. Micheal”. I asked myself why didn’t I guess who would be the client, a huge businessman who’s successful in his line of work, in this town well it could be him, and only him.

After nearly an hour-plus discussion regarding how his biography should be written and what not to be included, we decided to meet again in a month to check on the updates and anything further to be included. “Thank you, Mr Ryan, you’re a genius that’s all I could say, hoping that you’ll give your best in this, and by the way, Jane is getting married on the 11th of December, I’ll be sending you the invitation do join us if you could”, he said before leaving the office. With a weak smile, I walked towards the balcony with a cigarette and lit it up looking outside. 

I inhaled the smoke and let out a big puff, looking outside as the tears slowly rolled down my cheeks. I smiled and told myself “Well, life goes on”. 

-THE END-

OLIVIA

“Excuse me, do you know where the Rise Of The Roman Empire Exhibition is going on?”, a sweet female voice was heard from the back as my shoulder was tapped by the same person. As I turned around, a girl around 5 foot 4 inches with her hair shoulder length and Hazelnut coloured was standing with a camera in her hand and a backpack on her back, oh how can I forget that wide beautiful smile of hers, asking me the direction to the exhibition which was going on in our college hall.

As I showed her the direction of the hall, with her sweet voice she thanked me and left. I kept looking at her as she left till my friend called me. It was on a rainy Thursday afternoon and I was in the library thinking about what happened in the morning and wondering who was the girl, where is she from, and what is her name. My thoughts were then interrupted by my friend as he softly tapped the top of my head with a book. “Our finals are in less than a month and you’re here dreaming eyy”, he said pulling the chair beside me to sit.

I smiled and replied to him that I’ve been studying since morning which he gave me a very unconvinced look and giggled softly as we were in the library. I then asked him about this girl I met in the morning which he knew as he was there too when the incident happened, to which he answered that she is a final year student from the college nearby to ours. She is here for her final year project it seems, so that answers why there was a camera in her hand. “How did you find out all this in a very short time Jake”, I asked my friend with a shocked reaction. 

He just smiled and gave me a very proud look which made me laugh out loud and the librarian looked at me pointing us to the exit door with a stern look. We quickly left the library and continued laughing loudly before bumping into our lecturer. “Have you both been preparing for the finals or not? Remember boys, you’re in your final year and you don’t want to mess this up okay, I really want you both to ace the finals and graduate at the end of this year”, she said before hitting both our shoulders as she walked past us. 

It was around 6.45 pm as I was walking out of the college towards the car park to get into my car and leave back home but then I was approached from the back with a tap on my shoulders. As I turned around to look, it was the same girl I met in the morning, standing right in front of me, with that same wide bright smile and the camera in her hands. “Hi there, sorry to be bothering you when you’re about to leave, I have been looking for you since afternoon, erm I just wanted to say thank you for your help in the morning” she said with her sweet voice. 

“Oh, it’s alright, that’s not an issue,” I told her as we then just stood there smiling at each other without saying anything for a few seconds before I asked her what is she doing after this which she answered she was all free very quickly. “Shall we grab a cup of coffee”, I asked her with a smile, which she nodded yes to with a shy smile. I then unlocked my car, opened the door for her and waited for her to sit before closing the door. I then got into the driver seat and started the car, set the A/C level and played The Weeknd’s music before driving to the cafe nearby. 

As we reached the cafe, I stepped out of the car, walked to her side and opened the door for her as she stood out. We then walked to the cafe, I helped her with the door and sat at the table near the window. The waiter approached us to take our orders and I ordered my favourite Iced Americano with no sugar which she gave me a surprised look before ordering a Iced Pumpkin Latte. “They usually say that psychopaths drink coffee with no sugar” she said teasing me before we started laughing at that. 

“I’m Rob, a final-year Art student, love to write and I also have an interest in Photography”, I introduced myself before she said her name and what she’s majoring in. Our order arrived and we started bonding pretty well while having our drinks. It was nearly 8 by then and boy we didn’t realise how fast the time was going as we were too into our conversation. I then offered to drop her back as it was already late and it looked like it would be raining anytime soon. “I stay at the hostel pretty close actually, thank you once again tho”, she said as we got into the car. 

We reached the hostel where she was staying and as I got down getting the door for her, she looked at me and smiled asking me “So, when again Rob?”. I then smiled at her, looked in my car for a paper, and found the receipt from the cafe earlier and wrote down my number before giving it to her. “Leave me a text when you’re free, and I will be at your doorstep the next minute” I said before holding her hand and planting a soft kiss on them which made her blush. 

With a shy smile, she then waved me goodbye before getting into her hostel as I also left. 

Things started to become smooth and beautiful between us, we tend to meet for dinner every day after our college hours. We also started to spend some weekends studying together at the Public library, where sometimes Jake joins us too. It was mid-August and our finals started, I told her that I’d be slightly busy till the end of the month and I couldn’t spend much time with her which she understood and took it so well. She was very supportive throughout my finals and she never failed to motivate me, making sure I was calm and doing well. 

It was around 2nd week of September when I told Jake that I was going to finally tell her and make it official which he was very supportive about and encouraged me to do so. I took my phone and dialled her number, I placed my phone on my ears, it was ringing for a bit before she picked up my call and answered with her honey-like sweet voice. “Hey, I have a surprise for you, get ready, I’ll be picking you up at 6.30 pm at your hostel, bye”, I said in the call before putting the phone down. 

I then got ready and drove to the nearest florist and got a bouquet of Lavender, before getting to her place to pick her up. As I reached her hostel, I got out of the car and waited for her as she walked out of the hostel wearing a beige knee-levelled flare dress matched with a sun hat looking so stunning. “Hey, wow, you’re…you’re looking amazing”, I told her trying to find words to describe how beautiful she is looking right now. She was all so shy hearing what I said, I then opened the car door for her and as we got into the car I drove to the beach. 

It was about 45 minutes away from her hostel, and as we reached the beach it was already 7.15 pm, there weren’t many people around plus the weather felt pretty cool too. We then got out of the car, found a spot not too far from my car and we sat there. I then handed her the bouquet which she loved so much and I took pictures of her holding them. I swear I couldn’t decide which sight in  front of me was prettier, the bouquet of Lavender or her. It was around 7.25 pm and the sun slowly started to set. 

I then looked at her, held her hand, confessed my feelings to her, and took a ring out of my pocket before asking her if she would marry me. As the sun set, making the scenery even more beautiful, tears rolled down her cheeks, no words were out of her mouth as she was so happy and surprised by my sudden confession, which she then nodded yes to before we hugged and shared a passionate kiss. “I love you today, I’ll love you tomorrow and the day after and forever and ever”, I said before kissing her again. 

Months later I got a job as soon as I graduated and we rented an apartment near both our workplaces. Things were great between us, we shared everything, the good days, the bad days, the laughter, the sadness and just everything. We promised that no matter what we would stick together and fix it whenever something went wrong. 6 months later, on September 28 we got married and our journey began as husband and wife. Our marriage was blessed by both our family and group of friends, what else is needed? 

For a few months in the beginning things weren’t that easy but we both supported each other and stuck together as a strong loving team. She never failed to make me feel motivated whenever things weren’t the greatest for me due to work and I’ve never failed to love her and support her as I was supposed to in every single matter. We build our love, our home, and our bond stronger day by day without fail. And when I go to bed every night I feel like I’m the luckiest man in this world because I have her in my life. 

It’s been 45 years since we got married now, and nothing changed and I bet nothing will ever change.“Have I regretted my choice? Never, never in my life, I regretted choosing her, she just made my life even better, why would I be regretting that”, I answered my neighbour as I turned and looked at my wife walking the dog in our backyard with the neighbour’s kid joining her, and all I could do is just admire the love of my life and fall in love with her again, and again. She’s my everything, she’s my love, she’s my Olivia. 

-THE END-

Miko

“You remember, after all that happened, you still remember, but why”, she asked looking up at me with her eyes tearing up with tears ready to roll down any moment. The gloomy day made the situation even gloomier, with people rushing to get in their homes or any malls as it looked like heavy rain would be pouring down at any moment. I looked down into her eyes, flashing her a weak smile and wiping her tears rolling down her cheeks slowly, shaking my head and saying “You know how much you mean to me, how much I love you, and you’re hard to resist Miko”. 

Miko, a foreign transfer student, came to our college for her 2nd year. She was a Japanese international, who had slightly a hard time for about a few months getting used to the culture around here. She usually sits at the front in class and tries to talk to the people around her but somehow nobody gets the conversation going much for about a few weeks. Slowly she managed to get a few friends and one day she came up to me to ask me what are Clubs & Societies available in college. 

“Erm, well there’s plenty of it actually, may I know what is your interest in? Maybe I could suggest some according to that”, I told her as she stood there in front of me in a red flared skirt matched with a black top. She was a petite-sized girl, looking cute and confident at the same time, oh I swear she had such beautiful peanut-coloured eyes and wavy shoulder-length hair. “May I know which club are you in?”, she asked me and I said that I’m in the Photography Club and I’m the current President. 

She looked pretty interested in it but then she ended up choosing Poetry & Stories Society, as we were approached by my best friend, John. “So, what are you guys chatting about eh? Oh by the way, Hello there Miss, I’m John”, John said introducing himself to Miko, to which she smiled and responded by introducing herself. As I stood there when John and Miko were talking I found myself looking at Miko and admiring the way she spoke and reacted to me and John. I felt my heartbeat slowly and the surroundings went all quiet where I could only hear her. 

It felt all so new, so new but it was beautiful, felt like I was floating up the blue sky with the sun shining bright on me. I could do nothing but just smile standing there listening to her speak and laugh at John’s jokes. “So, I’ll get going first John-san, Alex-san”, she said before bowing in respect in their cultural way and leaving. I kept looking at her walking back to her group of friends who were waiting for her near the corridor and I caught her turning around and looking at me shyly before walking quickly to her friends, as I just stood there and smiled. 

“So, Alex-san, will we be witnessing a beautiful and lovely collaboration between you both”, John asked jokingly which made me just smile and softly punch his stomach walking back to our class. Since that day the three of us became very close, we started hanging out quite often, after class hours, during breaks, well some days even before our classes started. John never fails to make Miko laugh with his jokes while I spend most of my time just admiring her and reciting any poems, which she always loves hearing as she loves poetry.

I still remember it was during the finals, I know by that time that I’d developed feelings towards her, it was genuine and pure. John was being a supportive friend and he encouraged me to confess my feelings to her. It was around 7.45 pm, and I was waiting for her near the library corridor with John as she was coming out of the library. She came out, wearing her brown sweater with a white scarf around her neck, she couldn’t stand the cold much. She stood in front of me and asked me if there was anything I wanted to say. 

I stood there, feeling nervous, I could hear my heart beating fast and everything went all so silent around me. She looked confused seeing me just standing there clueless without saying anything. “Alex-san, are you okay? Are you sick?” she asked getting closer to me as I started stuttering saying I was okay. I then finally gathered up my courage and held her hand, she was shocked by that and I said ;

“And I keep thinking about you, every day and night. I keep saying the same, I can’t help falling in love with you, my love, my life. You’re my sweet Caroline, you’re my everything”. 

I saw her eyes tearing up, and her sweet lips curved up giving me the sweetest smile and she nodded her head saying yes. I then pulled her close and hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead. “What took you so long”, she asked me looking up at me while still hugging me, I looked at her, smiled and said, “Just for the right time and trust me, you were worth the wait my love”, before leaning for a kiss. John stood there and cheered for us as we hugged and shared a kiss, which made us break from it and call him to join us for a hug which he did.

The past 3 years were amazing, we studied well and graduated together with amazing pointers. We were lucky as the 3 of us managed to get hired in our respective fields quickly after graduating. I and Miko planned and moved in together to a rented apartment near both our workplaces. Things were lovely between us. And of course, the bond and friendship between the 3 of us were strong and beautiful as it was.

Meanwhile, with me and Miko, it was beautiful, spending every morning together even before going to work, eagerly waiting to meet once done with our work, having dinner either out or cooking at home once we were back, it was beautiful, more than what I’d expected in life. We do face some kind of a problem, yes, but we have always managed to fix them by talking it out and sticking together as a team, a very loving team. 

But one fine day things started to crumble between us, every day felt gloomy between us and most times we saw each other we started arguing about something and even if we tried to fix it or end it nicely we both knew that we were just faking it. What caused all this? Well, there are many reasons, sometimes it’s caused by work stress, it is due to the late rent payment, it is cause we couldn’t spend time together much and just more. 

During these difficult times, John was very supportive of both of us, being there for me and also Miko whenever things weren’t the greatest. As this kept going on I truly didn’t know or would blame anyone for this, but one fine day Miko texted me when I was at work and said that there was something she needed to talk to me about after work so let’s meet at a cafe that we always meet. 

It was around 7. oo pm, I left work and walked to the cafe where we were supposed to meet. As I entered I saw her already waiting for me, she also ordered my all-time fav Iced Americano and a Hot Chocolate for her. “Sorry love, had some deadlines to catch up that’s why I’m a little late, I love you”, I said but it felt a little strange as she didn’t say I love you too back nor anything for what I said but just sat there looking at her drink. 

“Is everything okay Miko?”, I asked her trying to hold her hand which she moved away. A single drop of tears fell on the table from her eyes, she looked up at me and started crying out loud apologising to me. I was shocked to see her crying suddenly and got up from my chair, went near her, kneeled and hugged her saying it’s okay while holding her close to my chest. 

“I’m sorry Alex, I’m sorry for everything but I can’t do this anymore”, Miko said while crying and wetting my shirt as her face was buried in my chest. I told her it was all okay, everything could be settled as I tried calming her down. Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder, when I looked back it was John, it took me by surprise. How did he know that we were here? And how did he know that it was us at this table? I had so many questions at that point. 

All the questions were answered when both Miko and John confessed to me about their feelings towards each other. Never I thought in my life this would ever happen to me, nor anyone I know. I was hurt, very much so, I felt betrayed and backstabbed, but I couldn’t say anything, I was just too broken to even show any emotions. I just stood from my chair, smiled at them, wiped my tears and walked away. 

As I walked to our apartment, I broke down in tears halfway through and started crying my heart out falling on my knees. I loved her so much, I gave her everything I could give and did everything for her but why? What went wrong, what more could I do? I guess it was just too late at this point, maybe it was John who was the right man for her all the while, since college days, I don’t know, maybe he was the one and it wasn’t me. 

I got up, walked to our apartment, got into the lift, pressed the 28th Floor and when it arrived on our floor I walked to our unit and entered in. I went to our room and started to pack my clothes and my things. I felt like I wasn’t welcome in this house anymore, it didn’t feel like it was the house I was paying rent for anymore, I felt like a stranger at that time.  I broke down once again in our room seeing our things, remembering everything we have built around is just crumbled right now. 

I left home, with all my things, I saw both John and Miko down at the apartment, she was crying and fell on her knees, while John consoled her and mouthed that he was sorry to me. I smiled at them and said, “Good luck to both of you, and I genuinely wish you both a happy life”, before walking away from them with tears running down my cheeks like rain falling heavy from the sky. I loved her, I respected him, and I felt betrayed but still, they meant a lot to me. 

Years passed, I found a new place and a new job, lived a lonely life yet a peaceful life. One day, when I passed by a park that I used to come to with Miko all the time before this, I stood there for a bit and just looked around, thinking about all the good times we had and the memories we created. Suddenly I felt something bump at the back of my legs, when I turned around to look it was a small kid, maybe around 4 years old. 

I kneeled and looked at the kid, looking so innocent and cute, well at the same time pretty clueless seeing the surroundings. “Hi there, are you lost? Come on, let’s try to find your parents okay,” I told the kid before carrying him up. As I walked around suddenly I heard a very familiar voice calling out my name, and when I turned around to look, I was shocked. It was Miko, still looking the same. She ran towards me, which made me clueless but then I knew why. 

She came, took the kid, hugged him and cried as she got scared that she lost him somewhere. I also found out that when she called out Alex, she wasn’t calling me, it was her son’s name. Seeing her after years, with a kid and knowing that they named him after me brought me to tears. As we just stood there looking at each other, both our eyes filled with tears, John joined us as he was also looking for their kid, and when he saw me he hugged me tight. 

John then wiped his tears and he said he was sorry for everything, I then punched him softly and said it was okay before hugging him again. He then carried his son to give me and Miko some time alone for a while. “So how have you been Miss Miko”, I asked her with a weak smile, she couldn’t say anything but cry and hugged me, apologising again and again. I embraced her and said ; 

“My little sweet Caroline, don’t you ever cry, you know I can never take it to see you in such a way. You’re my love, you’re my everything, you’re my sweet Caroline.”

It was one of the poems titled Sweet Caroline which I wrote for her, I have written a bunch of them just for her, and whenever she’s sad or when she cries this is the poem which I’ll recite for her or text her. She knew it the second I started reciting the poem at that moment. She looked up at me, with her eyes glowing with tears ready to be falling at any moment. 

“You remember, after all that happened, you still remember, but why”, she asked looking up at me with her eyes tearing up with tears ready to roll down any moment. I looked down into her eyes, flashing her a weak smile and wiping her tears rolling down her cheeks slowly, shaking my head and saying “You know how much you mean to me, how much I love you, and you’re hard to resist Miko”. I hugged her tight one last time, waved the 3 of them goodbye and walked away. 

-THE END-

THE FADING STAR

“Don’t you ever fall in love with me”, she said looking at me, smiling at me before walking back to her place holding her yellow umbrella. I stood there in the rain, my clothes drenching wet, freezing there, smiling looking at her walking away after we had our dinner together. She’s one of a kind, she ain’t perfect yes, but she’s who she is and that’s what makes her special, special to my eyes and my heart. 

I still remember the day we first met, Cafe HotBeans, many have told me before that it’s the perfect place to meet your soulmate but I’ve never believed them till the day I met her, 16th September 2017. I can never and will never forget it, she walked into the cafe in a hurry as I was sitting at the table by the window working on my assignment. “Can I have a cup of Iced Cocoa on the go please, thank you”, her voice was so sweet. 

I somehow managed to gather my courage and walked towards her and introduced myself. “Hi, I’m Peter, people call me Pete, mind to join me at my table, my treat”, I told her which she was hesitating at first as she was having her drink on the go but then she later agreed and joined me at the table I was sitting. “You know me?”I asked her in a surprised tone when she said she had seen me around in college before. 

She giggled covering her mouth looking at me being so surprised by the fact that she knows me and the fact that I didn’t know that we both are studying at the same college for the past 2 years. “You’re well known around our college, trust me, people keep talking about you most of the time even in my faculty”, she said before sipping the chocolate drink which she ordered. Never knew that I’ve been the talk of the town all these years till today. 

“It all started when you stood up for Jessica when she was cornered by Frank and his followers as she was advocating on Equal Rights during the College Presidential Campaign”, she said looking at me. Well that happened during the early years of my college year and it was such a great and a very important initiative taken by Jessica so I wanted to be part of it even if I was going to be the only one there. 

It’s such a sweet and lovely memory, I still smile whenever I think about how we both first met. Just like how I’m smiling right now walking back to my apartment thinking about the memory all once again after she left. As I got up to my unit, I quickly took my phone out of my pocket to let it dry before getting to the shower. As I came out of the toilet after showering I checked my phone and saw the notification of her text. 

Thank you for the dinner and walking me back in the rain Mr Pete…btw I hope you remember what I told you before leaving, bye Pete, goodnight 🙂 

I read her text and replied to her before heading to my bed, just laying there and looking up at my ceiling with a slight smile on my face thinking about her. Yes I know and I remember what she told me of course, I will make sure nothing goes wrong, well I will try to at least. Before shutting my eyes, I took my phone and looked at her pictures from the gallery. I smiled and whispered “I can’t promise I won’t Princess”, before putting my phone away.

We weren’t from the same faculty but somehow we managed to meet every day or at least thrice in a week before or after class. It was Wednesday and I usually have class only in the afternoon but as always I was already in the college in the morning itself. Normally I’ll be in the library reading some poetries or at the cafe with friends or juniors, and today I chose to be at the library and do some reading. 

“Do you want to go to the park today?”, suddenly I heard someone asking me tapping my shoulders from the back. As I turned around to look it was actually her standing behind me wearing a peach top matched with a white flared skirt and her sling back hanging at the side from her shoulders. I smiled and asked her why she isn’t in her class at this time and she replied she didn’t feel like going and wanted to go to the park that is why. 

“I shouldn’t be encouraging you to skip class but I’ll let it slide this time”, I said with a soft voice and giggled softly as we were in the library before leaving the library after packing my things. We then walked towards the train station which was about 10 minutes away from campus to take the train to the nearest stop to the park. As usual she took out her little yellow umbrella before walking under the hot sun. 

As we got into the train we sat as the train was pretty empty at the time. I took out my MP3 player and a headphone showing her which she smiled seeing it and put the headphone on in her right ear while I put the other side in my left ear before plugging the wire in the MP3 player and played the classic hits. She turned looking at me, smiled as she looked right into my eyes before turning back to the front enjoying the songs. 

As we reached the stop we then got off the train, walked out the station before starting another 5 minutes walk to the park from the station. We reached the park, walked around looking at the peaceful and quiet scenery, it was just so amazing, it felt even better with her around. I took my phone out and I kept taking pictures and short videos of her being silly, cute and just herself walking around enjoying the scenery. 

After walking around for sometime we then found a spot where we could sit and just relax. We spoke, shared our childhood stories and memories, laughed our hearts out till tears rolled down our cheeks. “You know, you’re amazing. I’ve never met anyone like you”, I told her looking at her as we were sharing our stories and laughter. “Well, you’re not so bad yourself, Pete”, she said before throwing the flowers she plucked at me. 

Days, weeks, and months passed, our bond grew strong and we became really close. I could feel the chemistry between us is just impeccable and beautiful, I bet she knows that too, she just doesn’t talk or acknowledge the fact. It was a Friday night during my finals so as usual I was in the library till late doing my revision and final preparation when I suddenly received a text from her saying she wants to meet me. 

I walked out of the library and saw her standing outside with a pink sweater paired with her black  joggers looking slightly nervous and worried with her phone in her hand. As soon as she saw me she ran towards me and hugged me tight, I was shocked but I didn’t say a word, I just held her close and tight till she broke out of the hug. She let me go after a while, wiped the tears and she just said good luck before walking away. 

I was standing there real clueless, walked quickly towards her and held her turned her around before asking her what happened and is everything okay. She smiled and said everything is fine, and she just wanted to meet me as she felt a little uncomfortable for some reason. “You sure? Okay, text me once you’re back okay, please. Take care and stay safe”, I said as she left back to her place. She turned around and waved at me before walking back. 

Little did I know that would be the last time I would see her all healthy and smiling at me. Two days after that night I received a call from an unknown number, when I answered it was from her dad, he sounded broken and asked me to come to the hospital. My face turned all worried, my heart started to beat hard and fast, my mind was filled with thousands of questions as I rushed to the hospital. 

I reached the hospital, checked with the receptionist which floor she was on and took the elevator up to her ward. When I walked into her ward, I saw her sitting on the hospital bed, her parents by her side. The atmosphere was heavy with emotion, unlike how it usually is between us. “Hi Pete, I’m sorry”, she said looking at me with tears dropping down her cheeks, and her sweet voice was so weak. 

Tears were rolling down my cheeks slowly as I walked closer towards her. She looked at me and held my hand before apologizing again and crying. “Hey, no no shh, it’s okay, don’t cry please, it’s okay”, I said, wiping the tears from her cheeks before giving her a kiss on the forehead. With her weak voice she said she was diagnosed with cancer a year ago and it’s advanced now. She tried telling but then she decided not to because she was scared. 

“We’ll fight this together, okay. I’m not going anywhere, I’m not going to let you go”, I told her, holding her hand tight, keeping it close to me. She gave me a weak smile and mouthed thank you as tears rolled down her cheeks. I leaned close, gave her a kiss on her forehead and said, “I love you, and I will always do, it’s going to be okay, I’m here for you okay”. She smiled at me as tears rolled down both our cheeks at that moment before closing her eyes. 

The ECG machine beside her bed suddenly beeped long, the doctor and nurses rushed in the ward to check the situation as they asked us to wait outside. As I was escorted outside the ward I could see the light dimming, the star fading way, I could see Sophie slowly leaving us. Tears were rolling down my cheeks, I was broken, feeling all lost and done sitting outside the ward. The Doctor came out of the ward, looked at us and said sorry. 

A very few of Sophie’s college mates and lecturer’s attended her funeral. I stood there, with tears rolling down my cheek as I looked at her casket lowered into the ground. I clenched my fist, crumpling the letter she wrote for me which she asked her parents to pass it to me. Everyone paid their last respect and left the grave as I stood there all alone, lost and broken with the letter in my hands still. 

I opened the letter and read it, tears were dropping on the letter making it wet as I couldn’t control myself. I fell to my knees and let out a loud cry, clenched my fist and punched the ground multiple times till my knuckles started bleeding. “Why it has to be you, why Sophie why!!!”I cried out loud as I was still on my knees on the ground. I opened the letter again and read the letter trying hard to control myself.

Don’t you ever fall in love with me Mister, even if you did, I’m sorry but I can’t stay long. I love you always and even though you won’t have me in real life, you’ll always have me in your mind and heart Pete. I love you Peter, I’m sorry I have to leave first…
                                  -Sophie

-THE END-

Life Is A Lie

“So, what are we?” She asked me while still being in my arms. I looked at her confused and nodded my head asking what she meant by it. “Well we kissed, it was pretty passionate and things escalated quickly from there and now we are here, in each other’s arms, so what does all this means, I don’t want to be leaded on and I want it to be real, nothing sneaky”,  she said looking at me with a concern look. 

“You’re mine and I’m yours, nothing sneaky between us and yes, this is real okay, I love you”, I said looking at her before kissing her forehead which made her all shy and she was blushing looking all so cute. She then covered her face and said that she loves me in a very soft cute voice while being all so shy. I held her tight and kissed her again before telling her let’s go get something to eat. 

Well it’s pretty unbelievable what actually happened in these 3 hours today. First, I didn’t know that the whole college’s crush actually had a crush on me and second I still can’t believe that we made out in my room and finally, it feels like a dream that we are together, I mean, I’m hers and she’s mine, like wow, this is real, nothing sneaky and it’s all real. Never in my life I thought this would happen but here we go. 

“Let’s get some donuts before we leave shall we”, I told her as we were heading out of my hostel room, which she agreed to. We bought donuts and headed back to college to attend the rest of the classes of the day, and as we entered the college holding each other’s hands there were so many of them who gave us a shocked look. “The eyes are all on us”, she said with a smile looking at me which I could just smile and shook my head agreeing to it. 

“Wake your ass up John, sleeping during work again”, a loud voice and a smack on my head woke me up from a beautiful dream. Hi there, my name is John, I’m a Junior Investigating Officer in the police department, and yes, all that was just a dream, this ain’t the first time to be honest, all I hope one day I find the love of my life, in a much nicer way of course and not in any crime scene or investigation period. 

“Read the autopsy report of the latest case and bring the file to my room, I want to hear a full explanation from you regarding this case,” my superior officer told me and walked to his room. The current case we are handling is somewhat a crucial one and it’s pretty complicated. I highly doubt the current murder case is related to the previous 2 cases as the victim’s stab wound and the murderer’s method of killing seems the same.  

20 minutes after reading the autopsy report I took the files and entered my superior officer’s room feeling a little nervous, at the same time I was having the instinct that this murder is related to the previous cases. “So, what have you gathered through your observation?”, my superior asked me as I was standing on the opposite side of his table after placing the files on his table. I looked at him and said, “I feel the previous murder and this case are related, Sir, as the method of killing and the victim’s wound looks alike”. 

“How sure are you rook ? What if it’s just a coincidence, you know we can’t afford to make any mistakes in this type of work right”, said my superior in a stern voice looking pretty stressed with all this going on and due to the pressure from his superiors. I could just look down for a moment and tell him that “I may be wrong but at the same time it’s a gamble which I feel might be worth it for us, please believe me on this Sir”. 

“Make sure this doesn’t go wrong, I want updates on this, go on”, he said before asking me to leave his room. With a smile and confidence I exited the room, walked towards the table and started my work on researching more on the previous murders, such as the area, age group of the victims, weapon used by the murderer and the time the bodies were found. All I could think of is to make sure this bastard is arrested before he goes on murdering more innocent souls.

“So, the hawk gave you permission to continue with your theory eh new guy?”Someone asked me tapping my shoulders from the back. I was surprised as the voice was familiar but never seen or interacted before. I turned around and I saw it was Anna, one of the most high profile investigating officers in our department. I immediately got up and saluted her, which she just smiled and asked me to sit and chill out. “No formalities aite, chill out” she said with a smile. 

I then took my seat and explained to her what I’ve found by then with proper findings and researches which I’ve done. “Impressive, keep up the good work new guy, let’s grab lunch or maybe dinner later tonight”, she said before leaving my place. All I could do is just smile and sit there feeling all so excited with the compliment I received from someone so talented as Anna. My day kept getting better as I managed to get the CCTV footage of the latest murder case.

It was around 8.45 p.m,  I was running through the CCTV footage which I managed to acquire and Anna approached my table from the front holding a box of Pizza in one hand and two bottles of Coca Cola in another. “Mind if I join you new guy”, she asked with a smile which I replied sure, helping her to grab a chair from the table beside me and took the Pizza box from her placing it on the table.  

We had our so-called dinner together on my table, talked and shared many things about work, school memories, college days, what made us want to be here, and just more. “Damn new guy, you’re not bad to be honest, never in these 7 years of working here have I laughed this much or even enjoyed my dinner”, she said while standing up and placing both her hands on her hips. I just smiled and said “Well, I’m glad that you had a good time then Ms Anna”. 

Anna smiled at me, slowly bent towards me, kissed my cheeks and whispered into my ears “I’m expecting more from you new guy” chuckled and left my place which made me clueless as to what happened at that point.  As she walked away, she turned around, smiled and winked at me before exiting the office. “Did my dream just become reality”, I asked myself, smiling all by myself thinking back on what happened just now. 

Weeks to months passed, my theory was getting solid with the outcomes of investigations and questionings which had been done by me and the team.  I recorded every outcome of the investigations which had been done and submitted to my superior officer, also identifying where the murderer leaves and the identity of the murderer which I managed to get based on one of the CCTV footage from the nearest car park when the latest murder happened. 

“Go get this bastard, and make sure there’s no mistake”, said my superior officer which pumped me up and increased my confidence as I saluted him with pride before exiting his room. I saw my team was waiting outside with their fingers literally crossed hoping to hear something positive from me. I looked at them, smiled and said, “Let’s get this piece of shit once and for all”. They were all so pumped up and some of them were jumping and punching the air in joy. 

I high-fived my fellow officer when I saw Anna was walking towards us with a curious look as me and my team were all excited after we got the permission to solve this case. “What’s with all this excitement here J”, she asked, I looked at her, smiled and kissed her straight, without any hesitation nor warning. Everyone around us was shocked, well even Anna was shocked at first but then she pulled me even closer for the kiss. 

We broke out of the kiss, smiled at each other, held each other close and I said, “Let’s make this happen, till the end”. She giggled, tears flowed down her cheeks slowly as she said yes to what I said before I hugged her tight. Everyone in the department who witnessed what happened cheered for us, it was pretty loud that our Superior Officer came out of his room after hearing the loud noise. He saw us hugging each other and he just smiled and cheered for us. 

After all that I told Anna that we got permission from the superior to either arrest or encounter the suspected murderer if he tends to attack us.  “Good luck Tiger, I always believed you’ll get this case solved”, Anna said before kissing my cheek as we were about to leave for the suspects home. I checked my gun, took the cuffs, made sure the bulletproof vest was tight, took the keys of my car and left the office. 

The place of the suspect was about 40 minutes from our office. We went in 3 cars including mine but there were no sirens or any obvious signs that we were on a hunt as we didn’t want the suspect to be aware and make an escape.Upon nearing the suspects place we stopped the car a little further from his place and walked to his place as we didn’t want him to know. We surrounded the house from each side while myself and Tim, my fellow officer, went to the front door and knocked on the door.   

As we knocked on the door there was no reply at first, then we heard his footsteps were nearing the door but he didn’t open nor asked who was knocking. We kind of suspected that he found out that we were raiding his place. I knocked on the door again as there was no response then suddenly we heard a loud crashing out noise from the side window of the house. As me and Tim rushed towards the noise we saw the suspect escaping from the broken window. 

He was armed with a kitchen knife as he tried to run away from us. “Don’t you try escaping from us” Tim shouted as he was running after the suspect pointing the gun towards him. The suspect was running towards the bushes as he threw the knife towards Tim which scarred him a little in his arms. Before he managed to run into the thick bushes I managed to tackle him from the back and locked his arms around his back. The team managed to gather around as I cuffed his hands and took him to the car. 

Months later a small team led by me managed to capture the serial killer who was hunting innocent souls for his pleasure. Never in my life I dreamed of a day like this, I was promoted along with my fellow teammates. Weeks later, I decided that I wanted to ask Anna to marry me, but my happiness was short-lived. She got shot deep in her abdomen by a suspect when she went for an investigation and died in the hospital due to heavy bleeding. 

I continued living with the grief of losing Anna, deep down I died the moment I found out Anna was no more. Pain, anger and  emptiness, that’s all I could feel after losing her. We had so much planned for our future, early retirement, kids, having our own farm and more, but everything was erased with one bullet from a heartless bastard who is now rotting in jail. I continued serving in the force, a man who was once full of energy and smile now is just filled with anger and pain. 

-THE END-

It’s Never Easy

Holding back my tears and I gave her a weak smile, “So here we are, a day we never expected”. She nodded agreeing to what I said, but she looked much prepared and fine with this decision. “Trust me Nesh, it is difficult, but we have to, for our own good”, she said before pushing me a box of my belongings which she had all this while and thanked me before walking away from the cafe. That was the end, the beautiful love story we had, the beautiful lovely life we had, all came to an end, that broke me down, tears flowed down my cheeks, heartbroken and I was just looking at the box not knowing what to do. Let me make it clear, I just broke up from a 7 year’s relationship with Gina, my girlfriend. 

We had a beautiful relationship, we supported each other during hard times, pushed each other to do better in life, it was just amazing, but it all ended because of a small issue. I really don’t know where it went wrong, I kept questioning myself, why can’t we solve it, why didn’t she give me the space to solve it, why didn’t I spend more time with her, why did I love my passion so much till I failed in my relationship.  After 20 minutes, with a empty soul, broken heart, I decided to leave the cafe, walked towards the nearest park, my mind wasn’t in peace, it was filled with question, my eyes couldn’t stop shedding tears, my vision was clouded with tears, my leg was trembling and I couldn’t walk properly. 

It was the darkest day of my life, I’ve never been so weak in my life. I sat on the bench, placed the box beside me, I looked down and covered my face and I couldn’t stop crying. It was just keep flowing, my mind was racing with questions, I really want to fix this, I want to get back, I want the beautiful life back, I just want her, and I was left with 2 days as she was leaving for the UK regarding her further studies. We graduated together from a law college with my friends 7 of them, Tej, Will, Jen, Henry, Kevin, Sham and Nate. 

But not all of us are practising law, Tej took up another course on psychiatrist, Will is working in a law firm with Henry and Jen, while Kevin and Sham started up an NGO and doing well, while Gina is focusing on marketing and got a scholarship in the UK which she’s leaving in 2 days, while there’s me where I focused solely on my passion, photography and doing freelance photography business and event photographer. I took out a cigarette, lit it up and started smoking, puff by puff slowly, tears still flowing, memories were flashing whenever I closed my eyes, all the beautiful moments, our bad times, just everything. I then closed my eyes, the memories flashed back, I opened my eyes, a second cigarette was already in my mouth, I opened the box and saw my stuff, each of it has lots of memories and stories.

 I took the Baskin-Robbins scoop which they give when you try em. It was the early days of our relationship, we went on a date, it was on a beautiful Saturday, I still remember, I picked her at her house at 11.30 a.m and we went to Paradigm Mall in PJ. It took around 45 minutes from her place, we reached there at 12.15 and by 12.20 we parked the car. Before getting down from the car I held her hand and said “I can see that you’re nervous, don’t worry I wont do anything that makes you uncomfortable”, and kissed her forehead as she smiled at me shyly and we got down and went to the mall straight.

We were holding hands as we walked, and we saw Baskin-Robbins. I asked her if she wanted ice cream and we decided to each get one. I still remember she had the Chocolate Cookie Crackle while I had the Hershey’s Chocolate Bar. We then went for lunch at Nando’s after doing some window shopping, the day was wholesome. We discussed a lot while we had our lunch, on future plans, what to do during the exam breaks, on monthly trips with friends and also alone, it was just beautiful. It was a great day and I dropped her back around 7 p.m.  The cigarette bud fell on my hand and got me back to reality, I opened my eyes and threw the finishing cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

 Took another one and lit it up and was smoking, suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder, and old woman with a walking stick and a sweet face smiled at me and said, “I saw you crying from just now and I’m sure you’re going through a hard time but this ain’t the way young man, it’s already your third cigarette since you came here, you still have time, hope you understand”, she smiled and walked away. What the old lady said shocked me. I still remember Gins always scolding me whenever I smoke more than 2 cigarettes a day. It had already been two years since we got together and it was during one of the most crucial times of the year, the finals. We were all so stressed revising for the finals, where we legit stayed at the library as it was open 24/7, the library is everything for us, if we are done for the moment we tend to sleep on the floor or sleep in the discussion room. 

We had the vending machine where we got our snacks and drinks to keep us awake during the night,  but most importantly cigarettes, that kept me awake for real other than coffee. Myself, Henry and Jen we went down to the smoking zone to hit some puff and at the same time discuss whatever we had revised in the library and during class which we had earlier that day. Suddenly someone hit my hand and my cigarette fell on the floor, I was pissed and turned around angrily realising it was Gina, looking at me with a sharp look, which made me just to keep quiet and gave a pity smile. “How many already?”, and I showed 2 but Henry and Jen told them the truth that it was already the 5th one that day. 

She was so angry, she then started tearing up saying, “keep smoking, don’t reduce it, keep smoking more and leave me and your friends and family soon Nesh, I’ve nothing to say.” I then had to console her and promised that I won’t smoke more than 2 cigarettes a day. That one month was difficult but managed to control my addiction and we also managed to do well in the finals as we all passed with flying colours and went to the 3rd and final year of our degree life. Suddenly a drop of water fell on my face and got me back to my concise state. It had started to rain and there were people running to find shade. I got up, still soulless, broken and with a weak footstep towards my Mercedes a250 which was parked near.

I got in and started the car, I looked at the passenger seat and I still could see her smiling at me, it brought more tears and I was crying so hard. This car I’m sitting on right now, it was my dream car. I always wanted to have a Mercedes A-Class, but I couldn’t afford it. She made sure I worked hard and she also did put some money to make this dream come true. If that day she didn’t push me, I can bet that I wouldn’t be as successful as I’m right now. After a while I managed to get myself straight and drove back to my apartment which I’m currently staying in. Parked my car and got up the elevator to the 7th floor and walked on the hallway to my apartment, number 20. I opened the door, took off my Adidas NMD_R1 and placed it on the shoe rack before landing on my couch beside the leftover pizza. 

I cried and kept crying, my mind was all blocked, I didn’t know what to do, I was receiving calls from my friends and also her friends but I couldn’t answer any of them as I was so weak. Without realising I dozed off on the floor crying, and after 4 hours I got up, eyes swollen and red caused by crying non stop, my shirt and pants were still wet cause I got wet in the rain. I then walked towards the fridge, got myself a small bottle of Heineken beer and got back to the couch and checked my phone. After 50+ calls and messages, I was in a confused state, took a gulp of beer, and called my friend Tej and asked him to come over. I sat there with the bottle in one hand and a cigarette in another.

45 minutes passed and suddenly I heard my doorbell ring, I went and opened the door and I saw the whole squad was out with food and more drinks. All of them came, even Jen and Will who were already married and have their own family. They consoled me as I couldn’t stop crying, and the night continued with us sitting and drinking and them consoling me and with lots of food getting in our stomach.  It was 3.45 in the morning, everyone was done and they were sleeping on the floor, I got myself a bottle of beer and a cigarette and went over to the balcony. I was looking at the stars as I was smoking and sipping my beer, eyes still tearing, they were so red and swollen. 

Thinking back all the memories, the promises we made to each other, everything is done, no more, the beautiful 7 years has reached its end. “Nesh hey”, I heard Tej calling me from the back as he joined me at the balcony, “it’s fine bro, we will think of something bro, we will talk to her okay, don’t hurt yourself”, he said and put his hands on my shoulder,  we shared the beer and settled for the night with others on the floor. Got up the next day having a terrible headache because of heavy drinking last night, brushed my teeth and made coffee for everyone. As we were having coffee I told them that I’m going to go to her place later that evening and apologise to her and fix this and promise that this mistake won’t be repeated again. 

They agreed with me and decided to follow me. Jen and Will went back to their own houses, got their stuff done with their partner and decided to join us at Gina’s place straight. Me and the other boy’s got ready at my place and we moved to her house around 6 and reached 20 minutes later. All 8 of us were there, and I went to knock on her door, Pam, Gina’s housemate, opened the door and was surprised to see me there. She then called Gina and there she came, still beautiful and looking like an angel, she wasn’t pleased seeing me there. “May I enter?”I asked and she replied with a straight no and asked me to say whatever I needed to say and leave quickly as she was packing her stuff. 

I stood there silently, held out a heavy breath and looked at her and said, “Gina, yes I know it’s my fault, I admit I caused this, but it’s ain’t fair if you’re not giving me the space to solve it, can’t you remember the good times we had, the promises we made, we told ourselves that no matter what we will solve and get back together. Where is all that love? Please Gina, please don’t leave me, just this time, I promise I’ll be a better man Gina, please “, I begged to her as tears was running on my cheeks from my eyes, I fell on my knees as I was so weak and couldn’t stop crying, the gang ran to get me back up, I could see them weeping too, and they were telling her to give me another chance and to forgive me. 

I looked at Gina, her face was so straight but tears flowed out her eyes and it became worst, she started crying out loud and hugged me and said that promise me that this won’t happen again and she said that she wont leave me no matter what. Everyone was surprised and were cheering for us, tears of joy were flowing.  We hugged each other so tightly and shared a lot of kisses and I told her that “I promise love, I’ll be a better man and I love you so much” as she smiled and hugged me again.

  “Dr.Tej your session is over thank you.” Tej placed his hand on Nesh’s chest and said “Nesh, I’ll come back tomorrow and we will talk more about Gina okay, now get some rest and don’t skip your medicine’s” and Nesh  nodded his head agreeing with Tej as he left the room. Nesh turned around and looked at the wall and it was full of Gina’s picture which he took from his DSLR camera, he smiled and said “Goodnight Gina, love you so much” before closing his eyes to sleep. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It is already 5 years since Gina left him and on the day they broke up Nesh actually met in an accident while on the way back home and went into a coma. The doctor’s managed to save his life but he went mentally unstable and he actually imagined everything that happened after the break up. The past 5 years have been difficult to control Nesh and make sure he’s fine. Tej became a psychiatrist after finishing up his course and he was the psychiatrist in charge of Nesh. Gina was happily married to a British born Indian in the UK and blessed with 2 kids. They told her about Nesh’s condition and asked her help but she turned them down. Nesh now is in a mentally unstable home care and is often visited by his friends and he’s been taken care of well.

-THE END-