By A Rose

|CHAPTER NINE🌹|

On one of my lazy days, I walked into the large green map, but I could not find my way out. All I did was curse and vow never to stroll in there again. Well, this time I was with Stark so I had no fear.

I got to the black Iron Gate at the beginning of the labyrinth and found Wes. 

There he was, the man I loved. He was dressed casually in white sleeves which were rolled up to his elbow. His left hand was buried into blue jeans. His right hand held one of the bars on the gate. 

I got closer; my heart beat made a different and unusual pace. His black curly hair slipped on his scalp. He was partially wet. Drops of water fell from his ear lobes after they had made a short journey through his hair. 

I gazed at him for a while and studied every feature on his light-skinned face.

His eye lashes were long. In a way they seemed longer than mine. They made him pretty. His eyes though brown, shone under the sun and all I saw was gold. Sun given gold. His nose was somewhat pointed and his thin lips were pink. He smiled and my world spun round. His teeth, pure white gave off a heart breaking smile.

A small towel hung lazily over his broad shoulders. He was dashing indeed; any girl with good eyes could fall for him. After all he was Wesley Stark and I loved him.

I stared at him till our eyes met and made discomfort my best friend. I needed a diversion.

I dragged the towel from his shoulders and smacked his head with it playfully.

"Is this your version of being dry? Wesley Stark. Never leave the bathroom without drying up properly." I said.

He smiled, took the towel from me and dabbed his face a bit. Then he held my right arm and insisted I followed him.

After a long walk we found ourselves in the middle of the labyrinth. It was beautiful. There was a well-furnished white chair for two surrounded by flowers of different colours. 

A fountain was also built in the middle of the labyrinth. Concrete and white marbles with a bit of gold sprayed edges, formed two dolphins, which spat water that shone like crystal arcs under the sun. 

Butterflies; yellow, blue, green, purple and spotted danced in the air.

A cool breeze kissed my face continuously as it also played with my long and curly coal-black hair. I held the down the blue dress I wore against the forces of the wind to prevent Wes from peeking at woman stuff.

I gazed at the sky; a purple and orange scene wrapped in a bit of blue had a big golden ball which slowly sunk down the art work. The sun had started to float out of the sky. In a moment just an orange semi-circle was seen. 

Wes took my hands and I looked at him.

"Ray I'm so sorry for what I'm about to say. I fought hard but I can't disobey authority. I'm leaving the city tomorrow. I've got to go to London to retrieve some files for my boss. I don't know why the man wants me to do it. I tried to talk him out of it but he insisted. I pushed harder till I was way out of line. He threatened to take my job from me. But you know as much as I do that I need this job Ray. It's the only way I'll be able to catch that bastard Crucifier. Well I agreed to my boss' request and I've got to leave town first thing tomorrow."

I said nothing. I tried to pick out words but none came out. I was out of words. I thought we were supposed to stay together forever? I thought we were two sides of a coin? I was supposed to be his top priority. He made a promise to me on the pavement. What was I supposed to do without him? I could not live without Wesley Stark. It was impossible. 

Over ten minutes went by and I remained silent. The purple in the sky grew more than the orange. And the sun's head was barely seen. The rays from the sun shone upon Wesley. How could he leave?