Pace sighs as he walked through town. It was about time for lunch. But he will be eating alone today, since his usual lunch mates are having theirs in some other place. He was walking to eat lunch at his new favorite restaurant, which opened two months ago, Deli Cielo (Deli Heaven). His hand pushes the door inward and is quickly greeted by the waitresses who considered him as their favorite, regular customer since he goes there frequently. He quickly takes a table nearby and was quickly attended by a waitress of pink hair with either side of her head having braids intertwined with red ribbons matching her scarlet red eyes. Her braids only reaching to her neck because they become tied into two pigtails reaching below her butt with her messy bangs framing her face.
"Good morning, sir!" She cheerfully greets him, "May I take your order?" She continues with a cute smile.
"I'll have my usual, Cecilly." He answers in a monotone manner. His chin rests on his knuckles with his elbow on the table. He apparently was glum. She just nods without saying anything. She goes back to the counter wondering what was bugging him. He wasn't usually like that. More like never. . . he always goes there with a cheerful attitude.
"Lasagna for Table Seven, please." She says. She glances back at Pace. He seemed as glum as ever. He evidently was having a hard time hiding it. Well, he could never hide his feelings, actually. She turns back to the counter wondering if she should ask what was wrong and cheer him up.
She attends to the other customers as Pace's order was being prepared. It wasn't long until it was finally finished and she hurried to deliver Pace's lasagna before any other waitress does. Eager to find out what was weighing on his shoulders. His heart somewhat lifted at the sight of the lasagna and he quickly starts gobbling it up. She looked at him with a concerned face as she watched him eat.
"What's wrong, Cecilly?" he asks, noticing her serious expression while he swallows a spoonful of lasagna. She sighs before answering him.
"No," she replies, "it's just that--I was wondering what was bugging you," she quickly says shutting her eyes at the moment. He looks at her with a surprised expression, "You don't usually come here glum." She continues.
He sighs, "Sorry. It's just that we had this new member. . ." Cecilly becomes surprised that Pace didn't actually hesitate to give light on the reasons of him being glum.
"So, you don't want a new FEMALE member??" she suddenly replies angrily. "How selfish could he be?? Women could do it, too! Not to mention that there's that red-headed girl there!"
"No, no!" Retorts Pace, realizing that she got the wrong idea, "I mean that--sorry I said the wrong words. I mean I--we had a terrible first impression." He replies, partially covering his face in embarrassment.
"Ah," she replies becoming the 'cute' girl again, "Then make up with her. Apologize to her and start over."
"I--I dunno. She's kinda scary, especially with her mood swings. Yet she has this alluring aura around her every time she smiles," he replies, "Come to think of it. . . she doesn't seem to fly away from my mind."
The waitress chuckles at his statement, "What? What's so funny?" He says.
She shakes her head, "No, it's nothing. . . Isn't it obvious?" He looks at her with a blank look, "Don't you get it? Sheesh, men are oblivious about everything!" She continues, followed by a chuckle, "Don't you feel sort of fluttery or your heart races every time you see her?" He looks down realizing that his heart does race when he sees her.
"Am I that obvious? "
"Yeah," she says, chuckling in between, "I could tell by just looking at you." Replies the waitress with an amused tone.
"What should I do? She's so. . ."
"Pretty?" she says in a joking manner. But Pace seemed serious, "What she's really that pretty??"
Pace only blushes at her statement. Cecilly softly chuckles, covering her mouth, "Why do women always have to do the first move?" She said to herself. She looks at him who only looked sad as ever. She quickly realizes the she said her thoughts out loud.
"Ahh! My sincere apologies! I didn't m--"
"No, it's okay. It's true. I can't seem to do anything right." He rests his chin on his knuckles and sighs. Cecilly feels guilty of making him feel bad than better. She holds her chin and starts pondering on making things better.
"Hey. If you want to feel better, sitting around won't help. You have to make your move and not depend on the woman in doing so," she says with her hands on her hips, "Women are like flowers, treat them well and they'll bloom. But take remember that if that girl's really that attractive, many men will go after her and you won't stand a chance. I can't help, but feel jealous." She continues followed by a soft chuckle.
He chuckles along with her, "I don't know. . . what if I'm not her type--no, I'm really not her type. . ." He replies with a worried face.
"Hahaha, don't worry about that. What should really matter to a woman is the character of the man if he's worth being with aside from his looks. . ." she says while making gestures, "Because if she's a wonderful girl then she would't chase after men because of their looks. You should do the same, too."
"She's unpredictable." He complains, throwing his hands up.
"Then why are you going after her when you just keep complaining about her unexpected qualities and such and such?!" She says in a scolding manner. She sighs.
"I dunno. . ." He says and pokes his lasagna with his fork.
"Is that all he can say. . ?" She thought.
"Nah, she's just playing hard to get," she quickly replies, "I guess that she knows that simple women are what men usually go after--wait a minute. . ." She continues while holding her chin. Pace watches her in surprise, wondering what she was suspecting.
"Oy, Cecilly!" Calls out a female co-worker, interrupting Cecilly's thoughts, "Now's not the type for chit-chat!" She continues while pointing at the increasing number of customers.
"Well, look at the time I gotta get going. Good day to you, sir!" She says and starts walking away.
"Uh, thank you!" He calls out and quickly finishes his lasagna before running out. Her eyes follow him as he dashes out of the front door. She smiles as he disappears. She softly chuckles as she thought, "I'd like to meet this girl and see what she's really like." She turns and returns to her work. She felt her heart REALLY beat with a twinge of jealousy.
********
"You think that's all of them?" Says a patrolman (Arcana member) as he watched the others tie up the thugs.
"Yup, that's all of them."
"Good work, everyone!"
"You did a great job. But next time wait for orders." scolds an older member facing Angelica.
"I apologize." Replies Angelica, making a small bow, smiling a little, happy that even when she didn't wait for orders she did a good job. They have just rounded up the all robbers who were robbed a small shop in broad daylight which was quite peculiar. How could anyone dare to rob a shop at this time? She wondered if this was frequent in Regalo. After all she stayed there for only a short time.
Thanks to Angelica's quick reflexes they quickly caught the thieves. The thieves' faces bore horrified faces as they watched Angelica give them their first blow. The other patrol members were in awe after they had assisted her in catching the thieves who were now being brought to the Regalo prison. She was quite good for a rookie.
"Let's go." Says the older member from before as they continued with their patrol. Angelica follows as all the men started walking up ahead. As they passed an alleyway, Angelica felt a huge gloved hand cover her mouth and drag her into the alley.
Angelica grunts as she struggles to break loose from the man's strong arms. She claws on the mysterious man's skin in desperation, hoping that he'd let go.
"Is he one of them??" She thought.
His hand was still covering her mouth, so she couldn't shout for help. She felt helpless as he dragged her deeper and deeper into the alley, causing her to fight harder to break loose. He only grunts at the sharp pain, but he was patiently enduring all the while. It wasn't long until they entered a house from the back door. She wondered what the man could possibly want from her. The house seemed abandoned because of the sight of wooden planks outside the windows. She notices that they were heading towards a staircase. She quickly thought that it might be the best opportunity for her to escape from his grasp.
As expected, he was heading for the staircase. As he started dragging her up she stuck her foot out and into the railing making some sort of anchor of herself and makes a strong twist, causing him to lose balance and fall down the stairs while she cling-ed to the railing. He groans. He looks up and sees her already up and in a fighting pose, ready for him in other words. He, too, gets up.
"What is it that you want?" She says with an angry, yet a concerned tone can be heard from her words.
**********
"Pace, have you heard of the robbery this morning?" Asks Pace's partner.
"Yeah, we should be heading there now."
"You should've said something about it, instead of hurrying to someplace I don't know," says Pace's partner, "I was starting to wonder if you've heard about it or not."
"Sorry."
"Don't worry. Just forget it."
"Well, what happened here exactly?" asks Pace.
"The thieves were apparently taking some antique items from that old shop over there," answers his partner, "Though what they were taking weren't actually that much of a significance."
"Hm. . ." Says Pace while rubbing his chin, "That's weird. What are they aiming at?"
********
"I want you. . ." the man starts, "to realize that even if you escaped the other day--" Angelica stiffens, "doesn't mean that they'll leave you alone."
"You guys never give up." Replies Angelica, "Wait a minute. . . They? Aren't you one of them?? Don't pretend I don't know you!"
"No. Not anymore I'm not," he replies, surprising Angelica, "I'm trying to help you. You have to get out of here!"
"Those guyse never give up," she says pissed, "And no. . . I'm not gonna run away. Not anymore. I'm not going to abandon the people who gave me shelter and food. If they're coming for me I'll be ready to face them."
"Don't be so confident!" Shouts the man.
"I SAID that I'm not going to abandon these people. If they'll go after them for sheltering me, I'm not going to let them do that while I'm around." She insists.
"Are you even listening??"
"Thank you for your concern, "says Angelica walking past him and towards the door, "But I'm gonna stay here whether you like it or not. . . but only for now. So, please do not worry." She says and walks out. He watches her walk down the alley and disappear.
He sighs in frustration, "Don't say I didn't warn you, Angelica."
********
Angelica for the rest of the afternoon stayed by the seaside. Watching the seagulls enjoy the wind. The waves pounding on the docks. She sighs. She remembers the man's words. She thought that it was kind of him for doing such a favor, but decides that she'll have wait it out first. She just sits and stands from time to time. But soon enough the sun was already setting. She smiles. Awed by the beauty of the art in the sky.
"Angelica?" Says a feminine voice. Angelica whirls around at the sound of her name.
There standing before her was a girl wearing a green dress with laces on the neckline and by her sleeves and on the hem of her dress. It had a corset as well. Looking closer, she realizes that the girl had pink hair tied into two pigtails and was matched with red eyes. Angelica quickly stood up, evidently shocked.
"Angelica, is that really you?" The girl says again. Their eyes start swelling with tears. They run to each other with open arms and start sobbing, "Where have you been? All this time I have been wondering all these years. . ."
"Cecilly, I'm so glad that you're okay. . ." Angelica interrupts her. Cecilly starts sobbing harder. They embrace each other harder.
~~~~~~
Hi guys! Hope this chapter intrigued you and also made you curious about these girls' past together.
I'm very happy that you like my book. But I noticed that only a few are constantly faithful to continue on. I sorta feel discouraged right now. So, I decided that I won't post the next chapter until this chapter at least reaches 20 readers. Okay? 20 readers. Could you guys boost me up by telling your friends to read this book?
Just imagine this picture: Imagine a human body. Okay you got that. My role as an author is simply just the bones. Just the bones, remember that. So, without the muscles the bones can't hold themselves up, right? And the readers and fans are the muscles. Got that picture, right. Okay you did.
A book cannot be famous and popular without the help of the fans and readers. So, please help me. Please tell your friends.
So, yeah. Guys, please help me if you really want to read the next chapters. Okay, thank you very much for reading this book!!!
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-BalladPhoenix with love :)