Being a scatterbrain, I had walked further than I had originally planned. Soon, the roads began to look foreign to me, so I headed back.
“You ugly devil! You look like an illegal immigrant. You stink like the trash you belong in!” A chorus of jeering voices came from an alley nearby. Curious, I inched forward for a closer look.
I caught sight of a gang of delinquents surrounding a man on the floor. They looked to be dropouts, around fifteen or sixteen years of age.
One of them held up a bucket of unknown contents. “Make way, make way. The main course is here!” he yelled excitedly.
The boys scattered as the bucket-toting boy emptied its contents onto the man on the floor. In an instant, he was drenched from head to toe.
The boys shouted with laughter.
I frowned with disapproval. The man on the ground had his head between his knees. He looked to be of a strong build, but his clothes were torn and ripped. His most striking feature was the darkness of his skin.
He looked like a harmless, homeless man to me. The kids appeared to have more plans to drench him, so I yelled out “The cops are coming!”
They were children, after all. At the sound of my voice, they bolted.
When it was silent all around again, the man on the ground slowly looked up. His gaze was cold, but he gave no indication that he had been bullied.
I froze in shock when I recognized him. Danny again! How did he end up like this?
After a brief deliberation, I walked in to the alley.
At the sound of my footsteps, he turned to look and froze in surprise at the sight of me.
“Are… are you alright?” I asked as I don’t know what else to say.
Danny looked away and squeezed the extra water out of his shirt. “I am fine!” he answered brusquely.
I took a deep breath as I felt some sorrow in my heart.
I fingered my purse and took out all of the money that I had. It wasn’t much, but I gave it all to Danny. I’d even included my phone number. “This is for you. My number’s here, if you need my help, feel free to call me.”
He did not reach out to take it, but kept his eyes fixed on me. I placed the money and my number on the ground next to him and left promptly.
It wasn’t that I was being compassionate or anything, but during my time in Venria, Danny had aided me and allowed concessions despite not doing them so openly. Without him and his kindness, I may not even have made it back here alive.
A cab took me back to the villa, where I found Ashton reading in the yard. He ignored me and remained absorbed in his book.
It was noon. I wandered to the kitchen and found lots of food in the kitchen.
I took some out and whipped up a quick meal for myself. After that, I went upstairs to the bedroom. I originally planned to do some light reading but I fell asleep due to exhaustion.
Several hours later, I woke up and realized groggily that it was already late afternoon. The remnants of my lunch had been cleared away.
There was nobody in the villa. I sat for a while in the living room and returned upstairs soon after. I’d been sleeping the entire day and I had no desire to continue.
The sky grew dark, thunder growled threateningly. Before long it had begun raining again. The gale swept the fine mist indoors and plummeted the temperature inside the villa.
Summer called to tell me what had happened in her day at school; it was the little things that bothered children. I let her speak until she tired herself out.
I hung up soon after. After a day and a half spent sleeping, I wasn’t able to fall asleep in a hurry. My mind on inspecting the Lavelian Village project the following day, I texted Rachel and Marcus to inform them of the inspection tomorrow.
It was midnight when the sound of an engine came from below. I knew it was Ashton without looking. Since we have not been on the best of terms these few days, it would be better for us both if I dropped off to sleep quickly to avoid a confrontation.
The door opened and shut, followed by the flick of the switch of the bedside lamp. The tap in the bathroom came on and then off. Finally, the bed on his side sank as it bore his weight.
Suddenly, I felt my waist being hugged with Ashton’s breathing in my ear. I didn’t expect him to. Maybe he felt something different about me today.
“You’re not asleep?” he said quietly.
I sighed as the pretense fell apart. “No,” I whispered.
The bedside lamp was still on. Ashton flipped me around to face him. It’s a good sign that we haven’t fought yet. “Let’s talk about things?” he asked.
