Isabelle

The charred wood crumbled under my feet as I walked into the place that once was my workplace. The voices of laughter and memorable conversations that took place under this roof echoed into my ears while my teary vision took in the blackened state of the walls and burned furniture. My eyebrows furrowed deeper as the vision suddenly began to change and the voices were overlapped by new, yet familiar voices.

"Ella, sweetheart, get ready! Sean will be here to pick you up." A soothing voice called out, hearing which a tear rolled out from my left eye. A smoky figure began to appear in front of me. I couldn't see it clearly, but I know who it was. "Mom!" I called out in a whisper. My throat was blocked by heavy bile. I couldn't speak loudly, I wanted to. I wanted to call out to her. Instead, I raised my arm to touch her soft skin once again. But before I could do that, the smoky figure was being carried away by a gust of wind. My eyes widened and I desperately tried to reach out to her. "Mom!" I yelled but she was gone, again.

My hand clenched my chest to calm down my erratic beating heart and I tried to focus on my labored breathing. My eyes moved to the open window in my room that threw in the shine of the moon. The curtains swaying gently with the wind reminded me of my mother's hair. "I miss you!" I mumbled under my breath while reminiscing about the gentle smile that she gave me before flying away.

Getting out of my bed, I walked into the kitchen to get myself a glass of cold water. Normally after a bad dream, I have a cup of hot chocolate that I drink after cooling it down but my body was too tired to make some for myself. Wiping the sweat off of my forehead I walked towards the backyard to take a moment of fresh air. The dream right now was like a crack on the door of my past. Memories were beginning to flood my mind, memories that I wanted to bury deep inside my mind.

A long sigh escaped my lips when the cool air touched the sweat on my body giving me shivers which distracted me momentarily. As I was taking a sip of the cold water I heard a voice call me. Startled, I began to choke on my water. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you." Vernon said while gently patting my back. "It's alright," I said after catching my breath. I rubbed my nose that was now tickling after being choked on water. "What are you doing so late at night?" He asked me. Vernon walked around me and sat down beside me on the bench. " Couldn't sleep." I simply replied. "I heard what happened," Vernon said. He leaned back and lifted his one leg to rest it on the bench while his body moved to face me. The moon now illuminated his left features. I suddenly noticed something under his eye. I squinted my eyes to take a better look at it. It looked like a brown line, but it was still a bit unclear. Before I could ask him more, he spoke. "So now what are you going to do?" He asked.

"About?" I asked, straightening my back. "Your job. The cafe is now burned down." He answered. "I don't know," I replied by taking a sip of my water as my throat was now burning. "I don't like repeating things but I hope you remember my offer from the morning." He said. My eyes squinted at him, why was he so adamant about me having that job? But then I remembered that Stephanie was the one who asked him. Of course, he will ask me because he loves his mother. "If you don't like to repeat things then why are you doing it now?" I asked.

"I want to have you closer to me." He answered. My eyes jerked back to his face in shock. What did he just say? "I don't know you at all and I need to keep an eye on you because my mother seems to like you." He added. My heart that had picked up a pace calmed down hearing his words. After a long exhale, to ease my nerves, I thought over his words. "I am not going to murder your mom," I said, offended by his reason. "You have severe trust issues," I added before he could reply. I waited for a minute for his reply but it never came. I too decided to drop the topic because I was neither going to accept his offer nor planning on staying here for long.

We both sat there in silence for quite sometime before he asked me a question that made my heart race again. "Do you know Victoria?" This time, however, my eyes stayed on the moon. I couldn't bring myself to look at him and answer this question because without a doubt I have to lie. "No!" I answered with a neutral voice but my eyes continued to blink rapidly, something I do when I lie. "Why would you ask that?" I asked, now looking at him. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were studying mine, Nevertheless, he answered "She was asking me quite a lot of questions about you." I shrugged and went back to gaze at the moon. My tongue was itching to ask several questions about her as well but it will only fuel his suspicion so I decided to stay quiet.

Another moment of silence passed between us two beforr Vernon stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. "It's getting late, I think you should go back to bed." He said. I nodded and stood up on my feet with the empty glass in my hand which was taken by Vernon. He insisted on keeping it away for me and bought me a bottle of water before disappearing upstairs.

When my eyes opened again, the sun was high up in the sky and the clock read close to noon. I showered and got dressed before walking outside to get something to eat when I saw Sean and Tyler sitting on the couch with Vernon and Stephanie. I noticed Victoria too but paid no more attention than a quick glance. "Sean!" I called out to grab his attention and smiled at his toothy grin. "Good morning sleepyhead." He greeted with a wink. "What are you doing here?" I asked while walking over to them. "I came to meet you when I found out about the cafe. We were just discussing that." He replied. Stephanie scooted over to make space for me. "You must be hungry. I'll grab you something." She said and stood up. I was too occupied with Sean to reply to her.

"So? What caused the fire?" I asked. "There was a short circuit." He replied. I looked at Tyler who had his eyes furrowed but didn't say anything. From his face, it seemed like he wasn't convinced as well. "Are you sure?" I asked. Last night after my dream I could not help but wonder if it was his doing. But that doesn't seem possible. He hasn't found me for over 7 years, how can he now? "Ella, it's just an accident," Sean said, having read the hidden meaning behind my words. I nodded "What about Oliver?" Sean sighed before moving his mouth to answer but Tyler spoke up first, "His injuries are severe. Doctors said to expect the worst." My heart dropped hearing that. I couldn't even imagine what Tyler must be going through. Oliver was a dear friend to him. Having to lose the cafe and almost losing his friend must be too much. I looked at Stephanie who was now back with a tray of iced latte and sandwiches. I mumbled my thanks and ate my food while listening to their conversation and successfully avoiding Victoria. 

After a short moment, Vernon had to leave for work and Sean was called out to his station. Tyler took the liberty of dropping Sean as he had his car up for servicing. "I have an urgent call to make, I'll be right back," Stephanie said as she stood up and walked away leaving me and Victoria alone.

I cleared my throat, having suddenly been enveloped in an awkward situation. I took the bite of my last sandwich and removed my phone to aimlessly scroll through. "How long are you staying here?" Victoria asked me. I looked at her while still chewing on the delicious sandwich. "Why?" I asked instead. "Just answer my question." She said in an irritated tone. "I'm not obligated to," I replied and went back to scrolling. From the corner of my eye, I saw Victoria getting up on her feet. "Just stay away from Vernon." She said. "I don't steal men," I replied with a sarcastic smile. Victoria exhaled angrily before storming out of the house. I watched as she left and answered Stephanie who just asked about her whereabouts. "She just left."

The day passed by with just me lounging around the house and being fed by Gia and Stephanie to a point I felt the need to go out for a walk to digest the heavily eaten food. As soon as I opened the door, an exhausted-looking Tyler was standing in front of me. "Tyler?" I asked with a frown. "You look awful," I commented. "Thanks!" He replied with a chuckle and brushed his fingers through his uncombed hair. "Come in, have dinner," I said to which he shook his head. "I have something to talk to you about." He said. "Okay, let's talk then."

"Let's go for a..."

"Walk!" I completed his sentence with a chuckle and closed the door behind me. Tyler too chuckled and together we walked outside under the orange sky. The birds seemed to fly back home as the sun bid its goodbye. The wind gently brushed against us as Tyler and I walked down the pavement. For a few moments, we were silent. Just embracing the calmness and walking further. I admitted to myself that this felt really comfortable. Having a walk with Tyler at the end of the day.

"Why are you smiling?" Tyler asked me. "Nothing, just thoughts," I answered.

"You wanted to say something?" I asked. "How did you know?" He asked in confusion. "You said earlier that you wanted to talk." I answered with a chuckle. I know there were lot of thoughts going inside his mind right now. I wanted to comfort him but I knew it wasn't my place to do so.

"Oliver is out of danger now." He said. "That's a relief." was my reply. A weight, that seemed to be on my stomach was suddenly lifted off. "The burns are severe though, will a long time to recover and his appearance is now..." He trailed off not being able to find a suitable word for it. "I understand." was the only thing I could say.

"Ella, I wanted to ask you something." He said after another few minutes of silence. "Ask," I replied.

"Now that the cafe is burned down, you don't have a job." He said to which I nodded in a way of agreement and encouragement to continue. "I was wondering whether you can come to my place to teach me how to cook? " Tyler asked. "You can do that until you find a real job." He quickly added. "I meant to ask you this last night but the thing happened." He said.

"Teach you cooking?" I asked again, a bit confused to hear it. "Don't you have maids or something to cook for you?" I asked. "No." was his only reply and he looked away. I could see it on his face that he didn't want me to ask any more questions so I didn't. I pondered my thoughts as we continued our walk and Tyler gave me my moment without interrupting me.

I had no job in hand right now which means I had no income as well. If I plan to move someplace else I needed to earn money as much as I could, also the fact that I have to think of future of two people now contributes. Although I have Vernon's offer for a real-high-paid job, I had more reasons to not take up his offer. On the other hand, Tyler's offer is giving me a source of income, doesn't matter how small it is, it's better than nothing. I asked Tyler for other details he would like to give me and he said that the pay would be the same as I used to get at the cafe and that I only have to come during the evenings for an hour or two.

"I'll do it." I gave Tyler my answer as I stood in front of the door to my current accommodation and chuckled at Tyler's smile. "Thank you! I'll see you tomorrow then." He said.

"Tomorrow!" 

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Hey guys! Long time no see!

I hope you like this chapter and I'm planning on getting towards the climax by the end of this month (hopefully)

I know the late updates are a turn off but I'm trying my best, I hope you guys understand.

Lots of love,
Aastha.