ONE HUNDRED AND TWO

ANISHA'S POV

If it were possible to freeze time, I would have frozen it at that moment. Sitting next to Dylan, our bodies very close, our fingers inter-locked, our breathing in sync with each other, I became the happiest woman in the universe. I wanted it to last forever. I wanted that moment to remain until eternity. I felt at peace. I was happy.

"And here we are," Dylan finally broke the silence, "confessing our love for each other while sitting at the bathroom door." We both laughed.

Besides letting out the nervous laughter, I had no idea what else to say or do. I just hoped that Dylan was going to say something. I mean, he had to. He is the man, and he should say something, right? Should I say anything at all? No. I will remain silent.

As if he was reading my thoughts, he sat up and turned to look at me, "Anisha Meyerton, you started off as a mystery girl at Olga Children's Home. And you soon became the girl I lived for. I literally lived for you. I lived for the first Thursday of each month. You moved from becoming the girl at Olga, to becoming Anisha, after I asked Ms Meyerton to tell me your name. And when I lost you, I was shattered. I thought about you every single day, until the day I met you again. You became my warehouse partner; during that torture which we both went through. You became my friend, and my housemate. We have gone through all those steps together, taking it one step at a time, each step bringing us closer and closer to each other. With your permission, I would like us to take this one more step further, Anisha? Anisha Meyerton, will you be my girlfriend?..."

I froze and did not move an inch. My heart felt like it was just going to explode and pop out and even run off on its own. I needed to calm myself down. I prayed that he was not going to press me any further for me to say anything. He has already read Valentina's message which I sent to him in error. Why then should he keep talking about this? Why can't he just let this issue rest for now? We both love each other, we don't need to talk about it now…

"Anisha, I really do love you."

"I….I…well, you read what I wrote to Valentina!" my voice was suddenly shaky again. I pulled my hand from his, and clutched my palms on my chest, as if I was feeling cold…

"Are you feeling cold?" he asked in concern.

"N…no. I…I just want to sleep now."

He stood up and led me towards the bed. I sat on the bed and the billionaire neatly covered my feet and sat on the side of the bed, facing me. I failed to raise my eyes to face him, so I kept my eyes fixed on my fingers. I wanted him to leave. Yes, my entire heart and soul wanted him there with me, yet another part of me, the shy part, felt that it was better if he left. I preferred it that way. After saying a few more sweet things, he stood up and left the room, switching off the light on his way out.

"He loves me too! He loves me!" I said to myself, smiling widely to myself. I pulled the duvet cover over my head and fidgeted in great excitement. "Now I have a boyfriend. Dear Lord, may he be my first and last! I don't think I can ever love anyone else as much as I love this man!" I chuckled to myself.

***

My confirmation sealed the deal, for when I woke up in the morning, I was unable to hold in any longer. And I had to tell the man that I was happily accepting to be an official girlfriend to him. It was the greatest day of my life, I guess. Valentina needed to know it all, and I called her. She screamed so loud that for a moment I thought that my eardrum was going to explode. To Valentina, the experience was not new, for she had had two boyfriends before. She therefore began to go

My life had become very beautiful; more than it had ever been. I was the happiest lady around. My job was perfect; with perfect workmates, very supportive and helpful. My home life was more than perfect. Daily I spoke to Valentina; she too was doing well. Ms Meyerton was fine, I spoke to her four to five times a week. I could not have asked for more.

It crossed my mind one day, while I was sitting alone, that Pastor Everdeen had made a request on his dying bed. The thought haunted me. Was it OK to ignore it? Was it not proper and humane to try and act upon it; even if we failed to get anything? I needed that satisfaction that we tried to look for Amelia, but we failed. That was what I wanted to make my heart peaceful. I kept telling myself that the pastor trusted us enough to pour out the biggest secret of his heart; and it would be inconsiderate of us to totally ignore it; although the man was no longer alive to see what we did of it.

"Dylan, I plan to go back to Hallowcave when we have our school break. I need to do just a bit of research on Amelia Reshell. I promise you, if I don't find her, I won't ever look for her again." I told him.

"Honestly, I had secretly hoped that you would just drop the Hallowcave issue. My heart doesn't want you to go, Anisha. I'm used to having you around." He said in a pitiful voice.

"Dylan, are you even listening to yourself? We have to! At least one of us has to!! Remember pastor Everdeen! Oh, he was such a nice gentleman, it's so sad that he had to die. And Dylan, have you forgotten how he pleaded with us? He pleaded over and over for us to try and find Amelia, and pass on his message to her. Who knows, maybe that apology will be very meaningful and in a way change Amelia's life! It's the least we can do for the late pastor, Dylan!"

"I guess you're right.", the man shrugged his shoulders and patted the seat next to him, as a way of telling me to seat there.

I looked at him and as usual, my heart felt very happy. For a moment I was already lost in fantasies, until Dylan spoke. His voice brought me back to my surroundings, and I turned to look at him. Not straight in the eyes, of course. I shifted my gaze slightly downwards. I feared that if I looked at him right in his eyes, I would sell out on how wildly in love with him I was. Now that part needed to be kept in.

"Let's go somewhere nice and have tonight." he stated casually.

"Oh! Dinner! That would be nice." I responded. "Where are we going?"

"You will see," he stood up to pick his car keys, since it was already time for him to leave for work.

***.

Our dinner was at Oakley. I had never been to such a place before. Funny enough, I was born and grew up in Southrain, yet never had I known that there was a place called Oakley. It was too fancy. Dylan and I walked in, and we were greeted by a waiter and waitress, who seemed to know Dylan very well. They led us to a private lounge, where everything was exceptionally set. Two fancy chairs faced each other with a table in the centre. A huge vase with sky blue flowers was there, together with many other decorative ornaments. Most of the decorations were in different shades of blue. I hesitated and stood by the door, before Dylan gave my hand a slight pull. Slowly I walked in, and asked him, "who did this? Who decorated the place?"

"I hired someone to do this", he smiled.

Pulling out a chair for me, Dylan motioned for me to sit. I was speechless. Never in my life had I ever seen a room so beautifully decorated.

"These are my colours," I whispered.

"I know. When we were in that warehouse, I once asked you what colour you like, and you said blue, in all its shades." Dylan smiled.

"Oh yes, I never thought you would remember that!" I exclaimed.

"How could I forget", Dylan sat down opposite me and took my hand in his.

The meal was exceptionally good; it was way above what I had expected. We did not talk much as we enjoyed the meal, although I was very much on the edge. The change that my life was taking was moving at too fast a pace. If it was a race, I believe I would have been miles ahead of others; running at the speed of lightning.

When our table was cleared, I excused myself to use the restroom. As I walked in, a very familiar lady was entering one of the cubicles. The body shape, the hair, the height…I immediately knew who it was.

"Arianna!" I called out excitedly. There was no response.

"Arianna!" I called out again, but still there was silence. Part of my heart told me to just let it go, but I was more than sure that I had seen Arianna. But then, why was she ignoring me? I went in to one of the cubicles and as soon as I closed the door, I heard the toilet flushed, and hurriedly footsteps ran out. Without even stopping to wash their hands at the sink, the person was already headed out.

Since I was still standing, I cracked open the door only to see the lady's back disappearing from out of view. I was one hundred percent sure that it was Arianna.

When I went back to Dylan, I asked him if Arianna was also at the same place as us, and he said he did not think so.

"I think I saw her. But she didn't want to talk to me. I called her a few times, she did not respond. But I am very certain about the person I saw just now. It really is Arianna", I said.

Dylan laughed. "If it was Arianna, she would have definitely spoken to you! You and I both know how Arianna is like!"

I intended to keep talking about the issue, but Dylan, who seemed to have more important things to talk about, took my hand in his and began to tell me what a precious human being I was.