I have found someone else

Hands tucked inside his pants' pockets, Mac stared at various flavors and types of desserts placed on the display. Handfuls of alternatives were making it hard for him to pick the item.

The sudden ring on his cell phone interrupted him and, still staring at the display, he fetched his phone from his pocket.

Pressing the answer key, he pulled the phone closer to his ear, before asking, "What dessert do you want, and what flavors?"

"Um! Suddenly, I don't want to have anything, that is why I am calling you," a young female voice came from the other side of the phone.

"What do you mean?" Mac scrunched his face, already getting pissed off. Trying not to lose his temper, he added, "Just a while ago you asked me to pick a dessert and now you are refusing. Don't taste my patience, Luna Noble."

"I have no interest in tasting your bitter patience, Mac Noble. Return home," she instructed.

Rolling his eyes, he grumbled, "Like, really? I pulled over in this downpour just for you and now you are saying this. I don't even know how I am going to cross the road without an umbrella. You know very well I don't like to get wet in the rain."

"May the moon goddess bless you, my elder brother. Mom is looking forward to your presence, so hurry back home," she said, before hanging up the call.

Gritting his teeth, he gripped the phone tight and furiously shoved it back into his pocket.

"Do you need any help with picking the item?" asked the sales assistant from behind the array.

"No thank you," he replied, before turning around and marching to the door.

"But why?" she shouted in haste, sacred her gaze might have made him back off.

Without replying, he exited the place. Wondering how to cross the road, he surveyed the area in search of a backup plan.

Then his eyes fell on a person who was standing in front of the bakery, with her face raised.

"Ptf! What a waste?" he grumbled, seeing her umbrella dangling upside down in her hand.

With no second thought, he strode to her and called out, "Excuse me!"

"Hmm!'' When she replied, he felt her voice melodious and soothing to hear.

Shaking his head right to left, he snapped himself out of his thoughts and, clearing his voice, he asked, "If you don't need an umbrella, can you borrow it?"

Thinking she might refuse and he would fight for it, he was preparing his words, but to his surprise, she extended her umbrella towards him.

'Is she serious?' Puzzled at her easygoing character, he took the umbrella and tried to take a glance at her face, but with the occurrence of sudden lighting, she squatted, covering her ears.

It didn't take him long to realize that she was scared of thunder. Shortly after skimming at the umbrella that he got from her with no effort, he tossed it aside and crouched beside her.

With a roar, when the thunderbolt hit the ground, Mac wrapped his hand around her, trying to make her feel safe. When she was in his arms, he felt his heart thumping out loud and a strange kind of bliss wrapping his veins and heart.

Finding her flinching at the sound, he griped her tight, whispering, "It's alright! I am here for you."

Then, in a moment when his eyes met hers on the reflection, suddenly he felt his world coming to halt. The beauty she had drove him to another dimension where the curiosity of knowing who she was born.

However, they were not able to get lost for long, as the horn of the car snapped them out of their thoughts and they both pulled away in haste.

"I… I…" she stammered, growing nervous.

She seemed to say the words of gratitude but was going out of words.

"Are… Are you alright?" Mac tried to help her with words.

Nodding, she looked sideways, trying to hide her flushed face. Then the wound in her hand caught his attention.

"Your forehead… Why is it wounded?" 

She took a glance at him with her big eyes as if he had said something very shocking. He could see her gulping hard.

He then grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the shelter. He took his handkerchief out, and extended it to wipe her forehead. But she dodged back.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," he assured her.

Finally, when she let him wipe the dampness around her wound, he took a closer look before announcing, "Thankfully, the cut is not deep enough to leave the scar."

"Here! Hold this," he suggested, handing her his hanky.

Then, taking out his wallet, he searched for Beth and was quick enough to notice a picture of a beautiful woman tucked inside his wallet. And suddenly she wanted to know who the lucky lady was to get into such a gentleman's wallet.

Taking out a handiplast, he ripped its packet before pasting it on her wound.

Raising his brows, he inquired, "You want something to eat, right?"o

She didn't meet his gaze when she shook her head right to left.

"You handed me your umbrella with no reluctance. So, you don't need to hesitate if you need anything," he implied.

"It's not…"

He interrupted, "Let me get you something."

Not waiting to hear from her, he rushed into the bakery.

Seeing him return, the sales assistant asked with a big smile on her face, "Welcome back, sir. What would you like to have?"

Scanning the desserts, he questioned, "Is that blueberry pastry?"

"Yes, sir! It's eggless pastry!"

"Get me one!"

Shortly after, he returned with the packet. He was astounded to find her nowhere. Only her umbrella was lying on the ground.

Picking up the umbrella with a heavy heart, he was about to walk away when, suddenly, he noticed something engraved on its handle that read, 'To my Beloved Beth!'

"Why are you wet when you have an umbrella?" Luna inquired, just after Mac stepped inside the house.

Mac, who was home after a beautiful encounter with Beth, hung the umbrella on the stand and walked to his room with no response. The disappointment of making him roam the bakery was still wafting around his head, and this made him turn a blind eye to his sister.

Halfway to his room, he suddenly came to a halt and looked over his shoulder.

Seeing Luna about to touch the umbrella, he shouted, "Luna, don't!"

Startled, she withdrew her hand and glanced at him in surprise.

"What happened? Why are you shouting?" she whined.

With no answer, he marched towards her. Biting her lower lips, she stared at him in nervousness.

"I am really sorry, Brother Mac. I didn't want to trouble you. I was just…" she paused, as he grabbed the umbrella and made his way back to his room.

Tucking her hands on her hips, she grumbled, "Seriously? I was just going to dry that umbrella. You didn't have to be that mean."

Dropping the pastry bag on the tea table, he silently walked upstairs and went to his room. Placing the umbrella beside the door, he entered the washroom, and shortly after, he stepped out in a comfy set of silk pajamas.

Sitting on the edge of his king-sized bed, he grabbed his wallet and took out the picture of a lady.

Staring at the picture for a while, he turned on the lighter and burned it. The fire spread from the face of the lady, turning from red to black and then to grey ash.

When it got to the tip of his fingers, he dropped it. Only a small piece of the picture reached the floor as others soared away.

After an hour, he settled on the dining table alongside his mother Lucy, around her late forties, and Luna, his sister in her sweet sixteen. Beside Lucy stood a butler, Nate serving them the meal.

The surroundings around them were completely engulfed in silence. Even Luna was not speaking a thing, compared to other days. She seemed determined not to piss off her brother more.

"When is she coming to meet us?" Halfway through the meal, Lucy broke the silence. "I am looking forward to seeing her in person."

Knowing who she was talking about, Mac replied in a cold tone, "She is not coming."

Getting alarmed at his answer, Lucy asked, "Why?"

Grabbing the tissue paper, he wiped his lips before replying, "Because we are no longer together."

Resting the spoon on the bowl, Lucy narrowed her eyes. "How can that be possible? She was your…"

Getting irritated, he interrupted, "Mom, please, I don't want to talk about her."

Stiffly, Lucy nodded and took the spoon again.

As she slurped the lotus rib soup, he added, "You don't have to worry about me. I am fine. Besides, I have found someone else."

Both Lucy and Luna darted at him with wide shocked eyes.

"And who she is?" asked Lucy, raising her brows.

"BETH!"