Halia's Wish

Halia stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She couldn't believe that she had shared the bed with a man last night. Even though nothing happened between them, it was something she had never done before. She had only ever had a boyfriend in senior high and that relationship got as far as holding hands. Jackson wasn't even her boyfriend yet and not only had they shared a bed, they even kissed!

Halia blushed as she quickly got changed into a cropped top and a pair of ripped jeans that Max had brought the previous day.

She then brushed her teeth and stepped back out into the lab. However, the lab was oddly quiet. Halia looked around and couldn't find Jackson anywhere. But, the place wasn't that big, where did he go?

At that moment, some footsteps could be heard coming from the stairs. Halia quickly looked up and heard some singing, "Happy birthday to you..."

Max, Kevin and Rowan had arrived with a cake and Jackson was leading them down the stairs. It was a scrumptious-looking chocolate cake with candles on top.

Halia was surprised. How did they know?

While Halia stared at the cake in surprise, Jackson suddenly grabbed her hand and placed a bracelet on her wrist.

Actually, when he saw her profile the previous day, he had spotted her birthday. But, of course, he couldn't let her know that.

"Max noticed some birthday coupons had been slipped into your mail when he went to your place. We weren't sure which day your birthday was, but we knew it was some time this week. I told him to buy a cake for you, I hope you like it," Jackson quickly lied.

Halia smiled as tears formed in her eyes, "It's today. Thank you." For the past month, everything in her life had been fake. But...this moment suddenly felt very real. This cake was real, her birthday was real and, as she stared at Jackson, she realized, her feelings for this man was also real.

It was a frightening thing to admit to. Especially when she knew that he was a criminal and there was no future for them if he planned to remain that way.

Halia looked down at the bracelet on her wrist. It was made of a silver metal and there was a little love heart pendant on it. On the heart, there was an odd dotted texture. It seemed, this bracelet was hand-made. "Did you make this?" Halia asked.

Jackson nodded his head. They had not left the lab since yesterday, so, while Halia was asleep, he had secretly slipped out of bed and made this bracelet from some metal and chain he found. "I'll get you a proper bracelet after we leave this place," he promised.

Halia shook her head. "No, I like this a lot," she said.

As she glanced down at the bracelet, Halia was both happy and sad. Of course, she loved this present. But, the person that gave it to her was heading down the wrong path and she was struggling to stop him.

"Halia, make a wish," he said as he handed her the cake.

Halia looked at Jackson and felt her heart ache. "Jackson, I have one wish, can you make it come true?" she asked.

Jackson looked at the woman. What was her wish? How did he have the ability to make it come true?

Halia took a deep breath and clasped her hands together, "I wish that Jackson won't go to the deal with Remy. I wish for him to quit his job as an arms dealer and lead a normal life."

Jackson looked at Halia in surprise. It was her birthday and there were so many things she could wish for, yet she was worried about him...

...

Meanwhile, inside his car, Sean had just received a response to his request to track Halia's phone, "Sorry, the phone seems to be switched off or in a location where there is no reception."

"F*ck!" Sean swore.

He then checked the tracker on the hairclip he previously gave Halia. The hairclip was at Halia's home. Was she still home? Did she not see his message, perhaps?

Sean quickly started his car and rushed over to Halia's apartment.

As soon as he got to her apartment, he started ringing the doorbell frantically. There was a bad feeling in his gut. The last time someone went missing like this, it was Sara, and he still remembered how it felt to discover that she was dead. He had already lost Sara, he couldn't lose Halia as well.

"Halia!" he started yelling. "Are you in there?"

At that moment, the neighbour peeked out from behind her door. Another strange man had come looking for Halia.

"Are you a friend of Halia's?" she asked.

"Yes, have you seen her?" Sean quickly asked.

"Well, according to a friend of hers, she's on a business trip for another 3 days."

"Did you see this friend?" Sean questioned curiously.

"Yes, she gave him her keys and told him to feed her dog. I saw him yesterday and he'll be coming again today," the woman answered.

Sean felt a little relieved. If something bad had happened to her, she wouldn't have time to worry about feeding her dog. It didn't make sense. But, who was this friend?

"Do you know what time he'll be here?" Sean asked as he looked at his watch.

"2pm," the woman replied.