Pain in the ass called Lucas

"Have you experienced that?"

This time, Noah looked at her intently, "Every time. Every life. It's just a cycle."

"I knew it! You love girls, don't you? You're a person who can't stand not being in a relationship. Is that why the ladies around here are talking about you? Have you gone through them one by one?!" Auden innocently shouted as if what she found was a eureka.

Noah frowned in confusion, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you said that you're heartbroken every time, every life you live," Auden argued.

"That's not what it's supposed to mean."

Auden smiled mischievously, while Noah remained frowning. "Whatever. I know I'm right." She stood up and walked past Noah, who instantly followed.

She felt a small pinch on her heart followed by another surge of annoyance. "I'm tired. Let's go home."

Defeated, Noah nodded and followed her to the cobblestone path.

"This is you," Noah announced as they stopped in front of her house. "Yeah, this is me."

Auden faced Noah and smiled teasingly, "So, Mr. Romeo, good night to you and your list of fine women." Noah frowned deeper, which drove her into a burst of laughter. "Kidding aside, thank you for tonight." She took a step forward, just enough to reach out to him. "You take good caution on your way home." She reached up and planted a kiss on his cheeks. "Bye, Noah."

Noah stood there for a good minute before he came back to reality. He touched his cheeks and smiled a little before leaving with a good memory from tonight. Knowing that Auden was not stepping on one of the platforms today was enough reason to be more than thankful.

On the other hand, Auden just left the window pane from watching Noah outside. She giggled before tossing herself onto the soft mattress. This night could never be better. She went into a rollercoaster of emotions.

Her heart hammered in giddiness. The moon exuded bright warm light over her darkroom. It was perfect contrasting moods.

Auden didn't bother changing before tucking herself to bed. Her body was too tired to function more, but her mind was as wild as a boar. She couldn't help but smile as she went back to what happened for the day. Her thinking soon sent her into the land of dreams with the same smile etched on her face.

The wind blew hard against the tree, and the streets were filled with swamp puddles. Auden woke up on a stormy day the following day. Thunderbolts of lightning swooshed right through the window. The sun hadn't even shone up yet.

Auden stood up and took her duvet cover to drape around her chilly body. Her clothes from the night before didn't help much to conceal the cold weather. She silently watched the leaves being blown by strong winds. It's either the cold weather made her want to sleep in or she's still tired from yesterday.

By the time little rays of sunshine decided to appear through thick rainclouds, she had prepared herself a small breakfast. It was a simple tea, eggs, and toast. Like the other mornings, she prepared herself to work. However, amidst the raging weather, her smile still couldn't get off of her lips.

"Good morning," she greeted one co-worker, "Good morning," and another, "Good morning Mrs. Jones," and a customer.

"Somebody's chirpy today. Not even flood and catastrophe can quake that," Olivia teased as she reached the counter. She smiled wider and settled herself in.

Unlike the other days, there were only a few customers. It could be because of the weather. The moment she opened her counter, Auden turned to face Olivia, who's been watching since she got there.

"So, what happened last night?" Olivia started the conversation. "Nothing much really," Auden responded, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

Olivia then raised her brow to show that she didn't believe what Auden said. "There's nothing to it. We just talked, ate, danced, then he walked me home. Maybe learned a couple few things about him, but nothing more."

Olivia ogled her eyes around Auden as if inspecting something. "Well said. Why are you so happy then?"

"Can't I be happy?" Auden retorted with a laugh. Olivia shook her head in response and chuckled.

That day, the weather didn't change much. The heavy rains stopped, but the sky still drizzled, and the winds still blew the same. The streets were filled with colorful raincoats and umbrellas from people braving the rainy day.

There were a few dull moments wherein they have no customer to serve. Auden was almost moping on her counter when a young gentleman in a drenched coat and boots entered the bakery shop. An employee quickly handed a white wool towel to the customer, who then proceeded towards Auden's counter.

A pitter-patter of water made a beeline from the door to her counter. It was enough to cause an accident.

"You can use the restroom to dry yourself; it's not good to catch a cold in this weather," she said while pointing at the end of the hall. "But for now, what can I help you with?"

The gentleman smiled back at her and eyed the menu board above while still drying himself with the given towel. Auden observed the man; she found him a new sight. She hadn't seen the man during her stay in Middel.

"Black coffee, please, and English breakfast meal." Auden punched the order into her register. "That would be ready in ten minutes. Can I get your name, please?" she asked nicely.

"Uh, sure. Damien," the gentleman answered while looking around the shop as if lost.

Auden looked at her order lists. "I'm sorry, sir, but we have another Damien in the order roll. Can I have your last name too, just to eliminate confusion when serving?"

"Grisvald. Damien Grisvald."

Auden looked up, narrowed her sight, and focused on the man. There was this eerie feeling about him she couldn't pinpoint.

"Excuse me?" the man replied in confusion. She might have stared for too long.

"I, uhm…I might have mistaken you for someone, my apologies. I'll call your name when your order's ready."

She took a deep breath as he watched Damien from far away. He didn't look like a troubled soul. Peace is written all over his face with a hint of innocence. But he exuded this scary aura that almost threw her off.

The day passed with a lot of thinking for Auden. That same day, she decided to go to the library to answer some of her questions.

The golden rays of the sun finally showed that very afternoon. The droplets of water from the morning glistened and glimmered against the light. Even a rainbow appeared darting towards the vast blue sky.

She took a deep breath before entering the library. From a corner was a map of the overall library. She looked for the place she should be visiting for answers. In the end, she chose to brave the life accounts record.

Auden walked past large shelves until she reached the farthest shelf. There she found columns by columns of records and names.

"Hi, can I help you?" A guy from behind spoke to her. She almost jumped from surprise. "I'm sorry. This place is filled with books from thousands and millions of years, you might need some help. I know everything that is in here," the stranger continued talking.

Auden turned to the stranger and found a tall, pale image with brown curly hair and intense green eyes. He looks just a tad bit older than her. "Hi, I'm Auden. Actually, I'm a new soul. Is there a place I can read more about Middel," she said.

The stranger smiled at her and led the way. "You can call me Lucas." She nodded and followed. Not far from where they were, are shelves painted in gold. These are the only shelves in a different material from the dark wood tones. "Just be careful; it's real gold," Lucas said while whispering the last parts of the sentence.

Auden's eyes widened in shock. Was this really made of gold? She eyed the twenty feet tall shelves. It was not the highest shelf inside the library, but pure gold made it impressive.

"Take this," Lucas handed her a hardbound book from the golden shelf. "This too," and another book, "This, this, and this." Auden took all the books, which made her lose her balance and fell to the ground.

Her fall caused a loud thud against the marble floor. She rubbed her back, which hurts from the sudden fall. "Ouch," she winced in pain.

"Oops, shouldn't have done that," Lucas said without being apologetic. Auden looked at him sharply in annoyance. "Care to help me?"

Lucas shrugged and offered a hand which Auden accepted. "Ass," she mumbled against her breath.

After dusting off her clothes, she looked up and found a sign that reads 'Romance Section.' "Romance Section? Really?" she said, thoroughly annoyed this time.