Familiar Voice

"Remember our meeting at the beginning, you said that people who succeed at a young age lose a lot of time playing with friends, time for refreshing. So that's why… I now want to make up for my time. I want to give myself a gift," Alice's fingers wrapped around herself, "I want to give happiness to myself, who has been struggling with problems for so long, which has helped me survive to this day. This is a gift to myself for walking to help me through the darkest days that I thought I could never get through." Alice certainly will never be separated from her figure who loves herself so much.

The girl stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Noah's shoulders until Noah turned his face back to create enough distance. "okay? I'll wait outside, don't be too long. I can't wait to go to the beach!" before leaving, Alice flashed her sweetest smile until Noah blinked. Wondering, since when did Alice have such a sweet smile that she had never seen before?

****

The sky looked so bright as if it was giving a festive welcome to the arrival of Alice. The girl was so happy when her feet felt the white sand of the beach slip between her toes. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks was like a soothing symphony in Alice's ears combined with the sound of seagulls chirping and the laughter of small children running around. Alice's attention was drawn to the rolling waves from a distance and then breaking under her feet creating a refreshing cold sensation. Alice thinks how lucky the waves are, no matter how far goes, the sea will always hug back.

Alice's gaze scattered and found Noah playing in the sand, quite far from her position. Several women approached, seeming to be watching him intently.

"Chilies!" Alice grumbled in annoyance. Then the girl screamed spoiled. "Darliiiiinnnngggg … my husband is the most handsome, I look for it everywhere!" Deliberately raising her voice, the girls turned to Alice and showed disappointed expressions when they heard Alice emphasize the word 'my husband'.

Noah was stunned to see Alice wearing a short white dress, which seemed to blend with her skin. If he said heaven doesn't exist in the world, then this time Noah could say it was a lie. "Take a picture of me please! Noah? Hello!" Alice waved her hand.

"Hah?"

"Take a photo of me, create a feed on Instagram. I've run out of stock photos. Here." Alice handed over her cell phone. The girl immediately posed. In the first pose, she smiled at the camera. Her rows of white teeth glowed.

"And, I don't look fat, okay?" Noah gets confused when Alice calls himself 'fat' because, from any angle, Alice's body is thin.

"Good? I'll see first."

The girl gave a thumbs up. "Good, again huh?"

"Wow, this photographer is expensive, you know."

"Is that so? What should I pay with? A peck on the lips or a present tonight?"

Hearing Alice's answer, Noah fell silent. The man immediately cleared his throat, looked awkward, and turned to Alice's cell phone. "Yeah, I'm going to take another photo."

Alice sat on a rock and glanced to the right as if it was a candid photo. Click. Noah immortalized her portrait.

"Now turn, I'll take your picture."

"No, Alice. Do not have to."

"Huh? Why is that? It's not fair, earlier you took a picture of me, now turn."

"No."

Alice remained stubborn. The girl pointed her cell phone at Noah, took it carelessly to capture a few shots even though the man was not focused on the camera.

"I told you that you should often appear on my Instagram so that there will be a lot of comments."

Noah ran away and stood on the shore, Alice still in her position. She immediately captured Noah's portrait with waves and then uploaded it on Instagram with the caption: my source of happiness<3

****

For hours Alice looked happy, the girl seemed to have two sides. A side she would always show everyone, and a side she would only show secretly, this time Noah was lucky to see her. Alice smiled a lot. Alice laughed cheerfully. Alice happily played with the waves. Alice likes swimming. It was not difficult to make her happy, not with expensive bags or shoes, just accompanying her to go to the beach. "I wanted to go to the beach, with Mommy, with Daddy … but I never got around to it, because they were always busy. It's okay, now I can go with my husband. Uh, we stay on the other side of the island, you know. Come on over there? I can't wait to see the villa."

"How do you know this place?"

"I've seen it for a long time, yesterday I contacted via DM. uh, it turns out I got an endorsement, aka free! The condition is that I have to promote the place through Instagram." Alice took out her cellphone, this time her Insta-story was in the form of dots. They boarded the small boat that would take them across and it would take them twenty minutes to arrive. "Okay guys, so we've arrived at the place… that's great!" Alice was busy recording with her cell phone.

The villa is just like a house on stilts standing on the beach. While Alice is busy on a room tour with her cell phone, Noah chooses to walk away to a shop selling souvenirs. There was a beach t-shirt on display and caught his attention. Noah was looking around until someone's voice caught his eye. "Noah?"

Noah's heart seemed to jump into his stomach. A familiar voice in his ears. The voice that used to accompany his difficult times. The voice that cheered Noah on whenever he was at his lowest. A voice he had not heard again for the past two years. The voice that always accompanies him before going to sleep has now turned into a frightening nightmare that even continues to chase him even when in the subconscious world. Jazmyn's voice.

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To be continued . . .