After one year

"Alex, I'm repeating: shift the drum set to the left. Madame Elizabeth wants to get each corner of the studio space utilized. Got it?" Ember took a swig of her avocado juice as her tension surpassed a manageable level.

Winded by the blow of the inefficiency of the staff, she stepped back and almost was going to bump into her mistress.

"Careful Ember!"

"Oh, good evening Madame Elizabeth." Ember intuitively touched her strawberry curls. "Here's the final list of sixteen students out of all applications we have received over the weekend." Ember handed over the sheet of enrollment to Elizabeth, her lips pressed in a bright smile.

A year had taught Elizabeth the art of living with the other equally lovable and frustrating prongs of doing something. Far from finding love again, this time she geared up to achieve something big in her life, all on her own. Perhaps, chasing her new dreams. As someone who was gifted with a soulful voice and was a performer before, Elizabeth went on to open a small school to foster a love of music in others too.

Through the palisade of her long lashes, her eyes skimmed over the names in bold italics and stopped at one person's name: 'Madison Holden'. Her heart missed a beat stealthily. Joseph, whom she'd loved crazily had unfortunately never wished to become a reason for lighting up her phone with a message or a call. He disappeared like a disappointment. Part of her contended there was something that he had jam-packed to his heart and took the wrong decision of walking out of her life like a wayfarer.

Still, she wanted to see if she could forgive him and was ready to hear his reasons, his justifications. But, only if he cared to backtrack himself at the mansion.

"Um . . . so when are they all coming?" Elizabeth asked in a thick tone as she used her thumb to mend the crack on the right-most corner of the sheet.

"From Friday. If you are okay with it?" The restive girl said and pushed her glasses back. She crinkled her nose, peering through the yellow lenses that looked more yellowish than the signal light.

"Anyway, I'm not satisfied with the haunting wall designs. The walls should be of vivid colors with an outlay of different musical instruments. We want them to feel like it is a fun place, not a courtroom. And remove the podium from the center, please I don't wish to create a distance between the teachers and the students."

Ember gulped and noted everything in her notepad in a spidery writing style. "Anything else Madam?"

"Yes. Have you contacted the piano teacher? Last time it was very disappointing to know that he couldn't attend the interview because his nephew had the flu." Elizabeth stopped in her tracks and added intensely, "Replace him with another."

"But why? I heard he is one of those veteran professionals who have performed at big events. You should reconsider him."

"A few days back, I'd sent the manager with a doctor to see if his nephew really had the flu and we could give him a treatment. A drastically shattering fact arose, he never had a nephew. He had skipped the interview only to stand in a big queue outside of a liquor shop and buy a keg of beer due to the temporary closure of these shops in his area." Elizabeth scoffed and shoved the sheet at her face. She raised her eyebrow and gave her a once overlook. "I hate liars."

"Noted."

Elizabeth floundered outside of the huge room and the guardsmen who secured their posts bowed down. She strode hastily as she saw the time on her phone screen.

"Oh, no. I'm so late!" She yelled at the drop of a hat as she felt two arms squeezing her tiny waist and spinning her body around until he felt vertigo himself. After two rounds of revolving with the unidentifiable guy, as her feet kissed the floor, she crouched low with her head between her hands. "Tash! I hate your surprises!"

Tasher extended his hand and pulled her up. "I never asked for feedback."
He laughed.

"Anyways, you were going to come in Feb right? Then why did you show up this early?"

"Don't worry, El. You are going to get the biggest birthday gift ever from me. And then you will start worshiping me like I'm some kinda God." Tasher pushed her in his far-fetched imagination, locking her head under his armpit as he swept back and forth.

"Argh . . . Tash, I don't need a house or a car if you thinking that big." She rescued herself and slammed a fist on his back, cursing.

"Ouch, the pressure knocked out my heart." He pretended to have survived a massive heart attack and squinted at her. "I have opened my first-ever club in the city," he recited in one breath. "And-"

"Wow. When did that happen?" Elizabeth mused at the same time.

"It will be officially opened for the people on your birthday." He nodded slowly seeing Elizabeth jump in excitement. "You are already buzzing babes."

"I'm─ I don't know what to say. It would be a great idea. I mean I haven't been to a club for ages. And what could be better than choosing this particular date."

"I know. It's Tasher's mind. I aim high," he sang praises for himself.

Her smile faded away in a split second and her eyes bore into him, as she spoke in mock, "This is the worst-of-all place to celebrate my birthday." She began to mount up the stairs.

"El, why are you saying this?" He stepped up from behind her.

"Because I've to go to my friend's wedding reception. And I'm going crazy. She will kill me if I happen to be a minute late. Because earlier for certain reasons I couldn't attend her wedding. So, this time, I've to be there under any circumstances. Do you get that?"

"I'm not going there. So, no. I don't have to get that." He tapped his index finger twice on his head. Quite an intelligent boy he had become.

Elizabeth's jaw unhinged and she whispered to herself, "What is happening to my stupid self? Should I get a quick appointment with a psychiatrist? Like now." She peered over her wristwatch, wondering.

"Elizabeth!" He snapped his fingers in front of her eyes.

"Made my mind─" she yelled in the same tone as his. "─this party is more important. Bye-bye."

****

Elizabeth threw her panther heels across her room and closed the door with a subtle push. Speaking of her room, the wall parallel to the window was of peanut pink color and an inbuilt wooden shelf with numerous pots of shrubs almost hid the background color. Her dream of living in a perfectly clean and organized room of a home decor catalog had been fulfilled.

She dashed to the bathroom and peeled off her grey dress. This energy showed in her movements had been viewed to emanate from an unknown source. After she had wrapped a towel around her wet body, she stopped by to look in the mirror. "What if he attends the party as well?"

She touched her cheeks. "Why are these so hot?" Elizabeth questioned rhetorically.

She chose to wear an elegant gold velvet dress that had a high slit to showcase the texture of her smooth skin. The beauticians flooded her room after a mere push of a button on the cell phone.

The hairdo expert spritzed golden streaks on her hair and tied a top bun. Her eyes were made look bigger with the evergreen sixties eyeliner application style and her plump lips were distinguished by a shade lighter than her dress. One of them laid a box of golden heels for her.

A few moments later she made her way out of her room and out of the building. Moving under the gaze of the visitors heading inside, she chuckled as she heard a buzz of some flattering words for her.

Theo turned around and opened the door of the car. "You look ravishing, Elizabeth," was the comment that ascended her pride.

The happy look on her face was swallowed up as soon as she saw the bodyguards who sat rigidly in the front seats. "Theo, I can't─ I don't want people to laugh at me. It's a small affair of a family that enjoys simplicity. There would be no danger to my life── oh God! Why does Mom always have to send them to escort me?" She exasperated, swinging her arms. She took out her phone from her clutch.

"Hey, whom are you calling? Mrs. Warner?"

"Yep." Elizabeth was fuming as her mother didn't pick up her phone.
"Where is she busy now?"

"It's been three hours since our meeting ended. I think she might be taking some rest."

"I have told her several times not to take this shit load of work at this age, but she disregards everything I say," Elizabeth stated the truth, and Theo who didn't wish to see the lines on her forehead comforted her.

"Elizabeth, I'll handle the bodyguards.
You should see that you are only frittering away your time. So . . . shall we get going?"

Elizabeth nodded, smiling at his words. Once the car started moving, her heartbeat gained a rapid rhythm.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head at the window. The soft tune of the piano evoked a feeling of longing in her chest. This moment gave her a chance to retrospect, what she really wanted to do.

Joseph ─ with whom she had forged so many memories, there was no possibility that she would force him out of her memory.

A few moments later, as they reached the venue she could see the string lights hanging behind the glass pane of the double-storied hotel. The lack of parking space put the driver off, the guard swiped a hand to go for off-street parking.

"Elizabeth, you can get down . . ." Theo hesitated at first and then looked at the bodyguards with dead expressions. "Park the car in a safe place, also you two should remain in the vicinity of it. She will be safe in my company."

Elizabeth thanked the impatient person for whom the horn was as important as the gas pedal behind their car as she got down quickly and closed her ears to turn down the bedlam along with Theo who followed her.

A young man stood at the entrance and informed her the party was happening on the third floor. Elizabeth was ushered inside the lift. This was the time, she began to hyperventilate and turned around to look at her shadow, and with which speed she was going upward from the ground she believed she could reach the moon in a matter of few seconds.

"Elizabeth, are you okay?" Theo noticed the lines on her forehead.

"Yes. I'm. You were so smart in shooing them away. I was worrying for no reason," Elizabeth appraised his efforts fulsomely. She was not feeling right; her feet were producing uncomfortable burning.

So to speak, she feared she might not look the hottest amongst her contemporaries. She was unnecessarily becoming a victim of an inferiority complex and such kinds of thoughts tried to cease her steps. That was when he murmured her name and she blinked at him. She whipped her head to see miscegenates and white people celebrating the divine moment.

As soon as she came out of the elevator, Sarah and Anshuman approached her. "El . . . do you realize how late you are? Half of the guests have had dinner already and had left."

"Words are not enough today," Elizabeth chimed and went for a hug. "You two look the most perfect couple out here."

Sarah was dolled up in a maroon-tiered ruffled gown while Anshuman was wearing a pitch-green tuxedo. His broadened smile showed his white teeth. "Hey, Elizabeth. Nice to hear it from you."

Elizabeth doubted this side of Anshuman as he used to be a paragon of frankness, there was a possibility that she needed to pay a few visits to their home to familiarize herself, or he had matured enough to keep things under control.

Theo whispered something in her ear to which she nodded. Elizabeth's eyebrows searched for Joseph discreetly.

Sarah brushed her hair back and exchanged a dismaying look with Anshuman. He obliged and left.

Out of curiosity, and also because Anshuman had gone, Elizabeth pulled Sarah closer and asked, "Is he here?"

Sarah looked at the ceiling for a second and took a long time in answering, "Eh, yes . . . he's here."

Elizabeth exhaled, closing her eyes. "Thanks." Once she fluttered open them, Sarah was still standing there with a crestfallen face. "Sarah, I think you should attend to your guests."

"Yes── I hope you enjoy the dinner," Sarah mumbled and padded in the other direction hastily.

Elizabeth drew in a breath and found a vacant chair in the corner which she thought was the best spot to keep an eye out for Joseph.

She yawned for the third time after seeing the same faces over and over again. Then she realized that she had got bad breath─ straight out of starving for two hours. Elizabeth outpaced the crowd and picked up a clean plate. There was a mix of Asian and American cuisine in a buffet-style dinner. Her eyes fell on the fruit cream that was kept at the center of the table. She didn't take heed of the other person who went for the same thing and whose fingers suggestively touched her.

"I'm sorry, you first . . ." her words sounded effortlessly smooth.

"After you."

For one damn second, that voice . . . squeezed the life out of her body, seemingly wrung her stomach empty as she imagined Joseph coming back to refill his love and passion in her life. But just as she thought of regaling him with her achievements while he was out, her heart was bludgeoned to the size of her heart to a pea. He was not Joseph, but someone darker who only succeeded in boggling her mind with his voice, and nothing else.

He winked at her and she looked away, enervated.

She politely excused herself from the hosts of the party and swaggered outside the glitzy building into the night.

Her static eyes and measured steps didn't stop until Theo had to leave the car in the middle of the gridlocked street and get to stop her.

"Elizabeth, Elizabeth please stop. Eliza-" Theo then decided to take a run; he slowed down when she froze in her tracks and turned around like a model. He resumed, peeling his eyes away from her legs. "P-please get inside the car."

In a flash of a second, a man raced past Elizabeth, snatching her purse from her hand. She barely made any sound and a dreadful peal of thunder shook the city. Theo's carved sinews were put to the test, he quickly caught the thief by his arm and pushed him against the wall, locking his arms behind him. Groans and shrill cries retaliated from both the men's mouths.

Elizabeth retrieved her purse and then Theo thrashed him hard on the ground.

When his body collapsed like a dead animal's, she noticed the man was bleeding already. His skull was injured with major cut marks. Her Ruby instinct produced sympathy for him and she looked at Theo, "We need to send him to a hospital."

He nodded, and she began to search for his ID in his jeans pocket. The pattering became heavy but she didn't face any problem in reading the contents on the laminated card.

"Jacob Holden . . ." Her eyes widened as she pronounced slowly, "You are alive . . ."

Word count - 3100

Thx to everyone who has read voted, and commented on this book. This book will always hold a special place in my heart (cuz the content is original) If you have any questions regarding a sequel, or what's Joseph & Eli's future, or the new entry of Jacob or...or...or

comment here >>>>

Frankly speaking, I never thought I would make it to chapters 30-35, but it just happened. I REPEAT WRITING 60 CHAPTERS was so much fun. I continued writing the ideas that popped up when I was in the most natural form (mostly during bathing). I hope you ppl enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

DON'T REMOVE THIS STORY FROM YOUR READING LISTS AS I MIGHT ***BONUS CHAPTERS*** IN THE FUTURE.

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