­­­­December 17th -- Prague, Czech Republic.

The thin mist covers up the sin about to be in that old Prague's bridge. The man in the black coat looked at his reflection in the river. At least that's what the moon showed by her light because even the moonlight that breathtaking night couldn't throw a bit of life in his tired brown eyes. He denied with his head, clearing some tears with a sleeve, then took his way to the old bar described in the letter he carried in his pocket.

Once inside the warm air inside filled his lungs taking away the winds of the dying autumn.

"Scot Blended" he said to the barman, hoping that his lack of Czech couldn't take him away of his daily whisky.

Later, when the red-haired bartender came with the glass, his throat received what he wanted: a painful way to forget something even worse.

"Leave the bottle, It's on me" said a girl speaking Czech. He hadn't seen the woman until she sat beside him. This time, she spoke in clear English "You shouldn't waste a good Whisky in sadness".

"What makes you say I will?"

"My dear Englishman, the sadness in your eyes makes it clear, the point is to enjoy it", she drank the clear liquid in her glass at once, "It should lift your spirit from the core"

"That's what I need now" he said with sorrow once the bitterness in his heart reacted to his words.

"Look at everyone here" she said "Each of us has a pain inside, an obstacle in our life. Should we just give up on the first hit?"

"Look, I don't give a shit of what others do here" he said, as he was growing madder. "I just want to drink until my body is ready enough for, I don't know, spontaneous combustion?" He drank his fifth glass "and sugar... you can bet that will lift my spirit all up in the air." He stared at her green eyes. "Is either this, or jumping the bridge outside. Where would you go?"

"Anywhere is better than here" she said upset, paying the bartender.

The strange woman left the place, taking her maroon coat when she opened the door, showing the first snow of the season.

That was the last memory Elliot had from his drunk state. The next morning, he found himself in his hotel room.

"Mr. Penderghast?" someone knocked on the door "Room service"

"Come in!" he said to the cleaning lady "I need some coffee anyway"

While drinking his coffee in the common room, he cursed for the pain inside his heart and his head.

"Elliot" he could remember the words of his brother "I'm sorry... they were in the train"

That memory, those words coming from his brother... it seemed like those six months of grief wouldn't go away. Elliot Penderghast was dealing with his demons. It seemed that his trip around the world had just begun, but it already felt like a lifetime.

January 29th -- Kyoto, Japan.

Elliot Penderghast took a deep breath, as he thought of the date. He had to be in the hospital welcoming his daughter to this world, instead of visiting the temple of Reiun-in.

Japan was full of temples, and Kyoto had a famous bunch of them. Even in winter, their beauty remained for the wonder of the tourists that dared to walk its wooden halls. Barely listening to the guide, he tried to look for an idea for his next book. After all, that was the excuse he gave to his editor, so he could take the trip he promised to his mother. "How could I forget it?" he thought, seeing the thirty-seven lost calls in his phone screen.

"Reiun-in is famous for his gardens. The antique dynasties wanted the temples to be a place of serenity and meditation, but also to be remembered thoughout the ages. This temple in particular was restored by modern landscapers and gardeners, who respected the structure of the gardens and the Buddhist style, rule the space we all share at the moment"

Elliot gave himself a moment to appreciate the gardens, all covered in snow. An almost magical vision with no inspiration for the writer. Instead, the series of events since the bar in Prague had been a non-stop. Not even a month had past, and he still remembered the scent of the girl in the bar. "Stupid" he thought, "Maybe it wasn't necessary to be that rude..."

He gazed at the snow glowing with the bit of sunshine the clouds let through for the mortals. Immediately, the waves of black hair invaded by snowflakes came to his eyes. No, he wasn't dreaming. Or he was?

Following the steps behind the stranger's boots, Elliot left his group in what he called a rush of madness. She stepped down the stairs of the Temple's front door and turned left. The writer stopped as he saw the same jade eyes in the face of the Prague's girl. Way too shocked or just in a moment of shyness, he let her go.

It was his behaviour that night which make him stop drinking, even if that was the only way to made the grief fade away. He checked his phone once again before making his way to his hotel.

Forty five missed calls

April 21st -- Wyoming, USA

Elliot passed among exotic lakes that reigned the area with geysers as guards. The afternoon sun combined with the water rising from the hell's core made a chromatic spectacle appear. The illusion of the rainbow made some children shout a "WOOOOAAH". The truck half-full of passengers were paying attention to the guide, except for one. Bisons, eagles, elks, even lynx and wolves around were a spectacle for anyone touring Yellowstone. Nevertheless Elliot had some ideas pasted in his pocket notebook, the local fauna wasn't the real reason he was looking through his binoculars. The vision of the Prague girl in Japan made him stay in an active quest looking for her.

"Ridiculous, nonsense," his mind shouted "it's been almost three months, that was just a coincidence. One. Damn. Coincidence." He wondered that, if that was his mind, which voice kept telling him to look for her? His schedule was the same since he started the trip and wasn't tempted to change it, unless something came up to return home. He put down the binoculars and sighed, as he finally made the real question. What was he doing there?

This time he forgot about hotels and stayed in an Inn. His luggage was almost the same a backpacker could have, only that Elliot was a famous writer, almost anonymous in his now long mahogany hair and a bit darker beard. It seemed a long time beard, but it was just of a week. He smiled wondering the tantrum his mother would throw him for looking like a homeless guy.

"Well, shit happens" he thought, recalling his failed quest.

He was now at the Inn's bar, "Scotch Blend, please"

"Don't get fancy here huh" said the barman, a man that resembled Hershel Greene, but with the attitude of Daryl. One of his guilty pleasures, zombie's series and movies, like The Walking Dead. He smirked with that thought when the man brought him a Jack Daniels bottle.

"Hey Don" said a kind of familiar voice "two rounds please"

"AMELIA!" exclaimed the barman in a change of mood "where have ya been hidin'? Two rounds for you, it's on the house"

"Haha you know me, I can't be always in one place" she told Don with a smile that Elliot remembered. The same smile she gave him when he ordered the whisky.

"You can bet..." He mumbled, thinking out loud.

"You again" she said, but the smile was gone.

"Hey wait" Elliot stopped her from leaving the bar "Please accept my apologies. I was drunk and the way I talked to you was no proper, no way it was. Please, let's talk."

"Ok stranger" she said "I'll accept your ... apologies" she said imitating his accent "but for chatting let's not waste your bottle of whiskey this time"

"I agree" Elliot said while she served the whiskey "My name is Elliot, yours is Amelia?"

"Amelia Williams" she said and drank her beverage "let's not be shy this time ok? I called you stranger but we've seen each other before"

"Yeah in Prague"

"And Japan" Elliot got surprised

"So you..."

"You really think I wasn't listening to your steps? You should have played more being a ninja as a kid"

"Ha ha I'm not into ninjas, I was more of suspense and terror" he sipped his whiskey and served another round "That was what lead me to become a writer"

"Really?" she said with a wide smile "What a coincidence, I'm a writer too, but not so cool ha ha"

"What do you write?"

"I've got a traveler's blog but maybe you already know that?"

"Why do you say that?"

"For all the coincidences we've met"

"Wished I had known before you were you so it wouldn't be so hard to find you"

"So you really were tracking me?" she said in a playful voice "Is your next book about serial killers and you needed to become one?" she giggled.

"Nothing of the sort" he laughed "I'm on a trip and this is its final stop. I said that because I truly wanted to apologise and when I saw you in the Temple, I don't know, maybe I hoped to meet you again. It's a little world after all"

"Betcha" she said "However, what did make you do this trip?"

"My mother, that's not a what" he giggled a bit, realising the bottle was already half empty. "She died and left me some money to make a trip she wanted to do for her sixtieth birthday. My brother is a busy lawyer, I think she saw the chance in me, a carefree writer, if she couldn't make it to the date"

"Wow, it's beautiful... and sad. I'm sorry for your lost"

"It's okay. She was already a bit sick and always talked about taking our chances, our lives in our hands. Death is death and her journey stopped there"

"That's why you were so rude back then?"

"Yeah... I'll tell you how it happened..."

"No, no. It's okay"

"Please I'm drunk enough. Besides, it's better to tell someone than to keep it. It happened anyways, if you wanted to you could google it and that's it. I rather tell you."

"Ok" she said leaving her glass "go ahead"

"My mother went with my wife Rhiannon to London for shopping and a couple of things, like you know, going to the gynaecologist for check on the baby. I was at our home, almost outside the city, trying to put some ideas together from a bunch of inspiration I had from the news. Rhi had showed me the test the day before and my mother wanted to organise some stuff related to let our family know, even if with family you only count on my twin. I was dealing with the creative process when I received the call. It was him. "Elliot" he said "I'm so sorry... they were on the train". As you realise I didn't understand until I turned on the TV and the local news had the transmissions of the collision playing. I lost my mother, my wife and my daughter that day"

"How could you know...?"

"Rhi wanted a girl. I don't know and I will never do. For my wife it was going to be a little girl"

"I'm... really sorry"

"Don't be. You weren't guilty and I should thank you"

"Why?" said Amelia disconcerted

"That night in Prague I could just had jumped off the bridge" Elliot continued "I decided I had lost my mind, because maybe a part of me wasn't sure of doing it, you know? I went to that bar and well, the rest you pretty much know it. I was a dick and the next morning I realised it. I abandoned the drink, just for the while I had to deal with depression and my trip continued, then you appeared in Kyoto... like magic, huh?"

"Well, who would say so?"

"Yeah, I know. Thank you and I'm glad to finally meet you, Amelia"

They stared at each other. Elliot felt in a trance, meanwhile Amelia lost her jade eyes in the amber-like coloured ones of the writer.

"Guys, the bar closes at twelve, come back tomorrow" said Don, interrupting the moment.

"Hey, night is young" said Amelia "Let me go for my coat, the woods are wonderful at night"

They arrived at Amelia's bedroom, but didn't go for a forest walk.

Next morning, Elliot felt the headache again. It was all confusing, blurred images that his eyes were able to glimpse at. A woman's cry put him on alert, but his body couldn't respond. The last sound was a door closing.

When he could finally get up, he realised he wasn't in his room. He got his stuff together and went downstairs.

"Hey, where's Amelia?"

"She's gone" Don said "Again"

June 9th -- London, UK

Elliot Penderghast returned to a his usual weather of rains and few chances of sun. The moisture in the air was completely different from the scents around the world.

The first visit was to the burial grounds, where he left a rose ornament in the gravestones.

Rhiannon Penderghast

1991 - 2016

Aileen Penderghast

2016-2016

Peregrinne Penderghast

1958 - 2016

Lately, inside his heart there was a conflict, all about Amelia. He avoided to look for her blog, still in doubt of what that night meant to her. Is that what she used to do? Was that her way to get stories? The sounds he heard while he was asleep were haunting his mind in moments of distraction. Amelia was still a mystery and maybe that must be the way it should be. That's the agreement the mind and the heart reached, when Elliot decided to go on.

The second stop was to his brother's birthday party that Saturday night. Unexpected.

Elliot arrived to his brother's house, an apartment almost in the middle of London, decorated as his brother's personality: books all around, almost all of Elliot's works and some other that resembled the bit of culture he had. That was the usual. The unusual was the people there.

"Hey, welcome back!" said a man in suit. The only difference you could tell between Elliot and his twin were the eyes. The dark mahogany eyes of Elliot were different from the light hazelnut of his brother.

"George, since when are you so popular?"

"You know I'm not, I paid them to come!" he said "oh, come on man, in two years life makes a difference if you want it to. You taught me that"

"I don't recall it"

"Please just relax, I will make the announcement soon"

"Wait, which one?" but George had left.

Elliot talked with some guests, finding some fans among them. A sound of a spoon against a glass cup caught the crowd's attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks for coming here tonight. As you know I... I am not the party guy so, as you've realised, this is an important night, not only because my best-seller brother is here as some have had the delight to know, but because tonight is the anniversary of when I lost my mother and my sister-in-law, both beloved women in our lives. I don't want to remember it as a sad day anymore. So, I want to ask this woman, this special woman to please accept to marry me and to make every day from now on, together"

Elliot realised a woman in the crowd started to cry, saying yes. The surprise of not even knowing his brother had a girlfriend, now fiancée, made him smile. She was beautiful, as beautiful as Rhiannon had been the day he proposed to her. Suddenly a surreal vision stopped his memories, his thoughts and even his breath.

Among the woman celebrating with his brother's fiancée, Amelia cheered up the bride to be. She felt the eyes watching her. The smiles and cheers disappeared, like in a slow motion, where everyone became a blurry mass and there were only two hearts beating. She ran away, and he chased her.

"Please Amelia stop" he said. Elliot had forgotten the labyrinth London could become. A quest in his heart still on, that's what he felt when he saw her in London's bridge.

"Please stay away or I jump"

"Wha- why?" She was nuts, but Elliot needed answers

"Are you drunk? It's the only way you go after me"

"What are you talking me about?" he shouted "I'm sober, I only drank some soda. Please Amelia I don't understand..." he started to approach

"Please, I can't do this"

"Do what? Please don't jump."

"Give me a reason. Give me a damn good reason. I broke my promise"

"Okay, how about that I'm still alive because of you?" he exclaimed "I didn't jump in Prague because of you, because in the end I wanted to go on." She calmly started to get away from the bridge's edge. "What promise are you talking about?"

"I promised to myself" she said with tears in her eyes "never to fall for a man ever again"

"What...?"

"You tasted me. You want more or what? Another kiss? Another night?" Elliot started to realise what was going on.

"Look, not every man is like that. Whoever hurt you should suffer for real and never be granted the honour of being remembered by you." He put his hands in her shoulders. The temperature dropped that night, making Amelia miss her coat back in George's apartment. "I will refresh you. I was looking for you because you unwillingly gave me the strength to go on, to forget drinking to kill the sorrow, to really enjoy the trip I had to do for my mother and to..."

"To...?" she muttered

"To be brave enough to love again" he said. "It might have just been a night and alcohol but what I said was true. It still is. That kiss..." he said touching her lips with his thumb. "Yes, I tasted you and I thought I was in heaven. Because you set me free, not because I wanted your body" he put his coat on her "And now you say you're falling for a man again... is that man me?"

"Y-Yes" she said, still a bit agitated

"Then, let me... let us begin again"

With the sadness flying away as the crow leaving the scene, Elliot pushed his lips on Amelia's.

"It's a small world after all"

_____________________________________________

Hey Alynek here! Thanks for reading this little piece of diabetes I brought you for Valentine's Day. I'm not into romance stories because I think love is a bit more than just sugar and honey, something that happens when you don't expect. So this is the first time I write a story with romance as the heart of everything. Literally.

You find me in wattpad as Alynek_Wolf, I'll be uploading stories soon but I warn you my stories are usually of the science fiction or fantasy genre. If you liked this story, then I'm glad I took the challenge of writing something that wasn't something fantastical. If you didn't, sorry, when I mean this is not my area it's because seriously it's not!

Anyway, I want to thank my friends that helped me to find romance ideas that were not tragically ending (oops!), to Gaby Cabezut for making this anthology possible, to George Haro because of his help in English Grammar and convincing me to get into Wattpad's world.