Elevator Man - II

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Aurum - Gold

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Blind.

Cerise and Sal were blind.

For the next hour, the two of them had circled the entire garden trying to find the damned flat. Apartment after apartment stuck together like a piece of odd-colored bricks and neither of them bothered looking up to see the humongous sign that says ‘Casa Apartelle’.

It lead Cerise to go back to Amor's for directions that she couldn’t have asked for earlier and it’s only then that both she and her best friend fume like kettles when she points outside the window, directly at a mansion-looking structure informing both of them that it’s the place they were looking for.

So at this moment, Cerise had forgotten to admire and be thankful for her father’s money as she lay face-down on the monochrome sofa. Sal, being the responsible and tidy person, had already fixed her things to the room that provided enough natural light as she left the other space of darkness and mirrors for Cerise’s taste. The rest of her time was spent scolding Cerise, forcing her to wash up owing to the checklist awaiting to be completed.

The first five were already done, credits to her best friend who did practically everything with no verbal complaint but with a roll of her eyes as she drags away Cerise’s bags like a dead body.

1. Get college schedule
2. Groceries
3. Meet up with Father
4. Buy shoes-

Sal snatches away the list, hearing the door of her bedroom close shut that she assumed the firefly didn’t want her to know what 9 and 10 were.

6th on the checklist then crossed out as Cerise’s body slumps behind the door of the principal’s office, pink furniture no longer in sight as she struggled to get the image out of her head. Like any other nervous student, Cerise starts hating the fact that education is a fact itself. Homeschool doesn’t sound like a bad option and Cerise would prefer social distancing from the horrible air around aurums. Thinking back, Cerise’s education was only fun because she thought it was and that it would help her move forward. Without the wise words of her best friend through all that shit in middle school who knows where she’d end up now? and if senior year was ten feet underground, then college would be the earth’s inner core.

Back to reality and 7th on the list was done by Sal, leaving Cerise at Dellancy College gates and unfortunately the reason for her lone frustration as she tries not to puke at the sight of brightly painted walls of the hall. Was this even a school? Cerise asked to herself, sure that it resembled a playground rather than a learning area for depressed, stressed, and dreamless young adults. The head of the school was no different. He was the definition of gaudy and a rich hypocrite on a garbage pedestal (no offense). That image of him came from the way he looked Cerise up and down like a diva, judging her fashion sense in silence.

Even as the cold breeze bit at her exposed skin, she couldn’t shake off the weight on her head that keeps telling herself to just act homeless and let her body rest on the concrete but of course, her pride as a living being wouldn’t allow that. Instead, Cerise trudged with sore feet to the direction of her father’s given address, not his home but Cerise’s soon-to-be workplace. Before her stood a building that didn’t match with all the others doused in rainbow liquid, a modeling company that didn’t blend in.

Cerise’s entrance was overlooked by everyone in the lobby, except for a man flirting with the poor boy at the front desk who then notices her appearance as he met her eyes with an icy glare. Cerise could have sworn she melted at that instant but she showed no signs of being affected much to the man’s dismay. Cerise sauntered past his slim-built frame, sighing in relief and he only follows Cerise like a shadow, going unnoticed until the elevator moved upwards.

“What’s your business here?” Cerise squeaks out in surprise at the voice behind her, his breath directed at her neck, sending her spine to quiver. Realizing that the situation can be seen as something else, Cerise turned her entire body to face him, the same cold look shown on his features as he observed her every move.

“I’m here to see my father” Cerise paused, expecting him to continue the small talk he started but he only waits. “and you are?”

Cerise question may have sent the man’s brain in a frenzy, brows meeting before exploding with a laugh that angels sung. While Cerise is not supposed to treat people by their appearance, she couldn’t help but notice every part of him anyway. He had a charming feat, eyes that shrunk into crescents and cotton hair hiding under a black baseball cap that added to his height. In terms of height, he was only considered tall because she was only so short but that did nothing to bring down her overall morale. Cerise focuses on his clothing, branded with all the expensive letters and accessories that glittered with his touch. He clicks his tongue, moving his hands to graze her jaw to motion her to look up at him and she did nothing to stop the gesture. Their gazes lock at once, searching for something deep in each other’s galaxies as he chants his name under his breath, soft yet husky, wistful but so, so dangerous.

“Can you repeat that?" Cerise asks, voice coming out small despite her strong will to fight the sensations he gave her, and he only becomes more fed.

Wrong. wrong. wrong. wrong.

A word that looped around Cerise’s dazzled self, drowning in the strong presence. Another ‘never thought I would’ moment, never thought that Cerise would easily fall victim to charm and heavenly looks, a mistake that screams danger, but his name is the only thing that doesn’t come out of Cerise’s other ear.

“Fleur Jean.”