REBIRTH : Chasing The Limelight-Chapter 37: You see, I don’t think we’re—

Adrian stood in the long hallway of the mansion, the spiral staircase curving up like a snake. His paintings hung on the walls. Many and almost countless.

She ran toward him, hands signing fast, her face pale, like she knew she had done something wrong.

She signed "Sorry" over and over, pointing to the broken frame on the floor, his favorite painting torn in half.

Adrian’s breath caught, his eyes fixed on the ruined canvas. The painting he had spent weeks on now just shreds.

Anger rose quickly like always, making his hands shake, his vision turn red at the edges.

"How could you?" he said, voice low at first, but it grew louder. His chest was heaving with rapid breaths.

She signed "Accident," her hands trembling, stepping closer to grab his sleeve.

He shrugged her away.

"Leave me alone," he said through gritted teeth, turning to walk up the stairs.

She followed him and grabbed his hand again, signing "Please" with desperate motions.

He shrugged harder but she still held on, pulling at him. They were halfway up the stairs when he couldn’t take it anymore. He spun back, breath ragged, and pushed her with both hands.

"Get away from me," he said through clenched teeth. She stumbled, her mouth opening wide in shock, no sound coming out because she couldn’t scream or speak.

Her head hit the steps, body rolling down the spiral, thud after thud echoing in the hallway.

She landed at the bottom, her mouth open, her eyes staring up at him, empty and wide, accusing him without a word. Blood pooling around her head.

Relanie screamed from the side, her face white as she saw it all. She turned to run out the door, calling for help in a voice that was too loud.

Adrian couldn’t move from the top. His feet felt stuck as he could only stare down at those empty eyes that glared back.

People came running, mother, father, servants. They were screaming, weeping, jerking his shoulder, shouting "What have you done?"

But he couldn’t look away from the eyes. They changed slowly, the face shifting strangely. The hair turned black, the features growing older until it was another person entirely. The mouth was still open, eyes empty, staring right at him.

"You killed me too," the eyes seemed to say.

The staircase melted into a river. The cold water rose fast, pulling him down with her...

–

Adrian woke.

Shirtless, covered in sweat that soaked the sheets. His breathing seized in his throat like someone had choked him.

The room was dark, only the tiny city lights entering through the curtains.

He sat up slowly, his hands trembling as he pushed the damp hair from his forehead. The nightmare clung to him, the empty eyes still burning in his mind.

He stood slowly. His legs unsteady as he walked to the drawer. He pulled out a cigarette pack with shaking fingers. Lit one, the flame flickering in the dark.

He moved to the window, staring out at the glittering lights below. He inhaled deep, the smoke filling his lungs, calming the shake a little.

But still not enough.

He finished the first cigarette quickly and crushed it on the sill. He lit another.

The frustration sat heavy in hischest, making him exhale hard.

He lit a third. He had become much calmer now, but the eyes wouldn’t leave his mind.

He smoked the third one slower, staring at the lights as if they held answers.

But then confusion flashed across his face.

Why did the face change? Why did it change to Elara’s?

Why her?

The cigarette burned down to the filter. He lit a fourth.

But strangely, the nightmare felt different. Maybe because another person had appeared in it.

–

The next day, before one o’clock. Elara slipped away from Voice immediately after the morning music classes. She hadn’t told Ziva anything yet, she just told her she needed to go attend something important at the restaurant.

This wasn’t definitely a date. It was just something she had to do. A polite way to end Tonio’s romantic advances.

When she reached the restaurant where she worked, she hadn’t walked into the vicinity before she spotted a shiny black sports car parked a short distance away from the entrance. Tonio was leaning against it casually.

The moment he noticed her, he stood up straight and waved.

"Frostiebun!"

Elara paused for half a second and took a slow breath in. Then she let it out.

"Whatever," she muttered under her breath as she moved her legs again, walking over to him.

From where she was , she could already see that he had really tried. He wore a fitted dark suit and a clean white shirt, different from his usual sportie wears. His hair was styled nicely instead of its usual messy look.

His grin was very wide as he stared at her.

"I parked here because I knew you will feel awkward if I went inside the restaurant," he said, sounding proud of himself for thinking of her feelings.

Elara gave him a blank stare but his smile only grew even wider. He rushed to open the passenger door next to the driver’s seat with a bow. "Your carriage, my lady." then he laughed at his own humor.

Elara looked at the car, and sighed deeply. Isn’t he taking this too far already. But she got in anyway.

A moment after the door closed beside her, the engine started with a low hum and the car sped off.

Elara kept her eyes on the window the whole way, repeating sentences in her head that she had practiced since morning:

We are not right for each other.

Please stop coming to my workplace.

This is not a love story.

Soon the car slowed down and they stopped in front of a restaurant that looked like it belonged in a different world. The building shone with glass and smooth stone.

Elara stepped out slowly and looked up at the tall building. Then at Tonio. Then back at the building.

He hadn’t been joking.

He was completely serious.

A nervous feeling twisted in her stomach.

She felt guilty.

They both walked inside, one after the other. The air in the restaurant smelled of expensive perfume and the sweet aroma of food. The floor was so shiny it looked like it had never been stepped on.

Elara thought about the restaurant where she worked and compared it with this.

It is like comparing heaven to earth.

A few well-dressed guests looked at them for a second, then went back to their talks. No one stared or made faces. That somehow made it feel even worse.

Tonio walked her confidently to a reserved table near a tall glass window. A waiter came and gave them menus.

Tonio handed his to her with a nod.

Elara shook her head fast. "I’m not hungry. Just mineral water is fine."

The waiter blinked once in confusion, but he still looked polite.

Tonio blinked much harder, like she had said something shocking. "You came to a restaurant and decided to fight food?"

She gave him a flat look.

He cleared his throat then, shrugging. "Two mineral waters," he told the waiter.

Soon they were sitting across from each other silently. Elara’s fingers tapped repeatedly on her knee under the table.

Say it.

Say it now.

But the rejection words she had practiced all morning had disappeared completely.

Tonio watched her like he expected her to speak up first. But when he saw that she is not planning on saying anything, he took a deep breath and sat up straighter.

"Hi," he started while Elara stared at him. He cleared his throat again.

"My name is Tonio Adrelo. The only second son of the Adrelo family."

Elara sighed. Are there families with two second sons.

"I come from a good family. I don’t have any police record right now." he kept talking.

"I also," he seem to hesitate, "have had several girlfriends. But please don’t let that scare you. They are not significant."

Elara’s eyebrow went up. ’Have had’ or ’Have’ . Well, at least he’s quite honest.

He leaned forward a little, voice quieter. "For you are the only one who had truly captured my heart."

There it was.

Elara wondered the number of ladies he might have deceived with those words.

Her fingers stopped tapping her thigh.

She had planned to stop him fast and clean. But now that he kept talking on and on and trying very hard not to make a fool of himself. She swallowed.

She felt bad already. But she has no choice but to turn him down.

"You see I don’t think we’re—"

The words she was about to say next got caught in her throat as she stared at the entrance of the restaurant.

Two figures stepped inside and her breath stopped...