The Broken Hearts Story

      Three days later. It’s a new day in New York. The time is getting closer to lunch. Natalia is walking in the city for nothing, enjoying the warm and sunny weather and sometimes looking around with interest, not even suspecting what happened three days ago, and how it could have been over for Raquelle. The girl has lately thought very much about what is going to happen in the future. What is going to happen if she does not reconcile with Raquelle. What is going to happen if the feelings she is getting for Edward are not mutual. While she does not almost have hope to make peace with her childhood friend, there is a very low chance that the man is not indifferent to the girl and does not forget her after he meets Terrence.       “My gosh, I’m starting to understand that I’m starting to like Edward more and more,” Natalia thinks with sadness in her eyes. “I always think of that man and can’t wait for his return. I do wanna spend time with me again… Besides… I always dream of something good that has to do with him.”       Natalia cracks a slight smile.       “I feel very good with him,” Natalia thinks. “Moreover, Edward helped me forget what happened between Raquelle and me. Bring peace back… Help me start to smile and enjoy my life again. Without him, I would hardly feel so good. I shall always be grateful to him for that. For being next to me all this time.”       Natalia glances at a man with a helmet on his head, who is going by her on roller skates.       “But I’m terribly afraid of the day when I have to introduce Edward to Terrence…” Natalia thinks, crossing her arms over her chest. “After it happens, everything will be over. And I will stay alone again… As always, I will be used and get my ass kicked when someone gets sick of me… Edward is gonna do this when he gets what he wants. He will forget that I exist and will no longer wish to talk to me.”       Natalia shakes her head.       “But damn, how much I don’t want it…” Natalia thinks. “I don’t wanna stop speaking to him… Edward is the first man, with whom I feel so good and peaceful… What if I no longer meet the same man and feel so good? Of course, I don’t count on anything, but still… I’d be happy to talk to him even as a friend. Anything just to talk…”       A young girl goes by Natalia, who sighs heavily, with a little doggy on a leash that sniffs the girl’s legs with interest and continues to follow its owner.       “Ah, I can’t wait for him to be back in the city,” Natalia thinks with sadness in her eyes. “I’m starting to miss him much. I can’t wait for him to invite me somewhere. Anna has much more interesting things to do, but I feel bored going somewhere alone… She’s the only one I’ve lately had. I haven’t communicated with the others for ages. Lost a connection… And I fought with Raquelle.”       Natalia tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.       “By the way, it would be great to know how she’s doing,” Natalia thinks. “Find out whether Simon finally decided to leave her alone and let her live quietly. It’s been so much time…”       Natalia swallows up nervously.       “Moreover, why does Simon wanna revenge on her?” Natalia wonders. “Why? For the scandal that he provoked? But that’s stupid! He is supposed to be a sick stinker to do that! Or is he really the one? Oh… Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the truth…”       Natalia falls into her thoughts so deeply that she does not notice that she accidentally runs into someone at some moment. The girl shakes slightly from a little scare and jumps back sharply.       “Oops!” Natalia makes a quiet squeak. “I’m sorry… I didn’t notice you and didn’t see where I was going…”       “It's alright…” the stranger pronounces amicably and fixes the sleeve of his coat quickly. “I didn’t notice you, either, and I…”       The stranger moves his eyes to Natalia and recognizes her immediately.       “Natalia?” the stranger pronounces surprisingly.       Natalia moves her questioning look to the stranger, whom she immediately recognizes, as well.       “Edward?” Natalia rounds her eyes and smiles shyly. “My gosh, what a surprise!”       “Hey…” Edward greets with a slight smile.       “Hi…”       Edward and Natalia welcome each other with an amicable hug and a slight smile on their faces.       “I didn’t think I’d meet you here,” Edward adds, straightening his back immediately and spreading his shoulders.       “Honestly, me too,” Natalia confesses shyly. “But I didn’t actually know you came back in the city.”       “Yeah, I’m back…” Edward pronounces thoughtfully, barely touching his face with his fingertips. “Yesterday…”       “Yesterday?”       “Yeah, I’m sorry about not calling you and not saying that… I promised I’d call you, but I…”       “It’s okay, don’t worry…” Natalia shakes her head with a slight smile. “I had some things to do, as well…”       “But don’t think I didn’t think of you when I was left… Vice versa, there was no day when I didn’t think of you.”       “Yeah?”       “Yeah. I really missed you…”       “Honestly, me too…” Natalia moves her eyes to her hands for a second. “I got kind of sad after you left…”       “I hope I won’t have to leave again.”       “I wouldn’t like you to.” Natalia smiles much wider, feeling a wave of shyness and getting a little nervous. “Yeah, forgive me for running into you again… I felt into my thoughts so much that I noticed nothing…”       “It’s okay, don’t apologize, please,” Edward replies amicably, shaking his head. “I also thought about something and didn’t notice you.”       “I hope I didn't hurt you too much?”       “Nope, it’s okay. And you?”       “I’m fine.”       “Oh, okay then…”       Natalia looks down with a shy smile again, but later moves her eyes to Edward.       “Are you walking her for no reason?” Natalia asks. “Or do you have some things to do?”       “Nope, I’m just walking,” Edward shrugs, being a little tense. “Enjoying the good weather.”       “Okay.”       “Are you walking here for no reason, too?”       “Well, actually, yes,” Natalia confirms with a slight smile. “I don’t wanna stay home when it’s so warm… Even if I have to walk all alone.”       “And your friends? You could invite one of your friends to go somewhere.”       “Oh, I’ve lately spoken only to one friend of mine. I haven’t talked to others for ages…”       “Fought?”       “Nope, everybody just has something to do. And our plans of coming together lead to empty promises to meet one beautiful day.”       “You could invite your friend.”       “She’s busy now. That girl recently moved to the home of her boyfriend and is getting used to the new place. She has no time to think of me.”       “So…” Edward smiles shyly and glances aside. “If we met here, we could have a walk together.”       “Suggesting to spend time together?”       “I wouldn’t personally mind if you joined me and talked to me a little.” Edward chuckles quietly. “Since you’re here, I don’t have to call you and ask you if you wanna go somewhere.”       “So, if you suggested it, I can’t refuse,” Natalia shrugs with a shy smile. “And I’ll be glad if you join me, too…”       “Let’s just walk straight and then decide where we could go.”       “Okay, I agree.”       “Let’s go then.”       Natalia nods, shares a shy smile with Edward, and starts slowly walking down the street along with him. They say nothing for some time, rarely glancing at each other, watching secretly, and struggling with a sense of nervousness and shyness. But later, the man decides to become the first one to break the silence:       “Haven't you made peace with your friend?”       “No, sadly,” Natalia shakes her head, moving her eyes down. “I haven't done.”       “And aren’t you ready to talk to her?”       “I think I am ready now. But I will not insist that we do it and will be waiting for her to express a wish to talk.”       “It’s been much enough time…” Edward notices thoughtfully, looking a little hesitant and wishing to say something but not being able to find the courage to do it. “I think she should’ve decided something. That girl should know it wouldn’t be happening forever.”       “Who knows… But now it’s clear she still doesn’t wanna talk to me. While I managed to get over myself and forget about the anger that I felt some time ago.”       “And what about with Simon Ringer? Or what’s his name? I mean, the one to wish to take revenge on her!”       “I dunno… I’m not actually aware of what’s happening to this story.”       “Didn’t you try to find out something?”       “From whom, Edward?” Natalia throws her hands up without emotions. “I haven’t seen and talked with Terrence for a long time…”       “Haven’t you tried to call Terrence or agree to a meeting?” Edward asks.       “Nope, I haven’t tried to.”       “Okay, are there other people, who are connected with Raquelle and speak to her?”       “Of course, there are. Her grandfather. Her aunt. Our common friend, Anna. But that girl rarely talks to them and hasn’t talked to Cameron for a long time, as far as I know. Moreover, Anna is busy moving into the house of her boyfriend. And Cameron’s aunt is living in England and hardly knows what’s happening here.”       “And don’t you wanna visit someone from her family?”       “No, I won’t go to their home,” Natalia replies confidently. “Raquelle is surely there. I’m not sure our meeting would be over in a good way.”       “So, what about meeting them somewhere at a café or at your home?”       “I could think about it. Moreover, I’ve always been very close to those people and known them since I was a little girl.”       “Then try to talk to them. I’m sure they wouldn’t refuse to meet you, tell you what’s happening about this story, and probably help you reconcile with your friend.”       “I’ve been thinking about it and would like to do that at the nearest time. Because I… Wonder to know what’s going on…”       “Do this then…” Edward advises. “Who knows, maybe, the situation got a little better, and I would finally be able to meet the one I’ve been looking for.”       “I know.”       “I can’t already wait to meet Terrence and tell all the truth that has probably been hidden from him.”       “Yeah, of course…”       Natalia falls into silence and slowly moves her eyes down, getting quite upset and wishing to play some time and spend as much time with Edward as possible, even if she had to lie and cheat for that. The man quickly notices it and frowns slightly, questioningly looking at the girl, who suddenly gets sad.       “Are you okay?” Edward expresses anxiety.       “Yup, I’m fine,” Natalia nods with a slight smile, moving her eyes to Edward. “I just thought a little…”       “Don’t worry, Natalia, it’s gonna be fine.” Edward softly caresses Natalia’s shoulder. “Maybe, the relatives of your friend would really help you make peace with her and tell you what’s happening to her. You just need to call them and suggest a meeting.”       “I know…” Natalia nods. “Just…”       Natalia swallows up nervously.       “I’m just not sure if they can help me make my relationship with Raquelle better,” Natalia confesses hesitantly. “And make her sure that I was slandered.”       “How do you know it?”       “That girl has always been as headstrong as a donkey and done what she wanted, not thinking of consequences. She doesn’t almost listen to anyone.”       “Yeah, but they are her family! The closet people, who’re definitely aware of the story of Simon, her scandals with Terrence, and her fight with you.”       “I know.”       “I personally think they’re judging her for what she did to you. And they already told her what they thought about it.”       “Oh, I don’t know, Edward…” Natalia exhales sharply, moving some strands off her face. “I don’t know what to expect. Maybe, everything would get much worse than it’d be worthless to count on any kind of hope…”       “Do you think there is no hope?”       “I can’t exclude it. And… Maybe, it will happen that I won’t be able to introduce you to Terrence…”       “What?” Edward rounds his eyes.       “I’m not sure about anything. Really.”       “Listen, you’ve lately been too upset,” Edward notices thoughtfully. “You look too thoughtful and have lost belief in the best.”       “Erm, me?” Natalia rounds her eyes.       “You felt into your thoughts so deeply that you didn’t notice me. And to be honest, it scares me a little.”       “I was just thinking about what to do, and what would wait for me in the future… So, I got busy with it.”       “How often do you think?”       “Nope, not very often.”       “Maybe, something bothers you? Maybe, there is something that makes you worried?”       “You know well what I’m worried about.”       “Maybe, I don’t know something, but you’re silent.”       “Nope… Just… Erm…” Natalia tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve had to get through as much over the past year as has never happened in my whole life… My grandma’s illness, the fight with my friend… How many times people have betrayed me after promising so many beautiful things.”       “You know, all of us get through a betrayal at least once in life,” Edward shrugs.       “Yeah, but… Because of what’s happening to me, I’m starting to think I’m a loser…”       “What?” Edward rounds his eyes. “Loser?”       “I’ve been especially unlucky. Whatever I do, I can’t do anything.”       “Gosh, Natalia, what are you talking about? What kind of loser?”       “It's the truth, Edward. I’ve lately been running into bad luck.”       “Something happened to you and made you think so?”       “Nope, but…”       “Listen, the more I’m talking to you, the more I’m understanding I’m right.”       “Huh?”       “You’ve not been yourself for a long time! When we met for the first time, you didn’t have such weird things, but now recognizing you is hard…”       “I’m just worried about what’s happening in my life. You know that I was very close to Raquelle and am really attracted to my grandmother.”       “Yes, the situation with your grandmother is really hard. But your parents have a chance to give her therapy. And as you say, it’s going on successfully. Yes, it’s going to be a hard way, but I’m sure she’d get well.”       “What about my friend?”       “And you will make peace with your friend. The most important thing is not to lose hope!”       “Ah, I lost it a long time ago…” Natalia sighs heavily. “I’m just living and getting horrified from thinking about what’s waiting for me tomorrow.”       “Natalia…”       “And… I understand I’m starting to get sick of everything… I mean… To get sick of everything that surrounds me… I need to change it and… Distract from the people I know at least for a while…”       Edward sharply moves his widely open eyes on Natalia, feeling like something jammed inside him after the girl’s words about wishing to distract from everybody in her life.       “What do you mean, you want to distract yourself from everybody in your life?” Edward asks hesitantly.       “I’d love to leave everything and go somewhere, at least for a while,” Natalia confesses with sadness in her eyes. “Maybe, go to Mexico to be close to Mother and Grandma… Maybe, another country…”       “But…”       “It’d be great to have a long cruise and travel around the world… Go where nothing would remind me of all the bad things that have happened to me.”       “It means… Do you wanna leave the city? Leave… Forever?”       “No, no, I don’t mean I wanna leave forever… But if I keep feeling bad here, I don’t exclude that I may stay in Mexico forever.”       While Natalia moves her eyes to her hands folded on her hands, Edward understands something jams inside him much stronger, and his heart squeezes from just thinking she would leave this place forever. Just because the man already realized that he was not indifferent to this girl, and he cannot stop thinking of her, whatever he does. But Edward cannot find the courage to confess it to Natalia. The fear that the girl would be indifferent to him stops him. It does not let him tell the girl that he is getting some feelings for this sweet girl with sad eyes. But on the contrary, the man understands he cannot be silent forever and hide his feelings and would have to tell the girl that he likes her very much.       “Do you really want to…” Edward pronounces hesitantly. “Leave?”       “Yes, Edward, I want,” Natalia replies confidently. “I think if I live abroad for two months and travel around the world, I will come to myself. Maybe, everything would get better here…”       Natalia sighs tiredly, looking into the distance.       “Honestly, I’ve been thinking about a trip for a long time,” Natalia confesses. “Somehow I had a one-month trip to Italy, had a great rest, and met new people. This time, I want to do something the same again… Either lie on the beach under the sun or ski in the mountains… I don’t know what I want more.”       “I get it…” Edward pronounces in a low voice.       “I could be back in Kingston, where I was born and grew up. But honestly, I don’t get too attracted to that place. I was gonna leave it and go to the university of New York. Luckily, my parents decided to move here to focus on their work. And… We decided to move together.”       “I see…”       Natalia moves her sad eyes on her hands for a moment, but then looks at Edward and smiles at him shyly while he silently prays that it does not happen.       “But even if I leave this place, I’ll miss you very much,” Natalia confesses with sadness in her eyes. “I will really miss talking to you.”       “Me…” Edward pronounces hesitantly. “Too…”       “You became the only one, who helped me smile and enjoy my life again. Even my friends didn’t help me as much as you did.”       “Just wanted to see you happy.”       “And I am grateful to you for that. I’ll never forget what you’ve done to me.”       “I know…” Edward pronounces quietly.       “But if you want, you can always visit me,” Natalia smiles shyly. “I’d be very glad to see you and walk on the streets of a beautiful city. I promise I won’t hide and will say where I’ll live.”       “Me? Come to you?”       “I promise I won't be hiding. I would tell you where I’d live if I decided to move somewhere.”       “Erm…”       Edward bites his lip slightly and moves his look aside, getting much more nervous after Natalia’s words.       “It would gonna be very hard for me to say goodbye to you after I do what I promised,” Natalia says hesitantly. “After I introduce you to Terrence…”       “What?” Edward rounds his eyes. “Say goodbye?”       “But remember, even if we stop communicating, I…”       “Wait, wait, Natalia…” Edward shakes his head, staring at Natalia surprisingly. “I didn’t get something… Do you really think I’ll stop communicating with you and forget you forever after I meet Terrence?”       “Wouldn’t you?” Natalia asks without emotions, inclining her head with sadness in her eyes.       At this moment, Natalia and Edward sit on the bench they see far from themselves.       “You’re speaking to me because of that,” Natalia adds. “You got a greater interest in me after you heard I was a friend of Terrence.”       “Gosh, Natalia, what a stupid thing!” Edward smiles shyly. “Why do you think I’m speaking to you just for my interests?”       “Because you need me until you meet Terrence. You just didn’t know how to get closer to him, but after I stood in your way, it made your mission much easier.”       “I speak to you because I really like it. With you, I forget everything in the world and get much happier. I haven’t felt so good with someone else as I feel with you.”       “It’s okay, Edward, don’t be afraid to hurt me,” Natalia smiles falsely. “I knew it would happen from the beginning. It’s always happened, in the case of any man that I’ve ever met. I’ve been used, been deceived… After getting a little attracted to someone.”       “No, no, just because others deceived you doesn’t mean I will do it.”       “You will, Edward. You will be one of those, who need me only for a benefit.”       “If I’m not interested in someone, I will not speak to them unless I have to do it.”       “The current situation makes you speak to me now.”       “Listen, Natalia, everything is not what you think. I’m not the type of person, who would dare to deceive a girl somehow.”       “Don’t worry, Edward, I completely understand it,” Natalia pronounces hesitantly with a slight smile and swallows up nervously. “I promise, after you meet Terrence and tell him everything, I’ll say goodbye to you and wish you luck. And I will thank you for literally bringing me to life after the fight with my friend.”       “No, Natalia, don’t say that!” Edward shakes his head sharply. “I don’t want to stop speaking to you. I don’t want to say goodbye to you! Never!”       With these words, Edward takes Natalia’s hand unconsciously. That’s why the girl shakes slightly and rounds her eyes, staring at the man surprisingly.       “Do you think you’re the only one to wish not to stop speaking to me?” Edward wonders and smiles shyly. “I don’t want it, either…”       “Edward, please…” Natalia shakes her head with pity in her eyes.       “You see, I don’t know what you think of me… And whether you actually think, but…” Edward swallows up nervously. “But there’s something you should know… What’s been on my mind for a long time… What I couldn’t find the courage to say for…”       Edward turns around for a moment and bites his lip slightly, trying to formulate his thoughts somehow.       “Say it now,” Natalia suggests quietly. “Don’t be afraid. If you confirm all my words, we will stop speaking, and I won’t be mad and upset. I will have the best memories of you.”       “I will say, and may it happen as it wants…”       Edward falls into silence for two seconds, trying to find a way to tell Natalia his confession that he is afraid to make so badly because of the fear that he will not get an answer. On the contrary, the man can no longer keep it inside…       “So… Well…” Edward wants to say something. “There’s something…”       “Gosh, speak it out!” Natalia smiles to encourage. “I did say I’d understand you anyway! Whatever you’d tell me.”       “Erm… I…”       Edward says nothing for a few more seconds before he moves some strands of hair off his face and exhales sharply with closed eyes, finally finding the courage to confess what he would like to say so much.       “I like you, Natalia,” Edward confesses in one breath and gets frozen like a statue, looking at Natalia with a scare in his eyes. “Like you like a girl… Not just like a friend…”       What Edward said makes Natalia deeply shocked, and she instantly rounds her eyes and literally stops breathing. The girl cannot say just one word from the excitement and gets sharply white. And she has only one question: “Did this man tell her the truth or lie to her to play with her feelings that the man does not know about yet?”       “W-what did you say?” Natalia asks in a strongly shaking voice. “You… Like me?”       “Yes, I do,” Edward repeats shyly. “I feel sympathy for you.”       “Erm… Well… W-wait… Y-you aren’t now…”       “I’ve been thinking of you for a long time. I can’t get you out of my mind. Whatever I do, I can’t spend at least one day without thinking of you. It’s madly nice and comfortable for me to be with you. After every single… Walk of us… I feel just incredible. And… I have already begun to plan the next one…”       “Really?” Natalia pronounces very quietly.       “You see… I didn’t think it would happen to me. I didn’t think I’d get some feelings for you. Because I originally thought we could be just friends. But the more time we spent together, the more I understood that my feelings were not amicably. They were much… Deeper…”       Edward shakes his head with a sharp sigh.       “I’ll understand and won’t get mad at you for rejecting me if you don’t feel anything for me,” Edward adds hesitantly. “But I needed to say it… I couldn’t keep it inside anymore… And I don’t want… To surely know what’s happening to me, what I feel for you is enough for me.”       But Edward being a little excited does not get an answer from the shocked Natalia, who is just silently looking at him with dumbfounded eyes and cannot stop blinking her eyelashes. She finds the strength to speak a few seconds later, pronouncing in a very shaking voice:       “D-don’t you… Don’t you… Lie to me now? Is this a bad joke?”       “No, it’s not a joke,” Edward protests. “That’s what I feel for you.”       “Please, don’t play a joke about me! It’s what hurts me much more…”       “I swear, I am very serious now,” Edward replies much more confidently and takes Natalia’s hands. “I really like you, Natalia. Talking to you gives me pleasure. And I would definitely do anything to be next to you. To hear your voice as much as possible.”       “Edward…” Natalia smiles shyly.       “But I will repeat: if you say you feel nothing for me, I won’t get upset and will respect your words.”       “Erm…”       “And remember, whatever happens, I won’t stop talking to you at my will. Neither after meeting Terrence nor after.”       Silence settles in the air because Natalia cannot say a word and is still trying to accept the fact that someone really confessed his love for her and did not leave her after one or two dates. The girl does not believe that she finally met her luck, met a good man, and began to fall in love with the one, who could definitely love her.       But Natalia’s silence makes Edward sad, and he believes that this blonde-haired beauty would not answer his feelings.       “So…” Edward pronounces hesitantly with sadness in his eyes. “I got it…”       Edward lets Natalia’s hands go and glances aside.       “It’s okay,” Edward adds in a little shaking voice. “I am accepting it and will not…”       “No…” Natalia pronounces with a slight smile. “It’s okay.”       Natalia puts her hand softly on the hand of Edward, who moves his widely open eyes to her.       “You know, Edward, I…” Natalia pronounces hesitantly, looking down for a second. “Erm…”       Natalia tries to formulate her thoughts for a few seconds because she is almost deprived of the power of speech after hearing the confession that woke up a great hurricane of emotions inside her.       “Everything you…” Natalia stutters strongly. “You just said…”       Natalia falls into silence for two seconds, looking down for a moment and closing them. And then she exhales sharply and looks at Edward with a scare in her eyes, finding the courage to confess:       “I feel all the same for you.”       “Really?” Edward rounds his eyes.       “Really. I like you, too, Edward. As a man.” Natalia smiles much wider with a sense of shyness. “I’ve lately caught myself thinking of you too much. And I wanna see you as much as possible. Moreover… I feel very good with you. I feel very happy and forget all my problems when you’re with me.”       “Just like I do,” Edward pronounces softly.       “Sometimes I even dream of something. And…” Natalia bites her lip slightly. “You’re the main character of these fantasies that I would like to make come true.”       “Main character of your fantasies?”       “Yup…” Natalia moves her eyes to her hands for a second with a shy smile. “I know that the fact that I dream of you doing what I’d like you to do might seem a little strange to you… But…”       “No, not at all!” Edward protests with a slight smile. “Why do you think it would seem strange to me?”       “I dunno… I just…”       “I often think of you, as well. You’re the main character in my fantasies. You’ve been for a long time.”       “I hope you aren’t thinking of some perverse things?” Natalia laughs shyly.       “Hey, could you really think I’m a pervert?”       “Oh, no, no, I didn’t think so… I just…”       “Don’t be afraid of me, Natalia,” Edward says softly. “I don’t have bad thoughts towards you. I ain’t gonna rape you and do something bad.”       After hearing about rape, Natalia shakes slightly with a scare in her eyes but tries not to show she is madly afraid of the mention of such a terrible thing.       “Erm, no, no…” Natalia pronounces hesitantly with a slight smile. “I… I w-wouldn’t even think about it. Because I know you’re very good and… Not able to do something like that.”       “Then don’t be afraid of me and stop thinking I wanna hurt you,” Edward replies confidently and takes Natalia’s hands. “Would a good man hurt a girl that he loves? Huh?”       “No, of course…”       “Then calm down and relax. And forget those, who’ve ever deceived you or hurt you. They don’t deserve such a wonderful girl like you. And they are not worth thinking of them.”       “Really?” Natalia smiles much wider.       “Really.” Edward fixes Natalia’s hair with a slight smile, looking at her face with interest, while she smiles shyly with a little blush on her face. “And yeah. I’d like to ask you something.”       “What?” Natalia asks. “If I have a chance, I’ll do my best to do that.”       “I’d like to ask you…”       Edward falls into silence for two seconds and relaxes his little tense shoulders with a quiet sigh.       “I would like to ask you not to leave,” Edward adds and looks at Natalia with a greater pity in her eyes. “Please, Natalia, stay here… I don’t want to lose such a wonderful girl like you!”       “You will not lose me,” Natalia shakes her head.       “You’re an amazing girl, with whom it’s unbelievably nice for me to be. The time we’ve spent together is the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. With you, I can feel the easiness that I sometimes lack.”       “Well, actually, I’d have to leave early or late,” Natalia replies thoughtfully, with sadness in her eyes. “You know what’s happening to my grandmother. Dad and I should be back in Mexico to help my mother. It’s too hard to do that alone.”       “Yeah, but if you stay there forever, we will never meet again,” Edward notices with sadness in his eyes.       “Why? You can always go there to visit me! I would be happy to show you the city, tell you many interesting things and tell you where you could taste dishes from the Mexican kitchen.”       “Oh…” Edward looks down and then glances around, getting a little nervous and quite tense. “Just… I’ve just never been abroad… And I have no money to travel abroad… Everything I earn from outside jobs is barely enough for food, clothes, and some little fun.”       “It’s not a big deal!” Natalia exclaims with a slight smile. “If you wanted to come to me, I’d pay for all the traveling expenses and life in a hotel.”       “No, no, I can’t accept that!”       “What’s wrong?”       “I think only a man can pay for a girl, not vice versa.”       “C’mon, Edward! As I’m inviting you, I should pay for everything. Especially, when you have no chance to do it. Luckily, my parents don’t deprive me of anything and always give me enough money that I can spend as I want.”       “No, Natalia,” Edward refuses hesitantly, looking a little excited. “Of course, thanks for the invitation, but I have to decline your suggestion.”       “It’s not a problem for me.”       “I’d feel embarrassed and literally owed you if I let you pay for my trip.”       “But, Edward…”       “You better come to the USA yourself. At least rarely. And I would spend my free time with you… If you decided to leave.”       “But I didn’t say I’d surely leave. Maybe, after having a little rest abroad, I’d calm down and go home. And we wouldn’t have to meet literally once per month or year.” Natalia glances at someone that she sees far away from her. “I need to leave only for one month. To have a little rest, spend some time with Grandma, and examine some cities… Although all these trips get me terribly exhausted, I adore traveling around the world alone or with someone else.”       “But I don’t want your decision to move abroad to be final,” Edward confesses with sadness in his eyes. “Don’t want… For me, it’d be like an end to everything that’s happened between us. I do want this story to go on.”       “Well…” Natalia smiles mysteriously. “Maybe, one beautiful day, I’d get a reason to change my mind and stay here. And not to leave this place.”       “Really?”       “Who knows…” Natalia pronounces in a much lower voice. “Maybe, someone would do their best for me not to wish to go somewhere… And… Leave this person alone.”       Edward exhales with relief, feeling a little better after Natalia’s words and not wishing to end any kind of relationship with her. Moreover, something tells the man that he is spending time with the girl, who could make him happy, and whom he could make feel like a queen thanks to his efforts.       “So, can I hope for the best?” Edward asks a little hesitantly. “Could you give me a chance?”       “Everything depends on you,” Natalia smiles shyly. “On what you want. What you’re feeling.”       “Then… Maybe, we try to… Get to know much more about each other?”       With these words, Edward runs his hand over Natalia’s cheek tenderly and a little hesitantly, making her smile widely, truly, and instantly feel a nice warmth and a slight shake from touches of such tender-to-feel fingers.       “Well…” Edward adds thoughtfully, noticing how soft and velvety Natalia’s skin is. “Of course, if you want…”       “I think we can get on well,” Natalia assumes with a slight smile. “Very well…”       Edward smiles shyly and looks into Natalia's eyes with much greater tenderness while she does the same. They are struggling with a sense of shyness and some tension, but they do not move their eyes aside and do feel a nice warmth and a slight shake over the whole body. The girl puts on a much wider smile when the man moves some strands off her face, trying to help her relax a little, even though he is by far not quiet.       But some time later, Natalia and Edward bring their faces closer to each other, examine them with their eyes for two more seconds, and then touch each other’s lips very hesitantly. Then they slowly step away and share a much tender gaze, sometimes glancing at each other’s lips. After feeling that it’s the green light for him, the man puts his hand softly on the cheek of the girl, who shakes slightly with a feeling of dizziness. She gets a little tense for two moments as her heart starts beating much faster and literally makes herself breathe not to collapse right here and now. But the nice warmth that the male palm is spreading relaxes her a little, and she silently lets him know that he can move on.       So, Edward waits for two seconds and gets Natalia slowly and a little hesitantly involved in their first kiss ever, which makes both of them feel a fast heartbeat and something very nice and warm that’s spreading over their whole bodies. The girl gets a little tense when the man’s lips tenderly touch her lips, but relaxes quickly, lets things happen as they want, and lets her feelings do their work.       Of course, they had first crushes and short kisses that would always be in their memories when they were teenagers. But the incredible feelings both of them are feeling now are much more dizzying and memorable than what teenagers have when having a kiss and believing they have real love.       Natalia and Edward really want to make this unforgettable moment last as long as possible. Both of them were secretly waiting for it for a long time. The girl and the man dreamed of kissing each other someday. And now they do not have to worry about their skills because everything happens by itself. The two get much pleasure from what’s happening and relax little by little.       Natalia feels everything turns upside down and gets a slight tickling somewhere in her abdomen. At first, she is terribly shy and does not know what to do to her condition, but later calms down a little, shyly runs her fingers through Edward’s hair, and puts an arm around his neck, succumbing to her wish to get much closer to this man. The man softly grabs the girl’s face, which he sometimes caresses, enjoying the soft skin of this blonde-haired beauty. Who madly likes feeling a nice warmth and a slight shake in her whole body. She tries not to think about what is going to happen after their first kiss, trying to get everything out of her head and focus on her feelings.       At first, Edward is also terribly nervous but tries not to show it. But the more time goes by, the more he relaxes and succumbs to his feelings, which have finally stopped being a secret. Natalia is the first girl that gets him so attracted in a while. The one that makes him think of wishing to get a girlfriend. Start a long-time affair that he did not even think about, being happy with short dates for pleasure. And it’s what gets the man surprised. He is surprised by the fact that he met the one that he does not want to leave now or ever.       The head goes around, and the brain is literally turned off. The heart is beating much faster. They are focused on what’s happening and thinking, “If only this magical moment never ended!” The kiss becomes much more confident but still stays shy and tender and gives much pleasure to Edward and Natalia. Who are definitely going to remember what’s happening between them for a long time.       Some time later, Natalia and Edward break the kiss and slowly step away from each other, not stopping looking into each other’s eyes, feeling a nice excitement, and breathing a little heavily. Their eyes full of gloss let them know they really liked what just happened. At some moment, the girl and the man share a shy smile and then laugh shyly, looking down for a moment.       “What just happened?” Natalia smiles shyly.       “I dunno,” Edward shrugs with an innocent smile. “But that was good.”       “Yeah, you’re right…” Natalia agrees, breathing heavily enough. “I… Really liked it…”       “Me too…”       Edward smiles much wider and fixes the rebelious strands of his hair.       “You…” Natalia pronounces a little hesitantly. “You can do this well… You give good kisses.”       “And you’ve got very soft lips,” Edward confesses shyly. “That I’d like to kiss again. To remember what they are like better.”       “Agree, we need to do it again someday…”       Natalia starts pulling a bracelet on her hand with a shy smile.       “But I thought I’d slide down the asphalt from the bench,” Natalia laughs quietly. “And if I’d been standing, I would’ve collapsed ‘cause my legs wouldn’t have held me.”       “That’s right…” Edward agrees. “Nevertheless, everything was just wonderful.”       “Yeah…” Natalia pronounces quietly, not hiding her wide smile that Edward watches with great tenderness in his eyes.       “I think everything is starting very well.”       “Definitely, yes… I must confess that… Despite literally dying from a stopped heart… I liked what happened between us.” Natalia falls into silence and bites her lip slightly. “Well, or what’s happening. I… I don’t know.”       “Me too…” Edward nods and laughs shyly.       Natalia says nothing and moves her eyes to her hands folded in front of her.       “I hope I won’t kill you next time if I wished to kiss you again,” Edward expresses hope.       “I’ll do my best not to let it happen,” Natalia promises. “But I can’t say it’s not gonna happen. Because I’m… Very sensitive and… Susceptible.”       “I see.”       Edward moves a little strand of hair off Natalia’s eyes with a shy smile and tenderly caresses her cheek with a soft, warm hand while she closes her eyes and rubs it against his hand cutely.       “Hey, what about sitting in a café and eating something?” Edward suggests. “Don’t you wanna be a company for the lonely guy and kill his loneliness? I actually wanted to go somewhere to eat. I had no appetite this morning and ate almost nothing.”       “I would be for it,” Natalia agrees amicably. “As far as I know, there’s a small café not far from us… We could go there.”       “Yes, yes, I was going there!”       “Great, let’s go there.”       “In this case, follow me…”       Edward gets up quickly and gives his hand to Natalia with a slight smile.       “With pleasure!” Natalia exclaims with a much wider smile. “With great pleasure!”       Natalia takes Edward's hand, which he gave her, and gets up with his help. Laughing shyly and taking each other’s hand, they slowly go to where the café that they need is located. Sometimes the girl and the man share a tender gaze, not believing everything is really happening to them. Natalia would not have imagined she would meet the man, who would make her happy. And Edward did not expect that he would meet the most beautiful, the kindest, and most tender, as he thinks, girl in the world that would make his life a little happier.       

***

      Meanwhile, Terrence is spending time in one of the cafés. The man sitting at the table near the window all alone and thinking about what to do. It goes without saying, he got much better because Simon would no longer hurt him, Raquelle, or anyone else. But it does not mean everything will be fine now. Yes, the story of Ringer is over, but he will not get back all his old friends and his beloved girl. It’s the reason that makes him wish to leave as far as possible. Probably, forever.       “Every day, I’m making more sure that I'll have to leave this place,” Terrence thinks, looking into the cup of coffee that he has not drunk yet with his dead eyes. “I’ve gotten through so much that I would be happy to strike out of my life. The longer I stay at this place, the more I think of Raquelle. Who will never understand and forgive me. Anyway… I see no meaning in staying here anymore. Nothing holds me here. I can quietly take my stuff and get out somewhere.”       Terrence sighs silently and runs his hand through his hair.       “If I’ve already done what I should’ve done…” Terrence thinks. “At least, I wouldn’t feel so lousy… It would be much better for everybody. But… Nobody would think of me if I got out. So, I can quietly go to the fuck.”       Terrence glances at teenagers going by him and drinks some coffee.       “First, I’ll go somewhere abroad for a while,” Terrence thinks. “Find a quiet country and not a very big city and live there. Maybe, I’ll even travel around the countries as a tourist… And if I like being somewhere, I will think of moving. Here, I could sell the house and find a job for the servants not to let them stay without money… When I solve my problems here, I will get out of here to the fuck. To put my mind in order… My mental health hasn’t been good in the past few years. I need to have a rest before I go crazy…”       While Terrence thinks of his plans for the future, Natalia and Edward enter the café where he is some time later, having a little blush on their faces and not stopping smiling. When they enter, the couple quickly looks around to find a free table where they could sit, talk, and bother nobody. At some moment, Natalia notices a very familiar person sitting at one of the tables and recognizes him as Terrence, who does not notice that she came here with someone. She recognizes her friend quickly, gets a little confused quickly, and asks herself if she should introduce her companion to him.       After looking around, Edward moves his eyes to Natalia and notices that she changed sharply and became kind of thoughtful and even a little scared.       “Hey, Natalia, are you okay?” Edward expresses anxiety, putting his hand on Natalia’s shoulder. “Why are you nervous?”       “Do you see the black-haired man, who is sitting at the table near the window?” Natalia asks, pointing at Terrence, who is sitting near the window.       “Erm… That one?”       “Yes.”       “Yup, I see… Why?”       “That’s Terrence,” Natalia pronounces quietly. “Meet him.”       “What?” Edward opens his little scared eyes wider. “Terrence?”       Edward looks at Terrence being far from here much better.       “That’s Terrence?” Edward wonders.       “Yes, him,” Natalia nods.       “Oh, damn…” Edward swallows up nervously, and tenses all his muscles strongly enough. “I didn’t think I’d meet him today.”       “Me too…” Natalia pronounces hesitantly. “I wasn’t ready for that.”       “Oh, damn…”       Edward swallows up nervously and starts to shake slightly.       “I’m getting kind of nervous…” Edward confesses in a little shaking voice.       “Yeah…” Natalia agrees.       “So, what do we do then?” Edward moves his questioning look to Natalia. “Leave quietly or come closer to him?”       “I dunno…” Natalia shakes her head. “Would it be a good moment to introduce you to him? What if we come to him at the wrong time?”       “But it’s going to happen early or late.”       “I know… But I ain’t aware of what’s happening to him and Raquelle. What if Terrence doesn’t care about anything except her and Ringer?”       “So, do we better go to a different café?”       “You know… Of course, I would prefer to get out of here… But on the contrary… I wouldn't mind trying to find out what’s happening to my friend. I mean, my former friend… And something about the story of Ringer…”       “Are you suggesting coming to him?”       “I don’t know, Edward…” Natalia shakes her head. “I’m confused…”       “Believe me, I wasn’t also ready to meet him today.”       “My God, my God… What do we do? What do we do?”       And while Natalia thinks about whether she should introduce her companion to her companion and calls the memories of the fact that the man that she likes might stop speaking to her, Edward looks at Terrence sitting near the window and drinking slowly coffee with true interest.       “That’s him…” Edward thinks. “The one I need. Terrence MacClife. I’ve finally found you.”       “He’s so sad…” Edward notices thoughtfully. “Exhausted… Did that bad situation make him feel so bad?”       “It seems like, yes,” Natalia assumes quietly. “The last time I met him, Terrence wasn’t so exhausted… But it’s clear that this situation got his brains all shot.”       “Oh, gosh… Poor man… He’s gotten through too much…”       “Agree…”       Natalia thinks about something for a few seconds.       “Listen, I have a little idea!” Natalia exclaims.       “Really?” Edward wonders. “What?”       “Let’s just walk by Terrence’s table as if we didn’t see him. If he doesn’t recognize me and doesn’t turn on us, we’ll also pretend that we don’t notice him. But if he does, I will introduce him to you. As I promised.”       “M-m-m, listen, I like the way you think…” Edward replies thoughtfully with a slight nod. “It wouldn’t really seem that we wanna impose on him and saw him first.”       “If you need it, I can leave you alone, so you can talk about everything. So, you can ask him all the questions that you care about.”       “Great! We agreed then!”       “Yes! Can we go?”       “Yes, let’s go!” Natalia exhales sharply. “Go to the cashier!”       Natalia and Edward turn around and go to the cash desk, where they can order some food as if nothing happened. They are pretending that they do not notice Terrence when going by his table, sharing tender gazes and talking about something nice. At some moment, they start laughing because of a joke that they had been discussing before they came to this café.       The laughter of the girl that he can hear very close, not far from his table, seems very familiar to Terrence. The man is ready to bet anything that belongs to Natalia because he has heard it many times when Raquelle and she often laughed with his pretense when talking about something. When he raises his head sharply and looks around quickly, Terrence sees the familiar blonde that is standing with her back turned to him, pretending that she does not notice him and having the pleasure of talking with someone that he does not know for sure.       After looking at the blonde better and making sure that’s one hundred percent Natalia, Terrence gets up from the table and confidently comes to the girl, who is standing with her back turned to him, while Edward starts to examine everything in one of the showcases.       “Natalia?” Terrence pronounces surprisingly, putting his hand on Natalia’s shoulder.       Natalia turns on the call and sees Terrence standing in front of her.       “Terrence?” Natalia pretends to be surprised. “Wow!”       “Hi, friend, I’m glad to see you,” Terrence greets with a slight smile.       “Hi, me too.”       Terrence and Natalia hug each other amicably but step away from each other a few seconds later.       “I didn’t know you were here,” Natalia adds.       “And I didn’t think you’d go to this café,” Terrence confesses.       “How are you doing?”       “More or less fine,” Terrence smiles slightly. “And you?”       “Fine, too.”       “Hey, you suddenly disappeared and stopped calling me.”       “Sorry, I was a little busy. But I was gonna call you a long time ago. Either get invited to your home or invite you to mine.”       “I hope nothing bad happened to you?”       “Nope, thank God, everything’s fine.”       “How are you doing after the fight with your friend?”       “I feel much better now…” Natalia replies confidently with a slight smile. “Thanks to you. You helped me come to myself and were by my side at the right time.”       “Really?”       “Yup. Thank you so much.”       “Glad I managed to help you,” Terrence replies amicably. “Judging by your look, you really got much better.”       “You’re right… I don’t worry so much now.”       “That’s good.”       “Listen…” Natalia shyly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Why didn’t ya call me? You do know I’m always available for you at any time.”       “I'm really sorry,” Terrence pronounces guiltily. “I wanted to call you, but I was too busy, as well.”       “Busy?”       “Yup…” Terrence moves his eyes down for a moment and massages his neck. “I had something important to do…”       “So, okay, then…” Natalia glances aside for a moment. “Did you come here to eat?”       “I could say so… I went somewhere for one thing and then came here to drink a cup of coffee. It’s very quiet and deserted here. For me, it’s what I need.”       “Yeah, this place is very good and quiet…”       “By the way, as far as I understand, didn’t you come here alone? I saw you talking to one guy and laughing at his joke loudly.”       “Well, yeah, I’m not alone… I came here with him…”       Natalia turns on Edward, who is standing with his back to her and paying for something. She says something to him, and he turns his face on quickly. Then the guy smiles gently and starts looking at the man closely, who is a few centimeters taller than him and has careful, perfectly done hair and narrow blue eyes.       “Erm, hello…” Edward pronounces a little hesitantly.       “Hello,” Terrence greets amicably. “I see Natalia has met a new friend.”       “Yeah, I could say so,” Natalia smiles shyly.       “So… Since you’ve come here, I suggest that we sit down at my table and talk a little. And I can also get to know your friend better.”       “I don’t mind it,” Edward shrugs.       “Oh, wait for me, please,” Natalia says. “I will buy something for me quickly, and then you and I will talk about everything.”       “Okay, I will wait.”       Natalia comes to the cash, examines the list of all the items quickly that she sees not far from herself, tells the cashier what she wants to buy, pays for it, and waits patiently for her order to be completed. All this time, Edward and Terrence stand aside, not finding the courage to talk to each other because of the feeling of awkwardness that they cannot explain. Though, the guys sometimes look at each other secretly. Lockhart looks at his new acquaintance, whom he wanted to meet so badly, with great interest as he shifts his weight nervously from one foot to another. Although it makes MacClife a little confused, he tries not to show it and just keeps smiling at him gently.       And some time later, Natalia comes back to them, holding a small packet with her order, and smiles cutely at the men, who, as she notices silently, do not feel kind of comfortable.       “So what, let’s go?” Natalia asks.       “Yeah…” Edward pronounces thoughtfully. “Let’s sit down.”       “Let’s come to my table,” Terrence says confidently. “It’s there.”       Terrence turns around and goes quietly to his table, while Natalia and Edward follow him, looking at each other at some moment. Then the girl and her companion sit in front of the sad and little exhausted man, who is still in close view of the young guy. But who understands that he made him kind of confused by behaving like this at some moment.       “Oops…” Edward pronounces hesitantly. “You… I’m sorry for… Staring at you so openly…”       “It’s alright, don’t apologize,” Terrence replies quietly.       “I guess I made you a little confused?”       “Nope, it’s alright.”       “It just… It seemed to me… That you reminded me of… One person… That you look very similar to him…”       “It’s alright. You… Also remind me of someone… To be honest…”       “I’m sorry again…”       “Forget it.” Terrence moves his eyes sharply to Natalia. “Hey, Natalia, don’t you wanna introduce this young guy to me?”       “Erm, yeah…” Natalia pronounces hesitantly. “I guess I should introduce you to each other…”       Natalia moves her eyes to Edward.       “Edward, let me introduce Terrence MacClife,” Natalia introduces quietly. “He is… My good friend.”       Natalia moves her eyes to Terrence with a slight smile.       “Terrence, let me introduce Edward Lockhart… My friend, as well…”       “Nice to meet you, Mr. Lockhart,” Terrence pronounces amicably and shakes Edward by the hand.       “Same,” Edward pronounces amicably. “Mr. MacClife…”       “I hope you and I will get well.”       “I would be very happy.”       “Alright…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully. “And where did you meet Natalia? She’s never told me about you.”       “We met in the café…” Edward replies a little hesitantly.       “That’s how? How long have you befriended her?”       “Not very long…”       “And how did it happen?”       “I came there because I wanted to eat a little. But unfortunately, all the tables were taken. I wanted to leave and go to a different place, but then I saw a very sad girl, who was sitting all alone. That was Natalia.”       “Did you decide to sit down with her?”       “Yes. I decided to sit down with her and try to make a new acquaintance.”       “Right,” Natalia confirms shyly. “I didn’t refuse when he came… And then we talked a little, and… We decided to get to know each other better…”       “Erm, yeah…” Edward pronounces hesitantly. “I liked this girl shortly after I saw her.”       “So, did you decide not to miss a chance?” Terrence smiles shyly.       “Yeah, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if I had missed a chance to meet such a beautiful girl. Who also turned out to be a very smart and nice talker.”       “That’s right,” Terrence nods confidently. “Natalia is a cool girl. One of my best friends, who means a lot to me.”       “To be honest, I didn’t even believe when she said she befriended you.”       “Why?”       “Well, erm… You…” Edward bites his lip slightly. “Erm… You’re a famous person…”       “Yeah, many people know me.”       “Right…” Edward pronounces hesitantly, putting his head on his shoulder.       “Why are you so nervous? Did I do something wrong?”       “Me?” Edward rounds his eyes. “N-no… No, I’m not nervous… It’s alright…”       “You’re acting like I was born into a royal family, but you’re a simple worker or something like that.”       “But you’re a part of the show business. Many people know you, love you, and respect you.”       “Yeah… It’s true. But just because I’m one of the celebrities doesn’t mean I don’t know ordinary people. I’m the same as everyone, and I live among them.”       “And I must confess that… I like everything you’re doing. I can even call myself a fan of yours.”       “Really?”       “Yeah. I know you thanks to a movie that I watched many years ago. I really liked it.”       “Thanks, it’s nice to know you appreciated my work.”       “You turned out to be a wonderful actor, Mr. MacClife. I appreciate the way you give your everything to every single role. You give yourself to your work to get a brilliant result.”       “Why is it so official?” Terrence wonders with a slight smile. “Call me by my name.”       “By your name?”       “Yes, call me Terrence.”       “Yeah? Well… Alright. Mr.… I mean, Terrence! As you wish! Then you can call me by my name, too. Edward.”       “Deal, Edward.”       Edward says nothing and just shrugs, not knowing what to do to his sweaty hands because of excitement, breathing a little heavily, and tensing every single muscle, while his rounded, little scared eyes are running from one side to another.       “Hey, Terrence, how are you doing?” Natalia asks amicably. “I’ve heard almost nothing about what happened to you since we had our last talk.”       “Luckily, many things got better…” Terrence replies quietly. “Living definitely got much easier.”       “Really? Do you have good news?”       “I could say so…” Terrence glances at a person going by with a packet of food in his hands. “You can rejoice: Simon will no longer bother us because he got what he deserved.”       “What do you mean he’ll no longer bother us?” Natalia frowns slightly. “Did Ringer decide to give up and give up on his ideas of revenge?”       “Aha, the lord decided to give us forgiveness,” Terrence hums quietly.       “But what do you wanna say then?”       “He almost brought the business to an end, but his dreams didn’t come true.”       “Huh?”       “Ringer wanted a beautiful life but got nothing ‘cause he got a punishment in time.”       “Wow!” Natalia wonders truly. “Will you tell me what happened? I wanna know everything!”       “Sure. I will tell you everything now.”       While Terrence clears his throat quickly, someone suddenly gets a call on their phone. It’s not Natalia or Terrence’s phone, it’s Edward’s one. He takes his phone, looks at the screen, and sighs disappointedly, understanding he has to answer the call even if he does not want to do this.       “Oops, excuse me, I need to answer the call,” Edward says a little hesitantly. “You… Have a talk here… I will be back now.”       Edward gets up from the table and quickly goes outside to answer the call. While Natalia does not get surprised by this call and quietly reacts to this, Terrence watches the leaving guy questioningly, with mistrust.       “Such an important talk that he ran away so quickly?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “Maybe,” Natalia shrugs. “I don’t try to understand his business, honestly.”       “He’s a kind of weird man, to be honest… He’s kind of quiet and shy, but something makes me suspicious about him.”       “I must confess that he wanted to meet you so badly.”       “Me? Meet me?”       “Yeah, but I haven’t understood why.”       “It’s weird…” Terrence frowns slightly.       “Edward asked a lot about you and couldn’t wait for the moment for you to finally meet.”       “Listen, Rochester, you shouldn’t better get in touch with him. Edward is definitely planning something bad. My gut tells me that the guy needs something from me.”       “He really needs something. But I can’t understand what.”       “Anyway, we should keep our eye on him. Having more problems would be too much. At first, we barely got rid of Ringer, and now we may have to deal with that little kid.”       “I get it,” Natalia says with sadness in her eyes. “But I wanna believe that Edward doesn’t really wish anything bad to you. That even if he’s planning something, it’s not so terrible.”       “Oh, okay, damn him…” Terrence waves his hand sharply. “I will deal with him later. Now I’m just gonna watch him. And I advise you to keep yourself far from him if you don’t want to have any problems.”       “We will see it, buddy.”       “Okay, forget it!”       “So, what happened to Simon?”       “So, somewhere five days ago, Simon asked Raquelle about the meeting that happened three days ago.”       “Meeting? How do you know it?”       “Alicia and Mr. Cameron told me about that meeting. And I had talked to them and asked them to help me do just something to save Raquelle.”       “What?” Natalia frowns slightly. “Alicia? But she is living in London!”       “She’s in New York. She came here to be with Raquelle until everything got better.”       “Wow… I didn’t know that woman was here.”       “Alicia left everything because of a bad presentiment. And first, she went to my home and asked me to explain everything that happened. So, I told her the truth. A little later, I asked her and Mr. Cameron for help. And by the way, he kicked me enough, as well.”       “That’s how…”       “In short, it was hard…” Terrence runs his hand sharply over his face with a quiet sigh. “So, three days ago, Raquelle went to the meeting all alone.”       “Alone?” Natalia rounds her eyes.       “She refused to take someone with her and thought she would’ve dealt with him.”       “My God, that girl is crazy.”       “Do you know, my darling, where that stinker told her to go?”       “Where?” Natalia asks, looking at Terrence questioningly with her widely open eyes.       “Abandoned building on the outskirts of the city.”       “What? Come on!”       “Simon wanted to kill her there not to let anyone know it. He told her not to take the police or someone else with her. And he said he’d kill her or someone of her close people if she didn’t obey him.”       “Did she know why Ringer invited her there but went there anyway?”       “She did, but she was too headstrong and went there alone.”       “Cameron found the wrong time to pretend to be a heroine.”       “That’s right. But Raquelle didn’t know I was going there with the police.”       “You went there, too?”       “If I hadn’t organized all of that, you'd never met that girl again because that stinker would’ve killed her right there.”       “Oh, gosh…” Natalia puts her hand on her heart. “Is the reason for his revenge so terrible that he was ready to kill the poor girl?”       “Nope, the reason was simple – the rejected love!” Terrence says confidently.       “Rejected love? What does Raquelle have to do with it? Was he in love with her?”       “Not her, Raquelle's mother.”       “Raquelle’s mother?”       “She rejected him many years ago and chose the father of your friend, to whom she got married.”       “Come on!” Natalia wonders loudly with her widely open eyes. “Simon? Was in love with Raquelle’s mother?”       “I’m still shocked, too.”       “Wait, but how did he know that woman?”       “He met her at the college. And he was chasing her everywhere and dreaming of marrying her.”       “Simon said it?”       “No other! Ringer told everything at once!”       “What a twist…”       “But don’t ask Alicia about it. Her family knew nothing about the short affair between Elizabeth Thompson and that bastard.”       “Didn’t know?”       “She was hiding it and problems in her marriage with Jackson Cameron and their divorce that, as it turned out, didn’t happen.”       “Didn’t happen?”       “Yes, as it turned out, they didn’t get divorced. They wanted to do, but they reconciled later.”       “Did nobody really know it?”       “Nobody. Alicia swore she knew nothing about it. And her family couldn’t know it because Elizabeth fought with everybody and told them not to meddle in her business.”       “Well… Sounds true.”       “That’s why everyone thought they were divorced before their tragic death in the car accident. That was provoked by Simon, just saying.”       “Provoked by Simon? You wanna say Raquelle’s parents died not because of their fault?”       “No, Natalia, Elizabeth, and Jackson died because of him.”       “But how?” Natalia wonders. “How did he manage to kill them?”       “That sick stinker went nuts and was chasing the Camerons for a few years and begging Raquelle’s mother to come back to him, being ready to educate her child. But when she reconciled with her father, he decided to kill them. And he used a chance to break the brake line of their car, in which Mr. and Mrs. Cameron went somewhere.”       “Broke the brake line? So, it means they couldn’t stop the car?”       “Exactly! Unfortunately, Jackson could not keep control and stop the car and crushed something so much that Elizabeth and he got many traumas that were not compatible with life. And I’m not sure if they could’ve been saved even if the doctors had come to the right place immediately.”       “Gosh, how awful!” Natalia closes her mouth with a hand with horror in her eyes. “It happens that their death wasn’t an accident or negligence, as everybody thought?”       “Simon confessed everything,” Terrence replies quietly. “And he had no regret when telling how he personally made Raquelle an orphan.”       “My God, poor Raquelle… I can’t believe it…”       “So, when the Camerons’ daughter grew up, he decided to get off her and send her to another world after them.”       “How did she hurt him?”       “Who the hell knows! Her strong resemblance probably got him mad and made him think of Elizabeth, who rejected his love. So, he decided to get off her. At first, he was planning to revenge for many years, then he decided to humiliate her for the whole world, get her to fight with her close people, and kill her personally in the end.”       “He is a sick stinker…”       “You’re right! But that’s good we meddled just in time and stopped that sick bastard.”       “He got caught?”       “Yeah, but we had to get over much for two hours that the police were trying to make him sure to give up.”       “And how did they catch him?”       “Everything was over with Simon’s falling from the roof.”       “Falling from the roof?”       “We could do nothing to save your friend. Ringer got insane and refused to let her go… He thought she was Elizabeth and literally tried to rape her.”       “Come on?” Natalia rounds her eyes full of horror.       “At first, he locked himself in the room and tried to take his pants off for her. But when we got into it, he brought all of us to the roof. He threatened to push Raquelle off.”       “My God…”       “In short, the policemen decided to start the fire. But they couldn’t shoot at him because he always dodged them. Then I grabbed the pistol from one of them and did it on my own. And… After one of the shoots, he lost his balance. He started to fall and dragged Raquelle with him.”       “What?” Natalia gets horrified. “Raquelle? She fell off the root, too?”       “Nobody could help her. Everything happened too fast.”       “I can’t believe it…” Natalia closes her mouth with her hands, barely holding down her wish to cry.       “We thought she was dead for a few minutes. But at some moment, we saw her climbing up. One policeman and I rushed to her and pulled her onto the roof. By that moment, Raquelle was super exhausted and was close to hysteria. She was crying and screaming… She couldn’t calm down.”       “You know… I had a bad feeling. My heart squeezed when I thought of Raquelle. I thought something should’ve happened to her.”       “So, it happened. That bastard mocked her enough. So much that she lost consciousness in my arms after everything ended.”       “Not surprising…”       “We briefly thought it could have to do with some traumas gotten during the falling. But the doctors examined her and said everything was okay. She just experienced strong stress. Tight sleep and a lot of good would quickly bring her back to life.”       “I see… What about Simon? He died?”       “No, the scumbag is alive. But after that falling, he might probably stay a disabled man.”       “Disabled?”       “He got serious problems with his back. Also, he has a lot of traumas. The falling from almost twenty or thirty meters can’t lead to anything good.”       “Ah, everything’s clear, then!”       “Yeah, but in addition to this, Mr. Cameron also ended up in the hospital.”       “What?” Natalia gets horrified. “Mr. Cameron is in the hospital?”       “He got sighs of a heart attack,” Terrence glances at his hands. “He was too worried about Raquelle and got his health a little worse.”       “And how’s he feeling now?”       “Luckily, everything ended well, but he will stay in the hospital for some time.”       “My gosh… Everything happened literally at the same time…”       “That’s why Alicia and I were worried about Raquelle. We were worried she wouldn’t handle it all and would go crazy. But that’s good she braced herself somehow and managed to hold on.”       “She’s strong mentally. Even if it seems that the girl wouldn’t handle it, Cameron manages to surprise everyone. I am still surprised that she survived after falling off the roof.”       “Nobody has understood how it happened, and Raquelle can’t remember that.”       “Only that?”       “I dunno, I didn’t ask. Maybe, she forgot something. Or she is pretending that she forgot it. Forgot how she confessed that she dreamed of my appearance when being half-conscious.”       “Interesting…”       “Anyway, I stayed with her until Alicia came to the hospital. Supported her as best as I could.”       “Oh, don’t you know which hospital they took him to?” Natalia asks with sadness in her eyes. “I want to visit him and support him somehow. Maybe, he needs something… Who knows…”       “The central town. You can call Alicia, and she'll tell you more. She’ll help you find him.”       “Thanks, I’ll surely call her and get the address and the number of the room.”       “I think Mr. Cameron would be happy to see you. You’ve known him since you were a kid.”       “You’re right…”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Natalia tries to come to herself after what she just found out.       “Ah, poor Raquelle…” Natalia sighs heavily. “Poor Mr. Cameron… If something happened to him, she wouldn’t take it.”       “Yes, I know…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully, moving his eyes to the cup of coffee placed in front of him. “Before she heard that he was fine, Raquelle couldn’t calm down for a second. Even when we managed to talk well probably for the first time in a while, she was tense. Not saying about the talk we had before her faint.”       “Did you really manage to talk?” Natalia wonders truly.       “Yes, I think that trouble united us for a while,” Terrence replies in a much lower voice as he shrugs, and sighs with sadness in his eyes. “But something would hardly be changed. Because she’ll never forgive me for what I was doing to her for a long time.”       “Sorry for meddling not in my business, but maybe, you could explain what happened between you?” Natalia suggests carefully. “You haven’t told me the reason why you fought with Raquelle and forced her to leave the house… Maybe, it is time to open cards, huh?”       “I said nothing ‘cause I was ashamed…” Terrence inclines his head slightly. “Because of the fear of being judged. I thought you’d judge me as well as those, who already know it… Many friends of mine turned their backs on me because of that and believe I’m terrible. And you’d hardly love to talk to me after you found out the truth.”       “Did you do something serious that made your friends turn their backs on you?” Natalia wonders.       “Actually, yes…”       “And what did you…”       Natalia wants to say something, but Terrence stops her quietly:       “At some moment, I got so wild that I took it out on Raquelle and…”       Terrence exhales slowly, being terribly afraid to tell the truth, but understanding that he should do this. But then the man exhales sharply and looks at Natalia with a little scare in his eyes.       “I slapped her in the face…” Terrence confesses hesitantly. “Hit her…”       Terrence begins to wait for Natalia’s reaction, looking at her with horror in his eyes. The girl gets shocked by what she hears after this statement and rounds her eyes.       “W-w-w-what you?” Natalia asks in a little shaking voice. “S-s-s-slapped her in the face?”       “Unfortunately…” Terrence pronounces quietly, moving his eyes down.       “My God… I can’t believe it…”       Natalia shakes her head with horror in her eyes and closes her mouth with a hand.       “MacClife, how could you do that to her?” Natalia wonders irritably. “Did you really go nuts? Don’t you know how people treat those, who dare to raise a hand on a girl? What were you thinking of?”       “I’ll completely understand you if you get up and leave, calling me bad words,” Terrence replies with sadness in his eyes, looking down or moving his eyes to Natalia. “But I can swear on anything that I didn’t want to do that.”       “Didn’t want? But you did the fuck do that!”       “I know, but I swear I tried to hold myself down until the end not to break down…” Terrence shakes his head with a heavy sigh. “But I couldn’t do that and paid a high cost for that…”       “Insane… Just insane!”       “When my friends learned it, they turned their backs on me. And Raquelle decided not to come back to me… And her relatives almost killed me…”       “So, do Alicia and Mr. Cameron know about your disgusting act?”       “Only Alicia knows the truth, but Mr. Cameron knows nothing about my slap. But if he knows it, he will bury me alive. Frederick will do his best not to let Raquelle get closer to me.”       “Did Alicia caress your head after hearing what a disgusting thing you did to her niece?”       “Oh, no! She started a scandal at my home.”       “And you?”       “What? The only thing I could do is to tell her all the truth and prove that I was really very sorry.”       “Is that why you decided to cover your ass and pretend to be a hero for Raquelle and her family?” Natalia asks gloomily. “So they don’t shower you with mud too hard!”       “I did that because I should’ve helped your friend when everything just started. But instead, I just went nuts and started to fight with her every single day, doing my best to put a final end to our relationship that was too bad.”       “Well, knowing everybody’s shocked after what happened, Raquelle’s family will be thankful to you for saving that girl and forget about your disgusting behavior for a while. But when they come to themselves, do not wait for mercy.”       “Please, Natalia, trust me,” Terrence begs with pity in his eyes. “I swear I didn't want it. I didn’t wanna fight with Raquelle and especially raise a hand on her.”       “I had a better opinion about you.”       “I know I wouldn’t be able to recover my reputation after what I did for a long time. And if the whole world knows everything, everyone will hate me. And someone will do their best to make me a monster. My career is gonna be ruined to the fuck.”       “Ah, so, you are worried about your reputation and afraid that nobody will admire you!”       “I am, I won’t deny,” Terrence pronounces quietly. “But proving to Raquelle and her family that I did a terrible thing, admitted it, and was sorry about it was more important to me.”       “Oh, yeah, sorry…”       “I don’t want them to shower me with mud and blame me for all the problems until the end of their lives. I got a chance to get better for them – I used it. And I got thankfulness that I didn’t count on, however.”       “Of course, it’s all very touching and wonderful, but you’re the one to blame for making your reputation worse and making everybody turn their backs on you.”       “I know… I screwed it up.”       “And I don’t mean only your slap. Did you forget you promised me to destroy Raquelle and her life and tell everyone she was an allegedly psychotic, sick scum? The life with who was hell! It was your words, Terrence! You swore to do your best for her to suffer!”       “I don’t know what got obsessed with me… I was mad and didn’t know what I said… But I swear I am not going to ruin the life and the career of Raquelle. Since we’ve already broken up, she can live a quiet life, and I will not chase her and prevent her from being happy.”       “You know what I realized? Raquelle was forced to think she was allegedly sick. And when she believed it, Cameron began to really seem the one! We made the situation much worse with hysterics and scandals. I shouldn't have succumbed to her provocations and gotten her mad, and you shouldn't have fought with her like a cat and a dog and blamed her for what actually was Ringer’s trick.”       “Yeah, but Simon would’ve found a way to get her to fight with all of us. If he hadn’t gotten her to fight with you and me first, he would’ve found a way to do that again. Unfortunately, we couldn’t avoid a conflict with her.”       “But we couldn't have led everything to such a critical moment. It would’ve been okay if we’d shouted at each other and given her a chance to say what she wanted, gone on different sides, and hadn’t met her… But we went much further…”       “I’m sorry about succumbing to Simon’s provocations.”       “So, since you slapped her, you didn’t care about her as much as we wanted to think. You didn’t care about her problems, her feelings, or her wishes. You gave a damn about her. You thought of yourself. And you easily left her when she needed your help.”       “Yeah, but she gave a damn about me, too,” Terrence notices confidently. “Do you think I got indifferent and mad at her for nothing? No, Natalia! I was madly hurt by the fact that she always treated me like an unnecessary toy that she got sick of after we began to live together. All those few months, Raquelle was tolerating me… I took it and was silent for a long time, but the story of Simon made me much more distanced from her. And everything eventually led to what happened.”       “Well, I guessed you had problems during my first visit after coming back to the USA. So, I think you would’ve broken up early or late. Yes, you’re a beautiful couple and have a strong affection, but you can’t be together. Especially after your disgusting action towards her.”       “I think so…” Terrence nods. “But I didn’t want the breakup to become a scandal. I didn't want it to happen after the psychos that made her hate me.”       Terrence sharply runs his hands over his hair.       “Shit, I’m such an idiot…” Terrence moans tiredly. “Why have I never been able to control my emotions and always taken it out on everyone? Because of my hysterical character, I’ve made so many mistakes in my life. And now I raised my hand to the girl… Even though I’ve lived all my life with the thought that it’s disgusting…”       “You should’ve thought earlier,” Natalia throws gloomily.       “Damn…” Terrence closes half of his face with both hands and shakes his head, looking into the distance with dead eyes. “Am I really getting more similar to my father and getting closer to starting to beat girls someday? Was Mother right when she said I was very similar to him and was worried that my character would be as uncontrolled as his one.”       “I think she knows it better,” Natalia shrugs. “I don’t know your father.”       “But I don’t want it! I don’t want to turn to his image and become the same scumbag. I don't want to beat the girl I love or leave her with a child and run away from her from fear.”       “You don’t want it, but you do it. The slap is just the beginning.”       “I don’t wanna become a shameless bastard.”       “If you don’t learn how to control your emotions and become much calmer, you will really become a tyrant.”       “I know, Natalia, I know… I’m really very sorry about what happened. I didn’t wanna raise a hand on your friend and hurt her.”       “Terrence…”       “Please, trust me,” Terrence begs with pity in his eyes. “I know I did a bad thing. But I’m really sorry and will hate myself for that my whole life. Don’t be mad at me, please…”       Something tells Natalia that Terrence did not really want to do anything like that. Watching the man, who is literally pulling his hair out and terribly afraid to get much worse than he is now, the girl feels sorry for the person. She truly sympathizes with him and gets much softer for him, seeing that he wants to be good for all his fans and celebrity friends as well as those, who mean so much to him. Even though the blonde judges him for what he did and will definitely not forgive the one to do the same to her.       So, after hesitating a little, Natalia looks at Terrence with pity in her eyes and softly caresses his hand while he looks into the distance with his dead eyes.       “Okay, okay, MacClife, relax,” Natalia pronounces softly. “I believe you. I believe you didn’t wanna do that.”       “I didn't want…” Terrence pronounces in a much lower voice.       “But don’t think I’d easily forget it and pretend that it should’ve happened.”       “I understand. I’m really very sorry.”       “I see. You sound quite true.”       “Because of what I did, so many people got hate for me. My beloved girl will not be back to me and won’t even get a wish to befriend me. And many friends of mine thought I was a stinker and didn’t wanna listen to my explanations. Someone actually thought that just because I slapped Raquelle, I allegedly beat her regularly.”       “You know, I would’ve thought you were prone to violent actions if I hadn’t known you personally.”       “But I’m not that type! I swear, Natalia, I’ve never beaten and will never beat a girl! Yes, my character is hard, but I’ve never been prone to violence and a wish to enjoy someone's grief. I don’t want and will not try to assert myself against a weak girl.”       “I believe you, Terrence, I do,” Natalia pronounces softly, slapping Terrence on the shoulder slightly.       “Believe me, if I could go back to the past, I wouldn’t let that happen.”       “Of course, your act is terrible, but since you’re regretting it, I think it’s not a reason to turn my back on you. At least, you seem to be true.”       “It’s not an act. I’m not acting. That’s my real feelings. The real me.”       “I’m sure people will understand it soon and talk to you soon.”       “After what they told me? No, I don’t think someone would even love to run into me somewhere outside!”       “C’mon! I think Raquelle also thought nobody would love to talk to her after Ringer told everybody she allegedly had mental issues. But no! One day, Anna called her and apologized for leaving her at a hard moment.”       “Raquelle did nothing bad to anyone. Well… Not saying about you, of course.”       “But you don’t also hurt anyone but her. People should know this case has to do with you and your girlfriend. They can’t turn their backs on you just because of what you did to her, not them.”       “Oh, I dunno, friend, I don’t…” Terrence glances aside. “I’m afraid everything is lost…”       “What if it’s not?” Natalia asks with hope. “Of course, I haven’t read newspapers and checked the Internet, but what if someone publishes something about Raquelle’s salvation?”       “Would it make sense?”       “Well, erm… Everyone would see you did it at your wish and appreciate it. If Raquelle confirms everything, you will be respected again. You will get a second chance to prove that you aren’t so terrible and wanna become much better. So, nobody even dares to spread rumors about you and say you’re insolent and selfish.”       “Raquelle would hardly try to make people’s opinion softer and encourage them to be nice to me,” Terrence assumes thoughtfully. “She’s happy we ended our relationship. She managed to get rid of the burden that she had been carrying for such a long time.”       “Do you think Raquelle didn’t appreciate the fact that you came to help her out during the meeting with Simon?”       “Yup, she appreciated it… But nothing will change. I don’t almost hope Raquelle would love to see me someday, and I’m silent about her forgiveness…”       “What if you’re wrong?”       “Sometimes trouble unites people, Natalia. She was worried about Mr. Cameron and wanted someone to be by her side. And while Alicia was on the way to the hospital, I was the only one to be able to be with her. And I stayed. I did everything to support her.”       “Didn’t she reject you?”       “First, Cameron tried to reject my help and snapped. But then something clicked in her mind, and Raquelle forgot about her offenses, gave me a chance to talk to her, and accepted my support.”       “That’s great!” Natalia smiles slightly. “The ice is definitely getting broken. Even if you aren’t together, there is a chance to remain friends. If you stay friends, Raquelle can help you restore your reputation. People will believe her if she tells them about your action and lets them know you’re not as terrible as everyone thinks. Your career will also get better, and you will come back to shootings again.”       “I don’t know, Natalia…” Terrence exhales sharply. “I think she’ll forget to think about what happened in the hospital. It’s been three days since that moment. Your friend probably calmed down, came to herself, and started to think about her future. The problem is solved, and it means she can remember the past hurts…”       “Hey, didn’t you talk about your relationship in the hospital?”       “We barely talked. I said I was very sorry about what happened… I let her know that I was ashamed of my acts and afraid to look into her eyes after that slap. No more. No open talks about our feelings.”       “Do you think you have a chance to establish your relationship and try to save it?” Natalia asks with sadness in her eyes.       “Just like it happened to her parents?” Terrence shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so!”       “But as far as I know, those people were fighting, too. That’s what Mr. Cameron and Alicia said.”       “Our relationship was doomed from the beginning. Raquelle dated me to make her family get off her, and I… I succumbed to her beauty and youth. Both of us used each other in one or another way.”       “Don’t you love her?”       “Maybe, I do. But nothing can be changed. So, it’s time to put an end to this story and keep moving on.”       “And what are you gonna do if you don’t deserve her forgiveness? What actions would be like?”       “First, I’ll go somewhere abroad for two months,” Terrence says confidently with sadness in his eyes. “Maybe, more! I don’t know!”       “Really?”       “I’ve got too exhausted in the past few years and burned down emotionally. And I’ve been thinking of running away somewhere and having rest somewhere in a quiet desert place.”       “Yeah, I think it will be good for you.”       “Honestly, I can’t remember when I traveled the world as a tourist the last time. So, I wanna fix it.”       “Where do you wanna go?”       “I don’t care where to go… I just wanna be far from New York, the USA, and everything about it.”       “I get it…” Natalia smiles slightly. “Travelling is great! I also wanna go somewhere. Again.”       “But if I like living somewhere, I don’t exclude that I will leave this place.”       “Leave?”       “Yes. Sell my house, let the servants go, try to find a job for them, and go somewhere far from here…”       “Do you wanna leave this place forever?”       “I’m gonna say more, I don’t exclude that I might actually quit my acting and singing career… Leave the show business that has too many talented people.”       “What?” Natalia rounds her eyes. “But, Terrence…”       “I’ll have no choice, Natalia. If nothing changes for the best, and I’m still hated and called a stinker, and no positive changes happen to my career for the first time in a few years, I’ll have to say goodbye to everything. Come back to the life that I lived when I was a child. When Mother and I lacked money for food.”       “Do you wanna leave everything and go nobody knows where so easily?” Natalia wonders with sadness in her eyes.       “What can I do? I would not be able to live a quiet life here! Everyone would be pointing at me and showering me with mud. But I am afraid I would not take it. My former friends would not worry about me and would be happy to know I disappeared or got out of the city.”       “My gosh, MacClife, I haven’t recognized you lately. What happened to Terrence MacClife I knew somehow? You were always so proud and confident! You knew who you were! You showed up for me like this on the day we met for the first time. But now you’ve become a hesitant, unhappy guy that suffers from depression.”       “Maybe, that’s the truth.”       “Listen, Terrence, I completely understand you’re worried because of the breakup with Raquelle and sad ‘cause you’ve got problems with your career. But you must not give up so easily and leave it all. If you have at least a little chance, you’ve gotta fight.”       “Ah, Natalia, you won’t understand what’s happening in my mind,” Terrence sighs tiredly.       “It’s wrong, buddy,” Natalia shakes her head with sadness in her eyes. “You must be strong.”       “I’d give much to change everything for the better. But sadly, it’s impossible.”       “It’s not too late to change everything. You can change and get better for those, who thought you were terrible.”       “I see no meaning. And I don’t want to try to have any illusions and believe a miracle would happen, save my relationship and make the girl that I actually love much more than I thought suddenly get love for me and wish to be back to me.”       “So, you don’t love too much if you refuse to fight.”       “It’s worthless to knock at the closed door when you know nobody will open it. You could stand near it all day, but nothing would be changed.”       “Terrence…”       “If Raquelle loved me, I would have hope. But since she doesn’t have feelings, why would I do something?”       “No, buddy, I don’t believe she actually never loved you. I still remember her eyes were full of gloss when you just met and began to date. Remember how she could be talking about you for hours. At those moments, we thought you meant much more to her than her modeling career.”       “I don’t know… I ain’t sure about anything.”       “Cameron always rejected all of her many admirers but didn’t do this to you for the reason. You got her attracted somehow. Yes, you fought like a cat and a dog. But it’s clear she liked it. It’s clear she looks for a drive in a relationship. She doesn’t want everything to be quiet. But alas, other men couldn’t give it to her.”       “But why did she stop paying attention to me then?”       “Well… I guess her family began to press on her three times more. Well… C’mon, get married to him and give birth to babies. That’s what killed those wonderful feelings inside her. And she just got sick of it. That’s why the relationship became something like a burden for her. Raquelle wasn’t able to enjoy it.”       “Anyway, it doesn’t make sense now. We broke up. I have to take it and let her go. Because it would be much better for her.”       “But…”       “Raquelle deserves something much better. I'm sure she would meet someone to make her change her mind and get married at her will, not under the pressure of her family.”       “After such a dizzying affair with you, she will probably look for you about every single man. If someone doesn’t reach your level, Cameron will feel bored with him. She will quickly break up with that man and look for another man with the hope that someone will be similar to you.”       “Raquelle doesn’t have any experience in relationships. She has had only me, and she doesn’t know there are other men. Different relationships. She has nothing to choose from.”       “Yeah, but you’ve reached such a high level that another man would hardly reach.”       “Stop, Natalia.”       “It’s true, Terrence.”       “I understand you don’t want us to break up, but you will have to accept the fact that we no longer exist. Tequelle will die. Forever.”       “Okay…” Natalia exhales slowly. “Okay. Of course, breaking up with Raquelle or not is your personal business, and we will try to accept it. But I’m asking you, don’t make such quick decisions. Think a little longer. Don’t try to do something when being obsessed with emotions, as Raquelle often does that.”       “I’m not trying to.”       “That girl often makes some decisions when she is obsessed with strong emotions. Sometimes she may do something without thinking and then regret it a lot. And now you might repeat her mistake, but later regret it. And if you decide to come back here after your escape, you will hardly be expected here.”       “You know…” Terrence looks into the distance with a slight smile. “Three days ago, Alicia said the same thing as you. She told me to wait for some time.”       “Then listen to her advice,” Natalia says confidently. “Alicia is a very wise and smart woman. She never says anything for no reason.”       “I do see it’s worthless to wait, believe, and hope. The pain I gave her niece is too strong.”       “If she said it, that woman understands that everything is not lost yet.”       “We’ll see, friend. Now I don’t wanna guess anything… Moreover, I didn’t say my decision was final. I said I wanted to go abroad and live there for some time. When I come to myself, I shall make a decision that will be right in my opinion. Maybe, I won’t get a wish to leave and will be back in New York after a short vacation. And then decide what to do.”       “Anyway, it’s your decision. I'll only have to wish you luck. And miss you if you wanted to leave the city forever.”       “I promise I won’t forget you even if I leave,” Terrence promises with a slight smile. “I will find a way to talk to you. I will send you messages and call you on WhatsApp, for example.”       “So, I’ll believe you, my friend.”       Terrence says nothing and smiles shyly, while Natalia looks at him with sadness in her eyes, thinking her wishes are the same as the man’s ones. And a few seconds, Edward comes back to them and sits down next to the girl, looking quite calm but definitely worrying about something deep inside.       “Sorry for the long absence,” Edward jabs a little excitedly. “I had an important talk.”       “It’s okay,” Natalia pronounces thoughtfully.       “So, erm…” Edward glances at Natalia and Terrence. “Did you talk about everything?”       “Yup,” Natalia nods with a slight smile. “We talked about everything we wanted.”       “Yeah,” Terrence confirms. “We didn’t meet for a long time and wanted to find out how we were doing. And… What happened to us.”       “I see,” Edward nods.       “By the way, I forgot to ask you, how’s your mother doing?” Natalia asks a little hesitantly. “I hope she is fine now?”       “Yeah, Mother is fine now…” Terrence replies with a slight smile.       “You know, when you told me you had to call an ambulance for her, I was so worried about her.”       “Yeah, but everything is right now.”       “Erm, but what happened to your mother?” Edward asks with sadness in his eyes.       “Nothing special, the blood pressure just got higher… They said it was stress. Doctors recommended that she get as much rest as possible.”       “Oh, gosh…” Natalia pronounces quietly, shaking her head. “Poor Mrs. MacClife…”       “Don’t worry, friend, I watch her to make sure nothing bad happens to her. I talk to my mother almost every single day and visit her when I have free time… If she needs something, I always come to her, buy something or do some homework.”       “Thank God…” Natalia sighs quietly. “I was worried much…”       “Yeah, but…” Terrence falls into silence and sighs. “But the fact that she constantly tries to persuade me to meet my father makes me upset.”       “Why?” Edward asks.       “It’s clear! To excuse himself after leaving us when we needed him so badly!”       “Are your parents divorced?”       “Yes, divorced. They broke up when I was only two. Father left me and Mother at his will… Left us on our own… That’s why we barely had enough to eat…”       “Really?”       “You see, at first, he did a bad thing, but then he took his stuff and got out…” Terrence smirks quietly and ironically. “But when I became an adult and didn’t need his money, he’s begging me to forgive him and not to forget that I had a daddy, who suddenly decided to act good and even gives Mother some money.”       “Oh, that’s how…”       Edward cracks a slight smile.       “My parents are divorced, too…” Edward confesses a little hesitantly and starts to pull down a sleeve of his coat slightly. “I lived with my father and his new wife for the time being.”       “And your mother?” Terrence asks.       “I’ve never known her. Even if I’ve always known that the wife of my father is not my real mother.”       “My father also got married to another woman,” Terrence chuckles quietly. “They even have two common children.”       “Are you speaking to them?” Edward asks.       “Nope, I've never spoken to them. And I don’t want… Even if my mother thinks I shouldn't ignore them because they are not strangers to me. They are brothers… But I’ve never called them the ones. For me, they are just the children of my father. That’s all.”       “Wow! I also have two younger half-brothers that were born in a marriage between my father and stepmother. And I lived with them for a bigger part of my life.”       “You got on well with them?”       “Honestly, I never felt nice feelings for them. And my relationship with them was far from perfect. No, I have nothing against those guys and accept the fact that my father has children from the other woman. But I cannot say I loved them and was ready to tear anyone to hurt them.”       “You fought with them?”       “Oh, we always fought for the reason and without… Those idiots always played the fool with me, framed me, and did their best for me to get punished for no reason. And we often couldn’t share something with each other. I mean… They couldn’t share it with me. They always got on well with each other, even though they sometimes could argue about something.”       “I see…”       “I know that many siblings get over it, but grow up and establish their relationship later. But now I do not want to see them. I am even glad I have not met them for many years.”       “You are not living with them?”       “Nope. And I have not talked to my family since I left my home many years ago.”       “I get it…” Terrence glances aside. “I think all siblings get over that… I can remember many familiar people of mine, who did not get on well with their sisters and brothers, but later became their best friends.”       “Actually, I was going to leave my home for a long time…” Edward swallows up nervously with sadness in his eyes. “Father and Stepmother did not love me much. I was like a burden, which they would’ve gotten rid of with pleasure.”       “Really?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “I always felt like they didn’t need me. I wanted to leave the home as soon as possible…” Edward falls into silence sharply and bites his lip slightly. “And find out something about my real mother. Whom I never knew a thing about. My father refused to tell me about her.”       “But why?”       “I don’t know, he got wild when I started to talk about it to him.”       “Did your parents have such a terrible relationship if your father said nothing about your mother? He… Was kind of trying to strike her out of your life?”       “Honestly, I do not know what happened between my parents or why they broke up,” Edward shakes his head. “But I was aware of the fact that they had some conflicts.”       “Was your father dating the other woman before he got divorced from your mother? Or was he, so to say, cheating on her when being married?”       “Erm, seems like, no… Father married her after getting divorced from Mother and taking me from her.”       “Taking you? But why didn’t you stay with her? Children usually stay with mothers unless there are some reasons to give a child to a father.”       “I cannot say anything about it. I know nothing about that… But I know for sure that my father always talked to my stepmother about my real mother.”       “Really?”       “I heard their talks many times, but I never managed to find out anything new. I only know that my father was trying to find a reason to meet that woman, who was my mother. And my stepmother supported him in it.”       “Wow…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully.       “She was never mad when they were talking about my mother. She considered that woman the one, who gave birth to me. Not the one, whom my father lived with.”       “And as I understand, don’t you call her a mother?”       “Nope, by the name only.”       “What do you think could happen if that man wants to hear nothing about your real mother?”       “Something serious, I guess. I don’t exclude that she could hurt him very much somehow. And he could not forgive her.”       “Or he’s got some sins.”       “I don’t exclude it. That man is terrible. He always treated me like a doormat. Insulting, humiliating, and even hitting me was super easy for him.”       “He was beating you?” Terrence rounds his eyes.       “Many times.”       “My gosh…”       “But I should notice that my stepmother could hold him down when he went too far.”       “Yeah, he was ready for anything to make her happy.”       “And did he never apologize to you for behaving like that toward you?”       “Apologize?” Edward scoffs nervously. “Are you kidding me? He does not know this word! That man never apologized for anything and always thought he was right in everything. At least, because he is older, and I am a pathetic kid, who doesn’t know anything about life.”       “I guess my father could’ve beaten me, too, if he hadn’t left my family. Knowing that the man was beating my mother.”       “I never fit their perfect picture. Father, Stepmother, and their common children… And I was unnecessary. The guy, whom another woman gave birth to. Who was taken away for an unknown reason. Whose studies at the elite private school was paid. Who was told to be literal perfection.”       “My gosh, sometimes I don’t really understand people. I don't understand why they do one or another thing.”       “I always ask myself about it…” Edward replies with sadness in his eyes. “I ask myself why that man didn’t kick the hell me outside much earlier. Why he didn’t let me live with my mother. Why he told me to shut up every time I asked him to tell me about my mother. Why I should’ve closed my mouth and never opened it.”       Edward sighs quietly.       “This kind of secrecy woke up a greater interest in this situation. I decided to find out who my real mother was and why my father refused to tell me about her.”       “Did you do it?” Terrence asks.       “No, I did not…” Edward moves his eyes aside, locking his fingers tightly. “And I will hardly know it… Because there is nobody, who could tell me the truth.”       “So, do you mean you know nothing about her?”       “Nothing at all. No appearance, no name… Nothing.”       “Interesting…”       “C’mon, I gave a damn about it a long time ago, and I’m now living my own life. Far from my father, stepmother, and their children. I don’t care about what’s happening to them. I’ve never tried to contact them. I don’t want to.”       “You said you left your home many years ago.”       “Yeah, at the age of seventeen. I was impatiently waiting for my eighteenth birthday to leave my home. Because being there was getting harder and harder. But I had to leave a little earlier. Because my father and I had such a serious conflict, after which I lost my patience at all.”       “That’s how…”       “Erm…” Edward his lip slightly, glancing at Terrence. “Sorry, you are probably not interested in it. You have many problems, but I talk too much…”       “No, no, it’s alright,” Terrence shakes his head with a slight smile. “You can continue. I am listening to you closely.”       “Really?”       “Yes, yes, speak. You can at least distract me from the problems for a while I do want to howl because of everything that is happening in my life.”       “So, alright then…” Edward shrugs. “So… As I’ve said, my father and I had a conflict, after which I no longer had a wish to stay with that man at the same house.”       Edward gets sadness in his eyes when he calls the memories of the day when he had to take responsibility for his life and strike out the one, who despised him all his life.       

***

      Eight years ago. July 2008.       A seventeen-year-old boy named Edward is sitting at home and trying to find something to do. He is literally counting the days down until he turns eighteen to leave his home, where he has always felt bad, as far as possible. The guy is sick of having fights with his father, who does not believe in him and considers his son a burden. Moreover, the younger stepbrothers of Edward, give him much more problems and fight with the boy very often for a reason and without. They really love framing him and forcing him to get punished for what he did not deserve.       Walking in the whole large house and doing nothing, something makes Edward come to the office of his father, who spends a bigger part of the time at this place. After opening the door a little hesitantly, the boy slowly enters the office, which looks very spacious and comfortable. Edward did not even know it because his father banned him from getting closer to this place and especially entering it. And now he understands that he might suffer enough because of his curiosity. But something makes him come to the table, on which some papers and a black coat are lying.       Getting closer to the table slowly, the dark-haired teenager looks at every centimeter of it and examines what there is on it closely. Some time later, Edward pays attention to a piece of paper that is shown up out of the inside pocket of the coat. After looking around quickly and making sure there is nobody here, the boy carefully takes the thing that gets his attention and starts to wrap it in his hands. Edward quickly understands that it’s not just a piece of paper, it’s a very old photo that he decides to examine much better. The teenager quickly recognizes himself as a newborn baby. He, being wrapped in a white blanket tied with a blue belt, is carried by a very sympathetic woman that he does not know and has never met. No other but Edward’s father is standing next to the unfamiliar woman and holding the hand of a little boy at the age of about one or two years, who is smiling widely.       It’s possible to see true smiles on the faces of the happy parents of two children. Maybe, Edward can understand the fact that he sees himself and his father, who looks much younger in the photo. But the teenager cannot accept the fact that there is a woman holding him in her arms, and an unfamiliar boy holding his father's hand. It makes him wonder whether there is something that the man is hiding from him. And why he is actually keeping this photo in his coat, even though he has a wife. And that’s not the one he sees in the photos.       “Hey, who’s that woman and that baby?” Edward asks himself, frowning slightly. “Why is she holding me in my arms, and why is he holding that boy’s hand? As I understand, he’s much older than me…”       Edward shakes his head.       “These are not my brothers, ‘cause they’re younger…” Edward thinks. “But who’s that guy? Do these two have to do with what my father and stepmother have talked about many times?”       Edward rounds his eyes.       “Hey, what if these two are those that he has talked about so much?” Edward assumes. “But if it’s so, where are they now? Even if I assume I’ve got a sibling, what happened to him? Where is he now? Why is Father hiding this from me? Why haven't I found out anything about my real mother?”       While Edward does not stop looking at what he found, a dark-haired tall man, who is by far not young, runs into the office some time later. Getting the teenager caught in here and seeing him sorting his thoughts out, the tense man, who is unhappy with something, gets wild. He runs up shortly to Edward, who shakes strongly in scare and surprise, and grabs him tightly by the collar.       “What are you doing here?” the man demands an answer with evil in his eyes. “I did tell you not to get close to my office!”       “Erm, Father?” Edward pronounces in a little shaking voice. “I…”       “I did tell you to never dare to get closer to my office and especially my personal stuff. Did I say it or not, you, stupid boy?”       “Now I understand why you didn’t want to let me in this place.”       Edward gets out of from quickly the man’s arms and looks at him confidently.       “I understand there has been something here that you decided to hide from me,” Edward adds with his head proudly raised.       “What are you talking about?” the man throws gloomily.       “You know, Father, I think it’s time to make something clear. And finally tell me all the truth.”       “What do you mean, kid?” the man asks coldly. “What do you the fuck want from me? How long are you going to PLAY ON MY NERVES?”       “I mean it!”       Edward shows Jamie the photo he found in his father’s coat.       “I mean it!” Edward exclaims and raises his head a little up. “I mean it!”       “What?” the man gets enraged, seeing the photo in Edward’s hand and clenching his hands into fists so tightly that his chuckles get kind of white.       “I could understand that I see you and me in here. But who are the hell that woman and that child?” Edward points his finger at the unfamiliar woman and child. “The last time, you avoided answering my questioning about the boy that they were talking about with Isabella. But now I want to know all the truth. The truth about who you want to meet, and who is this guy in the photo.”       “Were you sorting my stuff out?” the man burns with anger. “WERE YOU SORTING OUT MY STUFF?”       “Stop yelling at me!” Edward raises his voice.       “BRAINLESS IDIOT! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I TELL YOU?”       “Is it so hard to explain what it all the fuck means?”       “Do not meddle in your business! Better do something good! FOR EXAMPLE, STUDY! Instead of walking in the whole house and doing something!”       “Why do you the fuck want to meet my mother and say something about a son?” Edward wonders. “Who is the fuck that woman and that child?”       “Watch your mouth when you are talking to me!”       “Or did you cheat on my stepmother and become the father of another child?”       “Close your mouth before I slap you on it!” the man tightly clenches his hands into a fist.       “What’s his number, by the way?” Edward puts his hands on his hips. “I got confused about how many children you have! You have two children from one woman, a third child was born from another woman… How many brothers have you given me? Huh, Daddy? Don’t you wanna introduce them to me?”       “Who are you to talk TO YOUR FUCKING FATHER like that?” the man shouts. “DO I TAKE MY BELT AND KICK YOUR ASS ENOUGH? FOR YOU TO KNOW WHO YOU CAN SNAP AND WHO YOU CANNOT!”       “You can only do this! Scream and kick my ass with a belt!”       “CLOSE YOUR MOUTH, KID!”       “I am talking to you the way you deserve it. If you treat me like a doormat, I am not going to respect you.”       Edward immediately gets a strong slap in the face from the furious man, after which he sharply grabs his cheek.       “Do not get the fuck loose!” the man throws rudely. “YOU, KID, WENT ABSOLUTELY WILD!”       “C’mon, hit me again!” Edward throws rudely, holding his cheek. “C’mon, Father! Slap me!”       “It seems like you forgot whose house you are living in, and who is feeding and dressing you up.”       “I didn’t forget. It’s your wife’s house.”       “Remember, Edward, I can easily kick you out of home, deprive you of any money, and lock you in your room. I AM YOUR FATHER! AND I HAVE A RIGHT TO DO THIS!”       “What are you talking about?”       “AND I WILL PUNISH YOU UNTIL YOU LEARN HOW TO RESPECT ME! While I am feeding you and dressing you up, you cannot say a word against me! YOU GOT IT?”       “Yeah…” Edward shakes his head. “How could my stepmother stand such a man like you? How could she get married to such a terrible man?”       “Close your mouth now!”       “You know that I do not like her much, but I respect her and treat her well. And I’m very sorry for her. Because she always defends you, covers you, and tries to calm you down… That woman is a gem because she is able to control you and not to let you kill me in anger. You would easily do it if Isabella didn’t hold you down.”       “I see you have become too wild. It’s alright, I will quickly shake you up. Get out of my office now and go to my room! NOW!” the man sharply points at the door with his finger. “And remember, if you do something like this again, you will not leave home and will be preparing for university admission. UNDER MY PERSONAL CONTROL!”       “I’m seventeen, Father,” Edward replies confidently with his head proudly raised. “I am no longer a child, who you can command, and who would do anything without minding, looking into your eyes and saying, ‘Okay, daddy!’”       “YOU ARE A KID! A FUCKING KID THAT HAS REACHED NOTHING AND MUST OBEY ME!”       “Save these words for my brothers. They will graduate in a few years and be preparing for that one, too. So, you will lock them in the room and make them get ready for the university.”       “Ar-r-r, seems like I will really have to use my belt and whip you to wash your brains.”       “I said you could do only that.”       “While you live in my house, you will be doing what I say! When you earn money to buy your house, marry and make children, you will command them. BUT IT WILL NOT WORK WITH ME, KID!”       “Yeah, but why can your beloved sonnies born from my stepmother do anything, and do you literally want to tie me to a column like a doggy every time I do something wrong?”       “Because you are an adult man! And you must behave like the one!”       “That’s how! You just called me a kid. You better decide who I am: an adult man or a little kid.”       “You are a pain in my throat!” the man throws coldly. “A fucking sucker that sucked everything out of me!”       “Why do you always take it out on me, Father? Am I the image of the past that you want to forget about? You look at me and think of something that makes you take it out on me and regret some mistakes of your youth! Maybe, I remind you of my mother, whom you definitely fought to the fuck? Who you definitely left against your wish.”       “You know the fuck everything!”       “Would a good father treat his child like this? Or do you have so many sons that you wouldn’t regret getting rid of me, your most unloved one?” Edward smirks evilly. “Do you remember that I am a son of you, too? If you forgot, I shall remind you.”       “Alright, puppy, I will shut you up now!”       The man raises his hand to try to slap Edward in the face, but the boy avoids the slap skillfully, grabbing his father's hand and holding it tightly.       “ENOUGH!” Edward gets enraged, setting his cold look on Jamie. “I WILL NO LONGER LET YOU MOCK ME!”       “LET ME GO NOW!” the man demands loudly and rudely, trying to get his hand out of Edward’s strong grip.       “I’ve been listening to you for ages, but now you will listen to me.” Edward lets the man’s hand go sharply. “It’s not a secret to me that you’ve never loved me and always called me your burden. I know you have always loved my brothers much more than me. But I don’t know why? What did I the fuck do for you to treat me like this? Why did I deserve it?”       Edward shakes his head.       “Do I really remind you of something that makes you enraged?” Edward wonders. “Is that why you cannot be next to me quietly and always take it out on me? If it’s true, I could understand why you made me your unloved son. But I don’t get just one thing: why didn’t you leave me with my mother when you broke up with her many years ago? You didn’t want it, but you took me away! Even though you think you wouldn’t have done that. Or did you decide to take revenge on her by taking her son away? Huh, Daddy? What kind of secrets?”       Edward moves his eyes to the photo that he is still holding in his hands.       “What if the boy in the photo is really my brother?” Edward wonders. “What if this woman is my real mother that I have never seen? Can you tell me the truth about who I am, who my mother is, and who the boy in the photo is? Huh, Father? Is it really SO hard?”       “How do you dare to speak to your father like this, brainless boy?” the man asks loudly, clenching his hands into fists. “You still have milk on your lips and cannot talk to me like that!”       “If you want me to respect you, treat me well. I am not going to be good with those, who give a fuck about me.”       “Ar-r-r…” the man growls irritably. “You, sucker, really make me mad! I wish you were never born in this world! I wish your mother really got an abortion! You ruined our whole life! You’ve become a punishment for us. PU-NISH-MENT!”       “Yeah?” Edward rounds his eyes. “So, in this case, I do not need a father like you! Yes, I don’t need it! I am rejecting the one, who gives a fuck about his son!”       “EXCELLENT, THEN!”       “What a horrible man you are… Who doesn’t even try to hide his wish to meet a woman. I wonder why. Is she really my mother that you say nothing about so hard? Or is this an excuse to hide your new affair? Or maybe, even other children that we know nothing!”       “Ah, you, fucking puppy!”       Being not able to control himself, the man runs up to Edward, gives him a slap in the face again, and grabs him by the collar, starting to shake him strongly and literally killing him with his icy look.       “You cannot even imagine how much you are ruining my life,” the man says in a low voice with evil in his eyes. “I have regretted taking you away with me thousands of times. I should have really left you with your mother not to see you before my eyes and not to get problems because of you.”       “Why were you, Daddy, not thinking about that before?” Edward smirks evilly. “Maybe, I would have been a thousand times happier if I had lived with Mother, who you do not want to introduce me to!”       “I really screwed it up!”       “And you know, if my mother loved me very much, I would agree to accept any father and call any of her boyfriends like this. Anyone, just to forget my real father is a fucking scumbag, who has been insane in the past few years.”       The man sets his much eviler look at Edward, saying nothing for a few seconds and making the young guy shake from a fear that his own father would do something horrible to him.       “Get out of here…” the man says quietly. “Get out of this house once and forever.”       The man sharply points at the door with his finger.       “GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HOUSE!” the man screams at the top of his lungs. “I never want to see you and meet you on the street someday. GO ANYWHERE AND DO WHAT YOU WANT!”       “Are you kicking me out?” Edward rounds his eyes.       “YES, I AM KICKING! And remember, you will no longer get a cent from me. LIVE AS YOU WANT! I AM NO LONGER GOING TO PAY FOR YOUR FUN AND PROVIDE FOR A FUCKING BLOODSUCKER! AND DO NOT COUNT ON YOUR STEPMOTHER!”       “With pleasure!” Edward simpers loudly. “WITH PLEASURE!”       Edward sharply gets out of the man’s grip, pushing him off rudely.       “I’ve been thinking of getting out of the house where nobody can take me,” Edward adds rudely. “Actually, I wanted to leave after turning eighteen. But I will better not wait for that day and will leave right now.”       “GE-E-ET O-O-UT!” the man screams at the top of his lungs.       “Keep losing your voice by screaming. I am leaving.”       Edward is going to leave the office with the photo in his hand. But when he almost comes to the door, the guy turns on the man breathing heavily and being wild and looks at him with evil in his eyes.       “You cannot imagine how much I dreamed of this moment,” Edward says loudly. “The moment I would finally say farewell words to you and wave a hand.”       Edward waves his hand at the man happily.       “Goodbye, Father!” Edward exclaims. “We will never meet anymore! Hallelujah!”       Edward turns around quickly and leaves the furious man alone while he watches silently his son leaving the office after being kicked out of the home. When he stays alone, he growls irritably and throws everything off the table with one movement with a heavy breath. A little later, he throws some other things on the floor in the hope of letting his negative emotions caused by the talk with Edward go out, while his son goes to his room to take his stuff and leave the house where his life was like a real hell.       

***

      “On that day, I took my stuff quickly and left that house forever…” Edward says with sadness in his eyes. “And I broke all my contacts with my father, stepmother, and their children. I started to live my own life. As if I don’t have a family. Yes, I don’t deny that this decision was hard for me, but I could not tolerate the disrespect that they showed for me.”       Edward swallows up nervously, thinking of what does not give him pleasure.       “At that moment, I didn’t know where to go,” Edward confesses. “I became homeless, I had no money, and I had no home. But after thinking a little, I decided to ask my grandmother to let me in, at least for a while. Luckily, she agreed to do it. We were always very close. She was literally the only person, who loved me truly. Who took care of me and wanted to know everything about my emotions and feelings.”       “Did she know something about this story?” Terrence asks.       “She did, but I didn’t manage to take anything out of her. She said that my father banned me from saying something. And she added that I should’ve only talked to him. That he was the only one to be able to tell me the truth.”       “No hurts, please, but your father is definitely a weird person.”       “I agree. I haven’t figured out why he started that game.”       Edward slightly fixes the rebel strands of his hair, while Terrence frowns slightly, starting to show a great interest in this story and wishing to know everything about this guy.       “Anyway, I think all of this definitely has some explanation,” Natalia says thoughtfully. “Your father couldn’t leave your mother, take you away from her, bring you to the house of his new wife, and use you like a doormat.”       “I guess that’s why he took me away,” Edward assumes. “To take it out on me. He could not shout at his beloved children. He could not raise his hand to them. And he could not hurt his beloved wife. Because she could take her children away and go to her relatives. So, he only had one way – to use Edward. The guy, who got his ass kicked for any little thing. And whose successes were never highly appreciated.”       “Oh… Hearing these things makes me feel creepy… Thank God, I’m very lucky to have parents like mine. They’ve never raised a voice to me and never dared to think of raising a hand to me. All the problems are always solved with words.”       “My father and your father would definitely get on well,” Terrence scoffs evilly. “The first one is a stinker, and the second one… Is the same…”       “Yeah…” Edward agrees. “I’m truly surprised that my stepmother loved my father with all her heart.”       “And I’m surprised that my mother forgave my father after everything he had done. And now she’s making me sure that I should love him.”       “Many women believe that they could fix their men. They forgive them for all the insults, humiliations, and hits again and again. Though, they should run away from them super fast. Without looking back.”       “By the way, where did your father go after your parents got divorced? Did he get married for the second time?”       “He lived with his mother, my grandmother, for some time. She agreed to let him in when my father came to her. But we lived with her for a little time because he met the other woman some time later, got married to her, took me away, and moved into her house.”       “Her house?”       “Yes, that woman is quite provided. She has a good business. And as far as I know, it gives her a lot of money. My stepmother even gave my father a job at her firm because he was unemployed. And they worked together well.”       “But who watched two children, who were born in their family?”       “My stepmother went on maternity leave, and Father took a bigger part of work after the birth of those children. She had the help of a nanny and her older sister, who had four children, for some time. And she stayed home for a long time, even if she kept the process at work under control because she was recovering after giving two births in a row.”       “In a row?”       “Yes. My half-brothers are stair steppers. At first, one was born, and then it happened that my stepmother got pregnant again two months after giving birth and gave birth to a second child one year later. It was hard for her. But thanks to her money and sense of purposefulness, she managed to recover and get her body back. After it happened, she came back to work again.”       “Alright…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully. “And who watched you? Did they forget about you and give all the attention to those two?”       “When their first child was born, Father sent me to Grandmother for a long time for me not to bother him and his wife. Well…” Edward bites his lip slightly. “And not to annoy them with my jealousy, as he said.”       “Were you jealous?”       “Yeah, of course, I was hurt because they forgot about me after the birth of those children. But honestly, I got used to the fact that I got a little attention. Because I did not get Father’s care. And my stepmother did not love me as much as she loved her own sons, even though she treated me well.”       “It’s hurt…”       “I spent a bigger part of the time with Grandma, who they often left me with for a long time. But it was a pleasure for me to spend time with her because Grandma was a very close person to me. I still remember her well and miss her and her delicious food, even a few years after her death. She could cook incredible cakes. I could easily eat literally everything she cooked for two or three days.”       “How long ago did she die?”       “Somewhere two years after I left the home of my father and stepmother. I stayed to live in her apartment for some time, but later some events made me leave it and move to another place where the condition was worse. But later, I met one kind woman, who asked me if I wanted to live with her.”       “That’s how…”       “But I don’t complain and am quite satisfied with the way I’m living now. Having a side job in a few places, earning some money that is enough for necessary things… And it’s the most important thing… I'm used. I’ve lived like this since I was seventeen. And I haven’t died so far. And I would not come back to the home of my father even if he thought a little, understood that he shouldn't have kicked his child out, and made me come back.”       “Excuse me, what are the names of your grandmother and parents?” Terrence asks.       “Erm…” Edward stutters, biting his lip slightly. “The names…”       Edward thinks for two seconds, while his eyes are running nervously from one side to another.       “My grandmother's name is Cathleen,” Edward says hesitantly, touching his neck. “C-cathleen Lockhart… My father's name is… D-david… David Lockhart… And my stepmother is Lilith… Lockhart… After the wedding…”       “Ah, I see…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully and runs his hand sharply over his hair.       “And what are the names of your relatives?”       “Erm… My relatives? Well… The name of my grandmother on the father was Margaret. My mother is Rebecca, and my father is Jamie… And the woman, to whom my father is married, must be Isabella… Yeah… Right… Isabella. Isabella Thorn.”       “Do you remember your grandmother well?”       “Not very much… I spent very little time with my grandmother and can’t almost remember her. I mean, I met her only several times in my life. My mother and I usually lived on our own. Nobody helped us. We survived by ourselves.”       “Wow…”       “By the way, my mother also told me about my grandfather, Manuel, on the father. But I only know him thanks to the photos. He died before my birth.”       “I got it…” Edward pronounces thoughtfully and moves his eyes aside, biting his lip slightly. “And my grandma… My grandmother got divorced from my grandfather… When she was young… But she said that… My father kept seeing him.”       “Interesting… And as I understand, did your father and your stepmother become parents of the boys?”       “Yup, two. Taylor and Calvin.”       “And my brothers’ names are Jeremy and William. As far as I know, they are of almost the same age. A one-year difference, I guess…”       “I see…”       Edward moves his eyes to his hands and starts fingering over nervously, breathing a little heavily.       “By the way, what's your age at the moment?” Terrence asks, looking at Edward.       “I’m going to turn twenty-five in a few days,” Edward replies quietly.       “A few days? Are you going to have a birthday soon?”       “Yeah, on May, 10th…”       “Wow. Very soon…”       “I am of the same age as Natalia. She is also twenty-five.”       “I’m just gonna turn twenty-five on July, 15th,” Natalia corrects shyly.       “And the same age as Raquelle,” Terrence says under his breath. “She’s gonna turn twenty-five, too. In June. On the 27th.”       While Terrence says it with the thought that he is not heard, Edward frowns slightly and bends to Natalia to ask her in a whisper:       “Does he mean his ex-girlfriend?”       “Yes, her,” Natalia confirms quietly. “We are of the same age. So, you have the same age as we two.”       “Okay…” Edward moves his look to Terrence running his hands through his hair. “Excuse me, Terrence, what's your age?”       “Twenty-seven,” Terrence replies without emotions. “I had a birthday on April, 24th. But I had no wish to celebrate it. And I actually forgot about that. I was too busy with my problems…”       “I see…”       “You know, your story made me think about my childhood years. About how hard the life of my mother and me was.”       “I’m sorry for giving you pain. I didn’t mean it.”       “It’s fine.”       “Were you a kid when your father left you?”       “Yes, my parents got divorced when I was two. I eventually stayed to live with my mother, and my father forgot to think about us. It was hard for us. We always lacked money. But our lives got much better little by little. But I was never able to ask for a toy because I knew Mother didn’t have money to get it. She did her best to make me happy, but still… A wish to have everything I want and make my mother happy made me work everywhere to earn some money. However, I wasn’t able to earn a lot of money to have fun to the fullest for the time being.”       Terrence glances aside.       “And when I turned eighteen, Mother told me that Father was trying to ask her for forgiveness for all the pain for a long time. And when she forgave him, my father started to beg her to let me meet me. My mother didn’t mind that meeting, but I always did my best to avoid it. I don’t want to see him because I hate him. I hate him for the terrible thing he did to her.”       “How long has it lasted?” Natalia asks.       “Since I turned eighteen. And I’ve been still running from my father and begging my mother to stop talking about him. Sometimes we even fight because of that. She insists, and I refuse.”       “And haven’t you even tried to meet the children of your father from the second marriage?”       “Why do I need it? Maybe, they’re my half-brothers, but I’ve never thought so and believe they’re strangers to me. The strange woman gave birth to them after Father preferred her over my mother after doing such a mean thing to her and me.”       “Do you talk about his mockeries so confidently because you saw everything?” Edward meddles hesitantly.       “Yes, I memorized her bitten tears and wild shouts of my father when I was a baby.”       “My gosh…”       “Maybe, he wants to talk to you about something like that?” Natalia assumes.       “He wants to excuse his disgusting act. But I’m going to feel sick if he looks at me with puppy eyes full of pity and begs me to ‘forgive me crazy daddy, who left his ex-wife and child and went to the young, beautiful, and rich woman that provided for him.’”       “I dunno…”       “And she did forgive him for all the humiliations that she had to tolerate…” Terrence smirks nervously. “And she defends him so hard…”       “Yeah, hard situation…”       “I don’t understand her… I don’t. My mother should stay away from my father, but she meets him and takes something from him. Instead of her, I would piss that man off.”       “You’re right…” Edward agrees. “Absolutely right…”       Edward frowns slightly and thinks about something, while Terrence watches him closely, not being able to get rid of the feeling that something is hidden from him. That this story is much more tangled than it seems at first sight.       “Oh, okay, there’s no need to talk about it,” Natalia sighs tiredly. “It just makes our mood worse.”       “Yeah, you’re right,” Edward agrees. “I’ve already decided that I want to break my contacts with my family once and forever and live my own life.”       “You did the right thing,” Terrence says confidently. “If someone doesn’t want to see you and doesn’t miss a chance to humiliate you, there’s no point in trying to make them like you. You shouldn’t waste time on them.”       “Right. I’d rather spend it on someone else. Someone, who would appreciate me much more.”       “That’s what I did.”       “Excuse me, do you remember your father well?”       “Father? Yeah, I remember him. I remember that person thanks to the photos that my mother has. I remember myself in my childhood years… I remember what my mother was.”       “Even if he left your family when you were a kid?”       “I’m surprised, too.”       “I see…”       “Don’t you have any memories of your mother?”       “I tried to remember something, but I could not.”       “Oh, c’mon, guys, stop thinking about the past!” Natalia exclaims. “Leave your fathers alone.”       “Hey, Natalia, did you know everything that we were just talking about?” Terrence asks quietly. “Did Edward tell you everything?”       “Yes, Terrence, I knew,” Natalia confirms quietly. “He told me all of that.”       “That’s how…”       “But actually, we talked about you much more. Because… As I’ve said, Edward expressed a wish to meet you when he found out that you and I were friends. Yes, I had some doubts about whether I should’ve done it. But I agreed to help him, after all.”       “Hey, how long ago did you meet?”       “Somewhere one month ago?”       “Wow… You were getting ready for the meeting with me for one month…”       “We decided not to impose ourselves on you at such a hard moment when you decided to break up with Raquelle, and Simon didn’t leave you alone. I thought you should’ve met new people and made friends after solving everything… And Edward agreed to wait.”       “Does Edward know someone else from our circle?”       “Nope, I don’t know anyone expect Natalia,” Edward shakes his head. “But she told me about some of your close people. About what’s happening to you…”       “I’m sorry, Terrence,” Natalia apologizes with sadness in her eyes. “Edward’s plea got me a little confused. I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing. If I should’ve agreed to let him meet you. And I’ve told him about my suspicions and doubts many times.”       “Okay, and when were you planning to introduce him to me?” Terrence asks.       “Not now. I didn’t think I’d meet you here at this café… Edward and I weren’t ready for this meeting… But since it happened that we met you here… We decided to risk.”       “Oh, Natalia, you surprised me…” Terrence sighs tiredly.       “Don’t be mad at me, please…” Natalia sighs quietly with sadness in her eyes. “We wanted to make it better… And remember that even if this acquaintance leads to something bad, I will be responsible for all of that. Because… I’m the one, who introduced you to Edward. I let him come into your life.”       “It’s okay, I’m not mad at you…” Terrence replies without emotions. “But I’m not going to deny that I’m a little confused by this great interest of Edward in me.”       “Please, Terrence, don’t think that I want to harm you somehow,” Edward says quietly. “I swear I don’t have anything bad against you.”       “But why did you want to meet me so badly? What do you need from me?”       “I just…” Edward bites his lip slightly and moves his eyes aside. “I just… I wanted… To meet you… To meet a famous person…”       “Do you hope you can get into the show business with my help?”       “No, no, come on, I didn’t even think about it!”       “But why, then?”       “Excuse me, but…” Edward exhales sharply. “I can’t say anything to you now.”       “What do you mean you can’t?”       “Someday, you will understand it all. You will know why I was looking for a way to contact you for many years.”       “Ah, so, were you chasing me for several years?”       “Yeah, but everything was worthless for the time being. And one day, I got a chance to end all of that. I was near us. I was very close to you. Even if you didn’t guess it.”       “You were close to me?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “I saw you giving autographs and taking photos with some girls, who surrounded you. You were answering their questions… Paying attention to every girl…”       “And when did it happen?”       “In November 2014.”       “Did you remember that?”       “I did.”       “I’ve met my fans on the streets many times. There could be many of them, but there could be only one person, who decided to come to me.”       “I remember how one girl gave you the DVD box that you signed.”       “Yes, yes, I remember…” Terrence smiles slightly.       “I was going by, noticed the crown, and wondered what happened. I saw you after coming closer. I understood that you were a famous actor and the one I needed. Then I was watching you all the time you were talking to your fans.”       “It’s weird that I didn’t have a feeling that someone was watching me.”       “You were too obsessed talking to the girls. And I did not find the courage to come closer to you. I was shy. I was scared. I thought you would consider me crazy. So, I kept standing aside until you hid somewhere and went to do your business.”       “Wow… You were so close, but I didn’t even notice it.”       “Right…”       “Have you seen me once? Or has it happened many times?”       “No, no, that case was the only one. I didn’t have any more chances to meet you outside. So, my attempt to tell you this whole story was delayed for a much longer time.”       “Oh, my gosh…” Terrence runs his hands through his hair. “Having new problems would be too much… I barely got rid of one bastard, and now the situation with you is unclear.”       “I completely understand your anxiety, Terrence. But I swear, you may expect no bad surprises from me.”       “Natalia should’ve thought much more before just starting to talk to you.”       “Please, give me a chance,” Edward says hesitantly. “I came to you with good thoughts. I want to offer my friendship to you.”       “Why should I accept it? Why should I add you to the list of my friends?”       “I don’t insist on anything and am not going to impose myself on you. I only had one goal – to meet you. And you will decide if you want to speak to me.”       “No, erm…” Terrence runs his hands over his hair. “I don’t actually have anything against meeting new people and making friends. Vice versa, I even like meeting someone. I like being in companies.”       “Moreover, I think you’re having a hard time in your life. And…” Edward bites his lip. “I guess you need support now. You need to talk to someone.”       “Yeah, but you should understand me. You come into my life out of the blue, say you wanted to meet me so badly, and impose your friendship on me. It goes without saying, it may seem suspicious. Didn’t you think I wouldn’t start to suspect anything?”       “No, I didn’t. And I would be very happy if you decided to talk to me. If I was able to become a good friend of yours.”       “Alright,” Terrence exhales sharply. “I can try to give you a chance. I can communicate with you if you want it so badly.”       “Trust me, someday, you will understand everything. When I tell you much more about myself than you should know.”       “Oh, my gut tells me that you will not get away from me so easily.”       “If you agree to talk to me, I will do my best to become your friend and win the trust of all your close people.”       “I suddenly thought about how MacClife was running after Raquelle, who let him know that she wasn’t interested in him at all,” Natalia confesses thoughtfully and smiles shyly.       “Yeah, and now someone’s running after me,” Terrence laughs.       “You’re used to it,” Edward notices shyly. “You’ve got so many fans, who are ready to sell their souls for you.”       “They’ve just got very good taste. They know that I’m a very delicious piece.”       “Yeah, you’ve definitely achieved a lot and become a popular enough actor.”       “Alas, but I am no longer so popular…” Terrence replies with sadness in his eyes. “The peak of my popularity has gone. And any attempts to bring it back didn’t lead to anything good.”       “I noticed it.”       “So much has lately happened to me and made me suspend my career as an actor for a while. And I don’t exclude that I’ll have to quit it.”       “Quiet? But why? I saw some movies with you and believe you are a wonderful actor. You always gave your best to play your role brilliantly. That’s cool when an actor gives everything to play a role at one hundred percent.”       “I would keep doing it, but my reputation has gotten much worse in the past few years due to bad rumors that are partly the truth. That’s why I’ve been getting fewer roles that are either minor or not interesting.”       “But it’s not too late to change everything.”       “No. I think it’s a sign. The sigh of the fact that it's time to stop and do something different.”       “I think you do not need to get upset and quit your career,” Edward says with sadness in his eyes. “People always spread rumors about celebrities. Unfortunately, you cannot avoid it. But there is always the one not to like you as well as everyone does. There will always be the one, who can go against everything in the herd.”       “Yeah, but any rumor has at least a little piece of the truth. And that piece of truth ruined much of what I had.”       “Are you going to leave everything just because of that?”       “I don’t know what I am going to do. I want to just live somewhere in a quiet place, and then something will get clear. Maybe, I will think up something.”       “You have many fans around the world. The most loyal ones will stay with you anyway, whatever someone says. They will be watching movies and shows you have acted in a hundred times.”       “Honestly, it’s not what I’ve always wanted to do,” Terrence confesses, slowly exhaling and running his hand over his hair. “Of course, playing an act is quite interesting, and I’m grateful for the chance to work with many wonderful people. But actually, I’ve always liked music.”       “Really?” Edward smiles wider. “Do you like music?”       “So much that I wouldn’t live without it… I can’t hold myself down not to start to sing when I hear my favorite song playing somewhere far from me.”       “Wow…” Edward runs his hand slowly over his hair with a slight smile. “I love music very much, too.”       “And I love playing guitar and singing along with the sounds of guitar strings,” Terrence says thoughtfully.       “Wow! Me too! I adore plucking the strings of a guitar, striking some chords, and singing something under my nose.”       “Is it a wonderful feeling, huh?”       “Oh, yeah…”       Edward sighs with a slight smile.       “I don’t know how I got this passion for music, but my heart has always stopped every time I hear the sounds of an acoustic guitar somewhere far from me,” Edward adds, playing an imaginary guitar that he thinks about. “I can’t go by street musicians. I can’t change the channel when someone plays guitar. I always listen to them to the end.”       “Yeah, an acoustic guitar is one of the best creatures in the world,” Terrence notices with a slight smile. “I do not also know why I love it so much… But I feel the same when I hear someone playing it somewhere near me.”       “And I even like writing some songs. I do that just for myself to express my feelings… But sometimes I get amazing lyrics. At least… I think so.”       “Wow! Sometimes I also try to write and play something on the guitar… And I actually love everything about creating music.”       “You see it now, we’ve just found a couple of things to talk about,” Edward says a little differently with a slight smile. “And who knows… Maybe, we find more common interests if we talk a little more. Expect the love for music…”       “Okay, guy, you persuaded me!” Terrence raises his hands. “And I must confess that you made a good choice.”       “I’m sure that I will not be disappointed in it.”       “I always say that you should better befriend Terrence MacClife. Because he can be a wonderful and loyal friend, who anyone can only dream about.”       “Oh, yeah, you may actually pay some editor of the magazine, so they publish a false article about someone,” Natalia says with a sly smile.       “Yes, yes, I understood your hint, blondie, I got it.”       “In this case, I will hope that we will become friends,” Edward expresses hope.       “I hope I will not regret my decision one fateful day.”       “I can be loyal and am ready to help my friend even in the middle of the night.”       “Okay, since everybody decided to turn their backs on me, at least you two will be by my side.” Terrence falls into silence for two seconds and smiles shyly. “So, I don’t feel so lonely.”       “Be happy that I came into your life right now. You can consider me a certain savior. The angel that came from heaven right for you.”       “Well, of course, I can bet if you’re really an angel, but… Yes, you, kid, literally knew when you could get outta your hole.”       “I’m twenty-four.”       “But you look like you’re eighteen.”       “So, I’m gonna look handsome at old age.”       “We will see it.”       Edward says nothing and just laughs shyly, being happy that he managed to reach his goal but being a little nervous because of Terrence and Natalia’s wish to catch him in a lie. The man is tense because they treat him with mistrust, even if they do not show any kind of aggression and remain friendly and nice. It’s like he wants to say something important. Something that is going to make them fall into a stupor, in his opinion. But Lockhart decides to go until the very end and do what he was planning to do from the beginning – to do his best to win the trust of the one, whom he was looking for many years.       Despite tons of questions that do not have any answers yet, Terrence cannot deny that he feels comfortable enough with the pretense of Edward. Even vice versa, he likes talking to this guy, and the fact that he will have to spend time with him does not make him feel tense. And now, when all his friends have turned their backs on him, the man is happy to talk to someone, who is unfamiliar to him yet. Whom he, however, is not afraid to trust. With the pretense of whom he does not call the phrase, “Danger, run!”       And Natalia has a wide smile on her face while just watching the guys. She does not know what the meeting of Edward and Terrence may lead to and is worried that it may give them a lot of problems. Nevertheless, the girl is happy that she has kept her promise. And she gets upset at the thought that Edward does not have any meaning in spending time with her. Yes, some time ago, they shared their first kiss that the girl will always remember and keep in her heart, but Natalia thinks it does not mean anything. And this thought makes her a little upset.       “So, it’s all over…” Natalia thinks with sadness in her eyes. “I did what I promised… Edward met Terrence… And now this man can forget me… I’d have to accept the fact that someone would leave me again…. After such an amazing kiss… Yes, he said he didn’t wanna stop talking to me, but I don’t believe it was the truth.”       Natalia sighs quietly.       “And not to feel so hurt, I’d better stop our meetings by myself,” Natalia decides. “It’s gonna be hard, but I won’t at least hear that someone doesn’t need me anymore. That the one, whom I got very attracted to, doesn’t need me anymore. I should get over it.”       At some moment, Natalia opens her bag, takes her smartphone out of it, and checks out something quickly, wishing to find an excuse to leave.       “Erm, sorry, guys…” Natalia says hesitantly in a little shaking voice. “I… I shall leave you… For a while… I need to call someone… I think you’ve got something to talk about. Erm… See ya later, guys!”       Natalia gets up sharply from the table and, placing the belt of her bag above her shoulder leaves the café quickly, leaving Terrence and Edward absolutely confused.       “Natalia?” Edward gets up from the table and moves his eyes to the door of the café that Natalia opens. “Where are you going? Wait! Stay! Please…”       “What happened to her?” Terrence wonders. “Why did she leave us?”       “I dunno,” Edward shrugs. “I didn’t understand anything.”       “Did it seem to me, or is she kind of upset? Very quiet… And too quiet…”       “I can say just one thing: Natalia is a silly girl.”       “Silly girl? Why?”       “She is. Because she believes I’ll stop spending my free time with her when she introduces me to you.”       “That’s how…”       “And now, when she did what she wanted, that girl definitely began to think everything was over between us.”       “Was something supposed to happen between you?”       “We’ve spent a cool time together. I’ve always had the pleasure of communicating with her.”       “M-m-m… Decided not to waste time?”       “Sort of.”       “But why does she think you’ll stop speaking? Did you tell her that?”       “No, no, vice versa! I said I didn’t want us to stop speaking.” Edward sits at the table and inclines his head. “But I thought she didn’t believe it. And she thinks I allegedly wanna deceive and leave her after giving her hope.”       “But what do you want?”       “Not to separate from her. And to do my best for her to be happy…”       “Hey, do you like her?” Terrence asks with a slight smile.       “I could say so,” Edward smiles shyly. “At some moment, I started to realize that I began to fall in love with her.”       “Wow… So, are you supposed to have an affair?”       “I liked that girl almost immediately. She slayed me with her eternal beauty at first, and then I was delighted by the fact that it was very easy and interesting to talk to her. Natalia is not stupid and arrogant… She’s kind, sweet, and educated…”       “M-m-m… Love at first sight?”       “Nope. I wouldn’t say it was love at first sight, but I believe it exists. That girl really slayed me with her beauty… I’m gonna be honest, I never met such beautiful girls before.”       “I don’t deny, she’s really fabulous,” Terrence agrees with a slight smile. “I’m surprised she doesn’t still have a boyfriend. Having such a beautiful look, Natalia isn’t supposed to lack the attention of men.”       “Does she really date nobody? Maybe, she is dating someone, but I count on something for nothing.”       “No, no, buddy, don’t worry. Natalia is absolutely single.”       “Have you two really never had anything?” Edward frowns slightly.       “Natalia and me? No, c’mon! Natalia and I are just friends! Yes, she’s a beautiful and cool girl, but I’ve never been in love with her. And she’s never had a crush on me.”       “Really?”       “Don’t worry, Edward, nothing has ever happened to us and will ever happen. For me, Natalia it’s just a friend.”       “Oh, okay then…” Edward exhales sharply. “I was worried… I don’t wanna be called a homewrecker.”       “Hey, I thought she liked you, too. I saw she was looking at you with some tenderness…”       “I believe she feels sympathy for me, but I think Natalia is kind of afraid of me…”       “Afraid? Why?”       “I dunno… I try to be gentle and soft with her, but she always expects something bad. She is afraid of the day I have a wish to give a damn about her.”       “Oh, I dunno…” Terrence throws his hands up. “I can say nothing.”       “But I’m starting to realize I’d like to be with her…” Edward exhales quietly. “Of course, I’ve had different girls, who I loved. But this is the first case when I have such a strong passion. Not what I felt before.”       “I understand you well,” Terrence replies confidently with a slight smile. “I know what that is… I mean, it has already happened to me.”       “Really? It has happened to you, too?”       “It has done…” Terrence chuckles kindly. “This time, I got a great hit on the head… Such a strong one that I wouldn’t be able to forget the girl that drives me crazy.”       “I see…” Edward thinks of something for two seconds with sadness in his eyes. “Damn, so sorry that Natalia left us… But I wanted to spend some time with her… I had some things to do and didn’t meet or call her for a few days.”       “You’d call her and invite her somewhere later,” Terrence replies cheerfully. “And now she left to give us a chance to talk alone.”       “I know… But we should’ve caught her and persuaded her to stay. She wouldn’t have bothered us, and we would’ve talked together.”       “I saw her getting into a taxi and leaving. So, you wouldn’t have caught her…”       “Yup, I saw… Sorry… Very sorry…”       Edward moves his eyes full of sadness down and thinks of something again.       “Okay then…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully. “We will talk a little, get to know each other better… Well… If only you didn't rush anywhere, of course…”       “Oh, I don’t do now…” Edward sighs tiredly, moving his eyes to Terrence.       Terrence says nothing and just nods hesitantly, and Edward looks around a little hesitantly.       “So, what about the strong hit on the head?” Edward asks thoughtfully.       “Ah, yeah, right…” Terrence pronounces with a slight smile. “It’s…”       “You loved too much?”       “Oh, yeah, very much…” Terrence falls into silence for a second and glances aside. “Do you know the model named Raquelle Cameron?”       “Raquelle Cameron?” Edward specifies and cracks a slight smile. “Of course, I know! Very beautiful girl! By the way, Natalia has told me much about her. She said you dated her but broke up with her…”       “Unfortunately, yes…” Terrence nods. “We broke up.”       “I’m very sorry.”       “Honestly, we didn’t get on well from the beginning. Some lovers start their relationship by having nice, friendly talks. But we started it with fights and slaps.”       “That’s how?”       “It happened.” Terrence glances aside for a second. “When we met for the first time, I liked her at first sight. After I looked at her, I went absolutely crazy. And after her first slap, I really fell in love with her.”       “After her slap?” Edward laughs. “Fell in love?”       “Yes, I’m sick! But I eventually could only think and talk about her. And because she refused to fall in front of me and confidently said I wasn’t worth it, that girl woke up the emotions and feelings that I had never felt before. I was a little discouraged, but I liked it. I liked the fact that the girl made me do everything to get at least her smile. With her, I felt alive and got what kept me in shape.”       “Was she the only one to be able to do that?” Edward asks.       “The only one… Nobody else made me as crazy in a good sense as she did. Raquelle has the energy that supported my life and some fire… A wish to live and feel like I’m actually living in the world…”       “Wow.”       “Getting her attention was really interesting to me. Other girls were ready to give me everything at once, but Raquelle was different. When we met for the first time, she didn’t attack me with a readiness to do anything. That girl behaved differently. She loved being a hard-to-reach girl. She refused to give me everything I wanted. She refused to confess that I was the most attractive and imitable man in the world. Besides, that girl was flirting with other men before my eyes on purpose and didn’t wanna pay attention to me. So, it also got me mad.”       “And it got you excited?”       “Yup. A hunter was waking up inside me. I always had the goal of taming that cutie and obeying her. And the more she resisted and ran away from me, the stronger my passion was. But I saw that she liked it. She liked that I showed rudeness and power towards her. She got pleasure from that.”       “But if she drives you crazy, why did you break up with her? What if you no longer meet the same girl?”       “Sadly, we’ll never be together due to some events,” Terrence swallows up nervously. “Besides, we made too many mistakes… We rushed to start to date and couldn’t know some feelings that we wrongly confused with love.”       Terrence inclines his head, starting to look at his hands.       “I’d like to fix everything, but it’s impossible,” Terrence adds in a much quieter voice with sadness in his eyes.       “Of course, I don’t wanna meddle in your life, but do you mean the man named Simon by saying about, ‘some events?’” Edward specifies carefully.       “Yes, because of him… Because of that old bastard, everything we could’ve fixed if we’d wanted was ruined forever. That stinker ruined the lives of all of us. He made us suffer.”       “Did he really do his best for Raquelle to stay alone?”       “Really.”       “But how?”       “Turned us against her and lied about her alleged mental problems.”       “Did you all believe it so easily?”       “Yes, we were idiots ‘cause we believed that stinker. But everybody was so excited that we could believe anything. And Raquelle herself was much more excited and unconsciously proved to everybody that Simon’s words were true.”       “As far as I know, she even fought with Natalia, who allegedly was by the side of that man.”       “That scumbag did that… Foresaw everything… He got the poor girl to fight with everybody and almost killed her in the desert place…”       “Hasn’t Simon been caught yet? Is Raquelle gonna suffer because of him?”       “No, he’s been caught. But he’s now in the hospital after one of the policemen shot at him when the police tried to catch him.”       “Shot?”       “Yup,” Terrence nods. “Simon asked Raquelle about the meeting that took place three days ago. He told her to come out there alone, or she or someone of her close people would’ve been murdered. And she did that… But it was just an excuse for nobody to catch him. Ringer wanted to get off Raquelle right there and get rid of her not to let anyone find that girl.”       “But how did she get saved?”       “When I learned about that meeting from her relatives, I asked my friend from the police for help. And on the right day, the police and I went to the meeting.”       “Wow!”       “But it wasn’t so easy as Ringer went insane,” Terrence clenches his hands placed on the table tightly into fists. “And then he got me furious by shamelessly feeling Raquelle up and trying to kiss her. I thought I would kill him and bury him in the ground…”       “I get it. I would do the same.”       “That wish got much stronger when that bastard fell off the roof during the shooting with the policemen and dragged Raquelle with him.”       “Come on?”       “I am still surprised how she survived. Why she didn’t crush herself along with him. Simon got a lot of traumas, but Raquelle didn’t. She managed to climb up to the roof! And… She lost consciousness. Due to stress.”       “Oh, gosh…” Edward shakes his head. “Did that man die?”       “Nope, he’s alive. But with a lot of traumas and a threat of becoming completely disabled.”       “I didn’t think people would go so far for revenge.”       “Oh, I didn’t think, either…”       “But I still don’t understand why he took revenge on her,”       “We used to think Ringer was revenging for the scandal that happened one and a half years ago when he slandered Raquelle and spread the false rumors. Didn’t you hear that?”       “Yeah, I heard something…” Edward nods. “As far as I know, a photograph brought a record to his familiar man, who was working on a channel and proved Raquelle’s innocence in that case.”       “It happened! But that man wanted to revenge for a different reason.”       “What?”       “Raquelle’s mother left him somehow and got married to her father.”       “Wow. Did her mother know that bastard?”       “She did. That man literally went nuts over his love for her and was chasing that woman, her husband, and their daughter when she was a kid. But since he didn’t get what he wanted and didn’t make Raquelle’s mother come back to him, Simon provoked the car accident, in which the parents of that girl died without a chance to get saved.”       “Oh, damn, poor girl…” Edward shakes his head with sadness in his eyes. “I’m sorry about her…”       “But her family thought they were guilty of the car accident. But no. It was provoked. Provoked by Simon Ringer.”       “Of course, I know that a person sometimes could do much for love, but to kill…”       “Because of that bastard, Raquelle suffered almost all her life,” Terrence says gloomily. “The death of those people wasn’t enough for him, and he decided to get off the innocent girl, who didn’t have to do with the relationship between her mother and that stinker.”       “I understand why he was revenging on her mother. But what did the daughter of that woman have to do with it?”       “Who the fuck knows! I guess the strong resemblance had to do with it. Raquelle is very similar to her mother and could remind Simon of Elizabeth. That was her mother.”       “Sick deadbeat…”       “It’s okay, he will get what he deserves and get a punishment. And he will not get an indulgence even if he becomes disabled.”       “Anyway, I’m glad everything was over well,” Edward cracks a slight smile. “I’ve always liked Raquelle as a model. And I am sure she’s very good and sweet.”       “She’s very good… When I began to date her and later suggested that we live together, I thought I was a freaking lucky man. I got the girl that many men dreamed about. I didn’t hide my pride and could have the pleasure of going somewhere and introducing her to my familiar people and friends as my beloved woman.”       Terrence sighs with sadness in his eyes.       “But unfortunately, being busy with work that got us cold for each other, our relationship didn’t take that and got ruined…” Terrence adds in a much lower voice.       “And what happened between you if decided to break up?” Edward frowns slightly.       “Confused love with passion. And we forgot that we should’ve not only been kissing, hugging, and having sex, but also taking care of each other. We didn’t care about it. We were obsessed with the passion that could fade away quickly… And when it did, it was unbearably for us to be together. And a total indifference made its business.”       “But I think everything is not so hopeless. If you’d made some efforts, your relationship would’ve been saved.”       “No, Edward, it’s impossible…” Terrence shakes his head.       “Why?”       “Raquelle never loved me. She used me to calm her family down because they told her to get married and give birth to children.”       “I heard something like this from Natalia. But I think she said it in anger.”       “No, not in anger. That girl never loved me truly and just played love with me.”       “She agreed to date you. I don’t think a girl would start an affair with anyone to stand in her way.”       “You don’t know her.”       “Maybe, I don’t. But trust me, if she wanted to please her family, she would get married to the first man to stand in her way. I heard men have proposed to Raquelle to date and play a wedding many times, but she rejected all of them.”       “I don’t know… Anyway, there’s no meaning in talking about it. It’s decided. We broke up. I don’t want it, but I can do nothing with it.”       “There is always a solution.”       “There is not in my case. I’m by far not perfect and made the unforgivable mistake.”       “Unforgivable mistake?”       “Something happened and became the reason why we’d never be together.”       “But what did you do? Did you cheat on her, and did she find it out?”       “It’s half of the problem and not the most important one… I did something more terrible…”       “Oh, but what could be worse than cheating? If you cheat, it’s the end!”       “Believe me, there’s something worse than cheating.”       “But what happened then?”       “If I say it, you’ll also start judging me, just like all my familiar and close people. Nobody wanted to believe I didn’t want it. Many friends of mine turned their backs on me because of that. They think I’m terrible… Literally a tyrant, who doesn’t respect women.”       “A tyrant?” Edward rounds his eyes. “Don’t you want to say you were beating Raquelle?”       “No, no, I swear I never beat her! But still…”       “But what happened then?”       “Erm…”       “Since you began to speak, go to the end.”       “Okay…” Terrence exhales sharply and runs his hands over his face. “Raquelle and I had a very serious fight, after which she left home and went to live with her relatives… It was much worse than we’d had before. Word by word, we were losing control of ourselves and not watching our mouths and actions…”       Terrence swallows up nervously.       “And I went so wild that I was dragging her by the hair in the whole room, strangling her…” Terrence adds with sadness in his eyes. “I treated her like something terrible… But at some moment, everything got so bad that…”       Terrence falls into silence for a few seconds to calm down and get ready to confess what he will be ashamed of for a very long time. But then he relaxes his shoulders sharply and looks at Edward a little scarily, saying hesitantly:       “So, I slapped her one time. Slapped strongly…”       After hearing these words, Edward stares at Terrence with horror in his widely open eyes.       “What did you do?” Edward asks. “Slapped her?”       “I swear, I didn’t want it,” Terrence replies guiltily. “I… I didn’t understand how it happened. I went really crazy.”       “But why, Terrence?”       “I couldn’t hold myself down.”       “You do know that raising a hand on a girl is forbidden.”       “I know… But I can’t control myself when I’m enraged. And it’s my headache that I’ve been fighting with all my life. That’s why I’ve made enough mistakes and am literally starting to be afraid of myself.”       “Shit, what made you so mad that you slapped the girl?” Edward wonders. “Not just a familiar one, but your own girlfriend!”       “She said too much, which hurt me enough. She said I was a freaking egoistic bastard, allegedly mamma’s boy, scumbag, and scoundrel… And actually, I wouldn’t have been born. I allegedly hurt everyone’s eyes and ruin everything…”       “Well… I don’t deny that I’d also feel hurt if I heard something like that. But it’s not the reason to be a psycho and raise a hand on a girl.”       “Moreover, because of Simon, I believed Raquelle was cheating on me for a long time. I didn’t believe it at first, but he was pressing me so much that I didn’t notice that I began to think she was a cheater.”       “Where’s the proof? Did you easily believe the words of that deadbeat?”       “I had the reasons to believe that stinker. At least because Raquelle began to treat me like I was nothing and didn’t care about what was happening to me. She cared about building her career and being an innocent angel for people. She was pretending to be a perfect girlfriend in public, and everyone believed her. They believed we had a perfect relationship.”       “I understand everything, but it’s not a reason to do that to the poor girl.”       “I was mad, you see. I was tolerating her indifference for a long time and swallowing up my offense. I tried to save our relationship many times and make her sure to go somewhere. But Raquelle didn’t hear me and closed her eyes and ears.”       “Listen, Terrence, I would also never forgive a girl, who cheats on me ‘cause it’s inexcusable for me. But you must not have done that to her… Yes, Raquelle isn’t perfect, but that doesn’t mean you should behave like a fucking tyrant.”       “I know you think I’m a stinker,” Terrence says in a low voice without emotions. “You can say nothing about how terrible I am and how right my friends were when they turned their backs on me.”       “You really did a disgusting thing, I can’t lie. And if people turned their backs on you, they knew that your act was terrible and described someone as an insolent, shameless scumbag.”       “It’s okay, I’m not mad. You’re absolutely right. I was told everything a long time ago when the truth came to light.”       “I’d like to believe you taught the lesson.”       “Of course, I did. I would make everything different if I had a chance to come back to the past.”       “Alas, it’s impossible.”       “I’d understand everything if you wanted to leave and turned your back on me.”       “Terrence…”       “It’s okay, I ain’t mad… At you, Natalia, to whom I just told everything. You two have a right to join those people and judge me as much as you want.”       “That’s good if you really understand you’re guilty.”       “So what?” Terrence moves his sad look to his hands folded on the table and fingers over nervously. “Would you turn your back on me? Get up and leave?”       Edward watches Terrence for a few seconds with sadness in his eyes and starts to understand that he looks true enough and regrets what he did. That’s why the man decides not to talk about it and not to turn his back on Terrence as well as Natalia did. Even if he is not also happy with his actions and is not going to cover him.       “No, Terrence, I’m not gonna leave,” Edward says confidently with his head proudly raised. “I was looking for you for a long time to leave now.”       “C’mon, Edward, I’m not holding you,” Terrence replies in a low voice. “If you want, leave. I’d take it somehow.”       “I see you’re regretting what you did. And you tried to fix everything by deciding to go to the meeting and help Raquelle get off Simon.”       “It was the only chance to show the best side of me and prove that I wasn’t such a scumbag and could regret and recognize my mistakes.”       “I’m repeating: you did a disgusting thing by slapping Raquelle, and I ain’t gonna pretend that’s fine. Nevertheless, it’s not as terrible as beating a girl to half-death regularly. If you were beating her and trying to excuse it by having your mind clouded or blaming Raquelle for everything, I would probably piss you off and think you’re a freaking bastard. But in this case, I could believe your regret. And I think you could hardly do something like that.”       “No, I’ve never beaten and will never beat a girl,” Terrence protests confidently.       “I’d like to believe it.”       “I already made a mistake when I said everything to one person, who I fought strongly with, and who even promised to destroy me… That one started with telling some people that I was constantly beating Raquelle. And they believed it and turned their backs on me with the thought that they should’ve stayed far from me.”       “As I understand, you did a bad thing to that person if they told everyone the lie and convinced some people it was true.”       “Honestly, yes. There was a part of my fault… But fortunately, it didn’t go further. Now everybody left me alone, but some time ago, everything was just terrible: my friends ruined the friendship with me and judged my act. And then Raquelle’s relatives kicked my ass enough and were ready to kill me.”       “I think people would know everything that Simon did. Everyone would know this story ended well thanks to you and get softer. I’m sure articles about Ringer would be published in magazines and the Internet.”       “Now it doesn’t make sense. Raquelle and I can’t be together. She’ll never forgive me for slapping her and betraying her.”       “I can’t help you with it. Sorry.”       “Somehow, Raquelle’s aunt told me to wait for some time and then decide something. And now Natalia repeated all the same…”       “You know, I’d agree with Raquelle’s aunt and Natalia. The best thing you can do is to believe and wait.”       “I think waiting and hoping is already hopeless… The pain that I gave Raquelle is too strong.”       “You’ve already done something to make everybody change their opinion about you – it’s quite enough. Now just wait.”       “Is there a meaning? Raquelle and I broke up! She’ll never come back to me.”       “If you’d had the little fight that any couple has, I would’ve advised you to do something. But now the situation is different. It’s impossible to forget that fight for one day, two days, or even one week. Raquelle made that decision when she was obsessed with emotions. But I think she’d think about it well when she calmed down. I mean, she’s reflecting on it…”       “When she calms down, all the thanks will be forgotten.”       “Why do you think so?”       “As people say, trouble unites people. It’s our case.”       “Don’t forget you’re a man, Terrence,” Edward recalls confidently. “A man should never give up and let it go, whatever happens. If you have a chance to fix something, you must use it. I’d feel sorry if you never came back together… Anyway, you look good with Raquelle.”       “Thanks for the advice, but I won’t dream for nothing…” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “Of course, I’m ready to wait for some time, but if nothing changes later, I’ll have to take what I can’t ignore.”       “Of course, it will be the decision of Raquelle and you, and nobody’s gonna change your mind,” Edward shrugs. “But I hope you’ll have a chance to change something.”       “Time will show what will happen.”       Terrence falls into silence for two seconds and glances aside for a moment, while Edward looks at his hands and leans back in the chair.       “Oh, alright, let’s talk about something else,” Terrence suggests tiredly. “I feel bad, but talking about Raquelle makes me wish to hang myself more and more.”       “Example?” Edward rounds his eyes.       “For example, you tell me what’s happening between you and Natalia.”       “Between me and Natalia?”       “Let me ask you, how long ago did you put an eye on her?” Terrence laughs quietly with his arms crossed over his chest. “So, while I was solving my problems, my golden-haired friend didn’t waste time and managed to meet the young guy… Who probably doesn’t mind spending much time with her.”       “Why I couldn’t talk to quite an interesting persona that understands me so well,” Edward wonders with his head proudly raised.       “Hey, don’t you have a girlfriend? What if you’re dating someone but looking at other girls?”       “No, no, I don’t have a girlfriend. I haven't had one for a long time. I’m absolutely single.”       “But do you meet someone?”       “Of course, I do. But I actually do this for my health.”       “What?”       “I just had sex with someone. Maybe, I don’t have a permanent girlfriend, but nature doesn’t care about it. So, I meet girls and sleep with them if they’re fucking attractive.”       “Oh, man, you’re a playboy,” Terrence laughs shyly.       “I didn’t need anything else from them, and I fucked them off the next day. Everything is otherwise about Natalia. I want to talk to her. I want to discuss something with her. I’m interested in her as a beautiful, attractive girl and as a wonderful chatter. A smart, intelligent one.”       “Are you really serious about her and not gonna leave her after taking her to bed?”       “No, no, I am not. I really like Natalia. The time I spend with her is the best in my life. And I would be happy to kiss her again.”       “Again?”       “Yup, we had the first kiss.”       “M-m-m, so, did you also get time to share a kiss?” Terrence smiles mysteriously.       “Aha, right before coming here,” Edward laughs shyly. “And that was really cool. So cool that I wouldn’t mind doing that again.”       “Yay, Edward, you didn’t waste time,” Terrence shakes his head. “While waiting for the meeting with me, you decided to pick up a beautiful girl.”       “You should be quick before someone else steals a cutie from you. Men usually stand in a long line in front of someone like her.”       “And it seems like you needed a little time to charm that blonde.”       “I just got sick of hiding my feelings and decided to tell her about my sympathy.” Edward swallows up nervously. “But I don’t know whether it’s gonna lead to something good or bad…”       “Why?” Terrence wonders.       “I think she didn’t believe me when I said I felt sympathy for her. She answered me back, but Natalia is hardly sure about it at one hundred percent and still thinks I wanna leave her.”       “Think it’s just a little shock. The girl heard the first true confession of love in a while. If she didn’t kiss anyone for ages, she literally got her heart stopped.”       “Honestly, it’s hurtful for me that she’s doing this to me.”       “Don’t worry, it will be gone. Maybe, she’s been rejected so many times, as Natalia said, that she is really afraid to be deceived again.”       “But what do I do?” Edward throws his hands up with sadness in his eyes. “I wanna prove to her that I ain’t gonna deceive her. Believe me, I didn’t even think of deceiving this girl. If I felt nothing for her, I wouldn’t run after Rochester and give her attention.”       “I do say, she’s one hundred percent shocked,” Terrence replies confidently. “Give her some time to accept it, and then she’ll be jumping from happiness ‘cause she gets a confession of love. The most important thing is that Natalia knows it.”       “And yeah, there’s something else that makes me worried…”       “What?”       “Natalia said she’d probably leave forever to forget everything that happened to her.”       “Probably leave forever?”       “But I don’t want her to do it. I don’t wanna stop speaking to her. Natalia is a cool girl, who it’s so nice to spend time with and talk about something with.”       “No, I don’t think she’d leave. She’d probably have a vacation abroad for two months but then come back, and everything would be okay.”       “As far as I know, her grandmother is very sick…” Edward says thoughtfully, fixing the rebel strand of his hair but running his hand through his hair one moment later. “And she’s really worried about it.”       “Yes, her grandmother is now fighting blood cancer,” Terrence confirms. “Her mother is now with that woman, and Natalia and her father came back here for a while. But they are supposed to be back in Mexico to help them very soon.”       “That’s what I’m afraid of. What if Natalia is not back here and decides to stay there? I don’t wanna separate from her and lose our contact!”       “She won’t stay there forever, Edward, don’t worry.”       “Why are you so sure?”       “I don’t know. But I’m sure it’s gonna happen. And her parents wouldn’t move abroad for her, ‘cause they’ve got a job here.”       “You know, I think she wanna run away from here not only because of the fight with Raquelle.”       “What?”       “It seems like something happened to Natalia, but she doesn’t wanna talk about it.”       “Why do you think so?” Terrence frowns slightly.       “You see, sometimes she’s kind of distanced,” Edward replies thoughtfully. “As if that girl is not where she is in her mind. And when I try to find out what she is hiding from me, Natalia gets kind of scared and discreet and says she doesn’t have secrets.”       “Really? It’s strange…” Terrence shrugs. “I haven’t noticed that…”       “And the most interesting thing is that her behavior changes after any mention of violence. Natalia literally shakes when I talk about it.”       “Interesting…” Terrence strokes his chin. “Maybe, she had to get through something like that? Or did she see it with her eyes?”       “I tried to ask her about it, but she began to find excuses and say she was just afraid of everything about it.”       “Maybe, that’s true. Moreover, no girl is insured by it. Any asshole can come to a girl, undress her, and get into her, no matter how hard she resists. At any time. In any place.”       “Anyway, Natalia has lately been too sad, quiet, and a little self-contained. And I don’t know the reasons for these changes… Even though I really wanna help her.”       “It’s strange, it’s unlike her,” Terrence frowns slightly. “That girl has always been sanguine, funny, open, and active…”       “Damn, I don’t know what to do…” Edward shakes his head. “I do wanna know everything she’s hiding and help her if I have a chance. But Natalia refuses to say something or drop some hits. Her eyes say something’s happening to her… But I can’t get what…”       “Sorry, I can’t help you. I know nothing about it.”       “It’s all so tangled…” Edward falls into silence for a second and exhales sharply, running his hands over his face. “And I don’t wanna lose her… I don’t…”       “Do you really love her so much?” Terrence wonders.       “I can’t do without her…” Edward moves his sad eyes down for a second. “If she leaves forever, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I doubt I’d forget her so easily. Because I always think of her. I really like Natalia and consider her more than just a friend of mine.”       “I get it…” Terrence sighs heavily. “The same is happening to me and Raquelle… I don’t know what to do… How to accept the breakup with that girl…”       Terrence falls into silence for two seconds and glances aside with sadness in his eyes.       “Oh, these girls…” Terrence sighs tiredly. “Sometimes they become a reason why you feel a strong pain.”       “Right…” Edward agrees. “And many of them think that we, men, are assholes, who use them in any way they want.”       “You’re right… For some of them, we can be literally the kings of hell.”       Edward and Terrence fall into silence for two seconds and glance at two young girls, who go by their table.       “Alright, since we stayed alone, I suggest that we don’t waste time and spend it in a more interesting place,” Terrence suggests.       “Great idea!” Edward exclaims and glances at someone, who goes by him. “We could drive in the city at first. Maybe, we’ll manage to find a cool place…”       “Sure!”       “And I would tell you more about me and my life… And you could tell me something about you if you wanted. I’m interested in knowing what your hobbies are, what you love, and something like that.”       “Nice idea, buddy!” Terrence exclaims with a slight smile. “We can start our trip to the city that gave me not only great happiness but also great problems right now.”       “Listen, let’s forget about our problems and try not to get upset earlier.” Edward gets up from the table and takes something that he bought when he came here with Natalia. “We’ll live a little and see it. Life is actually an unpredictable thing. You never know what’s waiting for you and where you will end up after you choose one or another way.”       “Okay, in this case, I will just spend time in a good company,” Terrence replies amicably, taking some things with him.       “M-m-m so, did I become a good company for you?”       “Yes, I will not stop suspecting you for a wish to frame me. But I kind of like you anyway.”       “Kidding?”       “No jokes! Clean truth. Although you’re weird, I don’t feel disgusting from spending time with you. I don’t wanna run as far as possible.”       “I can consider it some kind of progress.”       “And I will try to consider you a certain gift, which I got as the reward for all my sufferings.”       “If you wanna whine, I will endure it.”       A few seconds later, Terrence and Edward leave the café where they spent a lot of time, get into the car of MacClife that is parked in the parking lot, and go on the road, going to drive in the city a little and find out much more about each other. And try to distract from their problems with the girls, who they love so much, but who they are not able to be with for some reasons.       

***

      It’s about five hours in the evening. Natalia is still walking on the streets of the city and trying to distract herself from some bad thoughts. The girl did not go home after leaving Terrence and Edward in the café to let them find out more about each other and talk about anything they wanted. At some moment, Natalia ends up on the coast, where there is nobody. The sun went down a long time ago, and the weather is not so hot to swim and sunbathe. Not thinking much, the girl sits on the sand against the raging ocean and starts to watch the wind bringing up and bringing away big waves. Natalia is worried because her grandmother cannot get well and because she lost her best friend. And she doubts whether her sympathy for Edward is really mutual. She is not sure if the man told her the truth about his feelings and believes he could play with her and deceive her, despite saying he would not do this.       Moreover, there is something else that makes Natalia worried. But the girl is afraid to tell someone about it and is trying to get over that by herself. Yes, she does not like to hide it from her close people, but she is obsessed with fear. The fear that something terrible might happen if she confessed everything.       “No, I will never be able to say it,” Natalia thinks, watching the raging waves with her dead eyes. “Even my close people. Nobody will know there’s something that makes me worried. I know I’m doing a bad thing by hiding everything from them. But sadly, I have no choice. I’ve gotta say nothing… Or it might lead to something bad for me… I have to… I’m afraid. I’m afraid to feel the pain I felt at that moment. And… Even if I get the courage to tell all the truth, I will have to get through that nightmare. The nightmare that I will never forget…”       Natalia sighs quietly, still watching the raging waves with sad eyes, but then glancing aside.       “Besides, I’m worried ‘cause I can’t be absolutely sure about Edward and his feelings for me,” Natalia thinks with sadness in her eyes. “Although he says he isn’t gonna deceive me and doesn’t wanna stop speaking to me, I feel that man does wanna leave me. He’s finally gotten what he wanted and met Terrence. If it’s so, he is supposed to lose the interest that he suddenly got after he found out that I befriended MacClife. I’m gonna be single again…”       Natalia shakes her head.       “But I don’t want this so much…” Natalia thinks. “I don’t wanna break up with him… That man is the first one in a while, who I feel comfortable and nice with. With Edward, I feel much more beautiful… He’s the best one of those I’ve ever met… I thought that man would care about my soul, not my body. At least someone paid attention to my feelings and emotions. It would be hurt to lose him… I would hardly meet someone else to treat me as good as he did it.”       Natalia sighs too hard.       “Damn, how much I was afraid of this day…” Natalia thinks. “The day the meeting would happen. I was sure everything would be over after that… Forever. I’d no longer be invited to walks… I mean, Edward will no longer invite me… He doesn’t need me. He got what he wanted and can piss me off.”       Natalia fixes slightly her hair, which is disheveled because of the strong wind.       “Gosh, why do I have to be rejected after I met such a wonderful man that I began to fall in love with?” Natalia wonders with sadness in her eyes. “Is something wrong with me if good guys run away from me and use me for their benefits? I ain’t ugly and stupid… I can be loyal, love, take care, and just be perfect in everything. Why do only idiots, ugly people, or selfish peacocks that everyone must owe wanna be with me? Someone actually doesn’t like me, someone likes my parents’ money!”       Natalia swallows up nervously.       “What’s wrong with me?” Natalia asks herself. “Why am I not lucky in love? I wanna love and be loved, but everybody always rejects me. Everybody uses me. Why?”       Natalia sighs heavily again and moves her eyes to the raging ocean.       “Oh, at least I kept my promise and helped Edward,” Natalia thinks with a slight smile. “I finally introduced him to Terrence and am madly glad they finally met. If Edward proves that he doesn’t really have any bad thoughts and just wanna meet a friend, Terrence and he will surely get on well. MacClife needs it so badly now. Because he stayed all alone…”       Some time later, a loud squeak suddenly rings. Natalia looks for her smartphone in her purse to check it with sadness in her eyes. When she does it, she quickly unlocks it and sees she has gotten a message. She gets a little shocked when she sees the name of the one to send it.       “Natalia, it’s Raquelle… Sorry for bothering you, but I need to talk to you. I understand you’re still mad at me, but… Can we meet somewhere in a quiet place? I wanna talk about what happened between us and try to work everything out somehow. Please! Don’t refuse…”       Natalia rounds her eyes and reads the message multiple times to make sure it’s really from Raquelle. Although the girl is madly happy her friend showed a wish to talk, she gets a little nervous and worried. Nevertheless, after thinking for a few seconds, Natalia decides to agree to meet her and quickly types and seconds the answer to Raquelle:       “Yes, of course, I will meet you. Wherever you want. I can go to the home of your grandfather. As far as I know, you’re there now.”       While waiting for a reply, Natalia moves her eyes to the waves and thinks about what to expect from this talk. And two minutes later, she gets one more message from Raquelle.       “No, don't go to the home of my grandfather. Maybe, I should go to your home? If you can’t meet me at your home, I can come to any place.”       After thinking a little, Natalia types her reply on her smartphone and sends the message to Raquelle.       “I’m not at home now but will be back soon. Go there. I will be waiting for you.”       One minute later, Natalia gets a short message from Raquelle.       “Okay, I will be there in one hour.”       After reading the answer, Natalia smiles slightly. Although this talk scares her a little, the girl would be very happy to talk to Raquelle and apologize to her for what happened. Since the brunette promised to go to her home in one hour, the blonde decided not to waste time. She gets up, takes her purse, and goes to her home, thinking of all the possible events that might happen during this talk, which is definitely going to be one of the hardest ones.       

***

      Some time before sending these messages, Raquelle was at home and thought of Natalia, whom she began to think more and more about. She came to herself after what happened to her three days ago. And she is starting to understand that she can no longer suffer from remorse and a sense of shame for the one that she hurt for no reason.       Alicia is not at home because she is at the hospital where Frederick is still being. Raquelle visited him this morning but left after her aunt promised to watch him. Not to suffer from boredom, the girl thinks a little and decides to start to fix the mistakes she made some time ago. At first, she wants to try to ask Natalia for a meeting and talk to her about what happened between them. Raquelle takes her smartphone placed on the table near her bed, and sends a message to the blonde.       “Natalia, it’s Raquelle… Sorry for bothering you, but I need to talk to you. I understand you’re still mad at me, but… Can we meet somewhere in a quiet place? I wanna talk about what happened between us and try to work everything out somehow. Please! Don’t refuse….”       All the time that she is waiting for the answer, Raquelle silently prays that Natalia does not refuse and agrees to meet her. And when she gets a notification on her phone, the girl grabs it sharply and opens the message that she received from Natalia with her shaking hands.       “Yes, of course, I will meet you. Wherever you want. I can go to the home of your grandfather. As far as I know, you’re there now.”       After thinking a little, Raquelle believes that she would not like to meet Natalia at Frederick’s apartment and lets her know about it in her message.       “No, don't go to the home of my grandfather. Maybe, I should go to your home? If you can’t meet me at your home, I can come to any place.”       Raquelle silently starts to pray that Natalia agrees to meet her again. And she shakes slightly when she gets one more message.       “I’m not at home now but will be back soon. Go there. I will be waiting for you.”       After getting the answer she wanted to get, Raquelle quickly types and sends a short message to Natalia with a slight smile.       “Okay, I will be there in one hour.”       Next, Natalia sends no messages. But it does not make sense now. The most important thing is that the blonde agreed to meet, and it means Raquelle could try to make amends and get rid of the remorse that has not let her live well for a few days.       “My God, if only everything was fine,” Raquelle prays, exhaling slowly with her eyes closed. “If only I did that… I really wanna make amends and do my best to reconcile with the one I hurt for no reason. It’s time to take the first step and apologize for being a brainless idiot, who believed that old stinker.”       But before leaving the apartment, Raquelle decides to write an explanatory note for Alicia in case the woman is back earlier than her. The girl quickly finds a little piece of clean paper and a pen and writes something down:       “Auntie Alicia.       Don’t get excited if you see that I’m not home. I decided to go to the home of Natalia to try to talk to her about what happened. I’m sick of getting tortured by remorse and wanna start fixing the mistakes that I made. I don’t know when I'll be back, but I promise I will not walk anywhere until late night. Anyway, I’m always on the line. My mobile phone will be turned on.       Kiss you.       Raquelle.”       After quickly reading her note, Raquelle puts it on the table next to the hall door. Then the girl takes the clothes that she sees first in her closet and puts on a pink plaid shirt with quarter sleeves, skinny blue jeans, black shoes, and a light coat that she needs because it’s not very warm outside. She just brushes her wavy hair and leaves it loose, thinking she does not have to do a hairstyle.       Then Raquelle takes her purse and puts her phone and money for a taxi that she is going to catch because Alicia went to the hospital in her car. The girl turns off the light in the apartment and leaves it after she makes sure everything is fine. After locking the door with a key, Raquelle goes down to the first floor in an elevator, goes outside, comes to the bus stop that is located not far from the building, in which the apartment is placed, and tries to catch a car that could drive her where Natalia is living.       But Raquelle quickly catches the taxi that she gets into. When she calls the address, the driver starts driving on the free road. While the car is coming to the place where the apartment of Natalia’s parents is, the brunette watches everything she goes by with sadness in her eyes and feels a little excited and tense because of what she is going to do. However, Raquelle completely understands that if she wants to reconcile with her friend, she has to forget her fears, doubts, pride, and something like that and take the first step with the thought that nobody will come to the one, who is guilty of everything.