21 Cry it Ou (1/2)

When Lyra woke up back in her bed, it was already five past noon and she could already guess how she got back seeing as her clothes were not changed. Rose taped a little note next to her nightstand assuring her that everything was taken care of before she fell asleep on the couch.

Lyra crawled out of bed before heading to the kitchen to make dinner. Rose woke from the smell of spaghetti carbonara and drifted to the table where she was served a hot plate full.

”Thanks for taking care of the shop and everything. You're really the best,” Lyra thanked before digging into her own meal.

Rose put a fork full of pasta in her mouth and waved her hand casually. ”No worries. This is good!” she exclaimed said while chewing. Waking up to a delicious home-cooked meal was repayment enough.

The little chef smiled before poking at her own food. She curled the strings with her fork and blew on it until it was cold before stuffing it in her mouth and moving her jaw in a bored manner, thoughts on something else.

”Oi, Ly. You okay?” It didn't take a genius to know she had no appetite. Lyra nodded before chewing a little faster. ”Wanna talk 'bout it?” Rose offered but Lyra shook her head. It must've had to do with Kurtis then.

After dinner, the girl went back to do some accounting before going to bed again so that she could rise early to make sure everything was in order for the wedding.

Rose couldn't feel any more sorry for Lyra. She was flooded with work and had to be in charge with the floral arrangements for her sister's wedding. But worse of all, she was preparing a wedding for the one she loved to be married to someone else.

It wasn't just Kurtis, but Rose felt Lyra was disconnecting from her too. It wasn't intentional, but it only made sense since she may be shy about her knowing her deepest secret. After all, it wasn't like Lyra wanted to be found crying in the middle of the night for reasons that were wrong to start with.

How could she fall in love with her sister's boyfriend?

But Rose understood. How could she not?

Unfortunately, Lyra was just joining the band of girls who got their hearts broken by the ultimate playboy of the century. Sure Kurtis wasn't intentionally toying with any of them, but it's partially his fault for being so himself. His cousin didn't know how to judge him anymore.

'It shouldn't matter now anyways,' Rose thought as she stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom. Kurtis was getting married in less than twenty-four hours and she needed all the energy she could save up so that she could entertain the guests at the wedding.

After all, a lot of people—some she wanted to see and most she much rather not—were going to be there. Her main goal was just to stick by Lyra because she would make for the best company anyway.

When Rose couldn't bring herself to fall asleep, she headed over to the other room to check if her roomie was suffering the same problem. She wasn't.

Lyra originally was ready to retire before she got a reply from Angela who asked for a slight order change in the bridal bouquet. Instead of a mix of red and white roses that Lyra recommended, she wanted the entire bunch to be red. Nothing spells passion for your groom better than red roses she reasoned.

Thus, knowing that it would be a rush to prepare tomorrow, Lyra went back downstairs to start a new bridal bouquet. She only turned on the back lights of the shop so she could work.

Surely she didn't expect when someone tried opening the door. Standing up from the counter, she tried to see out but it was too dark.

[Was it a customer?]

There shouldn't be any visitors so late at night. All her neighborhood regulars knew the shop closed at 7PM but now was almost four hours past that! The figure wasn't too visible from her angle, but it was surely a man from the height and build.

[Could it be a robber?]

Lyra glanced at the shop alarm that she forgot to set. Her heart rate jumped a little when the shadow outside was shaking the doorknob. It started out quiet, but then escalated to a violent shake within seconds.

The frightened girl felt around her pockets, but realized her cell phone was left by her nightstand. She then reached for the wireless landline phone at the other end of the counter, but when she tried to dial Rose, a click of the front caused her to freeze and look up.

Her fingers became stiff and her mind went blank as she inserted the last number incorrectly. The masked man was approaching and Lyra's didn't know what to do.

The guy dressed in black brought a gloved hand to his mouth as he approached with quick strides, telling her to stay quiet.

”Ro…se?” Lyra's voice trembled as he walked closer. ”Rose!” she yelled a little louder, but her voice couldn't break the deafening silence.

A sharp object slipped from the man's sleeve when Lyra backed to the wall behind the counter. She was already cornered.

”ROSE!” she called again, tears to her eyes. Her hands shook as she tried to focus on the numbers to call the police.

”PUT THE PHONE DOWN,” the man ordered as he entered through the counter.

Lyra held onto it as long as she could, praying with all her might someone would answer.

”Hello? What is your emergency?” an operator finally asked from the other end of the line.

”Help-” she tried to shout, but the stronger man covered her mouth with his hand.

He then roughly shoved the defenseless Lyra against the wall before stealing the phone out of her hand and laughing.

”My sis was doing a prank call. Sorry,” he said too calmly and naturally before hanging up.

Lyra swallowed hard as he threw the phone on the floor and replaced it with his knife. Her eyes followed as he brought the object closer for her to see.

”Shh…Why are you crying?” he asked. ”I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

When tears continued to run down her cheeks, his eyes softened. ”Don't you recognize me? You always smile when you see me. Oh is it because of the mask?” he asked before pulling it off his face.