The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

194 Rocks

“Emma, I’ve checked a few studios here. They’ve indeed lost their students again.” Rachel said.

“O-oh.. Is it? Are you sure RJC did it?”

Rachel shook her head from the other side, “I don’t know about that yet. I just asked the receptionist at the studios. They admit that over the past week or so, many of their students have quit.”

“I see. Thanks for bothering to check around, Rachel. You can go back home now.” Emma said.

“Maybe I’ll look a little more. You don’t have to worry about me. I just happen to have nothing else to do on this day off.” She replied.

Emma smiled, “Okay then. Remember, don’t push yourself,”

“Okay,” Rachel replied.

“Gosh.. Rachel is so ambitious,” Emma muttered after turning off the call.

But suddenly, her phone rang again.

.....

“What’s this again? Levi? What does he want?” Emma said to herself as she stared at her phone screen.

“Yes?” She said as soon as she put the phone against his ear.

A chuckle heard from the other side, “I haven’t said anything yet but you’re already grumpy like that?”

Emma sighed tiredly, “Alright.. Why did you call me, Levi? What do you want?”

“You seem to think that I’ll only contact you if I need something, huh?”

Levi’s question left Emma speechless. She remembered the last time she met Levi. He didn’t want anything from her but comforted her instead. But why did every time she found Levi contacted her, she felt strange adrenaline inside her chest that always made her a sensitive bitch for no reason?

“You still there? You’re not daydreaming again, are you?”

Shit! It seemed that Levi was starting to recognize Emma’s habits. Then she cleared her throat as soon as she woke up from her thoughts. She shook her head subconsciously, “Nope. I’m working on something. By the way, you haven’t explained why you contacted me.”

“I just wanted to call you. Is that forbidden?” Levi asked.

Emma’s brows furrowed, “It’s just odd. Did something happen to you?”

Levi smiled faintly across the line, “I just need a friend to talk to. A friend who doesn’t have to judge me.”

Emma could hear Levi’s tone which wasn’t as annoying as usual. From it, she realized that he was probably having a tough day, “Um.. Just so you know. I don’t have a college today. Maybe I can stay out until noon.”

“I did not ask that,” Levi replied.

“Oh?” Emma’s nerves were sticking out under her forehead’s skin, “Then, I’ll hang up! Have a nice day..”

“I’m just kidding.” The man laughed, “I’ll pick you up at the usual bus stop. How about ten minutes from now?”

Emma huffed in annoyance. But she was not angry at him, “Fifteen minutes?”

“Deal. Don’t be late.” Levi said before hanging up the call.

“Why did he even manage me?” Emma said to herself while staring at her phone screen. “Geez.. I have to hurry.” Then she quickly walked into her room.

Both hands opened a large wardrobe. Then she turned to the window of her room which showed the condition of the sunny sky outside. Winter was coming to an end. The snow on the street had already melted and the air wasn’t as dry as it had been a few days ago. Soon, the white colour that usually dominated the scenery would change to the colours of flowers with the scent of young grass growing in the dew.

Emma took out three sets of clothes from her wardrobe and threw them on the bed. Then she tried to select the best pairs in front of the mirror and made a little confused face.

“Ugh.. Looks like I have to go shopping for new clothes again. Why isn’t there anything suitable to wear for this change of season?” She mumbled, “Okay, Emma. Starting tomorrow, you should pay more attention to yourself. This gangster business is making you lose time to treat yourself.”

***

A man in a grey combined with beige long sleeve knitted top and black jeans with dark Hazelwood sneakers was standing enjoying the cold breeze while leaning against his car. He looked at his watch again.

Finally, the person he had been waiting for showed up. A woman appeared from the street corner, heading towards him. It was a girl with golden-brown hair framed on her face. She wore a long-sleeved knit top with a high neckline and a short jeans skirt. Over her shoulders, hung a long, brown latte coat. She had ankle-high brown high-heeled boots warped her feet.

Unconsciously, Levi smiled slightly as he got up from his lean. He folded his arms across his chest, “You’re five minutes late, lady. That’s impressive.”

“Say that to this,” Emma thrust a lunch box in front of his face.

Levi’s eyebrows rose as he accepted the object, “What’s this?”

“Food,” Emma answered casually by stepping over to the passenger door and opening it.

Levi shrugged his shoulders and entered the driver’s door, “You cooked it yourself?” he asked as he sat down in the chair and closed the door.

Emma nodded, “When you called me, I happened to have just finished making them. Have you ever tried that dish? The name is Onigiri.”

“Onigiri?” Levi repeated by opening the cover of the pink lunch box.

“It’s a typical Japanese dish. Rice stuffed with tuna inside and wrapped in seaweed. This is the first time I’ve made it after watching a cooking show.” Emma explained.

Levi took one piece of Onigiri that Emma said and immediately devoured it with a big bite.

“How is it? I haven’t tried it yet. But I’m confident that it tastes good because it was pretty easy to make.” Emma asked with an excited face.

Levi shrugged, “Not bad.”

“Not bad?” Emma immediately took one piece and ate it, “This is delicious!”

“That’s to you. My tongue has high standards.” Levi said before devouring the last piece of food.

“Gosh.. How annoying,” Emma muttered, not trying to lower her voice so that Levi could hear that. But the man just chuckled.

“Where do you want to go?” Levi asked.

Emma immediately looked at him with a confused face, “Why are you asking me? Weren’t you the one who asked me out?”

“I know. But I don’t know of a good place in this city other than the Yellow Bridge river in the winter.” He replied.

“Oh.. How about we go to your house? I haven’t seen Nancy in a long time.” Emma said excitedly.

But Levi shook his head slowly, “Unfortunately, my mother has gone abroad again.”

“What? Did the disease come back again?” Emma asked worriedly.

Levi nodded once, “It’s like unpredictable weather.”

Emma nodded slowly. Instantly, the atmosphere became gloomy. Now Emma knew why Levi became so sad that he had to find her. It must have been because Nancy had fallen ill again. A mother did have a big influence on the life of her child. No, both parents had great influence. The difference was that Levi only had a mother, just like Emma who only had a father.

“How about we go to the seaside?” Emma asked.

Levi turned to her. It was the girl who was looking at him with a smile as bright as the sun in spring. Emma nodded, “Do you know what it’s like to have a sea breeze in winter?”

It seemed like Emma’s idea of ??going to the seaside was a good one. The place was calmly quiet. Actually, it was not a tourist attraction but just a seaside location that was bordered by walls and corals.

***

Emma came out of the car door followed by Levi. Strong wind hit them. Emma quickly tied her hair up to keep it from flying everywhere, “Nice place, isn’t it?”

“The wind is madly stro..” Levi stopped talking as soon as he turned to Emma. Then he quickly turned his face to the sea in front.

While pulling her hair into a hair band, Emma looked at Levi confusedly. Then she lowered her hands from behind her head, “The wind indeed strong.” she said. If she wasn’t mistaken, that was what she heard from Levi just now. For some reason, the man suddenly stopped his sentence.

“Why did you invite me here?” Levi asked.

Emma smiled before pointing towards the open sea, “I’ll show you there,” she started to walk towards the stairs leading down. Levi’s car was parked on the side of the road.

Once they got on the seawall, Emma stood on the edge with Levi by her side.

“The wind is so strong. Aren’t you cold?” Levi asked with a bit of a shout because the wind that blew was so loud that it filled their ears.

Emma shook her head hard. A smile remained on her lips. Then she stepped aside so she could stand closer to Levi and patted him on the shoulder to make him look down a little because she was about to say something.

Despite putting on a questioning face, Levi bent his knees so that Emma could speak beside his ear.

“Look at those waves,” Emma said and pointed down at the strong, big waves that broke as they hit the big rocks. “If you feel that your life is messy, you can see those rocks. They are so strong that even the great waves will break when they hit them. It does look messy and noisy, but it is proven that the rocks are able to protect the wall behind them. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could be as strong as those rocks?”

Levi blinked at what Emma was pointing at. Then he turned his face to the side, where Emma was standing right next to him. It looked like the girl was still smiling broadly while looking at the vast sea and the roar of the waves below them. But why was her smile so bright?

Levi immediately straightened up his back again. But he didn’t notice that one of Emma’s hands was still on his shoulder. The strong wind made Emma seem to struggle to keep her balance. Swiftly, Levi held her shoulder so she could cling to his body.

Emma’s heart was pounding hard. Either because she almost fell into the rocks or because Levi was holding her which almost felt like hugging and embracing at the same time? Emma froze for a few seconds before releasing her body from Levi’s arms. But it seemed the man was indeed quite worried so his hand immediately turned to grip Emma’s wrist.

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