He left with a cold departure.
Not a word, just his freezing lips pressed against her own, slumbering. It was always like this. Night was hot and exhilarating, morning was cold and bare. He wouldn't even call her during the day, not even for a while, not a moment. She was busy anyway, she had classes from twelve through until four. She was lonely most days, her friends had time to spend with their significant others, she was alone.
She gasped as the chilling water pierced her face with a waking scream, the purple cloud on her cheek had not faded since that night. She used the last few drops of coverage for it, using the rest for the deep violet nebulas on her arms and neck.
She peered at the mirror reflecting the dark circles under her azure eyes before applying her cosmetic mask to conceal her exhaustion, she continued to fight through the knots of her dark ivory hair.
She skipped breakfast to sit on the balcony and stare at the towering metallic giants with one hundred eyes, these buildings dwarfed her and her old fashioned apartment block as she peered through thick eyelashes at the sky, grey with dismal forthcoming.
She jolted awake. How long had she been asleep? The sky was sunless and the weather chilled the air, seeping about her skin like an ice sheet. What was the time? One thirty. Class began hours ago, the walk there is thirty minutes. She was very late.
Throwing the keys into her bag, she paced out of her apartment block, the weather began to darken with every frantic step she took, rain began to shower onto her folders before she could use them as cover, the wind began to howl and threw itself at her, trying to topple her to the concrete. Her dark hair billowed about her face obscuring her limited vision, when she looked to her right, it was almost too late.
A bus ploughed through between the crossing and the road and did not stop in the pouring rain. "Do you even look both ways?" she felt a hand slide off her waist, "is walking a red light trending or something?" She turned and a tailored sable coloured suit greeted her, she would have look at the man's face if her hair had not hindered her vision in the wind. "You could've have gotten run over." She brushed her hair off her face and faced him, he stared at her with golden eyes, how were his eyes so golden? There was hardly any light and yet they seemed to glow... "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." she realised her retort was rude, "sorry, I'm just really late."
"Late for what?"
"University, I really should get going, I'm hours late."
"The one a few blocks away? I was just heading there." she noticed his metal lip ring on the bottom left of his lip, it acted as an anchor for her eyes, she couldn't look at his eyes.
She blinked, "my class started about twelve and I've missed a few lectures these past couple of weeks-"
"Why don't we talk on the way?" He began walking, he was tall and well built, "missing a few lectures have we? Eloping?"
Sweet images of Landon flooded her mind, which quickly dissolved into the horrors of his anger, his grip and his taunts. She looked to him wearily, hardly knowing the stranger she ignored his inquisition. She almost forgot about the rain until she looked forward at the glazed pavement shining before her, yet no rain touched her. He had her under his umbrella from the moment they met, she still did not know his name. He smelt of expensive cologne that lingered in her senses...
"Here." he passed her the umbrella and motioned to leave.
"What?" she questioned, "you said that you need to come here."
"I didn't." he smirked, his black hair wavering in the breeze. "You're gonna to be even more late, what are you waiting for? A goodbye kiss?"
"I don't even know your name."
"Then what's yours?"
Her eyebrows furrowed, I asked for his name and he asks for mine? She cleared her throat and held out her hand, "Cynthia, Cynthia Zalesski."
He reached out to shake her elegant hand. "Cynthia." he smiled, "have a good day at school."
She brooded. "I'm not a child."
He chuckled, "are you going to stare at me like a lost puppy or..." he began to walk out from the cover of the umbrella.
"Wait." Cynthia stopped, "aren't you going to take this?"
He stepped back under the umbrella, the arresting scent of his cologne taunted her gently, "it's yours."
"But it's yours!" she handed him the grip which he refused, his earrings glimmered. He grinned and walked into the heavy rain, shoving his hands into his pockets as his lavish suit collected the liquid. Cynthia walked after him but he was already shrouded by the thick grey mist of the crying sky. "Wait! I don't know your name!" he vanished behind the curtain of fog, "I didn't even say 'thank you'."
She looked down at the handle of the umbrella, there was golden engraving on the metal, 'Kaiden Esser'...
Cynthia's eyes widened in shock.
