Summer Haze [BL]

Chapter 5 - The Stranger

"𝘙𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥. "

Henry was calling. After the third ring, I picked my phone up, still having my eyes landed on Eugene's narrow back, who had already walked past the traffic light.

"August? Are you alright? What happened? I thought I heard Eu—" Henry asked before stopping.

"Do you have time tomorrow? I won't take much of your time," I asked.

Getting hurt was unavoidable in the end. Since it had already gotten to this point, it would be best if this pride was destroyed more. The more humiliation you experience, the more numb you become to the past. Perhaps that would help me understand that Henry no longer wanted anything to do with me, and it would become a reason to accept it all.

A long silence of hesitation was exchanged between us, but before I could speak again, a dog dashed in my direction and jumped onto me.

Startled, my footing staggered, and my phone fell out of my grasp, falling onto the wet grounds and landing straight into the puddle.

The dog was half my size, and with its full weight, it continued pushing me with its two front legs while wagging its tail.

Feeling that the fur was wet from the sprinkle, I rubbed its back while picking up my phone. With an attempt to turn my phone on, it was to no avail that the only response was a black screen.

My head hung lower and lower until I hugged my knees and buried my head in them. A painful constriction stung my heart, tears overflowed in a gradual stream, seeping through the corner of my numb eyes.

The reason for my tears was unknown, but the more disassociated I became, the more keenly I came to terms with my stupidity.

The dog started licking my hands. It kissed the grounds I stood upon, my feet, and my fingers before it began wailing in long intervals.

Though the loss was the expected outcome, I had underestimated myself to deal with what followed after the expected. That was the gradual degradation of my self-perception because of guilt and helplessness.

I had read somewhere that the greatest need and comfort for the humble soul of a common person, worn out by grief and turmoil, was to find someone or something pure and devoid of sin to fall on, for humans couldn't function without companionship. Maybe what I desired was not Henry specifically, but just something else.

The dog forced its face into the cramped space between my lowered head and thighs, still weeping. Still weeping. It continued to weep for me. When the Dobermann bowed its head before me, my face drew in and kissed the top of its head before giving it another pat.

Suddenly, the sky darkened, specifically the area around me, and a pair of white Louboutin sneakers stepped before me.

It wasn't that the clouds had dulled even more, but a man standing in front hovering his yellow umbrella above me. I blinked a few times, trying to ease the stinging pain from my tears as I stared at the man.

Besides the subtle dark bags under the stranger's inscrutable, and somewhat solemn, ironical eyes; his Adam's apple hung below his sharp chin, his black turtleneck that accentuated his neck's shape offered him a peculiar, sensual appearance.

The stranger had a death-like pallor but an affluent appearance. Looking down at me, his eyes slightly widened, full lips separated somewhat, and his body froze, not moving at all even with the dog nudging his legs.