The Foreverlost

Chapter 3

Three Months Later, May 2018

Ville decided that morning he had spent long enough in the solitude of his home. HIM's last show was performed New Years Eve and he'd hibernated since then. Two years prior, he'd moved out of his famous tower and into a more modern abode; a spacious, 3 story house that had formerly belonged to a photographer which meant it had tons of windows and plenty of natural light. And he admittedly hadn't spent any time actually making it a home. The last box had been unpacked the previous day, and Ville had run out of things to do, so he felt it was time to make his presence known to his family again.

Ville planned to grab himself a coffee from the local Starbucks and head down to his father's shop for a chat. The temperature outside was rather pleasant despite the heavy overcast overhead, he for a moment wondered if he should wait another day in case it rained but shrugged it off. He could always catch an Uber home.

And just as he finished his coffee and reached the block where his father's shop was, the downpour began. Fuck... he thought, luckily he'd worn a hoodie so he could cover his head. He picked up the pace and reached his destination before getting too soaked. The bell above the door jingled and Ville wiped his wet feet on the mat as he entered, hearing an unfamiliar voice greet him,

"Hi, welcome. Let me know if I can help you find something."

The sweet voice made him stop dead in his tracks, and he looked up to see a petite woman standing in his father's usual spot behind the counter. She didn't look up at him, instead she leaned against the counter looking through a catalog.

"Erm... is Kari around?" Ville asked, having not expected his father to not be here.

The woman behind the counter raised her eyes to meet him, and he couldn't help but notice how bright and blue they were, "He's currently out, is there anything I can help you with?"

Damn, I really picked the wrong day to stop being a hermit... Ville thought to himself. "Any idea when or if he'll be back?" Ville asked her, looking to see if she had a name tag on, she didn't.

"Yeah, he shouldn't be too much longer actually. Feel free to stick around." Kaiya almost went back to the catalog but paused a second, "You're Ville, right?"

Ville nodded, "I am."

Kaiya smiled, "I had a feeling. Nice to see you again." Ville's face dropped, he looked confused. Kaiya chuckled, "I'm so sorry, you don't seem to recognize me, I'm Kaiya, I was Jesse's friend from, like, forever ago." she explained.

Ville furrowed his brow and thought for a moment and then he remembered her, but vaguely, "Oh right, right. Sorry about that. Now that you mention it, I'm starting to connect the dots." Ville nodded, "So, you work here now?"

"Yup, I just moved back from Russia and needed a job, so here I am." Kaiya confirmed, shrugging her shoulders.

Ville dug through the archive of his brain to further remember who she was, but he wasn't really around much by the time Kaiya started hanging around. When Jesse was 5, Ville was 12 and running around with his future bandmates, getting into trouble and practicing music. His memory was definitely not helped by all the drinking and pot smoking he'd done in those formative years either. Ville moved out by the time Jesse turned 12 and that's when his music career really took off, he regrettably didn't spend much time with Jesse or his parents from that point on and Kaiya was just a faint blip on his radar. The quiet little girl that he'd long forgotten about had grown up, and into a very beautiful woman, he remarked in his head.

"Ah, I see." Ville responded to her. The pair stood awkwardly for a moment before a loud crash of thunder made them both jump slightly. Ville looked outside and noticed the torrential downpour. There was no way he was going back out in that, not right then anyway. So he was stuck here, talking to Kaiya.