LEILANI ***Under Editing***

⚫Chapter 3⚫

For the next six days, I left my house around 9 am and each day he would be there. I presumed it was his safe haven—a place where he could get away, just like me. I wasn't happy with myself for this absurd behaviour. I had never once been so invested and interested in such a person. He was oddly intriguing.

I wanted to confront him eventually, but I wasn't so sure how to nor was I ready. Was I to be angry with him? Hostile? Polite? Judging by his facial expression at the mall, I knew he was angry with me. I would need to hear his thoughts to conclude what opinions I should rightly have of him. Maybe his attitude towards me was justifiable. However, even I couldn't understand what I could've possibly done.

There was one particular day where he had brought a little kid with him. It had caught me completely off guard. First of all, it was so early in the morning. Why on earth would he bring a child to the pond? And who was this child? His son? Brother?

He was quite young. Perhaps around 4 years old. I had watched them play together and it was very amusing. He seemed to be really good with children. I could hear them conversing from where I stood, but not clearly. It had sounded like faint whispers to me. The pond was quite big and I was pretty far away from them and I made sure of that.

However, on that certain day I had slipped when moving from tree to tree. They both had heard it because suddenly a voice called out into the forest.

That was when I had heard his voice so clearly for the first time. It was just as I had imagined it to be, but yet surpassed my expectations. His voice was deep and melodic, like a beautiful melody.

It had a strange effect on me—something I was finding difficult to understand. It sounded like melting honey. It was a sweet tune that I wanted to hear on repeat, despite him only speaking a few words.

Truth was, I think I was falling for this guy. It didn't make sense though. He had looked at me with such anger and now I was hopelessly infatuated with him. This was by far the most interesting and exciting thing that had happened to me in a long time. It was a shame that I had to keep it to myself. Saphira knew something was up, but my mouth had remained shut. Even Nathan had given me curious looks when he caught me daydreaming about this guy.

So here I was. On a beautiful Monday morning going back to my pond for the seventh time. Curiosity, excitement, and desperation joined me as I began my journey. If my friends knew about this, they would laugh in my face. Well, Nathan, Lucian, and Blaike would. Saphira would rather whine at me in distress as she tried to comprehend why I wouldn't tell her such a thing.

I approached the tree with confidence. Perhaps today would be the day I would speak with him. I peeked my head to see a surprise; he wasn't there.

Immediately my heart dropped with disappointment. This made me concerned because I had seen him at my pond for six days straight and at the exact same time. After debating if I should stay near the trees or dip my feet into the water, I decided to approach it slowly. Looking down into the pond, I stared at my reflection. Was I hallucinating? Did this man actually exist? What if I was seeing a ghost?

After dipping my feet into the water, I put my shoes back on and sat against a nearby tree. What had happened to him? Was he busy? Did he have another pond he enjoyed going to? Did he travel? Was he sick? Had he died?

Out of nowhere, I began to hear the rustle of bushes. I looked immediately into the direction of the noise. I stood up trembling. What could that be? Perhaps this was a bad idea. What was I thinking?

I walked away from the pond heading back home. Should I stay and wait a bit longer? No, I should go. But what if that was just a rabbit making noise? What if as I left he came to the pond? Would I miss my opportunity to approach him? Would I ever see him again? Would my sanity ever be restored if I never got to converse with that man?