I remember you
On that cold winter eve, under the watchful eyes of the moon and stars, she turned her back on him and left. And as they grew farther and farther away… all she could hear was the deafening voice of her own conscience and the soft thumping sound her boot made with each passing step on the snow-covered sidewalk. The tears she had been holding back earlier, slowly streamed down her cheeks as she hesitantly went on to embrace the path that her father had planned for her. "This is for everyone's sake. For our sake." She whispered to herself.
'That dream again.' A young lady in her early twenties thought sadly as she straightened out the wrinkles that had formed on her dress whilst she slumbered through the long, tedious flight. 'It's been five years since then… I wonder how he's doing now.' Her usually bright cheerful reddish brown orbs were clouded with worry. But before her thoughts could go any deeper, a soft, feminine voice interrupted them. Lifting her head, she saw her nursemaid, Julia, requesting an audience with her.
"Excuse me young Madame, but we'll be arriving at the main house's mansion soon." The bespectacled, sandy-blonde haired Julia informed her. Julia had been with her since Saya's mother, the beautiful but fragile and sickly, Lady Sayuri Goldschmidt, died when she was just four years old.
"I see. Please see to it that my room has been well cleaned and my things arranged while I converse with my father over tea." She replied simply, her ruby orbs eyeing the land she has not been to for a long time. With a small nod, Julia then turned to the phone to inform the servants of their arrival.
"Welcome back Miss Saya." David, her father's right hand man for as long as she could remember, greeted her as he opened the car door for her. He was a tall, well-built man with blonde hair that was always combed neatly to the side. Saya always wondered how he managed to keep it all in place no matter how windy the weather got and up until now, she hasn't figured out his secret to never having a bad hair day since he also refused to tell no matter how many times she bugged him.
"It's good to be home." Saya smiled, sliding off her sun glasses. She stepped out of the limousine and ascended the stairs leading to the main door where the servants were lined up, happy and excited to welcome back their beloved young Madame.
"Saya, my little princess, how was your trip?" asked her Father who welcomed her with a big, warm affectionate hug. Joel Goldschmidt, once very handsome in the prime of his youth, was now old and sickly; His mane that used to have the color of midnight, had now began to loose its color; His ever so cheerful face had wrinkles forming around his eyes, forehead and cheeks; And a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles accompanied his eyes as his vision was worsening as time passes by.
"It was a bit tiring but other than that, everything was well." Saya replied and kissed her Father on the cheek.
"That's good to hear. Hmm… Your uncle George, how's his injury?"
"He's still healing but his condition has improved a lot since your visit." Sighing inwardly, she added. "I'm going to miss Italy but I love France even more."
"Well, you can still see them during vacation and the holidays now, can't you?"
"Yes, I suppose so father."
Saya took out a crisp white buttoned up Victorian blouse with ruffles around the neckline and a knee-length black velvet skirt from one of her clothes-packed walk-in closets. She was looking for something to wear for the get together she would be having with her old friends during lunch. She hasn't seen them since they graduated from high school and so, that afternoon will be a very special, and much awaited reunion with them.
"I wonder if Kaori's still as clumsy as she was before!" She mused, and chuckled softly as she got changed. She pulled a pair of silk stockings over her long, slender legs before slipping her feet onto a pair of comfortable black wedge boots.
Finished with her clothes, she then took a seat in front of her dresser to begin working on her hair and make-up. She ran a brush several times down her long, dark tresses before tying it in a half-ponytail with a long white ribbon. She simply swiped a little gloss over her lips before grabbing her purse and left her room.
"Hey Saya! How've you been?" a small pony tailed brunette named Kaori, flung her arms around Saya, pulling her into a hug. She wasn't gorgeous or anything, but she was cute and adorable. Clumsy, childish and a crybaby, Kaori was definitely the baby in Saya's circle of friends.
"Yeah, you haven't called or sent any of us not one single letter for the past five years!" a feisty female voice said. Turning her head, Saya saw her childhood friend, Mao, still having her brown locks, long and loose; and her taste in clothes, wild and carefree as always.
"Oh c'mon, give her a break; she just got here yesterday guys." A calm, male voice interrupted.
"Thank goodness you're here Moses! I can finally speak at last!" Saya sighed loudly in exaggeration as shot a playful glare at Mao and Kaori.
"But you do have to explain everything over lunch, your treat of course." Another man added, but this time his voice was deep compared to Moses'.
"Geez, Karman! You haven't changed at all after all these years! It won't surprise me if you still don't have a girlfriend!" She joked and stuck her tongue out like a little kid.
"As a matter of fact, I already have one." He replied proudly. Since junior high, when everyone in their group had started dating with some schoolmate or classmate, Karman was the only one who never had a girlfriend even when they got to high school so he was always the butt of jokes and teases whenever it's about love.
"No kidding?" Saya asked aloud, eyes widening in disbelief.
"Seriously, like how many tons of love potions did you have to buy for her?" a snickering Mao inquired.
"How come you never told any of us?" Moses looked a bit annoyed that Karman never told him considering they have been best friends since third grade.
"Poor girl, whoever she might be." Kaori sniffled.
"Wow, nice feedback I got. And this is exactly why I never told any of you about Irene." Karman's eyes narrowed behind his glasses.
"Tut. Tut. Temper. Temper." Mao muttered and flicked his nose. "Your going to get wrinkles man. And at twenty three, I think, that age is definitely not a good age to start investing on wrinkles." He merely scoffed at her comment in annoyance and walked ahead of the group, hands shoved into his pockets while muttering several curse words in Spanish under his breath.
"Really Karman, what's Irene like? Care to tell us?" Kaori asked for what seemed like the nth time since they got to the restaurant. Finally, he pulled out a crisp, glossy photograph out of his jacket and handed it over to them.
In the photo was a pretty young lady with long wavy white blonde locks pulled back into two neat braids. She had enchanting steel blue eyes, pale rose cheeks and a sweet smile graced her small lips.
"Coming from a long line of musicians, she's been playing the piano since she was three and has started learning how to play the harp when she was eight. A kind, sweet, gentle and demure lady, she loves classical music, baking and reading books." Karman told them in a rather quick manner.
"Whoah, now you've really got me thinking how on earth did you manage to get a girlfriend like that?!" Saya exclaimed almost too loudly that the couple from the table next to theirs turned their heads and gave her a stare.
"How did you guys meet?" Mao said in between bites off her garlic toast and pasta.
"A common friend from the university introduced us to each other last summer, and then we started dating three months ago." He answered.
"Cool, sort of like how Saya and Haji met back in junior high." Kaori added, but to her surprise, her reply was met by glares from everyone except Saya who was so busy eating. Mao nudged Kaori by the elbow, "Don't mention that again in front of Saya." She hissed fiercely but not loud enough for Saya, who was sitting across her, to hear.
"Eh? Eh? Why's everyone so quiet all of a sudden?" Saya suddenly asked, confused at her friend's sudden silence….or rather, she was pretending to be. She knew what had caused this uncomfortable silence but it would be best for her to make them believe she heard nothing.
Ever since she broke up with Haji on that winter night five years ago, her friends had avoided mentioning his name whenever she was around during their last few months before graduation.
"N-nothing, nothing at all." Kaori stammered, forcing on a cheerful smile to reassure Saya.
"If you say so." Saya smiled back and turned her attention once again to the plate before her.
'Sure Haji and I dated for nearly six years, but that's history now! They shouldn't worry about me now or avoid mentioning his name. I am completely over him!' Saya screamed mentally.
"Hey, we haven't heard your stories about Italy yet, I guess it'll have to wait for another time." Moses said as they left the restaurant.
"Yeah, that's because Karman here stole my spotlight!" Saya laughed and nudged Karman in the stomach playfully.
"Well, anyway, thanks for lunch Saya. It was really delicious." Mao began. "You guys can come over to my house this weekend and I can cook up something for you."
"NO!" they said almost immediately after Mao finished speaking. "Humph! I HAVE gotten better you know." She pouted.
Saya was laughing along with her friends when she suddenly saw someone very familiar coming her way making her stop dead in her tracks. 'He hasn't changed much at all.' She thought, feeling the need for more air as the man came closer. A pair of onyx orbs met her own ruby ones. "Saya.." he began.
Yuki's Notes:
First of all, I want to say that this time, I'm NOT doing some typical story where Saya and Haji bicker around and moments later realize that they're actually madly in love with each other. Sheesh. And about the OOC thing with Moses and Karman, heck, this is my story, if you don't like it, its fine by me.
Anyway, supposedly, I'm trying to try a different genre since I've always just worked on Romantic Comedies. For the first time, I'm attempting to do a romance-drama. Haha. I dunno why but the thought just hit me and this is what I was able to come up with so far.
About the updating part, I'm not sure when exactly will I be able to since I'll be away on vacation for two to three weeks. Til then, cheerio mates! Hope you liked this story and don't forget to R&R. jaa