Chapter Two: An Eventful Thursday

"Gray. Gray Ringmarc."

The cold voice that reached Alice's ears made her shudder. His voice seemed unnaturally cold, almost as if he had no life.

A lost soul.

Alice turned around to see if Vivaldi was still in the room, but as expected, she already left and it was just the two of them…. Separated by a glass window. Alice noticed that Ace was gone as well. He probably went back to the guards' room.

Alice shook her head and turned her attention back on Gray.

"H-hello…"

A long silence filled the air. Gray took this moment to study Alice.

Petite. Brown hair. Fair-skinned. And teal-blue eyes. Yes. Her teal-blue eyes made Gray feel as though her eyes could see right through him.

About ten minutes passed before Gray replied.

"You already said 'hello'."

Alice blushed just a bit and gave a nervous laugh. "Oh, I did already…. Didn't I?"

Alice looked away, not knowing what to say to Gray. Gray just sighed and leaned backwards in his chair.

"You don't have to act so scared. I'm behind the windows, remember?" Gray sarcastically commented as Alice averted her eyes from the young man.

Alice slowly looked up and decided to study his profile.

Tall. Well-toned. Dark blue hair. A very handsome face. And golden yellow eyes.

For some reason, he didn't seem like a normal convict to Alice. Although his hair was a bit too long and overgrown and his voice was unnaturally cold, the aura the man emitted made it seem as though he didn't belong there.

Just like Alice.

He didn't belong here.

This really intrigued Alice. Just before she could ask Gray anything, he spoke up.

"I can call Ace back if you're feeling uncomfortable. I know most people don't want to be around me," he said politely, but stiffly. "I don't want to make you feel scared at all."

Alice was quite surprised by his manner.

"Oh no, I'm not uncomfortable. I'm just a bit… perplexed."

Gray raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just a bit perplexed," repeated Alice. "Because you don't seem like the type of guy who would be in jail."

Gray showed a slightly bitter smile. "That's what Vivaldi said, too."

Alice smiled and put her hand against the window. Gray looked at her with confusion.

"Well, since we can't shake hands," said Alice. "Why don't we just put our hands against the window? This can constitute as our handshake, Mr. Ringmarc."

Gray's smile softened and it looked friendlier. He placed his large hands against Alice's tiny hands, with only the window blocking the two from making actual contact.

"Just 'Gray' is fine," he said.

Alice smiled. "Okay then, Gray."

Suddenly, a loud buzz came from the other side where Gray was seated. A few gears unlocked the door and Ace appeared.

"Okayyyy, Mr. Lizard! Visiting hours have ended," said Ace. "And my shift is over too!" Alice turned around and noticed another man who was checking in at the guard room.

"I-I guess I'll see you next Thursday?" questioned Gray.

Alice nodded her head. "See you next Thursday."

Alice hung up the phone and waved good-bye to Gray, who was handcuffed and taken away by Ace.

He's actually not bad company. But still…. I wonder why Vivaldi made me come here instead of doing something else.

Alice pondered over this as she made her way out of the detention center. Just as she was about to call a taxi cab service, Ace tugged on her arm.

"Hey there," said Ace. He gave a big smile and Alice just politely nodded her head.

"Are you headed back to the city?"

Alice replied. "Yes, why do you ask?"

Ace smiled. "Well, I'm headed back to the city as well! Want to get a ride with me?" He gave a really suggestive smile, which made Alice feel very uncomfortable.

"Um… I think I'll just stick with the taxi cab, I don't want to trouble you," Alice declined politely.

"Oh come on, I'm really good with shortcuts! We can get back to the city in half the time you made it coming to the detention center!" Ace cheerfully exclaimed.

Alice felt uneasy. "I don't know… um…"

Ace decided to drag Alice to his car. Alice sighed and decided to take up on his offer just this once.

She felt the engine start and soon they were on the road back to the city.

Alice listened to the low hum of the car and the light music coming from the radio. Ace decided to break the ice.

"You're really cute, you know that right?"

Alice looked at him weirdly. Such a strange guy…

"Um… thank you?" Alice didn't know what to say to Ace. She just met him and it seemed like Vivaldi knew him, so for the moment Alice decided to trust him.

"I feel like I met you before."

"What do you mean?" It's been a few years since Alice left her apartment to do anything else besides go to St. Agnes.

"I had this really good friend," started Ace. "Well, I mean, we are still good friends, but he always tries to deny it haha. But, I remember visiting my friend one day at his clock shop and I saw you!"

Alice gave him another weird look. "Are you trying to hit on me?" She wasn't trying to sound as if she was a really attractive girl, but it seemed like he was trying to hit on her. He had the looks of a playboy.

Ace just gave a deep laugh and smiled at Alice. "I'm not joking!"

"Do you know Julius Monrey?"

Alice thought about it and nodded her head. "Yeah, I know Julius. We're… well… we were pretty good friends in high school and college."

Alice turned to Ace. "How do you know him? I don't ever recall Julius talking about you."

"Well, he doesn't like to speak about me and I was away overseas for most of my college years. But we were childhood friends.

I was his next door neighbor!" Ace said proudly.

Alice couldn't help but smile at Ace's bright attitude.

"Let's go visit him now!"

Alice looked at him with a confused look. "What?"

"Let's go visit him! I think his shop doesn't close until 6 p.m.! It's only 4:20. We got time!" Ace pointed to the clock in his car.

"Are you sure? From here, it's another 30 minutes," said Alice. "And I don't know if he would like for us to drop in so suddenly." Alice felt uneasy. She hadn't seen Julius for almost three years since the incident and never talked to him since.

"Naw, Julius is pretty good about handling sudden appearances," joked Ace. Alice raised her eyebrow.

"We'll be there in no time!"

5 minutes before 6 o'clock in the evening.

"Ace... I told you use your GPS! If your car has GPS, you might as well have used it," said Alice. She was exhausted. If there was any word better to describe her experience.

Alice stood in front of the shops doors as Ace climbed out of his car.

"Aw, don't be upset Alice! I only took the wrong ramp," said Ace.

"Like thirteen times!"

"At least you're here safe and sound," added Ace.

"You mean in one piece…You went off road plenty of times," huffed Alice. She never felt this scared in her life. "Next time, I think I'll take the cab," muttered Alice.

"What was that?" Ace walked next to her as he locked his car.

"Nothing."

"Well, let's go in!" Ace gave a hearty walk towards the door, but Alice froze in place.

What if he doesn't like me? What if he's mad at me for not calling him for all these years? It could be worse… he might not even recognize me….

"Yoo hoo, Alice!" Ace waved his hand in front of her. "Come on! We can't keep Julius waiting!"

Ace grabbed Alice's arm once again and dragged her inside the small clock shop.

"Wait, Ace! I don't think I want to—"

"Ace, is that you again?"

Alice heard the familiar voice. It hadn't changed one bit. A bit rough, but gentle. Exactly like Julius.

"Yo, Julius! I brought someone with me today!"

They made their way in to the store to the table behind the register.

"Don't tell me it's another girl from that night club you always visit. I don't need people like that in my shop," said Julius. His face was concentrated on a small pocket watch he was working on.

"Nope. I think you might actually know her!" Ace pushed Alice forward.

"A-Ace!"

Julius looked up and immediately put his tools down and stood up.

"Alice."

He rushed forward and gave her a strong hug. His warmth engulfed Alice while his long, raven hair brushed against Alice's face. Alice hesitantly brought her hands forward and hugged Julius back.

He finally let go and gave Alice an awkward, yet kind smile. However…

"I'm sorry Julius," those were the first words that came out Alice's mouth.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

Suddenly Alice began to cry, which made both men flustered.

"Alice! Don't…. don't cry!"

Julius looked up at Ace and gave him that "I don't know what to do" look. Ace shrugged his shoulders.

"Hug her again and look her in the eyes," whispered Ace.

"What?" Julius couldn't hear him.

"Just…" Ace pushed Julius away and just as he was about to give Alice a kiss, Alice punched Ace right in the face.

"What the hell?!" Alice wiped her tears and pouted. "What was that for?!"

"You were crying and…. We just wanted to comfort you, right Julius?" Ace nudged Julius on the arm. Julius sighed and did a face palm.

Ace walked around the shop as Julius and Alice talked behind the counter.

"So, how many years has it been?" said Alice.

"Almost three, Alice. Three years," said Julius. He gave her a look, but ended up smiling. "But, I'm glad that you're doing alright. I… I was really worried for you." He blushed.

This also caused Alice to blush. "I'm sorry… again…. I didn't mean to act that way. I just needed some alone time. But, before I knew it, days, weeks, months passed by."

Alice held her head down in shame.

Julius gently lifted Alice's head with his right hand and caressed her cheek.

"I missed you."

BA-DUMP

For some reason, Alice's heart skipped a beat.

"What have we got here?" Ace interrupted them as he brought a few broken pocket watches to the counter.

Julius blushed and cleared his throat, retracting his hand from Alice's cheek.

"N-nothing… Well, it's getting late. I should be closing up the shop soon," said Julius.

"O-okay… sorry for intruding Julius," said Alice.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" said Ace. He whispered into Julius's left ear. "Aren't you glad I brought her?"

Julius scowled and pushed Ace away. "Just go home and be careful."

Alice waved to Julius. "It was really good seeing you Julius." She handed him a small slip of paper.

Alice finally reached her apartment and immediately collapsed on her bed.

It's been so long since I've talked this much. I never knew that I could talk with others like that again. I really missed Julius. He was my best friend…

Alice realized how long she's been in hiding and that she needed to break out of her shell. She needed to come back again and be human. It was only a matter of time before she would have to face her most unwanted memories of the past.

Alice recalled her meeting with Gray.

She rolled over and looked outside the window.

I wonder…. I wonder how he is…

Gray Ringmarc…

This feels... very melodramatic for my taste actually... I don't know what's with my writing lately haha. I'm having trouble with Hidden Beauty and Chasing Love right now. It's not even funny... I want to finish writing those T_T Well, it seems like Alice is coming out of her depression and surprisingly, seems a bit livelier after meeting Ace. Oh Ace... I think I toned down his bad sense of directions (I guess I could've made it worse considering he was driving a car).

Anything you particularly liked about the chapter? Any suggestions?

Well, please REVIEW! :)

~Seo Hyunee