Forever Young

Donuts delivery

Moonlight fell upon the mansion making the pool water shimmer in the dark night. Blue shades of the pool water reflected upon the clear glass wall of the mansion. Peeking inside one could see the best luxurious, modern design. The walls of the lounge were painted off white. Ceilings of the roof were lined with golden in combination to off white. The marble staircase ended in the end of the lounge. Orange lights lined at the roof illuminated the room.Opposite to the glass walls that also acted as the door to the pool, A display shelf stood proudly. her medals and trophies shone in the light. Different pictures of her childhood were also framed there.A chandelier hung from the room. Its crystals reflecting patterns of light upon the now orange walls  A grey L shaped couch was placed underneath the chandelier where Ariel sat with a laptop in her hand. Her hands moving fast against the keys as screen displayed a series of words being mailed to someone. She was wrapped in white blanket with two pillows at each side of her, like a cocoon. Her feet rest atop the glass table in front of the couch. Different jars of nuts and almonds were placed in the middle of the table, that she ate from time to time.  Scented candles were lighted at the corner of the table as the lavender fragrance took upon the room, Calming her. Her Bluetooth speaker placed by her phone near the nut jars, played serendipity by Jimin. The voice echoed around the enormous room. 

She sat in the comfort of her luxurious house, carefree about the world going outside the large wooden doors, on the opposite wall of the staircase. The only thing she was aware of, was the patrolling of the guards outside in the mansion's lawn making sure of her safety.  She wore a white tank top over a pair of black trousers, completely opposite to the attire she wore in the morning. Her black hair were tied up in a lose bun with a hair tie. A strand of her fell upon her face gracing rosy cheek. Her hazel brown eyes were extremely focused upon the screen. She bit her bottom lip in focus causing it to turn red. Her face was illuminated in the blue light of the screen. Round rimmed glasses set atop of her head tangled in the mess of her hair. This was the side of her she kept under covers hidden from the world. She was no more the elegant bossy Ariel. 

 a ring of the doorbell echoed across the room startling her and pulling her out of her trance. Annoyed she had to leave her comfort zone she stomped towards the intercom near the door. If this wasn't one in the morning one of the maids or workers would have answered the door. With a press of a button she was connected to the guard. Guard's voice entered through the speaker.

"ma'am someone is here to meet you"

"what makes you think I would like an audience at one in the morning"

"ma'am we have tried but he is refusing to leave, he says you called him"

"have you forgotten that I make you aware of the audience I am going to have before they come"

"He says you know him as your friend"

"I know a lot of people how do I know who he is"

"he says he is a doughnut delivery guy" confusion rose in his voice.

"i did not order any doughnuts, he can leave" with another press of the button the line was cut.

"why would I order doughnut at one am" she was mumbling to herself when a flashback of doughnuts from a day ago crossed her mind. She rushed back to the intercom this time turning on the screen to see who is out there. 

And there he was, top of his face hidden under his black p cap, only his plump lips were visible in the screen. He wore a red and white jacket over a black shirt. He held a donuts box arguing with the guard. She could have guessed him anywhere in the world. With another press of a button she passed the orders to the guard for them to let him in. 

She peeked through a small opening of the  door as Eric took long strides across the lawn and she was reminded of how tall he was or maybe just why was she so short. The guards sent glares to him unable to argue as he advanced towards the door where she stood behind it.

She pulled the door more open as now he stood face to face with her. More like her face to his chest. She had to crane her neck a bit up to see him eye to eye. He towered over her even more than last time as she was bare feet right now compared to yesterday's 5 inch heels.

"why are you here" she asked straightforward.

"hello to you too" He pulled his p cap further from the face making it visible to her.

She just gave him a stern look in reply.

"I bore you information and doughnuts" he held up the doughnuts box towards her. 

"thank you but I will only take your doughnuts" she snatched the box from him and slammed the door at his face. 

"are you sure you do not wanna know. it's about your parents" his muffled voice came through the door and her hand moving towards the doughnuts paused. 

She pulled open the door again. "what is it"

He held up his phone near her face as a flash blinded her. "The true face of Miss Ariel. Not so perfect anymore" she held in her surprise as he typed and she looked at him in horror.

"what are you doing"

"unleashing the truth to the world"

"if you post it I will sue you with just a tap of my finger"

"of course how can I forget I am in presence of the queen" he mocked her slightly bowing. 

"what about my parents" she got back to the point as he straightened up.

"you know I can not tell you here" 

"they are all trusted people" she surveyed her guards as they eyed him keenly.

"just a few display of cash and they will back stab you"

Reluctantly she pulled open the door further and moved aside allowing him to enter.

She plopped down on the opposite end of the couch as they now sat face to face. She eyed her doughnuts debating which ones to eat right now. 

"You can never say no to doughnuts can you" 

Although she hated to admit it but he was right donuts were her weakness. She sent a glare at him.

"that look only works on people who work under you, It does not have nay effect on me mademoiselle"

"let us get to work" she ignored his comment.

"Do you know how your parents died"

"In a plane crash . How is that related" all emotions  vanished from her face as her expressions hardened. The swift change of atmosphere in the room was easily detectable.

"they never got onto that plane"

"they died seven years ago" she spoke through gritted teeth.

"they faked it" pity and sympathy displayed across his face.

"you are lying" she was in a state of denial.

"I am not"

"wh-why would the fake it"  tip of her ears were turning pink.

"to protect you and your brother"

"from what"

"they had made enemies in their line of work. They wanted to keep you people away from them"

"how do you know all this"

"5 years ago I was sent by them to protect you"

"why 5 years ago why not before that" she was unable to process any of it.

"before that you did not change your country there were guards and people to protect you. But when you changed your country, you went straight into the lion's den. Your parents were aware that your uncle was there and he would come after me. Thus I was sent."

"yet he was successful"

"I was supposed to protect you" this time it was his expressions that changed.

"he killed my brother"

"You are alive"

She scoffed with bitterness. "Where are my parents then"

"we do not know. few years ago our team mates started to vanish. Your parents being the head of it all had to lead an expedition. We were aware of their whereabouts for all the time until last year. We do not know where they are, it feels like they were vanished off the face of Earth" 

"But you said you were an intelligence agent."

"I was but the I started working under your parents"

"my parents were businessmen, What expeditions are you talking about. I do not if it's you who have lost it or me"

"your parents led a secret spy agency against criminals"

"you have lost it"