Lost (Beautiful Beast I)

Chapter-1

Leia

Knock; knock 'Aunt May?' knock; knock 'Aunt May, you in there?'

'Aye, aye I'm here! Come behind the house darlin' Leia, I'm here' she called out. I approached the voice coming behind the house and there I saw my lady. She stood there holding a trowel, giving me her full-length sheepy smile. The white apron has turned brown due to the dirt and mud and her white silvery bun is so messed up which made me chuckle.

'Aye, what's so funny, huh?' she asked.

'Hello to you too, mud-cake,' I said and gave her the small bag 'Here, the medicines you asked for. You shouldn't have done this without me' I frowned.

'Oh, that's nothing darling I almost finished planting it, come I've done some cupcakes' she said.

Aunt May, 65 year old lady who lives right next to my house. Her son is an architect who settled in America with his family, while the younger one is a police officer who has gone there due to a case. He hardly makes it home due to his posting. The old lady is been living her life all alone, though her sons requested her to come with them many times.

She declined their requests saying that she lived here with the love of her life, the house is filled with many memories which cannot be forgotten. Aunt May's husband died 6 years ago. I still remember the day, like it happened yesterday. Her face can never be erased from my brain; I've never ever seen her so broken, so vulnerable.

I shudder at the thought. Looking at her gives me hope that true love exists.

'You go clean yourself, I'll go arrange the table.' I said her. She nodded and went to her room while I went to the kitchen and took the cupcakes from the oven. Cooking and gardening are her favorite hobby. She thought me how to cook, not the cookery channels, mind you.

I heard her approaching the table when I was set the table, her soft flats tapping the tiles. 'How was your day Leia?' she asked, as she sat on the chair.

'Good. The kids have exams coming up so Marie left us soon. I spent time watching the sunset in the creek, what about you?' I asked.

'The creek is not a good place, Leia' She frowned.

'There's nothing to fear about. I didn't find any monsters that'll eat me up.' I said with a grin 'Time for some cupcakes' I said and gave her the plate and sat in my chair.

We chatted as usual, she filled my cup with all the 90's soap opera she watched today while I spoke about my day. You may think that a 65-year-old lady is fragile and quiet nature, but Aunt May is nothing like that. She's way too sassy for her age, brave enough and healthy as a horse.

'The inspector asked "did you catch any thief?" so the watchman replied "No sir, but I found some trace of him" the police becomes curious and asks him what are the trace and he replies "fingerprints." The police inspector asks him in a hurry now "where" and he says "on my ass cheeks'' she finished her little lame joke Aldrich Crapper said in Funny Little Things, one of her favorite soap opera because she found Aldrich cute and funny and started laughing, and so did I.

I am never telling her that Aldrich was way too annoying on the set and that's why he gets syphilis and died on the show. The director and the whole set were happy to get rid of him, even the audience, except Aunt May; who whines and complains about it all times.

'Didn't you get anything else other than his cheeks?' I asked her.

'Darling its ass cheeks, not just cheeks' she said.

'That's what I meant' I rolled my eyes.

'I still can't believe he died! Due to syphilis! Poor Aldrich'

'Okay, I need to go. Don't forget to take the medicines before sleep' I said to her after washing my plate.

'Sure darling, see you' she waved as I left the dining room. I waved back and reached the door. Pulling the door open, I closed it behind after getting out. The warm air kissed me. I hate summer.

I opened my main door and locked it. Father will be late as always. I've got plenty of time so that means I can watch my Vampire Diaries after dinner. Yeah, I'm obsessed with vampires and werewolf. Sometimes I even wish I was one of the supernatural being instead of human. Funny how non-existence influence us.

I chopped the vegetables as the spaghetti boiled. As I was frying the vegetables I heard the doorbell. Father is here. I quickly reached the door and opened it.

'Hey dad, you look tired,' I said as soon as I saw him. His huge body moved slowly and entered inside. 'You alright, dad?' I asked when he didn't reply. He slumped on the couch, beads of perspiration trickled down his cheeks.

'Is dinner ready?' he asked, his voice too throaty and breathless as if he ran miles to reach home.

'Yeah...almost done, go freshen up.' I said, looking at him curiously.

He got up and went to stairs. I watched him for a while and then went back to the kitchen. Maybe the bride ran away from the alter and the grooms parents blamed him for not arranging everything properly and he had to run from those psychos. Being an event coordinator sounds easy, but not when you're working.

I drained the spaghetti and mixed it well with the fried vegetables. As it was frying, I did the salad.

I could hear the television being switched on; he's either watching Jockey or the news. He watches nothing other than these two. Horse racing is his favourite, and lays his bets once or twice a year. He's never lost a horse race, that's what he says to me proudly but I've never watched a single race till now.

'Dad dinner is ready' I called him out and set the dining.

'Please bring it here Leia' He called back.

I took everything to the living room and placed them on the table and served him his share. I sat on the couch adjacent to him and we ate and watched the race in silence.

* * *

I looked at my closet, contemplating what to wear. Today is Sunday which means no work day and Marie asked me to help her with shopping for tonight is her niece birthday party and she is more than excited for the event. I sighed and took a black full sleeve top and a black jean.

I left my home at 10 in the morning.

Marie asked me to wait at the Bessey Park that's situation near the main road. I've always loved to walk so I didn't mind taking a cab. Dad never spoke about buying me a two-wheeler or a car and neither did I ask him to. I wasn't interested. I had a bicycle when I was 12; I named it as Saffron. Marie found it stupid to name my bicycle but she cut it when I reminded that she named her car as Butter Cherry. Cycling was an addiction in my early and late teenage. I use to ride it on the sloppy roads that were so narrow with limited vehicles. I use to take Marie on doubles but she use to complain I'm too fast and it scares the s**t out of her. I never fell down with her. After few years, I cultivated the habit of walking, another addiction, and sold out Saffron. I didn't want to, but dad said he can't have 'useless items in the attic' and that shut me up. After work, I use to walk down to the store I sold it and stand outside, looking at Saffron, leaning on the glass door, waiting for someone to buy it. I even decided to buy it back, since it's a huge bicycle for adult which I started riding from a young age, but dad said that it's not my age anymore. I was pissed off but didn't argue with him, never has. After a month, Saffron was not in its usual place and I stopped going by that road. I wouldn't deny that I secretly wished no one to buy it.

Walking was no better than Saffron but it was a different kind of addiction altogether and I liked it. While riding, the gush of cool wind would splash on my face like cool water, my long hair would be flying behind me and my legs would paddle even faster to embrace the moment, but while walking, I'd have to wait for the fast breeze to mess up my hair. Unlike the brakes I use to apply to get my cycle under control, I'd just slow down the speed of my legs. Sometimes I even love to walk till my legs give out.

Once reaching Bessey Park, I looked for Marie and then walked inside when I saw no sign of her. I texted her and she replied instantly that she'll be there in another 10 or 15 minutes.

The park is filled since it's Sunday. I don't come here often but when I do, it's only on evenings so I was surprised when I saw the place pretty much crowded. I was even surprised when I saw Mr. Hat, an old man whom I see here often. He doesn't talk to anyone nor comes along with anyone. He sits there, at the corner in his usual seat near the banyan tree and watches the kids play or just looks at his lap for hours. He wears this brown suit (even now) that's fading and a huge hat that covers his face when he looks down. He's thin and aged, probably older than Aunt May. I'm sure he doesn't know anyone who comes here frequently but the others do know him and I belong to the non-frequent visitors.

I looked away from him and to a baby. She must be 7 to 8 months I guess. She's crawling all over the mat which her mother has displayed on the grass. She's playing with her toys; the saliva dripping from the corner of her tiny lips. Adam, Aunt May's younger son has a daughter named Lily and I use to bring her here often when she was little. She was cute and all baby coco love until she poops or won't stop crying for her mother or random things. I watched the baby's spread out due to the breeze and saw her trying to catch the butterfly that's not willing to leave the baby.

The sight made me smile. Her mother is too busy with her phone that she didn't see her child crossing the mat, following the butterfly. I turned myself so I could see her clearly as she crawled on all fours following the colorful insect. She tried pulling her up, trying to reach the insect. A little up, yes a little more, grip yourself a little and you will stand. A little more baby-

'Ah!' A harsh push on my back knocked the breath out of me.

'Leia!' I heard a shrill voice in my ears causing my eardrums to burst.

'You could have just called me!' I turned around to see Marie grinning like an i***t.

'Well, what's the fun in that?'

'Yeah right. What took you so long?' I asked, rubbing my back.

'A girl needs to dress up. But you looked pretty occupied when I saw you' she said, looking back at where I was seeing few seconds ago. The baby is now on her mother's lap.

'I had no other work. Can we go now?'

'Let's leave. I came across this new shop a day before while returning from dinner with Zach' She said 'They had the discount sign hung on top. We're going there'

Zach is her husband, and both got married a year before. He's that sweet type of guy with blonde hair and blue warm eyes. They both met in metro and began meeting often. It's love at first sight. He runs his own café and both are happy with the little living.