Chapter 6 - The Beginning of Investigation
1038 Words
Alden arrived at his apartment unit after being forced by Puri to take Aira home. He didn’t know that Aira would be returning to her parents’ house; he had thought she would be his permanent neighbor.
Just as he was about to lie down on his bed, the doorbell rang, forcing him to walk to the door once again. "Ciki!" he muttered to himself, almost forgetting about his beloved pet.
"I'm sorry for made you have do this," Alden said to the cleaning staff member who often helped him take care of Ciki whenever he was away.
"You don’t have to feel bad. By the way, I’ve already fed your baby."
The middle-aged man, who appeared to be in his forties, glanced inside Alden’s apartment unit and asked, "That girl from yesterday—she’s not with you?"
"Who do you mean?" Alden thought for a moment before continuing, "Ah, if you’re talking about the woman who barged into my apartment, she lives in the unit across from mine. But she’s not there right now."
Alden tried to explain while reading the thoughts of the man he knew as Mr. Orion.
"Oh, I see. So, she’s a new resident?" Mr. Orion asked, trying to confirm.
"Yeah. You might get to know her later… or not, I don’t know." Alden tried to give an answer, though he himself wasn’t sure if Aira would be staying here or living with her parents.
"Alright, thanks for taking care of Ciki," Alden said, trying to end the conversation—he wasn’t fond of small talk.
He handed a small tip to that cleaning staff, who accepted it with a wide, friendly grin.
"Oh, by the way, Ciki isn’t a baby. He’s an adult, just like me," Alden joked before that old man left.
"Oh, okay then. Take good care of Ciki, or I’ll marry him off to a female bird," Mr. Orion teased, earning a simultaneous laugh from Alden.
Alden immediately closed the door and placed Ciki back in his cage. Finally, he could lie down on his bed and reflect on his conversation with Mr. Orion.
Aira might end up staying here. That woman is a little crazy in her current state of amnesia, he thought.
Alden recalled the events of the fashion show earlier. He wanted to sleep, but Aira’s image kept surfacing in his mind whenever he closed his eyes.
He grabbed the stack of novel manuscripts that Aira had given him before he left her parents’ house.
'What should I do with this manuscript? No matter how many times I read it, it still…' His thoughts abruptly stopped when his eyes landed on a sentence in one of the manuscript’s pages.
I tilt my head, watching him still standing there. Just a little… I wish he would turn to look at me.
Alden read the sentence and came to a conclusion—the man Aira loved was her classmate at university.
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The day Aira had been waiting for had finally arrived—her efforts to persuade Alden to take her case had not been in vain.
Since yesterday, Alden hadn’t told her anything about what he planned to do to investigate her case.
Sindy had already informed her that she was sick and wouldn’t be attending class today. It felt like stepping into an unfamiliar place.
Yes, unfamiliar indeed, for someone with amnesia like her. Aira entered the classroom and headed for the seat she usually occupied, according to Sindy. However, someone else was sitting there today.
"Excuse me, this is my seat." Aira tapped the shoulder of a young man sitting in her chair, facing the window with his back to her.
The man turned around, and Aira gasped in shock. "Alden?!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, it’s me. You’re not seeing a ghost," Alden replied in his usual apathetic tone.
"I’m going undercover as a student in your class today."
"For what?" Aira asked, puzzled.
"Didn’t I tell you I’d investigate your case? After rereading the manuscript you gave me yesterday, I started thinking that the mysterious guy in your novel is someone you often see in class."
Before Aira could ask more about his plan, Alden pulled her down to sit next to him. He gestured toward a professor entering the room with a nod and a raised eyebrow.
Aira ended up sitting in Sindy’s usual seat next to Alden. Once again, she caught the scent of coffee emanating from him. She felt like she would never get used to that smell.
She couldn’t focus—Alden was too close. She thought it wouldn’t matter whether a man or a woman sat beside her, but unlike Sindy, she felt something different.
Class finally ended, yet Alden remained seated. Aira turned to face him and asked, "Have you found him?"
Alden still didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man who kept glancing in their direction.
"That guy has been looking at you since earlier. Maybe he’s the man you’re looking for."
Aira followed Alden’s gaze and spotted the man he was referring to.
However, as soon as she met his eyes, the man quickly looked away and left the classroom. Alden nudged Aira’s arm slightly, making a hand gesture as if telling her to go after him.
"Should I follow him?" Aira asked.
"Of course. Or would you rather I ask him directly?" Alden replied with a question of his own.
"No! I’ll do it." Aira grabbed her bag and hurried outside, hoping that guy hadn’t gone too far.
Once outside the classroom, Aira scanned the surroundings but didn’t see the person she was looking for. Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder from behind.
"Aira Smith, can we talk for a moment?"
Aira turned around and found herself face-to-face with the guy she had been searching for. He’s really as handsome as a movie star, though she had no idea which actor she was comparing him to.
"Yes. Who are you?" Aira asked, feigning innocence.
"I’m Taylor Wood. Can we talk?"
"Of course."
Aira hadn’t expected it to be this easy to start a conversation with her target. Lady Luck is on my side, she thought, mimicking Puri’s words from a few days ago.
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- Writer
