Wrong Arrow

21

The road is midnight under the cloud, yet beyond is the dawn. As the sun sets, its rising is already promised to the land, to the green shoots who wait in faith. And so, even though our eyes may only see one step at a time, we stride on, eyes wide. For when this passes we will be as children, giggling at the imagined monsters that once kept us in such fear.

After twenty minutes, Pearl returns with fresh clothes.

Zach's settled himself on the counter at this point, watching silently. Pearl pushes her hair back and begins flipping through the recipe book. And then slams it shut. She puts it away much to Zach's surprise.

"Aren't you gonna eat?"

She walks over to the cabinet and takes out a mixing bowl and places it beside the sink, dumping her green ingredients inside. Zach continues to observe from the counter, silently playing with a leaf of a tomato. He has no idea what she's planning to cook so he just watches.

"What's that for?" The human had grabbed a well packed butter and walks over to the stove, flickering it on and places a pan on top of it. Judging by her next action, Zach can only assume that she's gonna create a meal that's supposed to be eaten in the morning for breakfast.

"You're really not gonna cook that right- and i stand corrected. You're gonna die soon if you keep eating this type of food, you know? Of course, she knows. Why the heck am I talking to myself? It's not like you can hear me or anything." He glances at her again. "You could always order, you know. Something healthy. Like kimchi or whatever."

After mixing the ingredients together, Pearl strides to the stove. At the same time, her phone rings. She back to the counter and stares at the screen, seconds before she answers it. "Hello?"

"Hey, are you free tomorrow after school?"

Tapping the loudspeaker option, Pearl then gives her attention to her pancakes, leaving her phone on the counter. The young cupid stops tapping his finger on the surface of the counter and pays close attention to the conversation.

The sky was black tranquility married to a poetry of stars. It was the softness that called body and brain to rest and let the heart go to its steady rhythm. Night came as a reward of sorts, a restfulness above to calm the soul. In the serenade of the black, the stars are a choir; they are lights that sing in infinite patterns. Sometimes eyes need music, and the darker the night the sweeter the song. The black night holds me close until the dawn, always my cloak until I am ready for the dawn. It is that friendly blackness that allows my eyes to rest and let my dreams take centre stage. The pure black of the night is my comfort, the blanket of generous velvet that keeps me safe. It is the pure black that makes the moon so beautiful, that makes a stage for her to stand upon. It is the pure black of the night that gives the stars their beauty, and in it my heart is safe, my soul serene. The night rides in on a horse of pure midnight velvet, beckoned by the stars under a the glow of a full moon. As the colours of the day rest, perhaps dream of the morrow, the hillside becomes its monochrome beauty, shapes that make an ever-changing, ever-present puzzle, question and answer united. In this night we all become one, from rock to plant to animal, one promise of life awaiting the return of the sun.

Zach could tell who it was on the other side of the phone. It was Stell.

"Um.. I don't think so. Why?"

"I thought we could hang out and stuff. It's been a while since the three of us hanged out." The familiar voice utters within the once silent kitchen as the smell of pancake fill the kitchen.

"And who's fault is it?" Pearl lets out a soft chuckle. "You're the one who's been busy with that busy training of yours. You barely have time for us normal people."

"You guys are anything but normal."

A smile contours face lips. Zach continues to observe from the counter. There's just something about her smile that makes his chest hurt for some reason. "Yeah right. I think I'll be free tomorrow. But you might have to check up on Vaeri though."

"I already did. She's in. So tomorrow okay? Don't forget. Remember what happened the last time?" Pearl furrows her brows in confusion, clearly unable to recall. Stell adds. "Make sure not to ditch us again. Or I swear to god I'll come to you and pick you up myself."

"Yeah, Yeah. I'll make sure not to ditch you guys again."

"Good. I'll hang up first. Oh, and make sure you eat something healthy. Not those pancakes of yours. I know they're your favorite but you should really not eat those often."

"Yes dad. I hear you. Bye." Pearl turns around and ends the call. That smile on her face doesn't leave even when he's no longer online. Zach finds himself resting his chin on top of his palm, tapping a finger delicately on the counter.

A moment of silence then engulfs both of them. He can hear his own breath mingling with the air as he watches his client. THis is it. This is his chance to get the job done. He should be elated but why does it bother him so much? It doesn't make sense to him.

Pearl continues to cook her pancakes despite the warning from Stell.

"He's not such a bad guy. Why can't you two just naturally fall for each other?" Although a cupid's work is never done, there are some cases where humans don't need a help of a cupid. It is often called Natural Love- where two people fall in love without any help. Cases like these happen quite often than you think. And there are also cases like Vaeri and pearl- who need help.

Cupids don't just get thrown on the field just like that. An investigation has to be conducted first before they're given a case. When a certain victim has over passed the given time they will need to fall in love, that's when they come in.

"You obviously like him." It was a mutter spoken to himself. Humans confuse him. This type of feeling confuses him. You'd think he'd be well aware of this kind of feeling given he was a cupid, but that wasn't the case. Love- the feeling- it was a mystery to him. He doesn't understand why people don't just say they like people when they do. He doesn't get why they need to be helped. Wouldn't it be much easier to just reveal that you like a person right away?

"This is giving me a headache." He grumbles. He grabs a fistful of his hair and tugs it gently.

The first time he met Pearl, he assumed she had zero feelings for him since that was exactly what she was showing him. He thought there was nothing more than platonic love between these two. Turns out, he was wrong. She does like him. And he's beginning to notice Stell likes her too. The only problem is, they just don't realize it yet.

And it frustrates him. Maybe that's why he was given this case. They like each other but they don't know it yet. This isn't the first time he was told to handle a case like this.

Zach isn't always circling around Pearl's orbit. But he admits to spending almost all his time with her, merely thinking of ways to make them come together.

Although, there are times when he too keeps an eye on Stell. There's also a reason why his trick doesn't always result in them meeting. He's a busy guy. Literally. And Pearl's schedule doesn't always correspond with his.