Hello, Kenzo

Unwanted

The wind whipped up from the west, carrying on its howling howls and blowing a cold breeze on my face. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, but I still felt it in my bones as I shivered at the cliff's edge above the sea. The water glittered like diamonds under a thin sheet of gray sky.

It was a stunning sight to behold—something that took your breath away with a sense of awe and beauty. Even from where I was sitting, I could hear the waves crashing against the beach several feet below. It would have been relaxing had not something inside me been churning away with anxiety. I wanted to go home, but I could not bring myself there. At home, my mind would just keep on yearning for Kenzo.

It had been two days since I last saw Kenzo. Not a single message has come since that night, and I am breaking. I missed him so much, but I had to accept that one of these days I'd finally say goodbye to him, and I had to prepare myself once again to be alone.

"How long are you planning to stay here?" I heard Narih ask as she sat beside me. "You're going to freeze here to death."

I didn't answer her; instead, I stared intently ahead of me until my vision blurred and began to blur with tears. Narih must have taken this as a sign of distress because she placed her hand gently over mine and gave me a sympathetic look.

"Hey, you'll be fine!" Narih said, and I began to cry so hard that I felt shy for her.

"Really, Narih? Are you the one hurt? Stop crying; I'm getting pissed!" I chuckled between hiccupping cries. "Please stop; I can't get upset if you keep making that stupid face when you cry!"

Narih just laughed back, wiping the tears off her cheeks. "I'm sorry, you know I get carried away easily. Anyway, I know you'll be able to overcome all this! You are the toughest woman I know, so stop torturing yourself. Let's just see the beauty of this chaos you are going through now; if it weren't for Kenzo, you would still be living with those insecure bitches!"

"Yeah, well..." I trailed off awkwardly as I tried to think of what to say next, but my heart could not muster any courage to smile at the moment and pretend that everything would just be fine. "I am thankful for knowing the true people, but I weigh things, I lost this battle! I am losing Kenzo!"

"Then let go! It'll be lighter!"

It was a moment of silence and then we both ended up crying out loud, making an outburst like kids who lost their lollipop in a marble battle as soon as the words left our mouths, trying to find comfort in each other through our shared grief. Narih had her arms wrapped around me tightly and squeezed me as I cried into her neck. My head rested on her shoulder's crook, and she kept stroking my back soothingly. I didn't care that we were in a public place and that people around us would be talking about us being some weirdo friends having an emotional breakdown. I couldn't care less, though. This is us being normal people who cry when we get hurt. Emotional, dramatic, or whatever people would define us as! "

After some time, we both seemed to calm down and wipe the last of the tears from our eyes with the sleeves of our jackets as two bottles of beer landed in front of us. We looked up and saw Tim standing there, looking sheepish about eavesdropping.

"It's better with these! You can look less stupid with beers!" He chuckled before handing us both a small blanket, but he wrapped the one around Narih and left immediately.

We exchanged a glance before Narih opened the beer and began chugging it as fast as she could before trying to remove the blanket off of her shoulder, but I stopped her. "Hey, it's ok! Not all love stories are painful." I smiled at her.

Narih frowned and rolled her eyes before completely removing the blanket. "Excuse me, love does not exist with two human beings who are not blood-related! Ok?"

"Whatever Narih!"

Tim came back with some grilled meats, and we drank more beer in peace until we were all quite tired and drank enough to take our trip back to the city. It was a great escape as Naroh and I collapsed at the back of the car. My head was turned outside the car's window, watching the clouds succumb to the darkness as Tim drove the car.

I closed my eyes, thinking of Kenzo, but then my thoughts drifted off, and I fell asleep almost instantly.

When I awoke, a sudden jolt of dizziness hit me, but I continued outside my room, and I saw Tim and Narih eating breakfast together in the dining room of my apartment. As soon as they noticed me waking up, they both got awkward, as if I had not noticed their genuine intimacy while it was just the two of them.

"Why are you still here? I told you we could be seen together," I asked Narih while I walked to the kitchen to grab a plate for breakfast.

"We stayed for the night; you were crying while you went to sleep. Narih wanted to stay, so I stayed too," Tim explained as he joined me at the kitchen island counter.

"Oh, okay," I mumbled, grabbing my plate and putting some bread and fruit on it.

But something this morning seemed off. I knew I had some drinks last night, but the sickness I am feeling at the moment is not in any way associated with alcohol but rather some sort of intense stomachache. And it was worse than any kind of food poisoning I had ever experienced. No, this felt like something that only I am certain of.

Narih nudged me lightly. "What's wrong? You've gone pale! Are you feeling alright?"

"Ah yes, I'm sorry. I did not mean to worry you," I replied.

"Did you get any rest last night?" Tim asked me.

"Yes, thank you, but unfortunately it only lasted about 2 hours until this morning," I sighed. "It doesn't matter anyway. I just don't feel well today. Maybe I'll just go back to bed and take more rest."

I stood back, turned my back on them, and began walking toward the hallway of my apartment.

After a few steps, though, my body suddenly froze. As realization dawned on me, I stopped dead in my tracks, and I spun back around quickly to face them.

They were already staring at me with concerned expressions on their faces. "Stella, what's wrong?"

I rushed back to the kitchen and threw up violently at the bottom of the sink. When I had finished emptying what remained in my stomach, I wiped my mouth clean with the side of my sleeve and turned to face them. "I'm okay now. I had so much drink last night, maybe!"

"No! No, you aren't! You look ill; please tell us what's wrong, Stella. Please!" Narih pleaded.

"Nothing's wrong. Don't worry, I just need some more rest. I am sure I will come down with something in the afternoon or evening, so just go!" I grabbed another piece of toast from the plate. "I just need some fresh air!"

However, when we all thought everything was over, some men in black suits barged in, and Mr. Illominus and Kate followed soon.

"Hello, everyone!" Mr. Illominus greeted us enthusiastically as we stood up at attention, a sleek smile of defiance on his face. "What perfect timing!"

I felt a shiver run down my spine at his smile. My stomach clenched painfully as I looked at him; he looked different from the usual Mr. Illominus that I was familiar with.

Kate rushed to Narih and threw a strong slap across her cheek, causing Narih to fall to the ground, clutching her cheek. "b***h!"