Started with Goodbye

Chapter 4

Aiden and I looked at one another right after she said that. She had this huge grin on her face as if she was really proud of me, and I was looking at her, confused, as to why she had to say something like that.

“We just talked in the cafe,” I said to her, frown was forming on my face. “How can you come up with something like that? Can you see the future now? Or are you in another world and you just returned at this time just to tell me that?” I asked her in sarcasm.

She sat beside me as she hugged me even more. “Come on, you know that it was like a scene in a movie right?” she nagged at me that made me roll my eyes. “It was like the destiny has been on your side, and it was saying that he would be the person for you.” She hit my side using her elbow, and I could see that her eyebrows raised up and down with that annoying smile on her face. “Also, I do not believe that the two of you just talked in that cafe.”

I just let out a sigh because it seems like my oh so weird best friend is at it again. It seems like she was already thinking ahead of what was happening right now, and I could say that it was getting annoying sometimes.

“We really just talked,” I said to her in a bored tone as I drank a glass of water, because it seems like this talk, and Aiden’s constant bugging made me somehow tired.

It felt like that there was too many events that had happened in a span of a day, but all I just did was to talk to Asher, who I met by chance, and to stop my malicious best friend on starting some speculations about my ‘relationship,’ if I had one that is, with that Mr. Grocery Guy named Asher.

Aiden stopped bugging me as she nodded her head as if she understood what I said to her, but I was sure that she would not let go of this topic, easily, and I was right because I could still see her eyes sparkled as if I said something that piqued her interest.

She let go of me, as she sat with her chin at the palm of her hand, as she said, “Alright then...” I raised my eyebrows at her because that same smile was still seen on her face. “Just tell me what happened on that ‘talk’ you had with that Mr. Grocery Guy... What was his name again?” She looked at me with a frown on her face.

“His name is Asher,” I said, almost as sigh, because I knew that this talk would not end that easily.

Aiden was bound to know every single detail about the talk, even though she did not have to do any of that. That was how she is. The ever curious friend of mine who seems like she wanted to know every tiny information that she could have about a certain topic; in short, she just wanted to hear some gossip.

She clapped her hands, once, as she nodded her head and her expression got serious, as if I would tell her some secret, even though she just wanted to hear what I talked with that Mr. Grocery Guy named Asher.

“Then, what did you talk about this Mr. Grocery Guy named Asher?” she asked me, and she even went near me as if she wanted to hear what I would say, clearly.

I sighed, for who knows how many times I did that day, as I started to tell her everything that had happened on the talk that I had with Asher earlier on the cafe. I did not leave any single detail, because I know that Aiden was bound to find out about it, sooner or later.

“I actually just found out his name when we were already outside of the cafe,” I told her, honestly, and I frowned because I thought of something. “And it felt like I already heard his name somewhere, but I could not seem to figure out where and when I did.”

I saw how Aiden’s eyebrows raised because of what I said, as she snapped her fingers as if she had thought of a very bright idea, and I doubt that it would be good because, after all, it was Aiden I was talking to.

I looked at her, confused, on what she thought of now, and I did not really have any high hopes about it. “Let’s search his name, and maybe, we could find something about him.” I frowned because of what she said, because I think that it was a good idea too. “After all, it already came from you that it seems like you already met him, but you just could not figure out when and where did that happen. And maybe, just maybe, you saw him online that’s why you cannot remember where you saw him.”

I did not even agree yet, but she already took out her phone from her pocket, as she started to type up his name, and she halted and looked at her with a frown. “Did he tell you his surname too?” she asked, and I wanted to laugh because of how serious she is, even though we were just literally looking up at someone on the internet. “It might be easier for us if you already know his surname.”

I frowned and thought of my encounter with Asher earlier, and I slowly nodded my head as I remembered that he did gave me his full name. “His full name is Asher Coldwell.” I said to her, and she just nodded her head as she started typing again.

She searched Asher’s full name, but sadly, a different pictures came out. It seems like Asher was just an ordinary person, because the pictures that we managed to search were an artworks that was painted by someone who was named Asher C.W.

Even though they name might have overlapped with each other, I doubt that he was someone that would paint something like this. And I know that I might sound so judgemental, but I just really did not want to let my hopes up. After all, I might just get disappointed in the end.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt that Aiden held my arms as she asked me, “Do you know this painter?” she asked me with a frown on her face. “It seems like I just found out about him now. This is the first time that I heard that there was some painter under the name of Asher C.W.”

I thought of it, but my mind was blank about it. And yes, I know some well-known painter, and even the local one, because I was really fond and amazed of their works, but I never really heard someone named Asher C.W.

I shook my head, slowly, and Aiden just hummed and said, “Then let’s find out something about him.” She started clicking some photos in order for us to see some of his painting, and maybe his face. “I might got shock if I found out that the Asher that you met, and this Asher were the same person.”

“I doubt that,” I said, even though I intended to just say it on my mind.

She looked at me with one of her eyebrows raised. “And why does it seems like you are so sure about it?” she asked me, but I just shrugged my shoulders because it just really came out of nowhere. She turned her attention at her phone again as she saw that I was also unsure of it. “You are not confident about it, so I will not stop myself from looking at his pictures.”

She started to scroll, but the both of us frowned because the only pictures that we saw were his painting and there was not even a single picture of him. She scrolled through the pictures again, but the result was still the same; we could not find any pictures of him. It was just his painting and some PowerPoint presentation about those pictures.

I heard Aiden hummed as she scrolled through a hundreds of pictures, but there was not any single picture of this painter named Asher C.W. “This is weird,” Aiden even said as we saw that we really did not find a picture of this painter. “I could not seem to find any pictures of him.”

And because I was getting curious about this painter too, I suggested to her, “What about we open some article about him?” I saw how she snapped her head towards me with a knowing look, but I just shook my head at her and rolled my eyes because I already know what was on her mind. “I am also getting curious about him, and we might find some pictures of his face,” I explained.

It seems like Aiden was also curious about this painter, because she immediately agreed with me and clicked some articles that she found online. We found this article that piqued our interest, and she immediately clicked it and we looked at one another because of what we had read.

“Asher C.W. the mysterious painter who became well-known for a year, and suddenly, he was gone.” Aiden frowned as she read the title of that article out loud. “It seems like he is a mysterious man just like how we think he is.”

I nodded my head at her, agreeing on what she said. Then, I told her to read the content of the article, so she started scrolling until we reached the beginning of that article.

‘Asher C.W. is a mysterious painter that no one knows who he really is. Some of the museum that we have interviewed said that this mysterious painter is sending his works through a mail and there is no address included. We also tried to interview the company that was sending the paintings, but they were also clueless about this painter’s real identity.

Some are trying to find out who is behind the name Asher C.W. or if the is really his name, but no one succeeded to know who this painter is. It seems like he really wanted to conceal his identity, because until now, no one could not seem to find out who he is.

Some of his known artworks are...’

Aiden scrolled until she reached the bottom of the article, but we never found anything about this mysterious painter. And just like what happened earlier, we could not find any single picture of him, or even his shadow.

I suggested that we should look at another article, but just like the first article that we opened, it discusses about the paintings and such of this Asher C.W. and they even tried to discuss the real him, but they did not have any concrete proof that could tell that who is the person behind of this name.

“He is really mysterious,” Aiden whispered, and I just silently agree with her because this painter was indeed really mysterious.

She closed that article and decided to open another again, but it seems like it was still the same. She did not give up though, because she scrolled through the articles until a title of an article caught my attention.

“Wait,” I stopped her, that made her look at me with a confused look on her face. “Give me your phone,” I told her as I held my hand at her.

Even though she was confused why I needed her phone, she willingly handed it to me. She did not even bat an eyelash as she gave her phone to me.

Once I had her phone on my hand, I immediately clicked the article entitled: Yesterday, we met him. The Mysterious Painter Named Asher C.W.

I saw that it was published almost five years ago, and the title really caught my attention. I did not know if it was just a bait for the readers to read it, but I guess that something urged me, and it seems like it was saying that I should read it or else, I might regret it later

I started to click the article, but just started to load and we had to wait for a few minutes to see the article completely. We even held our breaths, as if we were watching a suspense movie and not finding something about this painter.

It may sound so over the top, but we really anticipate that this article is not just a bait, but they really met the man named Asher C.W. because we thought that this man was really mysterious, and I know that Aiden was also curious about him too.

The article has loaded, completely, and Aiden and I read it, silently, as I scrolled slowly so that we could really understood the content of that article. And unlike the articles earlier, this one started with a great impact on the both of us.

‘Yesterday, we met this mysterious painter named Asher C.W. He choose not to reveal his face but he agreed to let us publish an article about him...’

Of course, this article also discusses the artworks that this painter owned, so we skipped that part because we already knew about it. We immediately went to the part that was discussing about the personal information of Asher C.W.

`He started to paint at the age of eight because a certain someone inspired him to make a painting; someone that really gave an impact to his life and made him do the things that he liked. He kept on doing this until he entered a famous university in the country. He is not known inside the campus but his artworks are outstanding. He is thirty years old now and has a stable and peaceful life away from the noise of the city. He choose not to take a photo with the interviewer but he left a very inspiring yet cryptic message to us:

‘For the person that I loved, and will always love, I hope that you are happy now. And I hope that you will do your best for your dreams and future. Untill you meet my yesterday.’

We tried to ask him who that woman is but he choose not to answer...`

I stopped reading the article as soon as I saw the final word that he said to the woman that he loved. Aiden noticed that I was frozen in shock, so she snatched her phone away from me and read the article all by herself, but I did not pay any attention about it anymore. All I had in my mind right now was the last part of the cryptic message that he gave to his one and only love.

‘Until you meet my yesterday.’

Those words, and his statement, it seems like I heard it somewhere before. It seems like I already met this person, though I did not really know who this person is. It seems so familiar, but I could not seem to figure out anything.

I closed my eyes, but then, I heard a voice that I could not remember who the owner is, but I got goosebumps because it really seems so familiar to me.

And he said the exact same words as what Asher C.W. told to his love:

“Until you meet my yesterday, Hera.”