Hey, Miss," Alder called with a smile. Willow turned back, nodded in greeting, and subtly checked if her mask was still securely on her face.
"You look familiar," Alder said. "Do I know you?"
He really looked more handsome than the last time she saw him. He was wearing black trousers and an oversized black T-shirt—looking similar to Willow, but this made him look like a professional playboy.
Willow gave a little cough before changing her voice like she was sick.
"You don't know me but I know you. I'm Jasmine, one of the designers at Cloud," Willow lied.
"Okay then," Alder said.
"What's going on?" Flora's voice cut in, looking at both of them in suspicion. Not that she didn't trust Alder, but she couldn't trust any lady with him.
"Nothing," Alder replied, dismissive, while Willow gave a 90-degree bow before leaving in a hurry.
"Who's that?" Flora asked.
"You can always ask her," Alder said, pointing his hand towards where Willow just disappeared.
"Alder..." Flora called, like she was about to give one of her long epistles before Alder cut in and said,
"Let's go..." He walked away with Flora following behind.
The fashion show ended perfectly, with customers, models, and sellers all happy with the results.
The second day, Willow went to work to say her goodbyes and leave the designs she'd been working on to the company.
At Reed's office
"Good morning, Mr. Cloud," Willow said.
"How are you doing, Willow?" Reed replied with a smile.
"I'm good," Willow replied.
"Why are you here?" Reed asked.
"I'm here to give this to you," she said, handing over a USB cable and her sketchbook. She preferred working with her pen and sketchbook to a sketch pad.
"There are a total of 117 designs here," Willow explained, while Reed looked through the sketchbook, revealing amazing drawings of footwear.
"You've really improved with your men's footwear," Reed praised, admiring a shoe designed perfectly for men.
"Thank you, sir," Willow replied.
"Do you really need to leave?" Reed asked again, trying to convince her to stay.
"It's just for three months, sir," Willow said with a smile.
"Okay then. We'll be expecting you back soon," Reed said.
"Thank you," Willow replied and left his office.
When it was time to close at work, Willow said to her colleagues, "I want to do a farewell party. Is anyone interested?"
"Okay." "Of course." "Yes!"
These words echoed through the designing department, and Willow gave a soft, appreciative smile.
They went to a restaurant where they ate and drank—of course, the bills were on Willow.
Wren and Cara went with them. Even if they acted like they weren't happy to be there, they were secretly thrilled to be in charge for the meantime before Willow returned.
Everyone was happy and wished her well, hoping she would come back soon.
Willow stepped outside to smoke, the cool night air wrapping around her like a familiar friend. Jasmine came to join her.
"Willow," Jasmine called, watching her smoking. It wasn't new seeing Willow smoke—everyone knew about her habit.
"Why are you out here?" Willow asked before dropping her cigarette, then stepping on it to put out the light.
"Aren't you enjoying yourself?" Willow asked again.
"I am. Just came to see you," Jasmine said.
"I'm just out for a smoke. Going in now," Willow said.
"Willow, ever since I got to know you two years ago, from that time till now, you never really looked happy. And you were never free to talk to someone aside from work..." Jasmine said, trying to catch Willow's expression before continuing. Her heart pounded in her chest, unsure if she was crossing a line. Part of her hoped that Willow would open up, just a little—that maybe tonight would be the moment she finally broke through the carefully built wall around her. Jasmine didn't expect everything, but even a flicker of vulnerability from Willow would mean her concern wasn't for nothing.
"Your smiles never reach your eyes. I mean, they always feel forced. You are so cold to people around you," Jasmine continued.
"You know, some people are just created differently," Willow said before adding, "I am probably among the different people," she said with a smile, not explaining more.
"Willow, are you sure you are okay?" Jasmine asked.
"I am very okay, Jasmine," Willow assured with a smile.
"If you need someone to talk to, I am here," Jasmine said.
"Okay... Thank you," Willow replied, though deep down she thought, There are a lot of things I want to say, but I don't know where to start.
They both went back inside to join their colleagues.
After the party, everyone went home drunk, including Cara and Wren, who got drunk from happiness—aside from Willow, who ordered cabs for each and every one of them before getting into her own car and going home.
At the Smith Mansion
Juniper called on her son, who was going to work or probably just going out because his clothing was definitely not for work—wearing black silk material up and down. Black was probably his favorite color.
"Yes?" Alder replied.
"Why are you treating Flora like this?" Juniper said, straight to the point.
Juniper, Alder's mother—unlike her name—wasn't sweet at all but rather quirky.
"Like how?" Alder replied.
"You know how, Alder. The poor lady called me and told me you refused to follow her to test her wedding gown. Why are you treating her like she's the only one getting married and you're just invited?" Juniper asked, but Alder just looked at her like her questions had no answers.
"I'm talking to you, Alder!" Juniper said in annoyance.
"What do you want? 'Cause I don't get it," Alder asked with a shrug.
"Can you act like you're interested in this wedding?" Sage, Leif and Alder's baby sister, replied.
"I'm genuinely interested. Why should I pretend?" Alder asked with an innocent look on his face.
"That's a lie, Alder. Even the blind can see Flora is getting married to herself and you're just the groom who was invited," Sage said with a smile. She doesn't really care about Flora but cared about her brother, who lost his happiness four years ago.
"Alder, more than anyone, you know this marriage is important to the family business..." Juniper said.
"More than anyone, you know I'm not an object you can use for family business," Alder said, then left the mother and daughter duo.
"Alder, come back here!" Juniper called, but got no response as Alder got into his car and drove off.
"Mom, you know more than anyone—Alder still loves her," Sage said. "Do you really need to force him?"
"I have taken care of you guys ever since your father died. I worked hard growing the company for you guys to enjoy—"
"Enough, Mom," Sage said in a playful manner, knowing her mother was about to start an epistle.
"I'm going out," she said and ran off. And of course, she worked at the Smith company.
---
Willow went to a burial ceremony company. Since the last one didn't take her seriously, she found a different one online with the name Leave In Style.
"Hi," Willow said to the receptionist.
"Hi, ma'am. May I know what you want?" the customer care representative said.
"I want to prepare a burial ceremony for three months later," Willow said.
"Alright, ma'am," the representative said, continuing, "Who are you preparing this for?" he asked, preparing to write down the details.
"Willow Larkspur. Myself," Willow replied.
"Are you serious, ma'am?" the representative asked.
"Yes," Willow replied and brought out her test result, showing it to the customer care rep, who read it through before asking,
"I'm so sorry, ma'am," he said, looking very apologetic—like he was the reason she got sick.
"You don't have to be, handsome," Willow said, although the man was the opposite of that.
The guy blushed and took down the details of how she wanted her burial ceremony to look.
She was taken to a burial ground where she picked a portion of land she liked and gave a smile. Not everyone is opportuned to pick their final resting place, but she was given this rare opportunity—and she reassured herself with a smile.
She spent a total of $9,000 since she wants it grand and was satisfied before calling it a day.
The second day, she decided to go to the amusement park. These were things she was robbed of as a child. First, she walked around, taking in the scenery, watching a sea of people playing and laughing.
Then she decided to play with different things: the Ferris wheel, roller coasters, bumper cars, swing rides, and games like balloon darts and ring toss. She screamed, laughed, and even won a stuffed toy at the claw machine.
For a moment, she forgot about everything.
She sat on a bench nearby, took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one, and took a deep puff. From her behavior, it was clear she wasn't an amateur.
This was a habit she couldn't get rid of.
She sighed, a heaviness settling in her chest, and walked slowly to a place filled with people gazing at the stars. As she stood among them, her gaze lifted to the night sky, a blanket of shimmering lights that reminded her of childhood nights spent on the roof with Silas her father and Rachael her step mother asking Maple her step sister to make a wish—pointing out constellations while she stay a bit far away from them looking at the moon and making wishes she never believed would come true. The moon had always seemed like quiet friends, too far to touch but always watching. Now, they felt closer than ever, and lonelier too. She blinked back the sting in her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself, not for warmth, but for a comfort she didn't know how to ask for.
She stared at the moon for a long time before saying, "It must feel lonely, right?" She continued, "Accompanied by so many stars, but none like you."
"I feel the same too," Willow finally said, but to no one in particular.
"How can there be more than 8 billion people on earth, yet I feel so lonely?" she asked again to no one in particular, then gave a deep sigh and continued looking at the moon.
After a while, she decided to walk home. From where she was, the walk would take an hour and thirty minutes—but she decided to walk because even if she went home early or late, nobody cared.
As she walked home, she asked herself in thought, Does anyone care if I die? but replied out loud to herself, "Surely nobody cares... That's bad tho," she joked with herself with a smile.
After getting home, Willow took a long, quiet bath, letting the warm water soothe her aching body and the heaviness in her chest. Each droplet sliding down her skin felt like a tiny farewell, as if even the water knew what she was preparing for. When she finally stepped out, steam followed her like a ghost. She wrapped a towel around herself, her movements slow and deliberate, and began drying her wet hair—each strand clinging to her fingers, like the remnants of memories she wasn't ready to let go of. Then she felt a severe headache. As she was about to go pick up her drug, everything went black. She couldn't see anything and fell to the ground, holding her head.
Not that the light was off—she had suddenly gone blind.
Somewhere in Country N
Alder was drinking with a friend when the cup he was holding fell from his hand and broke into pieces.
"Are you okay, Alder?" Reed asked, but got no reply. Alder kept looking at his hand and the broken cup before one of the bartenders came to clean it up.
"Are you okay, Alder?" Reed asked again.
"I'm okay," Alder finally replied, but still looked confused about how the cup fell from his hand.
Back to Willow
"Am I dying so soon?" she asked no one in particular.
She tried to steady herself, one hand against the wall, until she fell to the ground. And the world around her vanished into blackness—not darkness, but nothing. Her knees buckled. Her lips moved, but the words never made it out.
"I thought I had three months left," she muttered, thinking Doctor Andrew is a quack, then collapsed