Sometimes we want a moment to last forever, but sometimes we want a person to be our last one. In Darren"s mind, all he had was the thought of making the woman before him smile. How or when he fell so madly for her silliness was out of his understanding. But he knew that she was the one who held his hand and pulled him out of his sadness and guilt. Every single day she made him want to smile and to fall in love all over again. And he did fell in love. He loved her every single day with even more pa.s.sion then the day before.
All of that was on Darren"s mind while it seemed to him like Xiu"s mind was only focused on eating the cheeseburger that she craved so badly for some weird reason. Even when he offered to take her to some fancy restaurant for supper since it was already 3:30 pm but she insisted on eating that.
However, only Xiu knew how she managed to keep her calm under his constantly staring at her like she was all he could see. His eyes made her heart beat slower and faster at the very same time. And it didn"t even make any sense to her as well. And yet it did make sense somehow. So as to avoid getting a cardiac arrest or anything, she solely focused on munching on the burger.
Right after Xiu was done with her supper, Darren took her hand in his own once again. It felt so natural now. As if her slender hand belonged in his. If it didn"t why would it perfectly fit in his hand? Obviously, it was heaven"s signal or probably Xiu was reading too much into this. Whatsoever, Darren alighted the car with her saying, "I have to take you somewhere."
"Right now?" asked Xiu with a crease between her brows.
Darren pressed his lips together and his thumb rubbed on her hand as he said, "I think I"m strong enough to talk about it today. I might lose the courage to say it again. So, before that happens, I want to get this off of my chest."
"What exactly is it?" Xiu sounded a bit hesitant as she questioned.
"Something you don"t know about me. Something that makes me who I am today. Something that can be considered as the biggest secret of my life. The one that haunts me even now." replied Darren with a slightly hoa.r.s.e edge to his voice that didn"t seem like him.
"Are you trying to scare me on purpose?"
Darren flicked on her forehead and said, "Are you weak-hearted?"
"I don"t certainly think so," her voice came out weaker than she had intended.
Darren ruffled her hair and rea.s.sured her, "It"s nothing scary. It"s just that it"s a part of my life I can"t let go of even if I want to and you might have some issue with that. Like any normal person would."
Xiu stopped asking him questions as she noticed that the car was moving up a hill. They were in the hills that enhanced the serene beauty of the An City which was a striking contrast to the bustling and concrete jungle also known as Xia Capital. This natural beauty of the city was the reason Xiu always felt at peace here.
But as of now, she was really curious to know where they were headed since it seemed like private property. As they moved further ahead, Xiu could finally see the silhouette of a house. However, she was mesmerized by the skeletal trees crowned in a slightly crimson color flanked in rows as they gently swayed around in the early autumn wind. But when the car halted, her eyes were pulled to the beautiful yard that seemed to be created to perfection. The gra.s.s seemed jubilant green and different colors of flowers blended perfectly with it.
They had arrived when the sun was setting in the horizon casting a beautiful and enchanting parting glow. When Xiu got off the car and took a step on the beige gravel walkway, she heard a satisfying crunch with each step. There were a couple of delicate fountains randomly spread out throughout that spewed out water into the air. The soft gurgling of the clear water was melodic as it resonated in the surrounding silence.
Peeling her eyes away from the enchanting scenery before her, she turned to face the beautiful house. She climbed up a few stairs and instantly came to a halt. She turned around to face Darren who seemed to be lost in his own world. "Are you hiding someone inside?" asked Xiu curiously looking at him.
Darren noticed her skeptical eyes and retorted, "Who do you think I"m hiding?"
Xiu shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as she replied, "Who knows? Maybe a wife or a couple of children?"
Darren burst out laughing at her a.s.sumption and Xiu smiled along with him. She had been observing his expressions for a while and since the time they got here, he looked really sad for some reason. So, she had to make the worst joke to get him to laugh.
Darren shook his head at her and said, "You really have a wild imagination. I guess you watched too many movies."
Xiu rolled her eyes inwardly as she muttered to herself, "More like I acted in way too many movies." But her reply to him was, "If not that then why do you look so scared to open this door?"
Darren didn"t expect her to notice that he was out of sorts but he felt really happy that she paid attention. "It"s not a person I"m hiding." and he added in his head, "And I"m scared to open this door because I don"t want to lose you."
"Then what"s the worry?" questioned Xiu looking completely clueless for why he was reacting like that or what was running through his mind.
Darren placed his hand on her head and said, "What I"m hiding is the memory of someone. And oftentimes, memories are scarier than people themselves."
Xiu"s eyes widened at his reply. It seemed to have hit a mark for her. She knew herself how easy it was to get away from people. But it was the memories of those people that never seems to go away. It"s weird how a person leaves but leaves behind his memories. And it"s even weirder how those memories turn into our driving force over time.