"Mace, are you sure of this?" Her voice which whistles none of its emotion pricked on Mace Leo's ears, her stares which yet indicate she's not interested in her friend's plan were beaming on her complexion. She then crossed her arms and glanced at her colleague.
"Don't worry, Kyaell. I'll be fine, Astrid is my friend and we're close. She won't hurt me, okay? I don't assume that the rumors are true." Mace Leo replied and let out a smile on her face, her friend then shrugged her shoulders and took a sip from her cup of coffee.
"The thing is, she's strange and I don't know she can be trusted. I never saw her at the campus since I am attending the night classes, so yup..." She paused and glanced at her companion, "So, what now? What time will you be there? Do you need me? I can accompany you to the hospital." Kyaellani Sullivan asked, her dark bushy yet neat brows met upon gazing in her pal's direction. She parted her lips before fixing her eyes into her books.
"I'll come by at the Esme Cafe, let's have our meal first." Leo invited.
"I'm already having my coffee, we can surely cook something to eat here at your apartment," Sullivan uttered, shifting her sight towards the kitchen.
"I haven't prepared anything, Kyaell." She responded and chuckled.
Her brows met, gawking at her companion. "You didn't have your groceries? I should accompany you then, right after visiting your friend at the hospital, let's come by to the mall." Sullivan replied and finished her coffee.
Leo, on the other hand, gradually walks out of the kitchen area and rushes her feet towards her bedroom's entrance. She took all her stuff and placed it inside her bag, "Hey, Kyaell? Have you heard about Sera Lindy? I didn't get the chance to contact her, Blythe is not responding to my chats as well, and Valliree went out of the town with her family after the incident." She spoke while flipping the pages of a delicate book, browsing her sight to the chapters.
"... You mean, Sera Merka?" Sullivan asked.
"Well, yeah. She likes to be called Lindy more than Merka, I don't know why, too."
"I haven't heard of her, and I hate that girl by the way. She's not famous after all," Her friend commented and glanced in Leo's direction. "Hey, what is that? You're a Jesus freak?" Her eyes were fixed on the lady and confusion displayed on her countenance.
"It's not what it's called. I'm a Christian, I preached Jesus' Word, and I'm getting into obeying Him." Leo answered and took her highlighter pen, she placed it in her satchel.
Sullivan twitched her lips, she shrugged off her shoulders hesitating to agree with her statement. "You say so, anyhow, you might like to assemble a cell group in our place. I noticed that people change when they encounter Jesus, so perhaps the youngster might wish to engage in it." Mace Leo's face brightened upon hearing those phrases. She hurriedly took her backpack and reached her friend at the kitchen table.
"Are you serious?"
"Well, yes I am. I hate the youth out there, especially the boys." Said Sullivan, she took a glimpse of the gear on the table and threw another question.
"How do you study that holy book? Old people always told me to never read it," her eyes were bulging and she leaned in closer and whispered, "It's the cause of many crackheads."
"That's not true."
"What's the truth then?" Sullivan asked with a teasing tone of voice. She raised her brows, waiting for her companion's reaction.
"Please don't start to argue with me, Kyaell. I know you, you're just making fun of me." Mace Leo frowned and sat on the stool, she took her phone out browsing the phone number of her instructor, Thalia Sanders.
"Oh please, I was just curious. Come on, I wanna know." Sullivan uttered, yet she didn't bother to glance at her mockery smile. Mace Leo started a call on her mobile phone.
"A blessed day to you, Miss Talia!" She greeted,
"Yes, good day to you, Mace. What made you call? Is there any problem?"
"Who's that?" Sullivan questioned, and a bit of trouble upon eavesdropping on the intriguing conversation.
"You called me last night about the news, and I'm going to the hospital to pay a visit. I was wondering if you would definitely wanna come with me, Miss Talia." Mace Leo states.
"Is that your lecturer or something?" Her pal asked once more, yet no response was to be heard from Leo.
"This girl is ignoring me," Sullivan mumbled, upon seeing that she's not entertained, she stood up from her seat and walked ahead to the living room.
An arid aura greeted her sight, the dull wallpapers on the entire room made her blench. "You should have changed your room's layout, Mace. It looks so wearisome, how could you even focus on your studies or even find inspiration while reading your Bible? This apartment is a mess," Kyaellani Sullivan grumbled, complaining about the spiritless atmosphere.
"Get over it, Kyaell. I know there's something wrong with my layout, I need to save money for that." Mace Leo asserted from the kitchen area, a smile beams on her edges when the call ended, turning off her mobile phone.
"So how do you find motivation here?" The lady whose feet traveled toward the bedroom spoke, her sandy dress had its lustrous aura when the sunlight from the window glass reflected on her. Upon witnessing herself in a mirror, she sneered at herself and had a lovely poise.
"Now that's what I like about it." She mutters and touches the books on the shelf beside her way. "You're a book nerd, huh? Are you fond of the Taste series too? I bought the whole volume and I love it." She notices a doll beside the shelf and with curiosity, her fingers travel to stroke its soft hairs.
"Is this you? It looks exactly like you, Mace. It's cute and odd," Sullivan commented and darted her gaze on it, examining the entire figure.
Mace Leo headed her way to her colleague's location with her lips parted upon seeing her skimming the novel pages on the bookshelf and gawking at the doll beside it. "That doll was made by Astrid, she gave it to me as a birthday gift last year and it's really cute," she let out a cheerful smile and shrugged off her shoulders, "We've been friends for almost a year yet you don't know me yet. You can't differentiate between what I dislike and enjoy." She spoke up which made Sullivan glance at her and their sight met.
"Let's drop by at the Cafe and buy some snacks, it's getting late. We'll have to go to the mall for groceries as well," she announced and took her things.
Sullivan hastily strode towards the main door, "I was curious about your chat with your professor, what's it all about?" The lass disputed.
"I asked her if she'd like to come with us, she told me she's engaged in a huge project right now so she couldn't."
"Huge project huh? What's her name?"
"She's Talia Sanders, our school librarian." Mace Leo retorted.
"Her name is familiar," Sullivan spoke.
"So you know her?"
"Of course not, I just thought that maybe I know her. In my previous hometown, we had a Pastor and he has three daughters. It's very tragic to know that they were scattered throughout the whole land of Cassinfield, and one of them is Talia." While telling a short glimpse of the story, her eyes were bulging as if she's one of the witnesses.
"Quit it, Kyaell. Of course, there are lots of names similar to hers."
"Well, you are right."
They led their way out of her compartment, upon walking along the hall, they recognized somebody in front of a trash can, a young lady wearing a blushing hoodie with her head low, their gazes were on her grip. "She's a mess, I always chance upon her whenever I come by into your room." Kyaellani Sullivan confessed which made Mace Leo feel anxious.
"She's Iris, I often see her drunk, she's living in the room next door. I'm reaching out to her, but it seems that she wants to be alone." She responded.
"That's sad,"
When they finally arrived at their destination, a young lady at the counter welcomed them. "Hi, good day! Welcome to Esme Cafe," her cerulean irises were beaming at them.
"Hey, Esme, you're looking good today." Sullivan greeted her with a smirk, she chose the best seat for the two of them and put in her phone and pouch. The lady steered her feet onto the counter and grabbed the menu.
"What are you going to order?" She asked Mace Leo, the barista—Renesmee Fuentes entertained them, she took her pad and listed their orders.
"I assume you'd select strawberry smoothie, and macarons," Fuentes states while eyeing the clients.
"Sure! I used to be a regular, but precisely, I haven't been to this coffee shop for almost two years. How do you still remember my order?" Leo questioned with a fluster complexion.
"I constantly recall my clients' faces, welcome back to the Cafe, Mace." The barista greeted and pinned the note on the board, and her staff prepared the cuisine.
"I think I'll have a grilled chicken salad." Sullivan retorted and had her way back to the selected table.
"Kindly wait for your orders, ma'am." And a sweet smile beams on her lips.
"I honestly like it here, their grubs are the best. The mood of the Cafe feels so aesthetic as well." Once more, Sullivan commented.
"I believe I need to buy Astrid's some snacks right away," Leo mumbled.
"Astrid Hawthorne huh?" A surprised look greeted Fuentes' sight the moment she spoke suddenly.
She sat with them and leaned back, "What about her?"
"You know Astrid?" Sullivan questioned.
"Yes, she's my former schoolmate at Castrill. I haven't seen her for weeks now, perhaps her time is occupied, she told me she'd pay a visit to my workplace." Fuentes responded.
"She's literally at the hospital right now, Es."
"Wait, what?" Confusion and concern could be seen in her countenance.
"You hear it, she's injured," Sullivan responds.
"That's abrupt, why?"
"It's on the television, remember Sera Merka? Or known as Lindy? She threw a party at her place and ended up in trouble, two people were murdered and one of them was Astrid." Mace Leo explained her companion on the other hand agreed and nodded.
"I must stop by,"
"Are you available today? You should come with us," Leo invited her. Fuentes replied with a smile and hurried her way to place back her apron at the counter.
"I'll get done with the orders and we'll leave right after." The two agreed and stayed for their orders.