Adrian was about to step up the stairs to his room when Esmee snuck up behind him and grabbed his arm. “Just the man I’m looking for!” she said cheerfully. “Would you be so kind as to take me out for a sorbet?” she asked with the sweetest smile on her face. It was daytime and Adrian hadn’t had any sleep from taking care of some extra load of work since Dorian was still missing.
“I know daytime is not your thing … but it’s a good day for a sorbet … and anyways, the club is going to be closed tonight so you don’t have to work later, right?” she dangled in his arm looking fresh and smelling like spring.
“No … but I …” he wanted to say that he had to go somewhere that night with Friday but changed his mind. He looked up to his room and wondered what Friday’s been doing in his room ’cause he hadn’t seen her since that night they went to the asylum.
“Come on, Adrian … I’m bored … Jordy’s been busy with work and the police, poor Dorian, I hope they find him soon … or maybe he’ll show up and turn out he’s fine or forgotten to call or something like that,” even though it was highly unlikely, Esmee would keep her hopes up like that. “It’ll take our mind off Dorian for a little bit … right?” now she looked a little disappointed that Adrian might turn her down.
“Okay,” he replied and brought back the smile he would never want to leave Esmee’s face. They mounted Adrian’s motorbike and Esmee wrapped her arms around his waist. He can feel her heartbeat on his back and her face on his shoulder. He thought he was dreaming the nicest dream he had ever had. As they strolled along the streets towards the town center, Esmee was playing her fingers against the wind, her hair blowing left a sweet scent of her shampoo in the air and she was giggling as strands of her hair tickled Adrian’s neck. She tightened her clasp when the motorbike took a sharp turn.
He parked his bike in front of a dessert parlor called Sweet Marry Mae. Everything in there was in pastel color. From the pink and yellow canopy, the green door, the blue counter, everything looked like candy. Esmee chose the seats by the front window where they can see the streets outside. Marry Mae came with the menu, she did the order herself, a couple of staff working behind the counter and a couple of waitresses waited on other tables. Her husband and son were in the kitchen making desserts.
Everyone at the shop was staring at the guy in the black hoodie because he looked out of place. Daylight-ers don’t wear black or grey, it was too depressing for their taste. Soon enough they were already whispering with each other because the ‘hoodie guy’ came in with the town’s sweetheart.
“Don’t mind them … they’re just not used to new faces here,” Marry Mae said while chewing on bubblegum. “Hey sweetheart, so what can I get you today?” She took a pen from her chest pocket and a notebook from her lower pocket.
Esmee didn’t take long to order, she knew everything on the menu, “I’ll have a Strawberry Sorbet with Vanilla Ice Cream and some raspberry syrup sprinkled with pecans … oh! And some canned raspberry on the side, please.”
Marry Mae smiled, “That’s a good choice pumpkin, and for you?” she turned to Adrian who was still struggling with his choices. “You see those boys out there?” Marry asked. They both looked outside and saw a group of high school boys was hanging out across the street. “They’ve been hangin’ out around here frequently lately … it’s that Killian boy, you know that boy?” she pointed to one of the boys who stood out. He was a tall and good looking boy that seemed to be the leader of the group. They both shook their heads. “I’ve seen Cromwell’s limo pulled up the street and picked him up every day for the past few weeks,” they fell silent. “Funny … why would they pick up boys from the street around here?” Marry Mae was still looking at the boys when she realized that she was ranting on her own.
“Anyways … you must be full from the canned veggies you had for lunch … hahaha … it’s hard to decide a dessert when you’re full,” she tried to break the ice with an awkward laugh. “People are getting bored with those cans, maybe they should start changing the flavors now it’s been too long they haven’t done that.”
Adrian inhaled deeply and put down the menu, “I’ll just have the same,” he said.
“Good choice! I’ll give you a complimentary pineapple sorbet on the side, it’s our brand new flavor!” Adrian let out an awkward smile.
“Thank you Marry Mae,” said Esmee.
“It’s true though, they haven’t changed the flavors on the cans for a long while now … some of my favorites haven’t been on the shelves for months,” Esmee continued the conversation with Adrian, he just shrugged, he didn’t care much about food nor the fact that some food was harder to get those days. He’s been eating the same thing for years and everything was just tasteless in his mouth.
“So … how’s Jade? How did she take the news about Dorian?” He didn’t really know the answer to that. “It’s scary, isn’t it? I never imagined something like this could happen here, people have gone missing and their families are just waiting in sorrow for news … or something …”
“Something’s changing … I don’t know what it is but people are slightly changing their routines at night,” Adrian said.
“I always wonder what you do every time you go out on your own … what do you see, Adrian?”
“They go inside much earlier now … nightcrawlers are gathering in the corners of the streets … discussing, planning, they don’t usually do that …”
“No, I mean … do you see anything ‘supernatural’ like they say in the daylight, spirits of the old world roam the night, they say,” Esmee was intrigued.
Adrian smiled, “No … nothing of the sort … just beautiful darkness … the city looks so much different at night and quiet … but the trees, they spoke to each other, it seems like they have a language of their own … I love listening to the leaves blowing.”
Esmee was captivated by the way Adrian described his night, “And what do they say … the leaves?” she held her face in one hand. Adrian blushed, he realized he wasn’t making sense.
“Nothing … it’s silly … I just thought …” he stopped.
“Why do you spend so much time alone? Is it because you’re looking for answers? About your mother and father?” Esmee mentioned a seriously sensitive question. Adrian went back to his silent mode, he just smiled and withdrew from the conversation.
“I’m sorry … I didn’t mean to strike a nerve, I can’t imagine forgetting about something so important in your life, I wish I could help,” she compassionately held Adrian’s hand.
Adrian looked down, his memory loss was the biggest and darkest hole in his soul. Apart from the dreams he had about his mother’s death, he didn’t really remember anything leading up to that scene nor the moments afterward. He had re-lived his mother’s death over and over again without knowing what really happened. All he knew, his mother had died in a horrible way and his father blamed him for that. He was abused by his father after his mother’s death until the day his father disappeared.
“Maybe they do … roam the night, the spirits I mean, you just see them as beautiful darkness.” She reached over to Adrian’s hood and took it off, “Why do you always cover yourself like that? I want to see you when you’re talking … you know you don’t do that very often, I feel so privileged when you do,” she smiled. For a moment their eyes met and interrupted by the sorbet serving on their table.
“Esmee loves to talk … sometimes too much,” Jordy once told him. Daylight-ers do that. For Adrian, Esmee was always an exception. He didn’t mind at all. It’s less effort for him and he can listen to her ranting about the taste of her sorbet, the dress she just bought, how Jordan didn’t make time for her, how much she wanted to be a dancer, what colors she liked, anything and everything about her and he listened intently because he might just be the only person in Mofocity who wanted to know that much about her.
The sunlight kissed her, the hair on her skin glowed. Her almond-shaped eyes twinkled every time she smiled, the blue of her eyes stood out against the bright yellow sun that shone through the glass window where they sat. Her sharp pointy nose wrinkled when she laughed and those thin pink lips looked almost perfect on her face. Adrian looked away. He didn’t like his mind when he looked at her for too long. He tried to enjoy his dessert, but he couldn’t enjoy it more than the company he was with. It truly was a good day for a sorbet.