21 Cry it Ou

When Lyra woke up back in her bed, it was already five past noon and she could already guess how she got back seeing as her clothes were not changed. Rose taped a little note next to her nightstand assuring her that everything was taken care of before she fell asleep on the couch.

Lyra crawled out of bed before heading to the kitchen to make dinner. Rose woke from the smell of spaghetti carbonara and drifted to the table where she was served a hot plate full.

"Thanks for taking care of the shop and everything. You're really the best," Lyra thanked before digging into her own meal.

Rose put a fork full of pasta in her mouth and waved her hand casually. "No worries. This is good!" she exclaimed said while chewing. Waking up to a delicious home-cooked meal was repayment enough.

The little chef smiled before poking at her own food. She curled the strings with her fork and blew on it until it was cold before stuffing it in her mouth and moving her jaw in a bored manner, thoughts on something else.

"Oi, Ly. You okay?" It didn't take a genius to know she had no appetite. Lyra nodded before chewing a little faster. "Wanna talk 'bout it?" Rose offered but Lyra shook her head. It must've had to do with Kurtis then.

After dinner, the girl went back to do some accounting before going to bed again so that she could rise early to make sure everything was in order for the wedding.

Rose couldn't feel any more sorry for Lyra. She was flooded with work and had to be in charge with the floral arrangements for her sister's wedding. But worse of all, she was preparing a wedding for the one she loved to be married to someone else.

It wasn't just Kurtis, but Rose felt Lyra was disconnecting from her too. It wasn't intentional, but it only made sense since she may be shy about her knowing her deepest secret. After all, it wasn't like Lyra wanted to be found crying in the middle of the night for reasons that were wrong to start with.

How could she fall in love with her sister's boyfriend?

But Rose understood. How could she not?

Unfortunately, Lyra was just joining the band of girls who got their hearts broken by the ultimate playboy of the century. Sure Kurtis wasn't intentionally toying with any of them, but it's partially his fault for being so himself. His cousin didn't know how to judge him anymore.

'It shouldn't matter now anyways,' Rose thought as she stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom. Kurtis was getting married in less than twenty-four hours and she needed all the energy she could save up so that she could entertain the guests at the wedding.

After all, a lot of people—some she wanted to see and most she much rather not—were going to be there. Her main goal was just to stick by Lyra because she would make for the best company anyway.

When Rose couldn't bring herself to fall asleep, she headed over to the other room to check if her roomie was suffering the same problem. She wasn't.

Lyra originally was ready to retire before she got a reply from Angela who asked for a slight order change in the bridal bouquet. Instead of a mix of red and white roses that Lyra recommended, she wanted the entire bunch to be red. Nothing spells passion for your groom better than red roses she reasoned.

Thus, knowing that it would be a rush to prepare tomorrow, Lyra went back downstairs to start a new bridal bouquet. She only turned on the back lights of the shop so she could work.

Surely she didn't expect when someone tried opening the door. Standing up from the counter, she tried to see out but it was too dark.

[Was it a customer?]

There shouldn't be any visitors so late at night. All her neighborhood regulars knew the shop closed at 7PM but now was almost four hours past that! The figure wasn't too visible from her angle, but it was surely a man from the height and build.

[Could it be a robber?]

Lyra glanced at the shop alarm that she forgot to set. Her heart rate jumped a little when the shadow outside was shaking the doorknob. It started out quiet, but then escalated to a violent shake within seconds.

The frightened girl felt around her pockets, but realized her cell phone was left by her nightstand. She then reached for the wireless landline phone at the other end of the counter, but when she tried to dial Rose, a click of the front caused her to freeze and look up.

Her fingers became stiff and her mind went blank as she inserted the last number incorrectly. The masked man was approaching and Lyra's didn't know what to do.

The guy dressed in black brought a gloved hand to his mouth as he approached with quick strides, telling her to stay quiet.

"Ro…se?" Lyra's voice trembled as he walked closer. "Rose!" she yelled a little louder, but her voice couldn't break the deafening silence.

A sharp object slipped from the man's sleeve when Lyra backed to the wall behind the counter. She was already cornered.

"ROSE!" she called again, tears to her eyes. Her hands shook as she tried to focus on the numbers to call the police.

"PUT THE PHONE DOWN," the man ordered as he entered through the counter.

Lyra held onto it as long as she could, praying with all her might someone would answer.

"Hello? What is your emergency?" an operator finally asked from the other end of the line.

"Help-" she tried to shout, but the stronger man covered her mouth with his hand.

He then roughly shoved the defenseless Lyra against the wall before stealing the phone out of her hand and laughing.

"My sis was doing a prank call. Sorry," he said too calmly and naturally before hanging up.

Lyra swallowed hard as he threw the phone on the floor and replaced it with his knife. Her eyes followed as he brought the object closer for her to see.

"Shh…Why are you crying?" he asked. "I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to talk."

When tears continued to run down her cheeks, his eyes softened. "Don't you recognize me? You always smile when you see me. Oh is it because of the mask?" he asked before pulling it off his face.

Her eyes widened when she recognized the man who was in her shop a few months prior. She hadn't seen him since Kurtis chased him out. What did he want?

Seeing that the pretty florist did react, he was satisfied. "You aren't at the shop these days. I was worried when I didn't see you. Where were you?"

Lyra still couldn't process everything that was going on. She only wanted to get out of this mess.

The guy removed his hand covering her mouth, but brought the knife closer. "Where were you?" he repeated.

The shaking girl opened her mouth. "At…um…the ma..market?" Not knowing what else to reveal.

"LIAR!" he barked as he turned around and walked in a small circle of frustration to talk to himself. "You were walking to the convenience store and then the bakery down the block and you took the subway but then came back in his car," he began mumbling like an incantation.

Lyra took the time to analyze a possibility of escape from the counter, but before any ideas came up, he turned to her once more.

"YOU! You were with that cripple. I saw you!" he accused as if it was a crime. "What's so good about him?" he asked, waving his knife again and Lyra cringed up against the wall again. "ANSWER ME!"

"He's…he's…just a friend."

The man looked at her suspiciously, but willing to listen.

"He's getting married and just wanted to…buy flowers…He offered to drive me back after I placed the…flower order for his…wedding…at the market," she whimpered in broken segments.

He looked at her. "Really?" he asked curiously.

Lyra nodded and pointed at the bridal bouquet in the making. "That's for his wedding too."

A smile crept onto his face. "So that means I'm still your boyfriend right?" he asked fervently while grabbing both her hands in his. "You're not mad about last time right?"

The girl understood the situation and obediently shook her head.

"Great! Let's go home!" he said in excitement and pulled at her wrist.

The girl stumbled forward at the force from which he exerted. "Let me at least tell Rose so she doesn't worry about me," Lyra tried to convince him when they were almost out the door.

"Rose can wait-" he turned around to say, but was kicked right in the center of the chest before releasing his grip and falling backwards.

Lyra felt a strong arm pull her behind as she was shielded from the vision of the perpetrator by Rose's slender and tall build.

When the stalker tried getting up, two officers held him down and cuffed him. He was kicking and shouting before he got in the car, cursing at the two shopkeepers and promising to come back.

Another officer came to ask for details and Rose answered cooperatively. She was upstairs when she heard strange noises. When she noticed Lyra wasn't in her room, she went down to check but overheard their conversation and immediately dialed the police. And the minute she chose to interfere, the police showed up right on time.

"Officer, he's going to jail right?" Rose asked sternly after giving Lyra who was sitting on the bench a worried glance.

The officer shrugged. "Depends. The judge might just let him go with a warrant or a restraining order. This is actually more common than you think. If he did anything prior to this incident, you can report it to the police so we can file it on record. That may affect the case," he advised before walking over to Lyra, dropping a few words, and driving away in his police car.

"You okay?" Rose asked when she planted herself on the bench next to Lyra who nodded. "I would've kicked that bast*rd a few more times if the police didn't show up," Rose bit out angrily.

She then whipped out her phone and scrolled down the contact list. Lyra stopped her before she pressed on the person she was aiming to call.

"Please don't tell Angela or Kurtis."

"Why not? You were assaulted and almost kidnapped by a f*cking stalker Lyra!" Rose stood up to emphasize her point.

Lyra shook her head. "They're probably nervous enough for the wedding. Nothing happened tonight so there's no need to worry them."

Rose paced around a little before sitting down next to her friend. Of course she knew the real reason. If Kurtis showed up right now, Lyra would just feel worse about everything.

Right now, she's learning to detach from him. If he showed up at such a vulnerable moment, she'll just get more attached and reliant. That would only cause her more heartache—something she was so sick of.

"I got it," Rose said and drew Lyra in closer. "I won't say anything."

If Rose actually called Kurtis, Lyra knew she would literally break down in front of them. She knew Rose was doing her a favor for keeping yet another secret, but that only proved that she was someone trustworthy.

Lyra nodded a thanks before leaning her head on Rose's shoulder for support. She bit down on her lip to stop the trembling and to withhold the tears.

"You have to smile," her friend said as she tightened her hold. "No matter what, you have to smile tomorrow."

The quiet girl moved her head and Rose clenched her fist as she withheld her own tears.

"So cry it all out tonight. I won't tell anyone," she assured.

Lyra was still confused about her current feelings and emotions, but she knew one thing—right now, she wanted to do nothing but listen to Rose. And she did.