Days After You's

Chapter 36 - Birthday? (2)

My heart won't calm down before buying Stella a present tonight, so after the restaurant, I didn't drive home but I took her to one of the top jewelry stores.

Stella was immediately shocked at the first second she saw the big signboard of the building we stopped by, but she wasn't sure what we needed there yet.

"Luiz, you need jewelry?" Stella asked, stepping out of the car.

"Yes for your birthday gift."

Stella turned away as fast as lightning, "Eh no need, Luiz. I rarely wear jewelry. That's enough for me."

"Stella, this is my gift, if you refuse it will make me feel uncomfortable, so just accept it," I put a hand on Stella's back to keep her going, "Choose which one you like inside, okay? I'm sure there's something that suits you."

"But Luiz..."

"Come on."

I was greeted directly by the shop owner who was none other than one of my acquaintances. He took me and Stella to explore the storefront after storefront containing various kinds of jewelry from gems to plain ones made of white gold layers.

"Is there anything that draws the eye?" Erik asked with a big smile. His eyes were staring at me and Stella.

There was one necklace that stood out in my eyes at that time—a necklace with a crescent shape pendant of crystal stone—but I didn't want Stella to choose it just because I said it was a nice necklace and suits him. I want him to choose himself first, then buy him the necklace. That way he gets what he wants and I keep giving him what I choose.

I turned to Stella, "Is there anything you like? Or want to see another one?"

Stella leaned in disgusting to get a clearer vision into the glass display case. Not long after, his eyes concentrated on one thing he then pointed at.

"...that one."

My eyes followed the direction of pointing fingers and immediately my eyelids opened wide when I found the thing he meant. That's the same necklace I wanted to pick for him. I didn't expect this. Did I know Stella long enough to guess her preference for something?

"This one? Oh...Selene Necklace, a good choice" said Erik as he moved to retrieve the necklace, "Inspired by the Moon Goddess in Greek mythology, Selene. And made of solid silver plated in twenty-four carats gold, if the stone is real swarovski crystal."

I grabbed the jewelry box she took out and looked at the necklace more closely, "So not pure gold?"

Carefully, I put it on Stella's neck. And sure enough, the necklace fell beautifully on the circle of his neck.

"Beautiful" I muttered and Stella's cheeks flushed. I turned back to Erik.

"That's not it, if you want that pure gold there's something else like this," Erik took out a box containing another necklace, "The same shape of the moon as well but plain without gems."

"Nothing is the same as this but from pure gold?" I asked again, this time helping Stella who was about to remove her necklace.

Erik put his hand under his chin, "If you want Luiz, I can order a special one for you made of real gold to the maker. But you may have to pay three or four times the original price. How's it?"

"OKAY. Just like that," I said as I put the necklace back in the box. I want Stella to get the best, about the price to spend it is not a problem.

"Luiz is good" whispered Stella in the middle of Erik was tidying the boxes back into the storefront.

I smiled slightly, "It's okay, we just wait for that order."

As a guarantee, I paid a down payment of the original price of the necklace which was worth three million— which turned out to be very cheap from my estimate—and out of the store with Stella. From there we went straight home.

"Thank you again, Luiz. Even though you don't have to bother," Stella said upon our arrival at home. The smile on my lips returned to my body.

"Either. If you come later, you'll have to take good care of him."

"OK, I promise," Stella nodded with determination, so I couldn't help but scramble her hair slowly because of that.

That same night, in my room, I didn't land right away sleeping. Instead, I was fiddling with the idea of Goddess Selene being the inspiration for the necklace that Stella and I chose. I don't believe there were any gods in my past life other than to think of it as a popular belief in ancient civilizations, but I wonder what this image of the Moon Goddess looks like in ancient Greek society.

Based on my quest of about fifteen minutes, the Moon Goddess Selene is a goddess synonymous with passion, kindness and a loving heart. Unlike his older brother Helios the glaring Sun God, he was more hidden behind shadows. He is also more alone.

Gee.

The characteristic resemblance that Moon Goddess Selene had with Stella was so amazing, I was at a loss for words. What a wonderful coincidence for me and Stella because they are both interested in choosing a necklace that is inspired by this character. Now I really want to see Stella wearing that necklace again around her neck.

From looking for information about Dewi Bulan I moved to a Facebook social media account that I have not touched anymore, I was quite surprised to know that it turns out there are still many who use it now including Stella. I tried to remember the password I used but in the aftermath I kept misinputing it, so I chose to change the password just now rather than taking a long time from trying to remember it.

Entering the Home page, I saw my unread notifications there were countless consequences of long time left behind, but I ignored that and immediately typed Stella's name in the search box. Some names came up but I clicked on an account whose profile was a cat. And the right guess, it's the Stella I know.

Stella is not exactly active in using her account but I can see her uploading photos several times for important moments there. There are photos of him with a cat or dog time at an animal shelter, a road on his way to City D, a selfie with Kat at his wedding, and some plants in this house. Oh and of course the photos of the food that the recipe he just tried were also there.

My thumb did not stop to swipe the screen down to see another upload until an old photo passed by managed to hold me. It was a picture of Stella with her family, but what pinched my attention was the man standing next to Stella back then. The man wearing sunglasses and long hair looked so foreign, I don't remember seeing him anywhere even during family events. Is he a distant family that just happens to be overseas right now? But in this photo it seems she is very familiar with Stella and her parents. When did he not come to our wedding?

Just look at the way she was embracing Stella so tightly, it couldn't be just an ordinary acquaintance. Who is this guy?

 

Who the hell is it??