Marine Snow's

Ep. 7: Victoria Black

“I didn't expect we would meet so soon.”

My eyelids are open. I took a deep breath, then took it out slowly. The scent of honey pancakes that came to the table a few minutes ago, still tried to tease me. The wall clock behind the cashier table shows eleven o'clock over ten minutes. My lunch will be here in 5 minutes.

“Aiden Johnson, eh?” said again.

Of all the people in the cafe, I had to sit face to face with this gray-eyed girl. The sleeveless green-and-white polkadot dress she used was rather dazzling to the eyes. It's autumn. Green taste does not fit with the surrounding conditions that begin to turn yellow. It seems that Shofia forgot to say what I like and what I don't, to him.

“You have a good name. Can I just call Aiden?”

I think he was trying to get my attention, staring at the bartender, two tables beside me. With all the patience I had left, I turned my face. “Serah.”

The girl smiled. His body suddenly docked to the table, making his bright brown curly hair move to cover his shoulders up to his elbows. “Good. You can call me Victoria. I hope we can be solid brothers.”

He must be kidding. Brother said? The girl, surnamed Black, may need some stimulants to trigger slow neurons in her brain to move faster. I've put all my strength into irritating someone. The face is not interested, ignoring questions, also the look of dislike. With all three recipes, Dominic usually leaves me immediately and moves as far away as possible. But he was not affected.

“I always dreamed of having a sister. And I think I can count on you for that role, Aiden,” he said, which immediately got a sharp glare from me. I don't like this situation. Not to mention when he added. “It looks like Aiden Black isn't too bad. What say?”

“Do not be silly!” my hardik. Highlight my eyes sharpen. “I will emphasize some important things to you. I am Aiden Johnson, and I will forever be Johnson. I don't care about all Shofia talks about her marriage. That's none of my business. As long as he's in touch with that guy, he doesn't deserve my call to Mom.”

Victoria nodded, then picked up her cola. “The man you're referring to is my father, Aiden. Don't you feel like you have to respect someone older? At least call his name correctly.”

“You tried to teach me, huh?”

“Just remind how right,” he said. After spending a quarter of his cola, he snorted. “Name is David Black. Two words and not hard to say. You agree?”

Funnier.

Does this girl think of me as a fool? David Black's. David Black's. David Black's. I've repeated that name many times in my brain, even I used to scold him often. He's a guy with a daughter who's made things worse for my family. Take the only Johnson I know.

“I think you should agree. You cannot forever be Cordelia, the obedient and obedient child, Aiden. There are always times when you should put ego and lust first as Goneril and Regan did to his father, King Lear. Ego and lust are a sign that you are indeed human.”

King Lear. I read it somewhere. But being not too sure, I tried to reverse the topic. “You do not understand my position and will not per─”

The girl's laughter broke instantly. Either laugh at my response or something. But clearly, he has attracted almost all the attention of cafe visitors. It's mortifying. I've been trying to come to this cafe in inconspicuous clothes ─jeans and a black sweater with a small puma logo on the left chest - so that no one notices our conversation.

And all of that was in vain.

“It looks like Shofia is right. You just love Hamlet and turn a blind eye to Shakespeare's other work.” Victoria shakes. He stopped laughing. His hands were crossed on his chest. “That's not a good attitude, Aiden. Hamlet is not the only Shakespearean work that tells of tragedy and revenge. He still has King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and a few others.”

I leaned my back against the chair without letting go of my sharp gaze at him. So, that last laugh was a response to my ignorance of Shakespeare's other work? It's laughable. He speaks of a less than kind attitude when he himself insults the ignorance of others. This girl's brain must be in trouble.

“I will tell you some interesting things from King Lear, Aiden.”

My eyebrows fused together. “Do you never think that others are reluctant to serve this unimportant rant?”

“I'm not a hero! Don't mind me,” I said impatiently. All of this talk should end immediately before my brain explodes into pieces. “Begini, V. I called you here hany─”

“What did you call me?” ask her with a serious face.

I grunt softly. “I called you here to explain one thing to you. I do not approve of the marriage of David Black and Shofia.”

“Not that I mean, Aiden!” He almost screamed loudly. The cafe manager who was three tables away from him looked at him with a gaze that wanted to prey on the girl. Honey, Victoria didn't see it. “You called me ‘V’!”

My eyeballs are spinning. Oh gosh. Just be right! He was shouting just because of a trivial thing? God wants to punish me today. After trying to accept His punishment, I said. “Your name is too long for me to say. Are you satisfied now?”

Smile expands. The gray iris was glazed over, there were even a few teary-spears falling down. No way! This punishment is more terrible than I thought.

“Aiden, you really kaka─”

“I think I should go soon.” In the next second, my body was already out of the chair. To end this punishment, I let out a deep breath. “Thank you for listening to me. Oh, wrong. I have something to fix. Thank you for babbling indefinitely and taking away my appetite.”

Brilliantly.

I felt above the clouds when I saw Victoria's face turn red. It feels really fun. So I cheerfully left our table, twitching among some servants, until a hand grabbed my shoulder.

I don't know what happens next. I could only feel my body floating, then falling hard on the ceramic floor of the cafe. My head was dizzy and my vision blurred. Even I was unable to recognize someone ─maybe some-who swarmed around me.

I hate my condition being paralyzed like this.

“Aiden, are you okay?”

Dominic's voice dominated my ear canal. Then, gradually, my nose and hazel eyes were caught by my retina. I'm also starting to recognize Dominic's disheveled reddish hair. Also a blue polo shirt and a mask that hangs on both of his earlobes.

“Aiden? Can you hear me?”

I nodded weakly. My head was still spinning, my neck and shoulders were too stiff to move. I've never felt this sick before. But the pain could not cover the situation around me that was going on. We were both in a taxi.

“Dominic? How can you be here? Wasn't yesterday you─”

The driver looked at Dominic at a glance, then refocused on the road with a thud. Dominic, meanwhile, smiled slightly, put on his mask, and then faced the same direction as the Driver after saying a few things to me.

“Victoria died last night. That's the reason we're in the cab.”

For the second time, my body was broken. On the other hand, my brain took out all of its dirty vocabulary in order to be able to curse this state. Blaming Victoria Black for her death and cursing myself. Damnit. Something inside me was screaming, regretting, and feeling face-to-face just a few minutes ago.

It was Dominic's words that finally awakened my entire nerve. But, he also awakened the little devil within me. “And we're going home, Aiden. Memphis is only half an hour from here.”

Damnit.