Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

It seemed like perfectly normal evening for Dyrus Kane as he checked his trusty old digital watch for the third time in fifteen minutes and waited patiently for his ‘date’ that night. As the familiar figure slowly walked towards him amidst the peak-hour crowd, he smiled faintly and straightened up to meet her.

 

“Hey! Sorry I’m late.”

 

Dyrus wave the apology off. “Nah, I knocked off early anyway, not much work to do.”

 

“You’re the commanding officer of one of the sea troops in our country, and you don’t have much work to do?” Crislynn Cho raised an eyebrow and teased him cheekily. “I think I will fly off to another country if there’s a war here.”

 

That was the way she is, Dyrus thought and smiled. “CC”, as he likes to call her; Cute and Cheeky.

 

Of course, it was pure coincidental that CC stood for her initials as well.

 

He wasn’t really sure of when, but somewhere along the past ten years he had known her, he had gotten used to this mischievous cheekiness of hers. She was always able to conjure a rebuttal choked with either sarcasm or humor, or both; a reason why he enjoyed sparring with her verbally all the time.

 

Dyrus wisely chose to ignore that statement with a classic roll of his eyes and took a good look at his 'date' for the night. She donned dark jeans and a white halter, complimenting her deep tanned complexion, her dark waist-long hair which she tied into a ponytail and her, despite claims of the contrary, pleasantly slim figure. He could never understand why she consistently complained about her horizontally advancing figure when to him, she had not fattened at all over the past decade.

 

As far as he was concerned, she always looked good.

 

They made their way towards a restaurant-bar by the river bay in comfortable silence and headed for one of the empty dining rooms available in the restaurant with the view of the river. Despite her efforts to act normal, Dyrus could tell that something was on Crislynn’s mind that evening.

 

Curiosity gnawed him, but he resisted the urge to ask. Having known her for ten years, Dyrus knew Crislynn’s character like the back of his own hand. She was one who liked to listen to problems and one who appreciate having someone to share her problems with. She disliked bottling up her problems and believed by sharing them, it would help in coming up with a solution.

 

If Crislynn had something to share with him, she will do so on her own time; rushing or pushing her will only make her more withdrawn.

 

“I’m trying the club sandwich set, I’ve heard some good reviews about it,” Crislynn said, pushing the menu aside. “What about you? Pizza?”

 

 “Please, spare me. I’ve had one too many pizzas and western sets while I was on vacation in New York.” Dyrus groaned at the memory of his recent holiday. He took another look at the menu.

 

“Two club sandwich sets, please.” Dyrus said, nodding to the waiter. “And your signature iced tea.”

 

Crislynn handed the menu back to the waiter and continued nonchalantly. “And a bottle of your house rice spirit.”

 

Dyrus raised an eyebrow, but Crislynn didn’t see his look of surprise. She turned towards the river, the usual sparkle in her eyes absent, her gaze far away, as though staring at a distant star.

 

Their drinks came and Dyrus watched her poured herself a glass of the spirit and finished it in one draught. She gasped softly as the liquid burnt its way down her throat, bringing tears to her eyes.

 

“Smooth,” Crislynn commented hoarsely and blinked away her tears. She refilled her glass and tipped the liquid down her throat again, igniting a fierce, red blush across her cheeks. “So, how was your trip?”

 

He couldn’t stand it any longer. “What’s wrong with you tonight?”

 

“Tonight?” She was about to refill her glass the third time when Dyrus reached over and placed a hand on her glass.

 

“Should I start with the fact that you’re ordered something with an alcohol percentage of thirty-percent,” Dyrus looked straight into her eyes. “Or the fact that something is wrong with you and you’re drinking hard liquor to fool yourself that everything is alright?”

 

Crislynn fell silent. “How did you know?” 

 

“Crislynn, I think I’ve come to know you pretty well over the past ten years,” Dyrus sighed in exasperation. “You didn’t ask me out tonight to ask me about my trip, you didn’t come to this restaurant for the food and you’re obviously not drinking because you’re celebrating.”

 

He pulled the bottle of spirit away from her. “Something is wrong with you, and I want to be here for you.”

 

“Don’t shut me out again.”

 

Silence ensued as Crislynn stared into Dyrus’ gentle, light brown eyes and looked away. It was a long while after before she spoke up again.

 

“Dyrus, remember I told you about my engagement?

 

He nodded his head. “Yes, and you asked me to be on the wedding committee.”  

 

Crislynn looked up at the darkening skies, her hands slowly folding around her arms as though protecting them from the wind. It was only then he noticed that she wasn’t wearing her engagement ring.

 

“Yes, I did.” Crislynn’s gaze seemed fixed upon the sky. “But you needn’t to now.”

 

“My fiancé called off the engagement.”

 

*~*~*

 

“Dyrus?”

 

“Hey, how are you?” Dyrus smiled at the sound of his old friend’s voice. When was the last time she called him? 2 months ago? Or was it 3?

 

He missed her calling him, sometimes to rant, sometimes to chew his ear off, or sometimes…

 

“I’m getting married!” Crislynn’s voice came over the earpiece like a shrill whistle, dangerously sharp enough to break his eardrums and interrupted his reminiscing thoughts. “I’m getting married!”

 

Almost automatically, Dyrus held his phone away from his ear and let Crislynn’s hysterical screams echo in his room through his earpiece, a situation he wasn’t unfamiliar with. Rolling his eyes, his train of thoughts continued.

 

Or sometimes, she called simply to drop him a bombshell. 

 

After a while, the shrieking stopped and Dyrus cautiously placed his earpiece to his ear again. “Well then, Miss Cho, you were saying?”

 

“I’m getting married,” Crislynn panted lightly, her pitch distinctively lower, but her excitement was almost tangible. “Anthony proposed to me last night!”

 

“Congratulations! When’s the big day?”

 

“Next summer! And you, Mr Kane, are expected to be part of my wedding committee!”

 

Dyrus felt a grin spreading across his cheeks, a sweet warm feeling filling his heart and coursing into the rest of his body as he heard himself replying, “Of course!”

 

*~*~*

 

Dyrus contained his shock and swallowed his exclamation, knowing fully well that an outburst was not what Crislynn needed at the moment. He loosened his grip on the bottle and she took it back without a word. As their meal arrived, he kept quiet but continued observing his friend as she ignored her sandwich but continued drinking. He didn’t know when it started, but watching her was something he often did when they’re alone.

 

His eyes ran over the face he had come to know so well over the years. Several strands of hair hung loose from her ponytail, gently framing her heart-shaped face and her finely sculpted cheekbones. As she finished the last of the alcohol, the hint of rose on her cheeks slowly spread across her face and down to her neck. Her eyes were dulled and subdued as the river wind picked up her long hair and played them across her face, like the brushes of a skilled artist painting into her profile the colors of melancholy, despair and…

 

Sorrow.

 

As though lost in a maze, he found himself unable to take his gaze away from her. Time stopped and he thought the moment was frozen, when he saw a single tear trickling down. Before he realized what he was doing, he reached over and brushed the tear away.

 

He felt her startle under his touch, her eyes widened, shining with unshed tears like emeralds. His heart constricted at the sight and he shifted, sitting next to her and enveloping her into his arms, much like the way he did six years ago on that beach.

 

“Dyrus, what are you…”

 

Dyrus tightened his hold around Crislynn silently, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. He heard Crislynn took a deep breath and felt her shoulder shaking as she buried her face into his shoulder to muffle her sobs. Her sobs reached deep into his chest and squeezed it with such intensity that he himself, almost stopped breathing.

 

“Just cry your heart out,” he whispered, feeling her tears soaked through his shirt and stung his skin like acid.

 

“I’ll be here.”

 

*~*~*

 

He knew of her existence at a forum for one of science fiction series he was fond of. He thought nothing of her claims of being “The Biggest Fan”. They had some interaction during forum discussions, and later in the chat-rooms, but he barely wondered how this “Biggest Fan” looked like.

 

As a matter of fact, he didn’t even know she was a girl.

 

The first time they met each other, it was at a meet-the-author gathering. Needless to say, he was nervous about meeting a bunch of strangers and the author of the novels… alone.

 

She stood out from the group. Her white sleeveless top set off her long, lean arms and evenly tanned complexion, her unruly hair tied up in a ponytail that seems to swing at her every movement. He remembered thinking she looked ‘sporty and nerdy’, as a pair of square-shaped glasses sat on the bridge of her nose. She had all the awkwardness of a growing teenager trying to look like an adult, but she exhibited a child-like exuberance as she stuck her hand out and introduced herself as the “Biggest Fan”. 

 

“Hi! I’m Crislynn!” She grinned, and he noticed that her eyes sparkled brightly like emerald gems placed under the sun.

 

“Erm… Dyrus.”

 

“Is this your first time attending the gathering? This is my second!” Before he could digest what she said, she was dragging him around, introducing him to the other forum members she knew, like a little girl showing off her new toy to her friends. Her energy was contagious and the group of butterflies flying in his stomach slowly dissipated. Soon he was chatting with the group like long-lost classmates catching up during a class reunion.

 

At the gathering, he began to realize how she dared to proclaim herself as the “Biggest Fan” of the series. He never imagined anyone who had the chance to go for an overseas vacation would put finding translated versions of the novel as top of their agenda, but on that day, he had an eye-opener as she fished out 3 books translated into 3 different languages.

 

“Oh, I wondered how the translated version would be like. So I went to every bookshop we passed and found them.”

 

“But… You can’t read them!” Granted, given her heritage, it made sense if she bought the Chinese translated novel, but…

 

Japanese?

 

Korean?

 

Her response?

 

“So?”

 

He was utterly speechless.

 

Growing up in a male-dominated family, he’s always had the stereotypical thinking that girls of her age would be more interested in men, fashion, makeup rather than science fiction novels that speaks of a world several centuries in the future. And yet, she was able to engage into long and strong discussions with him regarding ranging from the time-traveling theme of Book 1 to the growing romantic interest between a commander and an enemy in Book 7.

 

He was amazed how he could hold a conversation that lasts hours, even days with a stranger he barely knew. But he enjoyed talking, arguing with her and seeing the animated responses that accompanied her words. For the first time in seventeen years, someone was on the same frequency as he was, having and understanding the same ideas as he had.

 

At that moment, he never expected that this meeting will spark off a friendship that lasted for the next 10 years.

 

*~*~*

 

 

Reviews

[courtney]

again amazing work loving the story