In The Shadows Of Love

 "Bella, love, my darling, please, this will be the last time, pretty please" Mia used her most lethal weapon, her puppy eyes, and Bella couldn't say no.

"Okay, then this will be last time, but you have to promise me that this is last time" Bella's melodious voice came, 

"Ah..." Mia stammered a little bit, "This, Bella..." Mia acted like a pitiful little puppy, acting all cute to gain Isabella's sympathy.

"Hahaha,” Isabella laughed loudly,

Then Isabella continued, "Really, Mia, I know that you want to go to that fair; I want to know whenever we go to the monthly fair, you will disappear and leave me alone. Where were you disappearing?"

This time, Isabella became serious because Mia will leave her middle of nowhere in the fair and disappear if this happened once. It would be brushed off as an accident, but damn, every single time if it happens, it's not an accident. Instead, it is well planned, and she is cannon fodder.

Bella isn't against whatever Mia was doing if she is doing something right still if she is doing this because she is hiding something unexplainable, uncomfortable every time she is used as the shield.

This is what aunt always saying about,

Bella smiled sadly, but she hides this perfectly well with her head down. 

Seeing that Mia knew, she couldn't escape from her best friend and the cold and sad aura surrounding Bella.

Mia thought she overdid this time.

But before she could explain anything, Bella just waved her hands in dismiss and said,

"I will come with you, but this will be the last time. "

Then she went out of the room.

Mia could only look at the back of Bella. How can she not know what Bella is thinking, even though she can't tell the exact thing, but can understand that she has hurt Bella very severely?

-----

After splashing a little water on her face, Bella came to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror.

'Bella, why are you always losing your temper like this? See, the only one friend you have in your entire life will be gone now.'

When Bella's mind mocked her, she only had a sad and self-reproaching smile.

Then she walked out of the bathroom, without looking anywhere, just took her bag, and stormed out of the house.

As she was walking in the pedestrian lane, she saw many children playing in the park. This brought a smile, and then a sad shadow loomed in her eyes.

Okay, we are still talking about my life until now, but I didn't introduce myself yet, right? Okay, let's go through my self-introduction.

Hi, 

I am Isabella Davis; everyone calls me Bella, I mean the one close to me.

I have no father, and my mother, Anna Davis, raised me single-handedly. I also have an aunt, but today we will not talk about her because if we start to talk about her, it will not end in one day.

I am now residing in a small town called Wealdstone, and this town is near the vast forest called 'Land Of No Return,’ a strange name, 

but it is the name, as the name suggests no one goes there even in the day let alone night because whoever went, no one returned from there if it is accurate or lies, who has seen it with their eyes, no one just a heart tell and stories.

I am here living alone, and my mum is in the states overlooking her business. 

My mum is one of the rarest things, a CEO of her own business, a chain of hotels worldwide, with a turnover of billions in a year.

Then you guys may be thinking why I am here because I don't want to work in my mum's company, not this early at least, so I have a little cake shop here, called 'love me, bite me.’ I know it sounds bizarre, but this is what the shop is. We always mix up some of the unheard combinations into fantastic desserts, and we are famous in almost all nearby towns; many came here to eat in our shop.

My mum has raised me as a simple and ordinary girl from birth, even having a fortune of money loaded in my bank accounts and company. Because she feels when we go through the pain, we will only understand how painful it is, just like that only when we live everyday life will we realize and recognize the worth of money.

Actually, to my mum’s decision, I have no objection, because this life is what I love, worry-free, and peaceful.

And the person you guys saw at first is my friend, in fact, two of the best friends, maybe she was. 

Yes, you guys read right. I was alone from the start; even when I was studying, no one was interested in befriending me, and I was okay with that, even now also, but also a little bit sad if Mia left me.

Because we have been friends for almost two years, she would be the first person I ever let close to me other than my mum and aunt.

There is another one, and you guys will meet in some time.

And my life has always been calm and peaceful.

This is all about my life, maybe a little too ordinary and usual, but what everyone can do isn't the same.

If you guys wonder what Mia and I are fighting about, that was nothing but a simple matter.

Every month there will be festival in the nearby village called Penshaw, and every time Mia will force me to go there with her. Then in the middle, she will leave me alone there to fend for myself; if this happened once or twice, maybe that will be called coincidence, but every single time, then one thing is sure that Mia, herself, is abandoning me in the middle and going somewhere to do something.

She wouldn’t have cared, but Mia will come again with the same sincere smile every time, which made me feel like an idiot, so today, I just burst out from my hidden anger.

If I think I am better off as being alone, after all, that will make another burden on myself, maybe a sweet responsibility, but still that is a burden, which I always hated being tied down with, so this is a blessing in disguise.

Bella tried to distract her heart from the pain of losing her best friend by consoling herself with sweet lies.

Bella knows that these things aren’t anything factual. Still, with that way, they both have fought, or how much she has shouted, Mia is not willing to bow down and accept witty temper, and Bella always has the principle that ‘if she isn’t in the wrong, then she will never bow down, not even to her mother. If she is wrong, she will ask forgiveness, no matter who is in another party.’

This is what her mother and aunt have taught her, and she knows by heart that this is the path she will follow.

 With many thoughts still wandering around in her head, she went to her bakery, 

which is now open, and filled with many people enjoying their time,

 so she also went to help the workers and chef’s inside.

She is also a pastry chef, and sometimes she will work as a waitress if needed,

Bella, to her surprise, saw Mia eating the cakes, and pastries like a hungry wolf, gobbling all up. She isn’t looking like someone who fought sometime back.

When Mia saw Bella, she only smiled at her, then ate her last piece of the bun, then with some cappuccino, she stood up, hugged and surprised Bella, and said sorry, only two could hear.

Bella knows that Mia has recognized her mistake and wanted to redeem herself; this made her happy and a little bit sad because she thought things were too far until their friendship fell apart.

This fact made her realize that Mia isn’t what she thought she knew because Bella felt what she knew was just the iceberg’s tip, and this girl is more mysterious than she ever thought.

After nothing but simple ‘it’s okay’ to Mia, Bella went inside while tying her apron to bake some desserts.

Mia looked at Bella with some complex emotions,

She knows she has used Bella many times, but she has always turned a blind eye because she thought of her as her rebound. Still, Mia’s actions again slapped her to wake up that you can’t befriend someone with so many layers of secrets because that will make you guys only acquaintances, not friends.

Mia thought she would have expected this to burst out because she knows her friend isn't any gullible, not to understand that she is hiding and vanishing for some time in every fair.