The Start of Winter

“I look stupid?” Gryphon erased all the sorry on his face, wearing a cold glare to replace his worried gaze. How could he forget that this girl had been always so cheeky that he would smack her just for saying things? He just gave her a warning finger gesture. “You’re lucky we’re in a hospital. I can’t be caught flicking your forehead… oh, wait, I can do that!”

“What? No!” At the finger threatening to painfully flick her forehead, Andrea shot her hands up to catch his own hand. However, the bruises and overall weakness of her body kept her from moving all that much. She winced, not at the pain of the flick.

With a snort, Gryphon took back his hand that didn’t even land on her face. His phone had also pinged as if it was not meant to be too distracting. He just pulled on his clothes to smooth them as he sat up properly. “I’ll get the nurses to check up on you. I have to arrange for matters. Just stay here as long as you’re not yet okay.”

He didn’t even wait for Andrea to answer before leaving. Andrea only looked up at his vanishing image until he disappeared behind the door. For some reason, she felt a change in the air around him. Then again, briefly recalling that he was in a suit, she figured he was indeed attending to his family’s businesses at this time. She didn’t even know how long she was out.

The only thing she knew was that she could wallow in the false security of being away from Mathias’s reach. She sunk into the soft bed of the private ward, not even looking around at everything else. At least, if she stayed still and did not open her eyes, there was a chance that Mathias would miss her even if he came looking for her. The very thought made her heart pound, only for them to subside quickly.

…

Andrea stayed in the hospital for a few more hours. She was weak from the beating, but her bruises didn’t turn into fatal ones. She didn’t know if it was rooted in her body’s strange tolerance that was built from the first few times. However, that never meant that she was okay.

With a cup of milk in her hands, Andrea watched the view from the huge box window to her left. The afternoon was cold and dark, the rains battering the glass almost as they did last night. The memories of that time flowed quite soundlessly in her mind, her heart pounding at the thought of what if Mathias managed to chase her under the rain before she even met Gryphon again.

Sip. She sipped on the milk carefully, her grip shaking under the weight of the glass. However, she used the warmth of the drink to drown her fears. She even tried to smile through it all.

Knock, knock. Andrea opened her eyes and saw that someone knocked on her open door to attract her attention. The man’s face was tame and almost radiated with benevolence. His smile was kind and glad, and his gaze was rather excited as if meeting a dear friend…

Which he was.

“Ashley?” Andrea was shocked to find the man visiting her today. However, she realized that he wore crutches and what seemed to be robotics supporting his hips all the way to his two feet. She put down the empty glass in her hands. “Ashley, I… I want to say it’s so nice to see you again… but what… what happened to you? That looked so awful.”

“Sadly, it wasn’t a chick that run me over.” Ashley laughed as if lifting the atmosphere, making Andrea pout at his words. “Actually, it was a disease. I’m happy that the costs are nothing compared to the expenses I normally have. I have become a wastrel like Griff, it seems.”

He then moved toward the bed and chose to sit down on the stool as it had a harder surface. “How have you been, Andy? Aside from running away from a terror person.”

Andrea chuckled as she hummed and moved her head as if thinking. “Well… it’s pretty simple. I didn’t get to live the high life of modeling… because I got more fascinated by the bejeweled watches that I first posed for. Do you know? Do you know? It can take weeks for a single timepiece to be made!

“Just like your watch! I mean… wait, can I see it?” She then squinted to take a look at what Ashley had on his wrist. When she received it from the man, she had a small smile. “I took you for a man who would settle for plain designers. I never thought you’d wear something with colored crystals on them.”

She would say that, but she stared at the watch as if it was the eyes of her love. The white and silver watch had small blue, yellow, and orange crystals peppering the face. The center was marked with a purplish one, as well as the heads of the hands that glided smoothly. On the side was a window for the digital reading, framed by silver crystals mixed with some pink.

It was more of a display piece than one that was made for everyday use. It didn’t seem to be designed for the manliest, either. However, one would say that it wasn’t made for women because of the size and perceived lack of soft elegance. It was as if made for a set, but the matching piece was still not released.

Andrea turned the watch over and felt the engraved signature of the company circling around the back. She could make out the words ‘Monarch’s Delight’ as if she knew where to find the name. Sigh, she didn’t know when she could even go back.

“It caught my eye during an auction.” Ashley didn’t answer fast as if he noticed how the woman caressed his watch as if she was even in love with it. If he wasn’t as attracted to it as she was, he could have given the watch to her. “I thought… it’s something that you might make, given some chance to design a watch. Sorry, it really reminds me of you.” 

At those words, Andrea paused perusing the watch she had in her hands. She looked up at him and stared for so long that Ashley had to lift his brows. Her mouth opened before she whispered: “I work in Monarch. You’re not wrong to assume… I really designed this one.”

She looked down at it and chuckled. “Though, it made my superior kick me to the production floor. They thought the design was too awful for their line of watches, and they put it up for auction to make a point. They never told me how much money the watch fetched from there, but they did tell me that I was barred from designing one again. 

“For it to land in my hands… I never even saw this watch when it was first made.” Andrea handed it back to Ashley who only held his hand out to receive it. “I guess it really screamed too much of me that it sold so badly. Though, it looks so fulfilling to see it physical and working.”

“…sold so badly? Is that what they said?” Ashley chuckled as he wore the watch again. “If that was their judgment, then they must have put a very high standard on their sales. I wouldn’t deny that the watch is not fit for Monarch’s market, and the watch did disappoint a lot of people.”

Andrea took a loud sigh and even sobbed at her wrist.

However, the mischievous saint laughed lightly at the scene. “Don’t get me wrong. Monarch has always made watches and other things with the vision of having the most respectable CEOs wearing their creations, so a timepiece as playful and innocent as this has no place in their collections. 

“As for disappointing people, it was because the ones attracted by the watch thought that Monarch was going for another line of designs.” He moved his head as if looking for the hidden gaze of the woman. “It’s just that… the Winter Equinox is the only one in existence. They were gravely disappointed that Monarch didn’t pursue it.

“I bought this for more than fifteen million, Andy.” The smile was mischievous, but his overall tame aura made it look like an angel was just trying to make her happy. “It’s not much of a far cry compared to their other auctioned watches on that event.”

Andrea’s jaw dropped at the revelation. It’s just that… the more she looked at the watch, the more she remembered that she couldn’t return to Monarch anymore. Mathias would surely find her if she came to report for work. She might have designed a fifteen-million-dollar timepiece, but she could never do it anymore. If she dared, she might just give her life for it.

With a smile, she just sighed and brought her eyes up to meet Ashley’s gaze. “Thanks for letting me know, Ashley. I really love seeing you again!”

Ashley returned the smile before mellowing it. “I heard that Gryphon rushed you here. Did he get in contact with that guy who did that to you? After what happened at his birthday party, I figured he had so much anger in his heart right now. It won’t be good if he got arrested for assault.”

“Hm? Why? What happened at the party?” Andrea only knew the aftermath from Gryphon’s end. As for the ‘so much anger in his heart’ part that worried Ashley, she didn’t even see any of it when he met her. What had possibly happened to the arrogant heir?