06 : Party Invitation

Zren woke up in a familiar yet at the same time an unfamiliar dark shady room.

She rubbed her eyes and scanned the surroundings to check if it was indeed her room at the Blue Moon Residence. Her eyebrows knitted together and formed a confused frown. 

Lights were switched off, the room was dark and silent, and only the dim silver light of the bright moon shining through the gaps of the long curtains was the source of the brightness. 

Confused, Zren got up from the bed and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows on the balcony. She tipped her toe to uncover the curtains. 

The moment Zren opened the curtains she jolted out of shock when she saw a familiar person standing on the balcony. 

The person was none other than, Axis. He didn't notice Zren because his back was facing her, and there was a thin glass separating them from each other. 

"Man? Axis?" Zren couldn't help but utter as she touched the glass. She tried to slide the door open but her efforts were in vain. It seemed that it was locked for some reason. 

Zren's frown became even deeper because of extreme confusion. Using her palm she tapped the glass door to get Axis's attention. 

Axis who was standing on the balcony slowly turned around, his pair of lifeless amber eyes met Zren. He let out a bitter yet sincere smile and mouthed, "Zee, I miss you." 

Zren on the other side of the glass door was stunned. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going to happen. Like an angry gorilla who got out of control, she banged the glass door as hard as she could. 

"No, no, please stop!" Zren shouted, the organ inside her ribcage was pounding so fast, so fast, that she could hardly breathe. It felt like she was going to run out of oxygen. 

Axis smiled at Zren and slowly took a step background. He raised one of his hands and bid his last goodbye to Zren. He took his final step and let his body fall together with the wind. 

"Axis!" Zren shouted as she jolted out of her bed. Whole-body was soaked with sweats, making her feel sticky and wet all over her body. 

Beads of sweats fell down one after another, from her temple, down to her cheeks and neck. 

"D@mn, a freaking nightmare again!" Zren couldn't help but curse as she gasp for air, trying so hard to catch her breath. Her heart was beating so fast as if she was chased by someone for kilometers. It felt like there was not enough oxygen around her to allow herself to breathe properly. 

Zren sat on her bed for a few minutes until she finally calmed down and steadied her breathing. Using her fingers she combed her disheveled hair to organize it. 

Her emerald green eyes scanned her room and her gaze fell on the clock pasted on the wall. It was only four-thirty in the morning, so early to start the day, however, Zren had no choice but to get up, because she wouldn't able to get back to sleep after all. 

Zren went to the bathroom while rubbing her eyes, she was still not fully awake. She opened the faucet, washed her face then started to brush her teeth. 

After brushing her teeth Zren stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was in mess like a bird's nest. There's still morning crust on her eyes and worst she looked like a dead person who just came back to life. She washed her face and wiped it with a dry face towel. 

Zren went out of the bathroom and decided to go downstairs so she could make herself a cup of coffee. 

When Zren arrived downstairs, she noticed that the kitchen's lights were on. It looked like Yashi was already awake before her. She then walked in and indeed saw Yashi busy cooking something. 

Yashi looked at the kitchen's entrance and saw Zren wearing a haggard look. She forced a smile at her and greeted in a hoarse voice, "Good morning Yashi." 

"So early? Got a nightmare again?" Seeing how Zren looked so tired, it seemed that she didn't get a good sleep overnight. 

Zren wanted to force a smile to say that she was okay however, she failed. There was no point in lying to Yashi after all, so she could only slowly nod her head as she walked closer to the kitchen counter. 

Yashi didn't say anything and stayed silent. She stopped what she doing and went to make a glass of warm milk for Zren. 

"Here drink this," Yashi said and gave the glass of warm milk she just made. 

Zren sat on the chair and silently stared at the glass of milk placed infront of her. She pursed her lips together and didn't say anything. 

Seeing Zren's awful state Yashi couldn't help but ask, "Are you really okay?" 

Zren glanced at her, eyes were blank and lifeless, not even a single emotion could be seen. She answered in low voice, "I'd be lying if I said I am." 

Yashi helplessly stared at Zren, expression full of pity. She let out a hopeless sigh and said, "Zren, eight years, eight years had already passed since Axis was gone. A long time had already passed, and you should know that sometimes we need to move on for the better. Zren, maybe it's time to let go and forget him, trust me it's for your own good." 

Indeed, it's been a long time.

Eight years ago, more than two years after the twin was born, a week before Zren's nineteenth birthday, Axis, her one and only bestfriend got involved in a tunnel failure. 

And worst there was no survivor, not even a single one. Every people who got stuck in the tunnel never had a second chance to be able to see the morning light again. They stayed in the dark lonely tunnel at the very last moment of their life. 

And Axis was one of them. He was one of the casualties in the accident, one of the people who was stuck in the tunnel until their last strand of breath. He was one of them, he died. 

A tunnel failure that no one had ever predicted. A failure that ended people's lives and dreams. A failure that crashed people's hearts. It was also the same failure that made Zren miserable all these years. The reason why she always woke up in the middle of the night, was the nightmare that hunted her for so many years up until now. 

Axis's death was like a wound that would never heal no matter what medicine Zren would apply. A fresh wound that would always hurt her as if everything had just happened yesterday. 

Zren could still clearly remember, at the very same night, hours after the tunnel collapsed Zren arrived at the site. She saw it with her own eyes, Axis's lifeless corpse laying on the ground, pale and cold. 

Everything, she could still remember everything as if it just happened yesterday. 

Zren's eyes dimmed when she remembered all those memories, she eyed Yashi and said, "Yashi, even though I badly want to forget everything, no matter how hard I try I just can't. Every single night I always dreamed of the same person over and over again, it was none other than, Axis. I'll never be able to forget him, never." 

Zren drank all the remaining milk from the glass and walked out of the kitchen. 

Since it was still early Zren decided to work out to let out some steam. There was a room in the house that she converted into a small gym, it has some simple equipment for working out. 

———— 

It was already five-thirty when Zren was finished. She put everything back in its original places and went to the twin's room to wake them up. 

The twin shared the same room but it was divided into two-dimension. 

There was a huge back-to-back cabinet separating the two bedrooms. It served as a wall barrier. 

Zren opened the door and switched on the lights.

"Get up!" Zren commanded as she walked towards one of the twin's sides, Xhyne. She pulled Xhyne's quilt and lightly tapped his cheek. 

His full name? 

It was Xhyeianze Praseodymous Mindale.

While the other was Zheparios Reneville Mindale, Zhen for short. 

As for why Zren chose those names it was a long story, it was better to save it for later.  

"Get up, you will be late for school!" 

"Five more minutes!" Xhyne answered, his eyes were still shut, and refused to get up. 

"No! I know that your five minutes is equivalent to thirty minutes in normal time, so get up!" 

"Later!" Xhyne mumbled and covered his head with a pillow. 

On the other side, Zren could only shake her head. She was about to go to Zhen's bed when the bathroom door opened. 

Zren was taken aback when she saw who it was. It was none other than Zhen, he was currently wiping his wet head with a towel, it looked like he had just finished bathing. 

Zhen was already finished bathing and even wearing his school uniform. It seemed that he woke up very early. 

"Come here, I'll help you dry your hair." Zren pulled a chair and let Zhen sit on it. She then helped him dry his hair using the blower. 

Zhen smiled and immediately sat on the chair and let his mother dry his hair for him. 

"It's done!" 

"Thank you!" Zhen gratefully said. 

After everything, Zren stood from her seat. She went to Xhyne's side and force him to go to the bathroom. 

Then she went to her room so she could also start preparing for work. 

The three of them including Yashi ate a simple breakfast together that was cooked prepared by Yashi. 

After eating, Zren and the twin got in the car. Since there were not many cars at the moment, Zren hastily stepped on the gas and accelerated the car's speed. 

Zhen and Xhyne who was sitting in the back of the car were so thrilled that they started to convince their mom to make the car even faster. However, of course, Zren didn't listen to them, or else if she did, they would get chased by police. She was already at the maximum speed limit after all.  

Just after a couple of minutes, soon they arrived infront of the twin's school. 

"Take care," Zren looked at them and reminded. "If someone bullied you, don't be afraid to fight back. You guys are not my sons if you let others trample on you. Fight back! Understood?" 

"Understood!" Zhen and Xhyne exclaimed in unison, they even saluted at Zren. 

"Great!" 

Zren then bid a goodbye to her sons and drove to the LLF or Lawless Law Firm. 

It was already quarter to seven in the morning when Zren arrived at the LLF. 

Just as she was about to enter her office when Vinley, her secretary appeared out of nowhere. 

"Big Boss told me that he has something to say to you." 

"Later," Zren answered and was about to take a step inside her office when Vinley spoke again. 

"ASAP." 

Zren faced with a furious expression, she couldn't help but rolled her eyes out of irritation and reluctantly walked towards the Old Man's office. 

Zren dashed in and didn't even bother to knock on the door. 

"Vinley said you have something to say? What is it?" Zren directly said and didn't beat around the bush. 

The LLF's Big Boss or other should say, Louzvent Lawless, the other of the firm. 

"Here," Louzvent who was sitting on his swivel chair, extended his arms and gave a small black envelope the size of one adult palm to Zren. 

Zren's eyebrows knitted as she reached the envelope. She opened it and only glanced at it for a few seconds. 

It was an invitation. A party invitation to be exact. 

Zren was too lazy to read the content so she just directly asked the Old Man, "What's this?" 

Louzvent opened his mouth and was about to answer when Zren interrupted. 

"I know it is an invitation, what I want you to tell me is the details." 

Louzvent nodded and let matter off, but deep inside his mind, it was the opposite. Zren was already getting on his nerves. 

"Someone invited me to a special event but I can't go since it is my daughter's birthday so I want you to go in my stead." 

Zren's eyebrows even more furrowed, "Why me?" 

"It's because you are the most suitable person for this event," Louzvent explained. 

"Can't you send other people? There are so many people in the firm, I'm busy?" 

"Do you think I would send you if I have other choices? Everyone is busy." With Zren's trouble-making skills Louzvent was reluctant to send her to the party but, he had no choice. If it was work-related then he was willing to send anyone. However, it was a personal one. 

The host of the party was one of his old colleagues and it would be a bad decision if he didn't go so it was better to send someone as his representative. 

After all, his daughter's birthday was more important than any socializing event. 

Zren was thinking if she would go or not because there must be another reason why the other people in the firm were not allowed to go. Suddenly she thought of a brilliant idea. 

The corner of Zren's lips slowly curved up which made Louzvent uneasy. 

"Big Boss, tell me first the truth, why I am the one you want to go to?" 

Louzvent let out a deep sigh, as expected Zren was able to see through his intention. 

"It's like this, that party is hosted by my old colleague, he and his wife will be celebrating their silver wedding anniversary and I am invited. Originally it will go, but, the problem is that my daughter's birthday happens to be the same day," Louzvent explained.  

"Okay fine, I'll go, but on one condition?" 

"What is it?" Louzvent asked in a low serious voice, he had a strange feeling but he didn't know what was it. However soon he knew the answer. 

"You'll approve my application for one month's leave next month." 

"One month?!" Louzvent uttered in surprise. 

"It's up to you, if you don't want to then just forget the party." 

Louzvent sighed in defeat and reluctantly nodded. "Fine, fine." 

Zren let out a victorious smile and immediately walked out of the office. 

When she arrived at her own working space, she sat on her customized gaming chair. 

Indeed what she was using was not a swivel chair but a comfy gaming chair. It was comfortable at the same time cool. 

Zren threw herself on the chair and rotated herself as she took out the invitation that the old man gave to her earlier. 

Staring at the party invitation, Zren's eyebrows couldn't help but furrow. 

She had a weird feeling that something would happen tomorrow but she didn't know what was it. 

"Weird, why do I keep having a feeling that I'm gonna regret my decision?"