John was sitting on his bed with an album in his hand. He was unable to sleep again after waking up earlier. Most people would be keeping an album which contains memories with different people but the one in John's hand was an album with no one else but him and his ex-girlfriend, Marian.
The first picture was when she joined the school's festival and won 1st place in a spelling contest. One the picture, she was wearing her medal and was smiling to the crowd. He remembered that they were in 5th grade this time. He didn't tell anyone anything about his crush but he already liked her ever since 5th grade.
The second picture was a class picture of the whole 5th grade. Well, supposedly, it should be the whole 5th grade but he cut the other students and left only the teacher who was sitting in front, Marian on the left of the teacher and himself who was standing behind the teacher.
The third picture was when Marian joined a cooking contest. Among the contestants, she was the only one who made a dessert and she called it love. At that time, he wasn't really thinking to much when she gave him the first slice of the cake. But later on, he knew that it was because of her love for him.
There were so many pictures of Marian in his album even though they weren't in a relationship that time. He wasn't really stalking her but whenever he gets the opportunity, he'd do his best to get pictures of her.
It continued until they're in high school and many pictures were even collected when they become officially together. He has a picture of the first time they held their hands in public. It was during a field trip and everyone thought it was nothing since they were paired up by the teacher. Only the two of them knew how happy they were at that time.
There was a picture of them wherein he kissed Marian's cheek, too. He remembered it was taken during a Valentine's Day activity of their school. Some of their classmates knew that they were in relationship so one of them paid for the committee to bring them to marriage booth. It was just a school activity but at that moment, John wished it was truly happening in real life.
It was also that moment that he made a promise to not marry anyone else but her.
He looked at the pictures on the album and when he finally looked at the last picture, he cried. It was the picture of them together at the park near her home. It was taken on the night that she sneaked out of her house just to meet him. It was also the time he gave her the promise ring.
"Crying won't do anything." John told himself and wiped his tears away. He put the album beside him and laid on the bed. He tried his best to sleep because he needed energy to get her back. 'So, what if you have little time left? It doesn't matter. Whether you have little time or lots of time, I only need you in my life.'
Since Cayenne fell asleep on their way home, she woke up in the middle of the night, only to find her husband working on something beside her again.
"Working again." Cayenne muttered while hugging his waist. "Why didn't you sleep?"
"I figured you'd wake in the middle of the night so I cooked something for you to eat. You cannot sleep with an empty stomach and while waiting for you to wake up, I decided to do something."
"Put your laptop away and lie next to me." Stefan did what she said and hugged his wife who's being clingy again. It's rare for her to act so, he better grabs the opportunity. "Let's stay for a while before going downstairs."
"Hn." Stefan kissed her forehead and pulled her even closer. "Are you alright now?"
"She said she's doing better but I don't believe her. Can you say the same thing when you know she's dying?"
"We can't say the same thing but only the person who's experiencing this illness can tell. Aside from that, she may have a different meaning when she said those words. Don't dwell on this matter. Just do something to make sure that you won't live in regret when she's gone."
"Then, I want to go to Turkey with her and get into the hot air balloon with her."
"Your wish is my command. Let me do something about that." Stefan said while caressing his wife's face. "We cannot revert back the time and the medical technology can only slow down illness but not cure it. Since we cannot prevent the inevitable, just let her do that things that she wants instead."
"Oh! She also said that she wants to see Arthur and Seiji. I didn't tell her anything about Arthur."
"I want to say your wish is my command but I'm hesitant to do so. Do you really have to include Arthur?"
"He's part of the group and she also wants to meet you in person."
"Well, I don't mind having Arthur around as long as I am with you."
Cayenne giggled at his statement but she knows that there's no other way to grant Marian's wish unless Stefan comes along with her. She already informed her best friend about this earlier and Marian thought that it was probably because Cayenne's crush was Arthur. She has no idea of the offense that Arthur made.
"Seiji is busy dealing the aftermath of the incident that involves of your kidnapping. Although he's getting back on his feet, there are still many people doubting him."
"Then, it's a great opportunity to for him to show the world that we're doing great as friends."
"Whatever it is you want to do, I'll help you. Just make sure you won't put yourself in harm's way."
"Yes, sir." Cayenne kissed Stefan's chin and pressed her face on his chest. They cuddle for few minutes more before deciding to come out of their room and eat something.
In the middle of the night, Arthur and Seiji received the same message from Cayenne. "I hope you can free up your weekend next week. I'd like to introduce someone to you.'
Cayenne raised her eyebrow upon getting this reply but she didn't say anything about it. "Let's meet up on Friday afternoon next week. I'll send you the address on that day. We're meeting a girl."