Chapter 36

The grey sky darkens the environment, few faded rays of sunlight gets through the heavy dark clouds. The box pleated joint of skirt fits around her unsexy waist, the peach material blended with faded red roses brightens her pale skin tone. In front of the mirror she steps back and moves her spread legs closer, taking another complete glance of her reflection. She adjusts the sleeve and pulls up the precise deep neck feeling uncomfortable in her attire, a low vexed sigh leaves her lips when the zipper at the back cracks down… Her brain requests to give up despite her heart which orders her to wear it on as she is sure it will make her parents happy, she looks forward to witness Johnson's reaction as he loves to see his daughter dressed up, in addition she wants to try it on for Riley because he has set up a grand dinner tonight. 'This is annoying," she grunts under her breath and snakes her arm behind her back trying to pull up the zip, she slides her other arm over shoulder…. She zipped it perfectly and easily that day but today she couldn't… 'Need help?" Her actions stop when Riley walks in the room. She tucks her hair behind her ears and fixes her eyes to the mirror, watching Riley's reflection. He jogs behind her and holds the zip head, the vanilla scent hits his nostrils testing his temptation, the corners of his lips lift up pushing his cheeks below his sparkling eyes. He pulls the zipper up in slow movements tracing his fingers on her bare skin. 'Riley," he withdraw his hands in an instant when her dry cold voice arrived his ears. He bites his lower lip and looks straight at the mirror notices Aiden already looking at him. 'Yeah," he asks in a low voice. 'Be quick," she says. With that said he pulls up the zipper completing his job. His hands slip around her, he hugs her from behind and places his chin on her right shoulder, his cheek brushing against hers. 'Look," he points at the mirror 'We look together," he states, the brown orbs slide to the left of his eyes, a gentle smile forms on his face 'Don't we?" he asks, low and husky. 'Do we?," she asks with creased brows 'I don't see it," she crunches her nose. Riley lifts his chin and turns her round in his arms 'You're making my heart pound," he pouts. A slight smile makes its way on Aiden's lips, she snakes her arms around him and faces him, their eyes meet. 'I can hear it," she says, her heaving chest moves up and down against his hard body. 'Many times I have tried to imagine you with different attires" he smiles 'But the image never appeared in my head," he moves his forehead and rests on hers 'You look stunning," Her lips curl in to a flat line, she diverts her gaze and faces him again 'You sound like my dad," she laughs. 'Really," She nods with a subtle movement, their forehead glued 'He loves to see me dressed up this way," 'Seems like your appearance will be an anniversary gift for him," he inserts his one hand into his jeans pocket. Her brows curl when his fingers run through her hair, she steps back and observes him. Setting her hair he slides in a clip; a red bow cute clip. She traces her index figure over and spins around. A surprised smile sweeps across her lips at her image, just a tiny accessory makes a huge difference. She had not seen herself as fancy accessories is not her thing. 'You look adorable and pretty," He comments, his eyes never leaving the mirror. Aiden chuckles, a hit wave of blood rises above her neck and crawls over her cheeks. She walks to the mirror and takes a closer look at herself. 'And," Riley jumps 'Here," he moves his hand forward, Aiden moves her gaze from his face to his hands with creased brows 'It is dusty red shade," he removes the top of the lipstick 'It will look good on you," he says. A fond smile makes its way on her face, she takes the lipstick from his hand and moves her head nearer to the mirror, she applies it. 'Am I romantic?," he asks with a cheeky grin playing on his face. She sets the lipstick on the dressing table and turns to her right 'Romantic?," she raises a brow at him amusingly. 'Yes," He replies 'Picking a right color for a girlfriend is considered very…," he flicks his hair 'Romantic," the word rolls down his tongue as Spanish pronunciation. 'You know," she keeps a step towards him, her already small eyes gets even smaller 'You can be love teacher," she says, her voice low and hoarse. Riley gasps and keeps a step back when she keeps another step towards him, his mind confused at her abnormal action. He gulps down the lump in his throat, his memory rewinding every word he uttered to check out if he had spoken something which made her mad. His eyelids flutter as he looks everywhere except her, the pair of black creepy eyes staring at him. The little gap between them closes when his shoulders hit the wall. 'I….," he stops when she cages him with her arms above his shoulders, she leans forward. His eyes squeeze shut, his inner being ready to face the next action; he expects her to twist his arm behind his back and tell him not to flirt anymore. 'The tint tastes awful," she says maintaining the low sexy voice 'Do you want to taste it?," she asks. Riley's eyelids snap open, the big eyes forget to blink while his brain processes her words. He opens his mouth to speak but bites his lower lip when she moves her face closer, their nose touches. His heart races like he ran a marathon, feeling a knot at the pit of his stomach or the feeling of butterflies. 'Do you want to taste it?," she asks, her eyes examine his features. He barely nods, not having enough space to make any movement. The right corner of her lips move up to a smirk, she captures his lip; they kiss. Their mouth tasting each other's souls. Emma adjusts the lace top and sits on the bed 'How do I look?" she asks as she moves the hand mirror to her face. 'You look pretty aunty," Lisa takes out the compact powder from her pouch 'Uncle will be happy to see you," she smiles dabbing the sponge on Emma's face 'Aiden will arrive soon," The door knob twists and stays unmovable 'The body Is in Chloe's mansion basement," Aiden informs 'Did you inform the cops?," she asks. 'Yes, I told Eric to look into it," Riley lifts his hand and shows a thumbs up 'We're going to crush down the Aim's," he clicks his tongue. 'Yes," she nods and pushes the door open, a wide smile sweeps across her lips at the joyful sight of her mother. Lisa and Emma stares at her with wide eyes, frozen. Emma stands as she gazes up and down at Aiden. 'Surprise!" Riley claps which brings them back to reality. 'My god! Aiden," Emma rushes to her 'You look beautiful," she smiles, her eyes twinkle 'Johnson will be in cloud nine to see you," she says. 'He sure will," Aiden smiles and looks down when her phone rings 'I got to answer this," she passes a wide smile and walks out the room. She answers the call. Her heart rate accelerates as she stares at an empty space, the voice over the call fading away at the back of her head, all of her anxieties come tumbling back, a brusque bolt of shock shoots right throughout. She draws a sharp breath and swallows hard 'Sorry, I didn't hear you," she lies, she heard him, she heard every single word he spoke but still, a petite hopeless hope made her ask again, wishing she had heard it wrong. 'There was an accident," Jason repeats, his information comes out with heavy heart because he was close to Aiden and Johnson as well. A bullet of panic rises in her throat, the words thudded in her skull. She remains motionless; frozen in disbelief like the world collapsing in front of her . Her hands tremble without her realization, the grip on the phone loosens. Clang! The noise of the dropped phone brings her back to reality, she blinks her eyes numerous times as she looks around, she tucks her hair behind her ears and steadies her heavy breaths. She pushes the door open, her eyes meet her mom's and then Riley's, his eyebrows meet when he notices her darkened eyes and grey face. 'Lisa, stay with mom… I'll be back," she says, her voice ready to crack at any moment. She scurries out, Riley follows her worried. The dim gloomy light of the mortuary makes the surrounding smaller, the patter of raindrops only to be heard. Aiden curls her lower lip in, her hesitant feet enters the room to the spot where Jason guides her. She walks like her body would collapse at any moment, her mind blank just like her heart. Riley holds her cold hand, her heart chilled not because of the cold air but fear and panic. Her jaw clenched, stomach churning every passing second, her eyes fixed on Jason's finger which clutches the edge of the material. He drags or down. She stares at Johnson's blue face for a while, her heart clenching with dread. Jason looks away his heart broken at the sight as he was close to both of them. 'Dad," the word comes out her lips in difficulty, as a mere whisper; dry and broken. 'Wha….a…t a..re y..u..o doing here?," she stutters, the words roll down her tongue in pain, like she is mute and trying to utter words clearly but swallowing down half of the words. She keeps a step forward, her wobbly legs numb, a crystal clear layer of tears blurring her vision 'Why are you pale?," she asks; her broken voice enough to convey her feelings. Riley bites his lower lip, tears already welled up in his squinted eyes, his heart aching at the sight. His throat thickens and heart buckles, the sight of her slows his blood. Her juddering weak legs make another movement, she keeps another step not feeling her feet. She stumbles. Riley holds her arms, she takes his support and steadies herself as she grips the edge of the mortuary cot. She bends moving her face closer to her dad's. 'Dad," she calls out, yearning for him to answer. Her desperate self not ready to accept the reality even though he is laying motionless in front of her eyes, she still hopes him to get up, wishes this was a bad dream. 'Your princess is here," she blinks, finally letting the tears roll down her cheeks, her chin trembles, lips quiver 'Please," she begs, her hands on Johnson's icy cheeks. 'Look at…. M…e," her voice cracks again, she moves her face closer to his and gulps down her saliva 'Mom is waiting for you," she utters, uncontrollable tears roll down her cheeks landing on Johnson's skin. She sobs inconsolably. She feels the world torn apart, her enthusiastic self to show up in front of him with her outfit made her feel even worse. 'Didn't you say," she stops and sniffles 'You wish to see me dressed up," she speaks even though she struggled to pronounce every word 'Look at me," she weeps. She bends even lower, Riley's hold never leaves her. She places her forehead on Johnson's 'I promised to get you out," her tone turns dry 'Dad," she calls out again 'Don't leave me like…..," her voice comes out louder as a loud cry 'Ike Alex did," she wails. She'd been living all years after Alex's death with burden, she knew that he died to save her. Parting from her brother took her years to move on and now it's her father. Every being earth is miserable when it comes to separation. 'Please come back," she hugs the cold body 'Don't leave us," she bawls. She hugs him like it's the only piece left in her life, her breaths begin to hitch and makes her hiccup but she never stops. Continuously she inhales a large amount of oxygen and lets it out with exertion. 'Please," she begs, her voice comes out as muffles. She falls, her body drops to the floor: drained of energy. She sits on the cold floor, her hand clasped on her chest as she lets out heavy breaths with a long pause. Her pitiful laments echoing in the room. Riley removes his coat and squats down in front of her immediately, he puts the coat on her and pulls her to him. In his arms, she holds him tight letting out her sorrow. He stays silent rubbing her back letting her cry out, it's not because he doesn't know what to say to console her, it 's only because sometimes silence is the best thing you can do to console. As a hug is worth more than thousand words.