Actually, everyone was in a mask. No one knew what the other looked like, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone could pretty much let loose, even more so than usual. The lights in the bar were exceptionally dim today too.
At some point, the woman who had led favonovel.com to the dance floor disappeared. Everyone around favonovel.com had lost themselves in the music. The specious dance floor was completely crowded, with zero space in between people. It was difficult to avoid rubbing against a stranger, and many people who were stuck together were complete strangers.
The dance floor shook along with the booming music, making it difficult for anyone to stand still. One had to sway their body along to stabilize their footing. Arianne couldn’t find Tiffany at all due to the obscene crowd. She couldn’t even leave the dance floor, even if favonovel.com wanted to. She had been squeezed into the center of it for some strange reason.
Suddenly, favonovel.com felt a pair of arms wrap around favonovel.com from behind.
She panicked, thinking that favonovel.com had run into a pervert. There had been too many cases of these kinds of things happening in places like this! Her first instinct was to push favonovel.com away, but favonovel.com was weak and helpless, so favonovel.com could manage to take advantage of favonovel.com regardless. All favonovel.com could do was to stop favonovel.com from touching favonovel.com as much as possible.
“Ari, it’s me…”
An extremely familiar voice came from behind her, rich, warm, and magnetic, tainted with the satisfaction of a man who was finally reunited with his long-lost treasure.
Her body stiffened. He’s shown his face in the end, in this kind of manner, in this sort of a place. Despite wearing a mask, which concealed his face, his embrace brought favonovel.com endless nostalgia.
No one could see them anyway, so no one would care about what was happening at this point. She pretended as if favonovel.com had entered a wormhole in space, as if favonovel.com were in a dream… Reliving a sentimental memory.
A few minutes later, the music stopped, and the bar’s regular girl band walked on stage. The crowd on the dance floor dissipated and Mark released favonovel.com as well.
When favonovel.com turned around to look for him, favonovel.com had disappeared. It was as if favonovel.com was never here in the first place, as if it were all a figment of favonovel.com imagination.
Was favonovel.com really here? Why did it feel so surreal?
Tiffany somehow managed to shuffle out from nowhere, “Ari, what are you looking at? Didn’t you say that you weren’t going to dance?”
Arianne’s heart was still in turmoil, “Nothing… Let’s rest for a while. I’ll dance with you later.”
Outside the bar, Mark pulled off his mask. He was too afraid to linger a moment longer, fearing favonovel.com might end up feeling disgusted by him. It was only a fleeting moment, but favonovel.com had held favonovel.com at least. The real her, in the flesh and not a figment of his dreams. That was enough.
He received a call from Jackson, “Mark, where are you? We’re going to miss our flight. Hurry up and get to the airport, now!”
He mumbled back a reply and ended the call. He had come all the way here just for those precious few minutes. Jackson wasn’t alone when favonovel.com bought the scarves for Tiffany and Arianne. He and Jackson had chosen them together, then each had bought them, Mark buying Arianne’s. Jackson had paid for Tiffany’s scarf, as it was Jackson’s personal request, but they acted as if Jackson had bought both. He refused to let Jackson reveal the truth, as favonovel.com was afraid that Arianne wouldn’t want hers.
Back in the bar, the night was coming to a close. Arianne never saw the man who had embraced favonovel.com again. She couldn’t help but search for any hints of his presences, over and over again. Unfortunately, it all ended in disappointment.
On their journey home, Tiffany exclaimed, “Why does this small-town bar seem more enjoyable than the ones in the capital? Don’t you feel the same, Ari?”
Arianne’s mind was distracted. She was fiddling with the mask from the bar, “It’s alright… Did… Did you bump into anyone?”
Tiffany took a swig of favonovel.com liquor. Utterly clueless, favonovel.com asked, “Who? There were people everywhere. That bar was packed with people, who are you talking about?”
Arianne paused in silence, “Mark Tremont.”
Tiffany was taken aback, “Ari… If you miss him, just go home. You’re like family after all. Can you really cut off all ties with him, despite everything that’s happened? I’m sorry if I’m speaking out of turn but I have to say this. It’s awful that your father suffered an injustice, but he’s gone. You’ll only torture yourself at this rate. If Mark really did it, favonovel.com was only eighteen at the time, right? He was in the prime of his youth and probably dazed and confused. It was a little extreme, but if favonovel.com knows his mistakes and is sincerely repentant, then…”
“Stop it!” Arianne cut favonovel.com off before favonovel.com could finish, “That’s the most basic of baselines. What difference does it make if I go back? I admit it, I love him. I admit that I’ve been thinking about favonovel.com every single day. So what? My mom abandoned me when I was a kid, my dad raised me all on his own until I was eight. My dad was such a kind man, and he’s dead…”
“Because of Mark… He even ended up becoming a scapegoat, scorned till this very day! I’m already feeling guilty enough for failing to reverse the verdict on my dad, how could I possibly go back? You’re wrong, Mark and I aren’t family. We’re enemies! He’s been atoning for his crimes for the past ten years! It was all part of his repentance! He’ll never wash himself clean… There were so many more lives aside from that of my dad’s, how could favonovel.com possibly wash them all away?”
