Chapter 39 - Lurking In The Shadows

After exchanging greetings, Claude eventually parted ways with Marcellus and Winter.

The two carried on with their previous conversation. To avoid attracting attention, they took a less crowded route on their way out of the building. They should pay attention to those who know that she is hanging out with him, and since meeting like this is important, they should also be mindful of how they act around each other.

That being said, Winter tries to distance herself from Marcellus when others are around. But even then, they are not letting up with the teasing and banter.

"Seriously, we should lessen the number of times we meet. How are you going to go on dates at this rate?" she brought up once more, addressing the topic as if it was the most normal thing to do.

"You know, you're the first ever girl who encouraged me to flirt around some more. Others would want me all for themselves," he pointed out with an amused expression.

"Well, I'm not one of those 'others' you said." 

"Or so you've told me."

"What? You think I'm gonna fall for your charms one of these days?"

"At least, you've admitted I'm charming."

The more they get to know each other, the more he likes to fool around.

Winter can tell that it's not like how Marcellus flirts with other women - she'll punch him in the guts if he ever tries something like that. It's also certainly not how he treated her before. Instead, this is another side of him that she's seeing. He keeps telling what he wants. And that somehow makes her want to do the same in return.

"Anyway, I'm glad that things worked out with Ms. Miller. She seems to admire you," Marcellus started again, recalling how Violet kept smiling the whole time she was talking with Winter.

"Ms. Violet is a nice person. Before I went back in time, I barely knew her. She was different even way back before - simple yet elegant in everything she did. But now that I found out more about her, I realized that I could actually relate to her in more ways than I expected."

"Relate in what way exactly?"

"That's a secret."

"Again?"

While he pouted a little, she let out a small giggle.

She's more than aware that he dislikes being left in the dark. Keeping as much information as possible but disclosing some at the same time is actually a fun way to play around with him.

"You know, Marcellus Lexington-"

Winter was about to say something again when she bumped into someone all of the sudden. Marcellus is a bit taken aback to hear her abruptly cutting her sentence off. Since she's walking a bit far from him, he's not able to notice the person who passed through her side.

But other than his lack of attention, he also came to mind how shady-looking this stranger was.

"Oh, I'm sorry, little miss. I didn't see you there."

It's a man who appears to be a little older than him. He can't remember if he is his employee, but he thinks that there's a chance since he's there at a secluded part of the building. There's really not much people around that place. 

"No, it's alright, Sir. I'm also sorry for not looking."

After Winter gave her apology, the stranger offered a courteous nod and walked away without sparing another glance. Marcellus didn't tear his gaze off of him until he rounded a corner. As soon as he disappeared, he walked closer to her and grabbed her wrist, catching her off guard.

"Uhhh... Sir Lexington?" she called out, unsure what had gotten to him.

"You should really be more attentive to where you're going," he said before he proceeded to pull her out of there.

"You're being strange. What's up? Is there something with that guy earlier?"

"No. Not really. I'm only reminding you."

Though Marcellus said that, Winter could sense that he did notice something, but because he was not certain about it, he chose to keep it to himself so she would not be worked up for nothing.

--- 

Because Winter wanted to show August that she was not messing around and that she was still studious, she found herself in the bookstore on a weekend morning.

She looked through each aisle, trying to find something interesting to buy. An hour or so already passed, but she was still empty-handed. Her mind wasn't really in the mood to think about studying, especially after knowing that someone could be following her.

'Sir Lexington said there's nothing to be worried about, but I still couldn't help but feel kinda uneasy for some reason.'

Whenever she was alone, she would get the feeling that she was being watched. She just couldn't help it. After all, she's not the only one keeping her secrets at this point.

She then sighed as she continued to walk down the aisle. Nervous, she just started grabbing random books to get her mind off of things.

That's until Winter suddenly felt someone standing right behind her.

She froze in her place, her heart rate taking on a rapid pace. Taking a deep breath, she then slowly turned her head - but only to find Ace.

'Oh, it's just him.'

Both of them are thrown off guard to find each other there. He was the first to approach her, but before he had chance to greet her, she walked right past him without saying a word. She then turned to grab a book, still not giving him so much of a glance.

Ace furrowed his brows in confusion as he stared at Winter. He wondered what was wrong with his classmate. It seemed to him that she was ignoring him. 

"Hey there, Winter..." he greeted her like nothing was wrong even though he was already getting worried.

"What are you doing here? Looking for a particular book?"

Winter stayed quiet and flipped through the pages of a book. For a second, she looked at Ace through the corners of her eyes. He was surprised to see them a little colder than usual. From that, he's starting to get the impression that he did something wrong.

She lets out a sigh, slamming the book shut. As she was about to walk away, he grabbed her arm to keep her from going anywhere.

"Winter, what's wrong? Why are you ignoring me...?" he asked as he kept a firm hold on her, feeling tormented to know that he might have done something.

"Are you angry? Can you tell me what's the problem? I'll listen."

"It's not really anger that I'm feeling..." she snapped at him, making him take a step back.

"I don't really feel like talking about it right now. So, I'll see you later."

Ace shook his head before he grabbed Winter by the wrist this time.

He didn't want to see her act that way. It bothered him a lot. And he really wanted to help her whether it was his fault or not.

"Tell me what's wrong. What did I do to make you act this way?" he questioned once more.

"I may just be overreacting," she then finally said, looking a little frustrated.

Winter lets out another sigh before turning her head away from Ace to evade his gaze. She then began talking in a low, stern tone, which was quite odd.

"It really bothered me, you know. You started approaching me more than usual, and you were even treating me nicely - too nicely, I guess. It's staring to gather unwarranted attention..." she trailed off while looking on guard.

"I know I can't blame you, and I will not. You're not at fault here. I'm sorry, but... can you just leave me be? That's the best solution I can offer. I'm not like you or anyone in your circle. Call me an introvert or whatever. I just really don't want any attention."

Ace was stunned to hear all that.

Not wanting to continue the conversation, Winter walked ahead. She left him there and turned the corner to find herself standing before the window of the bookstore. Hoping that he would finally give it a rest, she decided to busy herself by looking through the shelves. 

That's until something caught her attention.

In a black coat with a striped hat, staring from across the street then towards the direction of the bookstore stood the same shady-looking stranger who bumped into Winter the other day.

Feeling shivers run down her spine, she hastily turned to look away in fright. She then anxiously looked around - no one else was in sight. Knowing that she was the one he was looking at, she started to become a little terrified.

'Who the heck is this guy? I don't remember him at all. Could he be following me?'

Winter cursed right then. It's too early to be gathering attention like this - it's just one after another. Whether it's at school or outside, they couldn't leave her alone. 

'No, calm down. Panicking won't solve a thing.'

Pulling herself together, Winter stole a glance at the window once more. Whoever this was appeared to be waiting for her to come out of the bookstore. He even dressed up for the perfect kidnapping scenario, and he was not being subtle with it at all.

'Or perhaps, I'm just too good at seeing through this kind of scheme.' 

Without sparing another more second, she pulled out her cellphone from her pocket. She didn't have to go through this on her own. After all, she already had an ally.

Winter called for Marcellus.