Still slightly addled, she nodded her head and displayed a small awkward grin on her face. Her unsure eyes glistened in the golden sunlight, drawing the male's attention. "You don't get what I mean, do you?" his monotone voice questioned the puzzled girl.

"It's like when I acted coldly towards you back then. I wasn't ready to face your "No, I don't remember you." line yet. So yeah, I'll tell you when I'm ready." he calmly explained. Lauren's perplexed faded away as she was finally able to process his words. "Oh, alright. Um...let's go?" she suggested, to which he agreed. They stepped into the fields, the feeling they haven't had for a long time coming back.

Flowers of every colour blossoming were a blessing to their eyes. The cool winds raced across the fields like little kids rushing out to play with their neighbourhood friends. It ruffled their locks of hair, stirred loose clothing and blew a few petals of flowers off, sending aromatic waves of fresh blossoms in the air.

Lauren inhaled a deep breath. "Ah, the smell of both orchids and tulips...isn't it nice?"

"How do you recognise them in a place of so many types?"

She giggled, brushing off the bangs partially covering her vision. "I lived here for more than 10 years. It'd be stupid if I couldn't differentiate them."

"R-Right."

"Your face...what's wrong?"

He gritted his teeth in embarrassment and coughed lightly into his elbow. "It's just the weather, I guess. I don't really feel good."

"Then let's head to that shelter thing over there. It looks cool and shady."

***************

The simply built shelter on the other side of the smallest field was the perfect spot for resting. There was a small stone table, along with its matching set of chairs. The two childhood friends had a quite detailed conversation about their current lives, including all the good and the bad. "So," he softly began. "Mr. Hart got murdered? T-That's...I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm sure everything will be okay eventually." he assured her as he put his hand over hers.

"Not until the criminal's dead." she coldly replied, causing the brunette to shudder a bit. His reaction got her attention and she stared at him for what seemed like forever. He clenched his jaw and fists tight, then started coughing continuously. "Jeez, you should've stayed indoors if you were sick." Lauren retorted with a depressing sigh followed afterwards.

"Trust me, I'd be regretting it so much right now if I did that. I told you, didn't I? I wanted to meet you here...and talk about stuff." he protested, obviously showing that he didn't care for his health condition. "Fine, but I'm whooping your stubborn ass if you do this next time." she joked and hit him in the side.

She just received a tiny laugh from him. All of a sudden, out of nowhere she started wondering one thing. Her face darkened at the thought of it.

He's a lot colder with me than when we were kids. Does he not like me as much as before?

"Lauren?" he gently nudged her with his elbow. "Oh, sorry. How long have I been zoning out?" she attempted to avoid him from noticing her real thoughts. "Not that long. There's something that's bothering you, right? You can tell me if you want to." he offered her a smile that lit up her gloomy mood.

"W-Well, you might think it's dumb but I had this irritating thought that you didn't l-like me as much as you did when we were little. Honestly, it kind of makes me...s-sad? Or should I say-" she sheepishly opened up, but was cut off by him ruffling her hair and bursting out into laughter.

"Dummy, why would you think that? It's true we've been separated for a long time but that doesn't mean out friendship is dying. I'm just a little tired and not in the mood to joke or laugh around. Don't overthink, it'll stress you out." he comforted her. His reassurance touched her and made her chuckle, realising she had been an idiot.

"Thanks, I won't do it again." she promised with her golden hues sparkling once again. She stared into the enormous distance, absorbing the ravishing scent of the heavenly blossoms through her nose. "You know," she hummed, averting her gaze from the fields. "You remind me of lavenders; they make people relaxed and relieve their stress." she told him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Really? You're making me sound like I'm a special person."

"You are a special person. No surprise."

He tittered at her compliment that came out of the blue. "Sure, sure. I'm totally extraordinary and who doesn't know that?"

***************

"Thanks for the drive home!" she exclaimed while waving at the car slowly vanishing from her sight. As she entered her house, she fished her phone out of her pocket to call her boss to discuss some work issues.

...

...

...

She cursed under her breath because he didn't answer her calls, and she didn't bother calling for one more time. She seated herself on the couch, glaring at her phone screen, not knowing what to do.

Everything seems blank without dad...or him.

Then suddenly, she remembered the necklace from the police station. She zoomed in and out of the picture, observing the little details of it. There was the letter "C" engraved on the beautiful crystal, which was another clue for the search. "It's most likely the initial letter of the owner's name." she quickly noted in her head. "Catherine Tuffin? No...she hates him but she's definitely not the type to kill someone." she muttered, too sucked in her thoughts to notice her phone ringing.

***************

2 missed calls

"That Gina girl again? Hopefully she won't piss me off with her rude mouth like last time." Lauren sighed as she pressed on a few buttons, and before she knew it, she was conversing with her work frenemy.

"Who the fu- oh it's you, the one everyone 'loves' huh? What's the matter? I don't have all day, you know."

"Weren't you the one who called first? Guess I'm wrong. Well, I better-"

"Shit, I forgot! Whatever, listen to me. What's your reason for exposing my damn secret? You're surprisingly a blabber mouth, Lauren Hart. I thought you were very 'generous' and 'considerate'?"

"Done talking? That's it?"

"Just answer my question."

"Alright. Firstly, I did not do anything to you. I don't even care. Secondly, I don't know what secret you're talking about. You know Chloe well, don't you? She's been trying to worsen our relationship for whatever reason so she could be trying to throw me under the bus. Thirdly, I wouldn't really waste my time on you. And lastly, watch your tone when you talk to me. I'm a senior of yours and be aware of that."

"Tch, I've had enough chit chatting with you today. And oh, that doesn't mean I'll believe everything you say, senior."

Then the call dropped, leaving Lauren on her own. She tossed her mobile away and didn't even bother to care about where it landed. She could just buy another one, anyway. But for now, all she could think of was catching up with her work and chores she missed.