Time After Time

One day, when winter was almost over, Rose finally talked to the new neighbor for the first time. She was going for an evening walk when her dog, Lestat, whom she hadn't put in leash, ran straight away once she opened the door into the new neighbor's yard. Unfortunately, he was there, just walked out from his house at the same time as Rose. Lestat ran near him, barking and trying to catch his own tail.

"Lestat...!"

Rose walked near the edge of her yard but was afraid to go any further. That new neighbor was there, just a couple of feet away from her, staring down with gloomy aura as usual. He looked really good, though, Rose thought, as she tried not to look to obvious as she watched his figure. Tall, dark hair and black leather jacket. Rose couldn't remember whether men is always felt this good to look at. Then, he slightly raised his face to stared back at her after he looked at Lestat.

She was startled. He was gorgeous. Terribly sad it's almost painful to look at in facial expression, but utterly beautiful. His eyes were just magnificent. They were charming, pale blue in color. Those eyes, somehow, stared at her in silent anger. Rose gulped. The last thing that she wanted was having a neighbor who is angry with her.

"Lestat!" she called her dog, her voice was slightly trembling.

Her dog, somehow, didn't listen to her. Lestat kept bouncing and running around the man's long legs that was wrapped in dark blue skinny jeans.

"Lestat! Come here, Boy!" Rose repeated, started to getting desperate.

Her dog still didn't listen.

"I'm so sorry," she said, almost sound like pleading. "He wasn't usually like this, probably—"

"Why'd you name him Lestat?" he suddenly asked, still staring at her with those magical eyes.

"... h-huh?" Rose was startled for the second time. She didn't remember she was ever this nervous before in her life.

"Lestat... that's the dog's name, right?"

"Uh... yeah..."

"Why'd you name him that?"

"W-well... it was because... you know... I mean... no... you haven't know, but—" she hoped that earth would just swallow her now. Why did she have to be that nervous? Why? "... i-it was... um—"

In all of sudden, he burst into short but loud laughter.

She startled for the third time and it was a considerable number of startled, especially she just meet him less than five minutes ago.

"Why are you so nervous?" there was a trace of laughter in his words, but slowly, his tone became colder and colder. "I hope I didn't scare you," he knelt and captured the dog's body with his arms, before walked past the little path that separated their yards and put Lestat on the edge of Rose's yard. "There," he said. She was unable to tell whether he was angry or amused or indifferent.

Without saying anything after that, he went back to his little flat, disappeared into his hiding place once again, leaving Rose Lette wordless.

It takes almost a full one minute before Rose finally blinked her eyes again. She scolded her dog straight away. "Bad doggie! Bad!" she sighed. Lestat didn't seem to care. It looked as all the dog had in his mind was the evening walk. "Bad..." Rose whispered, before she lowered her body to hug his dog. She could still feel her heart beating wildly behind her chest.

No, no, you are not having crush on him. Not with someone that sad. You're not going to be one of those silly girls who eventually find a sad man throughout her life and then think they can change him, right? Right, Rose Lette?

"Oh Lestat..." Rose whispered as she buried her face on her pet's thick cream coloured fur. "What have you done?"