Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Roseanne had just moved into her new apartment and was busy setting up her place, starting with the books she brought. After painstakingly placing each book on the shelf, she was drenched in sweat, clearly showing how hard she'd worked.

Feeling exhausted, she took a refreshing shower and headed to the living room. On the coffee table was a tube of cooling gel she had bought earlier. Opening it, she carefully applied the mint-scented ointment to the bruises on her chest and waist with a cotton swab. The cool sensation quickly eased her pain.

It was still early, but Roseanne felt a headache coming on and was too tired to read after a long day. She lay down and quickly fell asleep.

She was jolted awake by a nightmare in the middle of the night. Murray had been chasing her like a ghost in her dream, and she couldn't shake him off. The fear felt so real that she woke up clutching her shirt collar, gasping for air.

It was still dark outside, but she was too scared to go back to sleep. She reached for her phone to call Leda, but there was no answer.

Feeling anxious, she saw that the light was on in the neighboring apartment's balcony.

Hesitating for a moment, she decided to message Owen.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

[Can't sleep?] she typed.

There was no immediate reply, and her phone buzzed as she was about to give up and try to go back to sleep.

[Look outside at the sky,] Owen had replied.

Roseanne looked up to see the night sky filled with twinkling stars.

[Do you see the constellation that looks like a pair of twins? That's Gemini,] Owen texted.

He then went on to tell her the story

of the Gemini twins from Greek mythology, about how they were

born from à golden egg, with one el

bringing disasters and the other being a protector of humanity. The story ended with their sacrifice and how they became a constellation as a blessing from the gods.

[Finding something rare can make you feel better, right?] Owen concluded.

Roseanne smiled, touched by the effort Owen had put into his messages. She replied, [Thanks, I do feel better now.]

On the other end, Owen smiled at her response before returning to his work. However, he soon received another message from Roseanne.

[Happy to share this view of the stars with you. Goodnight.]

Meanwhile, Murray was angry and frustrated in his study in another neighborhood. The sight of Roseanne getting close to Owen had enraged him. In anger, he smashed a whiskey glass against the wall.

His phone pinged with a message from Millie, his on-and-off girlfriend, asking if they could meet soon She

mentioned she missed him and had planned some dates for them.

Seeing the message, Murray realized he had been clinging to something that was over. If Roseanne could move on, so could he. Millie was his girlfriend, after all.