I dreamt that we were together and we were happy and most of all, we were in love. But I woke up only to find that it was all a dream and in reality, we were just strangers.
*
Carina stood in front of Brian, throwing up her hands in the air, exasperated, "That child's subconscious is too strong. Even after he's been in a state of deep hypnosis, he still won't accept my guidance."
Carina said this with a tinge of excitement too, she had never seen anything like this. But when she saw Brian's cold eyes, she muttered, "I hate how your eyes are just like your father's. Cold."
Carina frowned at the thought of Richie, wrinkles appearing in her smooth skin.
Brian noticed this but didn't say anything about it. Instead, he asked apathetically, "Do you have other ways to treat him?"
Carina shook her head as she sank into a chair. She looked out into the dark night, her mind far away. After a while, she started to shake her head as if to snap herself out of it.
"I guess I would be of little assistance this time," Carina said regretfully, "But if you..."
"No way!" Brian cut her off. He already knew what Carina was going to say: she wanted to experiment on the child. Of course, he hated the child. The child was a constant reminder of Molly and Spark's relationship. But that didn't mean that he would allow Carina to make him her guinea pig.
Carina was visibly disappointed but when she thought about Richie and how Brian had very few memories of her, she let go of the idea. "What a waste," she wailed, "I've never seen such strong willpower especially from a child." Then she looked at Brian and continued, "I was never able to hypnotize you too when you were a child. I guess this child has the same willpower as you do."
He didn't think too much of what Carina had said, "Well, I'll thank you all the same."
"And I'll thank you if you let me experiment on him." Carina tried one last time but when she saw the look Brian had just given her, she sighed and took it back, "Fine, I was just joking."
"Tony take Carina back to her hotel." Brian ordered.
Tony appeared right away which still surprised Carina at times even if she had seen it so many times already.
Brian went upstairs as soon as Carine left. He pushed the door open of the room with nothing but black and white decorations. The same decorations as the one they had outside. This was done to help people calm down.
Brian strode to the bed and sat down carefully making sure that Mark didn't wake up. The soft orange glow of the lamp on the wall reflected on Mark's face. His lashes were long and curled, like Molly's. His nose sharp and his lips pink. His cheeks were podgy but it wasn't difficult to see what a handsome boy he'd grow up to be.
Brian lifted one of his hands to caress Mark's face carefully.
Mark started to stir alarming Brian who withdrew his hand hastily. After a few moments, Mark was in deep sleep again. Brian sighed in relief, a small smile appearing on the corners of his mouth.
After a while, Tony returned from escorting Carina back to her hotel. On his drive back, he had received the news from Vincent which he was going to relay to Brian immediately. He looked for Brian at his study only to find it empty. So he continued to look around until he spotted the light in Mark's room was turned on.
Tony frowned at the idea of Brian with Mark so he headed towards Mark's bedroom. But what he saw stopped him in his tracks: Brian was gently covering Mark with a quilt. He suddenly felt sad for Brian.
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