Manny sighed, "I went to the concert with him just this morning. I went out for a few minutes and when I got back, he was gone. I don't know where he went but he told me over the phone that he would be here. But it's been half an hour since his check-up and he's not even answering his phone." Manny sounded exasperated.
Harrow knitted his eyebrows and took out his phone to try and reach Spark too. But as expected, his call was only transferred to voice mail too.
Manny just watched him with a disgruntled look on his face. Harrow sighed in helplessness too. "Did something happen during the concert this morning?" he asked.
"Nothing in particular," Manny said. Manny furrowed his brows as he thought for a moment, "I mean, you know what's happening now, right? Spark promised Brian before that he would play with Wing. But with what he's going through right now, it seems like he won't be able to do it. So I thought it might be better if he just joined another troupe instead of you know, hanging around Wing and being reminded of Molly. The Sasha Music Troupe leader was there at the concert this morning so I thought I would talk to him, you know? So I left Spark for a few seconds." He kept anxiously looking at the elevator as he spoke.
He was shrouded with tension because he had worked with Spark for so many years now and he knew Spark better than anyone. He knew for a fact that Spark hadn't touched his violin ever since Molly came to see him that day in the hospital. Even if he had to play for someone, he never completed a whole piece. Every time he ended up with either a broken string or he just stopped playing himself. They also knew that it wasn't just because of his pneumonia. It had more to do with his depression.
Harrow sat wordlessly for a while then he looked up at the clock, "I'll go out and try to look for him. Can you wait here and call me if you see him or hear from him?" he suggested.
"Okay," Manny nodded.
Harrow just drove his car aimlessly along the streets of A City. He didn't know where to start looking for Spark. He was just secretly hoping that he would bump into him. Somehow, he crossed his fingers that Spark would just be wandering on the streets expecting to bump into Molly. He continued to drive around the busy city. He would have asked Molly but things were different now so he couldn't do that anymore. Especially with everything that had happened between them, he highly doubted that Molly would even know about Spark's whereabouts. So he just continued to drive with no destination in mind.
After a while, he passed by South Street Alley which was jam-packed with people. There was nothing about this street that drew his attention. He just made a quick sweep of the entire street before focusing his attention back to driving. He knew that with Spark's popularity, he couldn't ever be in such a crowded area because he would draw too much attention.
What Harrow missed was a black Audi R8 coming up the corner of the street and Spark stepping out of it. He was inconspicuous in a slipshod of an outfit with his cotton white shirt and blue ripped jeans. On his face were a pair of dark and giant sunglasses that covered almost half of his face. He walked briskly among the sea of people. His hair was fluttering in the gentle gust of the wind. Even disguised in such a manner, you could still tell that he was an attractive and charming man.
Spark walked along the street trying to blend in with the crowd. He recalled the time when he forced Molly here so that they could try the street food here after they had just come from Wing's concert then.
The feeling of the anguish and sorrow was beginning to return to his consciousness again, he sighed in helplessness and smiled vaguely and hollowly at his sluggishness. Then he remembered the stall that Molly and himself went and had snack together. Like missing Molly, he suddenly felt a strong want of that food within himself. And then after a moments' hesitation, a determination light lit up in his eyes. He stepped forward and walked on, for the stall.
*
Meanwhile, Molly lingered at the stall looking odd among the people enjoying their time. She stood out as she didn't have anyone with her, which made she feel not hungry anymore.
It was the lunch hour and the temperature was scorching and sultry. Beads of sweat were dripping down from her forehead. It seemed like she had no other option but to go home even though that was the last place she wanted to be. She didn't ever want to leave and go back to her real life, into the cold reality she had with Brian.
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