Spark's eyelids fluttered close, his eyebrows knitting tightly in concentration and losing himself to the music, his heart flooded with bitterness. He now confirmed that he in fact, could still play the violin. However, he could only do that if Molly was there with him.
He thought to himself as his fingers danced on the violin, 'From now on, my violin will play for nobody but you, Mol!'
The music finally came to an end with a slow and yearning melody. Spark remained still and lifted the bow slightly. The entire shop burst into applause at his brilliant display, and snapped Spark out of his thoughts and reminded him of the bitter feelings in his heart. Nonetheless, he didn't feel regretful at all. He didn't regret that he had met Molly at that underground passage, that he had cajoled her into talking to him on a whim, and that he finally composed The Summer Breeze for her. He knew it was wrong, but he wouldn't trade anything else for that in the world. On the contrary, he felt fortunate to have even met her again on the street in London. If it wasn't for that, he would have never had a chance to experience true love which his mother had sacrificed her life for.
"Spark--"
He finally opened his eyes and smiled sincerely at the woman in front of him. The melancholy in his eyes was gone. "The sound of the Stradivarius violin is unbelievably pure and clear. It is true that every violinist dreams of owning it."
Molly's train of thought was interrupted by Spark's easy words. She kept silent as he slid back into his seat in front of her. Despite the distress weighing her heart down, she couldn't make her lips say anything at that moment. She just looked at him, and every word she thought seemed to be enveloped by his pure grin.
*
Brian's eyes looked tranquil and quiet, but he was actually getting rather impatient. He glanced at his watch--it was already nine o'clock at night and Molly had yet to return home. He was alone in this spacious house that was always quiet. He left the wine glass on the bar counter with furrowed brows, and went upstairs to his study.
He went to his computer and booted it up. When it was done, he opened a certain application on the desktop. As his fingers danced on the keyboard, a string of instructions flashed on the monitor screen. Brian pressed "Enter" after a beep sound, and a satellite imagery materialized on the screen. A blinking red dot slowly appeared at its center.
Brian typed out another instruction, and the location of that red dot was displayed: a cake shop right across the Sasha Music Troupe. Frowning slightly, he took out his phone and dialed a number.
"Mr. Brian Long!" Tony greeted respectfully on the other line.
"Go and see who's with Molly at the cake shop across the Sasha Music Troupe." Pausing for a second, he added, "And send the address and other relevant information of that cake shop to me."
"Right away, Mr. Brian Long."
Brian hung up the call and stared at the red dot still flashing on the screen, muttering doubtfully to himself, "Mol, when did you ever start having a sweet tooth?"
In all the time he spent with her, Molly never took a liking to sweet foods. She was the opposite of Wing and Shirley, and she wasn't likely to set foot in a cake shop.
*
Molly left the cake shop and walked alone outside in a sea of neon lights. She didn't know what to think or how to act around Spark, and besides she didn't have a choice but to leave.
Molly paused at the center of the street and observed the bustling crowd under the city lights. She didn't know what she should do or where she should go next. Her perplexed gaze eventually turned into a blank stare.
She dropped her head to look at her feet while smiling bitterly to herself. After a while, she just dragged her legs and moved forward to wherever it took her. She didn't have a destination, but her legs just kept moving automatically.
Unbeknownst to her, a figure had followed behind her after she left the cake shop. It was a man of medium height, wearing a peaked cap, short-sleeved shirt and jeans. He looked rather ordinary as he smoothly blended in among the evening pedestrians.
He kept tailing her from a distance patiently. When he noticed the confused look on her face and discovered that she was in a trance, he approached her at a nearer distance quietly, careful to not get noticed by anyone.
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