Velika: The story of a lover

For years, she was detached from the real world. It wasn't like she was locked up somewhere away from the society, it was more like she spent all her time in a circle of similar people who were in similar situation like hers. Emotions, sentiments, attachments were the forbidden words in the industry and people like her were trained to leave those aside.

So, when she met Landon Hetherington, she didn't know what, or how to act.

He picked her up at her apartment complex, the moment she got out the front door and saw him standing in front of it, she knew this man had already made his way into her life and integrated him as part of it.

Perhaps she was blinded by all his other traits, but till this day, she still firmly believed that he was the prettiest man that she had ever been involved with. Not the most handsome one, Daniel Heinrich was surely the most handsome one, Landon Hetherington was the prettiest one, he had all the features that Velika O'Sullivan found attractive in a man: Dark, soft brown hair, a pair of deep, clear, sapphire blue eyes with the perfect folds of his eyelids, which made his eyes seemed long yet wide and open. High cheekbones led a line narrowed down to his defined chin, not really harsh lines but very defined. Tall, but not as tall as Daniel Heinrich and very skinny.

Velika O'Sullivan never believe love at first sight, not even when she met Dean O'Sullivan, but she had to believe it when she met Landon Hetherington.

He seemed nervous when they met in person, unlike all the text messages they had been sending back and force for the past week. She felt that he was in a way, distant and quiet. Velika O'Sullivan was never a quiet person, and always tried her best to break the ice and made conversations with people that she first met. It was partially because of her job, she needed to get around in the social circle, even though it was more like a dysfunctional social circle. Landon Hetherington, on the other hand, was genuinely a quiet person, he got Velika O'Sullivan's sense of humour but didn't laugh much of it. When they were at the table having dinner, it had a slightly awkwardness going on in the atmosphere, even Velika O'Sullivan tried to focus on what he said, and not solely drawn into his charm by his beautiful eyes.

Those eyes, Velika O'Sullivan thought to herself, where the most beautiful eyes that she had ever seen, just like this man in front of her was the prettiest man that she ever went on a date with. Perhaps they didn't belong to each other, they couldn't have the sync energy to keep the conversation going.

But Landon Hetherington was charming, probably too charming for someone like Velika O'Sullivan. She didn't know what to act after all these years, when her heart, which she though was cold and dead once again, started beating fast at the moment when his eyes stared right into hers.

It was dangerous. And it worsened and worsened when they stepped out in the pouring rain, his arm wrapped around her waist; when he dropped her off at her door, standing right outside it, and then he kissed her.

That was when she knew, that her life was tied to this man, who she really shouldn't be attached or have any sort of feelings with, but she did, she fell hard. He made her realize that she still had genuine feelings left in her, and she still knew what it was like when her heart was broken, not by him, but by herself.

They went out once more after the first night they met, it was all fine, at least from Velika O'Sullivan's point of view. She started to imagine the day where she could finally get out of the business that she was in and lived an ordinary life like everyone else with Landon Hetherington. She put him in her picture without thinking too much of it. Did she like him or just because she was long gone, and he somehow reignited the spark in her heart? No answer, she didn't know what to answer herself at that moment, all she knew was that she wanted him to be with her, more than anyone else in this world. This wasn't the same feeling when she met Dean O'Sullivan, her long gone husband, not when she met Aaron Carling, the delicate doctor who drove her mad. This was the feeling that made the rational Velika O'Sullivan wondered if she was engaged in some sort of obsessive behaviour, all she knew was that she wanted him in her life.

However, this wasn't what he wanted. Simple like that, he left her without a goodbye. No matter how many times she messaged him, called him, he wouldn't answer, and this left her devastated. Who would think someone like Velika O'Sullivan would have a day like this, hung up on a man who, no doubt that did not belong to her at the first place, yet she was still trying hard to get hold onto him.

"I'm sorry Velika," Said Sierra, with her arm around her friend, "I know how you feel, and I understand that you might have got a little head-over-toe for Landon, especially when you haven't been with anyone for a while."

"Sierra," Said Velika O'Sullivan, who piled up her empty beer can on the table, made a tower, ignored Tyler, Sierra's boyfriend's glare, and opened up another can, "Why wouldn't him give me another chance? Now he probably thinks that I'm crazy."

"I talked to him," Said Sierra, didn't know how to comfort her heart-broken friend anymore, and decided to repeat the truth to her one more time, "He said that he doesn't think you two would work out in the long run. I know, it's too soon to draw a conclusion. But my boss does things with his heart and makes very spontaneous decisions, also, you probably figured that he is extremely opinionated, I really can't do anything about it. There's only so much I could do."

"I know, I'm sorry." Said Velika O'Sullivan with a sigh, "I think I'm too obsessed over him, which is not right, I'll be fine, and I'll get over his pretty face, eventually."

She never did get over his pretty face, from times to times she thought of his beautiful eyes and what she could possibly have with him if he thought that they would be compatible. The situation was out of her hands, and she was well-aware of that. As the time passed by, she started getting busier and busier, and this helped her to put him behind. Natural had sent her to cases after cases in the cities of close proximity and this gave her chances of getting around and left the place for short periods of time and cleared her mind.

It was still warm in the Bay area when November came around, there was still flowers at the front porch of her apartment building. She enjoyed her time living there, especially with Sierra's company. Sierra was being a good friend as she could possibly be, she did not once mention anything about Landon Hetherington after he decided to leave Velika O'Sullivan hanging and digested her feelings on her own. Just like Velika O'Sullivan never asked, even though she wanted to.

When Natural told her to move to somewhere closer to downtown, where Daniel Heinrich worked as a bartender, Velika O'Sullivan was almost not willing to leave. At the meantime, it was more like a relief. She knew deeply in her heart that she shouldn't form any sort of attachment with anyone, even it was just friendship. It was on a warm Saturday afternoon, when she was hanging out with her friend at her apartment, she told her neighbour about her plan of moving.

"I have to move to somewhere near downtown," Said Velika O'Sullivan with a frown, "It's more convenient for me regarding to work related purposes."

"But you are an editor," Sierra had doubts with her friend's words, "Does it really matter?"

"My boss said so," Velika O'Sullivan shrugged, "She pays for my rent anyways. Do you know anywhere near downtown has place for rent?"

"Oh yes! My boss' neighbour is trying to rent their duplex…." Sierra suddenly paused, didn't know if she should continue.

"Your boss?" Velika O'Sullivan rose her eyebrow, "Landon Hetherington?"

"Well, ugh," Sierra turned red, "Yes, Landon. I mean, it's fine, just take it as I didn't say anything about it. Why would I try to upsell you to be Landon's neighbour? That's just going to be awkward."

"No, that's fine." Velika O'Sullivan smiled, she felt something was once again lightening up in her darkened heart, "Do you by any chance know the address?"

Sierra's eyes widened, like she couldn't believe what Velika O'Sullivan just said. She stared into her friend's dark eyes, and it took her a few seconds to speak:

"I hope you know what you are doing. This is crazy, Velika, this could be called obsessive behaviour."

Velika O'Sullivan smiled and didn't answer. For once in her life, she would consider herself to be crazy and did whatever she could to get hold of something that she wanted so dearly regardless of the consequences. That was in her blood, she would not give up anything until she had to, and by that, it meant that it was herself who decided to let go and was never interfered by other's decisions. A woman who wanted everything under her control, she would describe herself like this. Having control under her career was easy, but not so much in regard to emotional level, she knew that she deeply needed to learn how to let things go, but she never did. She stopped loving and believing Dean O'Sullivan's lies because she made her choice, she followed Daniel Heinrich here because she wanted to, and in the case of Landon Hetherington, she wasn't ready to give up until he told her to leave, or she made that decision for herself.

So, Velika O'Sullivan became her crush's neighbour.

Not like what she had planned, that she would get to see him soon after she moved in. She didn't get to see him for the first couple of weeks. Sure enough she could hear his car pulled into the drive way, but there was never a good reason for her to get outside and purposely 'run into' him. And the other times when he was outside, she had work to be done and dozens of emails and report to write back to natural, or either of them were on errands sent by their companies.

And when she finally got to see him again, it still wasn't like what she would like to.

They had bench outside their joint porch, and whenever the weather was nice, Velika O'Sullivan would bring her book out and read on the bench. Indeed, she could totally just lie comfortably in her couch and read, while enjoying her coffee and the gentle sun, but everything she did is to serve a purpose. She wanted to see her crush, who had no idea that his potentially obsessed 'stalker' had become his neighbour.

She was reading Lolita that day and was truly drawn into the pages. The novel fascinated her, so much so that she ignored the sound of his car pulled into the drive way, ignored the fact that he saw her, and walked towards her, and still didn't realize his presence until he casted a shadow over her page.

Then she lifted up her head, and saw those eyes, those eyes that she had dreamed many times, those eyes that she prayed and hoped to see again in her life.

"Why are you here?" He asked with a frown.

"What?" She acted surprised and hid all her excitement, she was trained for this, she was a good actress, "I live here. Now why are you here?"

"I live here." He said, still had that unpleasant frown, "You know this for a fact. I brought you back once."

"And that was several months ago, you know I don't have much of a good memory." She put her book down and stood up, stared directly into those pretty eyes that she missed so dearly, "Stop use that tone to question me like I'm your stalker."

"Are you not my stalker?" He sneered, and said coldly, "Sierra did tell me that you moved, and I've never thought of the fact that you could be my neighbour. I guess fate is trying to tell me that I could never get rid of you."

"You are just too young and reckless, you are 23." Said Landon Hetherington, still had that sneer, "You have a long way ahead."

"I'm young and reckless?" Velika O'Sullivan laughed out loud, a combination because of the way how he said it and also how confidence he was to determine what kind of person she was, "You have no idea who I am and what I've been through. Age is just a number, sweetheart, keep that in mind."