"So, what's it gonna be?" Catherine got straight to the point.

"No business. If that's okay with you."

"So you wanna get a room?" Catherine seemed to have misinterpreted Wallace's intentions.

"I'd actually love to. But no, that's not what I meant."

Witty and humorous in his immediate response, he had made Catherine feel like laughing. She stopped herself by pretending to adjust her shades and looking away. "You're not actually saying you want to make friends." Catherine had appeared more approachable now. "The Wallace, making friends with a cheap, unknown singer?"

Wallace was impressed by Catherine's every sarcastic sentence and her choice of strong, sometimes even offensive, words. "Wow, you're a handful. You remind me of my best friend." There was indeed a resemblance between Angela's fearlessness and hers. Angela was considered by Wallace as the definition of 'awesome' in his own personal dictionary. Every time he came into contact with a woman, he would use his best friend's qualities - or some might say, lack thereof - as a measuring yardstick.

"Great. Now I'm just reminding you of someone else." Catherine scoffed.

"She's also the only close friend I've ever got."

The admittance struck an impact on Catherine. She realized he was not taking this conversation lightly and meant to get to know her. Having rough teenage years of being her high school's head cheerleader, Catherine was used to being objectified by men. All she was to them was more or less a sex toy. In Wallace's eyes, she saw something different: genuine interest and sincerity. She felt appreciated and had come to take him seriously in return.

"Well, I don't know her but she should be pretty awesome then."

Wallace could not deny the fact that that was funny. He allowed himself to laugh out loud. The mood had lifted significantly. "She is. Very. She can't quite sing, though." Angela was constantly in his thoughts, even though he did not realize it.

"And you think I can? Try listening to this song called "Keeping Your Promise". You'll absolutely detest it." Catherine was opening up now.

Wallace immediately recognized the song's name as he was a frequent music radio channels listener. "No way. You sing that song? It's lovely!" He meant every word, and started humming to the tune of the song.

Catherine was happier by the multitudes. Not only was her music appreciated, Catherine realized how much of a nice and talented person Wallace actually was, and decided at this moment that she was going to place her trust in him.

"That was quite good!" She exclaimed.

"No, was not."

"Sing the whole thing. C'mon."

"Nah, nah." Wallace felt slightly embarrassed.

"Sing for me."

Wallace could feel her eyes opening wide, gazing at him, even when they were behind those dark shades. Reluctantly, he began singing. He started soft, and grew louder as he let his mind gradually immerse into the song's melody.

Catherine sang along. Although she hadn't become widely recognized or had any sort of established fanbase, there was no doubt that she was a singer gifted with an angelic voice: strong, clear, and full of emotions. She was now animated, entirely different from just a short while earlier. Wallace and her made a great duet match. Their voices were in sync as if their hearts were linked, and they were harmonizing beautifully, pitch-perfect. As they reached the end of the piece, Catherine let out a loud scream, as if she had been completely loosened and relaxed. Wallace smiled as he watched her dancing round.

"Thank you for that." Catherine said as she applauded. "You made my night."

Wallace was pleased. He tactfully replied, "You're really something, you know. I've never sung for anyone other than Angela."

"Angela?"

"Oh, that's-- my best friend."

"And she said I was crap." He continued.

"Nonsense!" Catherine genuinely enjoyed Wallace's company and how easy it was to be free around him.

It seemed that Wallace had not imagined this night to turn out so wonderfully for him. He had met one of the most special people that he'd come across his whole life. And he was sure she would play an important part in his life if they were to stay close together. For Catherine, the feeling was mutual.

However, not everyone was happy tonight.


Angela Doom had come in her most decent outfit. She'd thought Wallace's night had been hard to enjoy, and wanted to be there for him.


She saw different.












______________________________________

Oh no. This is really getting longer and longer. Hope I haven't bored you guys out! :P

I'll add more comments when my brain activities get back to normal levels. Haha.

The content load is becoming heavier though. As you can see, we've got on our hands a huuuge mystery, various characters being developed at the same time, AND a little love triangle here. Is it okay or should I make the pace slower? Do you feel that there are too many things happening simultaneously?

And, what do you think of the individual characters as of now? I've introduced quite a few: Wallace, Angela, Catherine, Cecelia and Emily, Wallace's parents, Ethan Bunch, the Altos and the minor Jamie Langeraak. It's weird, but I personally enjoy characterizing Angela. She's probably my favourite character now.

(And if you're wondering: Yes, Agnes Esperanza IS Agnes Crumplebottom. I just didn't like her original surname is all. Sounds too comical for this type of story. )

I've also been thinking - sorry if this sounds like ranting - about the possibility of making this a normal story (without pictures), since taking screenshots is time consuming on my laggy computer. However if you guys would prefer pictures, tell me and I'll try to keep them going.

Cheers!