The Life She Lost -

* All characters are above the age of 18*

(Thank you to my lovely editor, Kenji Sato!)

The sound of the radio strummed through Claira's ears as she sped down the road. Trees whizzed past the car windows, as she fled through the deserted street.

Claira looked in the rearview mirror. Her cheeks were streaked with stained streams of mascara. The beautiful once messy bun, was now just a saggy, auburn, tangled lump.

Claira smiled at herself, as her green eyes shimmered. She may look as if she was whipped through a tornado, but she felt like the sky had finally cleared.

Claira had absolutely, no idea where she was driving to. She knew she wanted to drive far and fast from the place, where her whole world shattered.

"If you wanna be my lov-- oh shit!" Claira screamed, as her car pulled to an abrupt stop. She banged her head on the steering wheel, letting out an annoyed groan.

"Why does this always have to happen to me?" Claira mumbled under her breath, as she grabbed her phone out the cup holder.

When she went to go power it on, all that showed was a dark screen. Claira shook the phone, pressing the power button over and over again. She shook it in the air, trying to harness the wind, but nothing happened.

"Shit, shit, double shit." Claira slumped into the car's seat.

It was a dark Saturday night, on a dimly lit street that also, unfortunately, was far from any other forms of civilization. Plus, to add the cherry on top, she was a woman... alone.

"What if I die? What if someone tries to kidnap me?" Claira's mind raced when, suddenly, she screamed.

A dark figure was standing right next to her window. A shadowed knuckle was pressed against the window, frozen as if it was about to knock. Claira stared at the figure as she slowly lowered further down in her seat. Her breath quickened, her heart pounded.

"That thing can't hurt me if it can't see me." Claira whispered to herself. She peeked up to see if it had gone, but it was still there.

She whispered panicked, " This is where I will die, in my broken car because I'm too broke to fix it."

The dark figure knocked again, but this time it spoke. "Hey, is anyone in there?" a sexy voice asked.

Claira slowly rose back up in her seat. When she looked out the window a second time, she realized that the dark figure was, in fact, not a monster, but a man. And as he pulled down his hoodie, Claira stared in awe.

The man was a beauty. He had shiny black hair, that flowed in the softest messy waves. His eyes were the bluest, yet lightest, eyes she has ever seen.

Claira rolled down her window, still staring.

The handsome man stared at her awkwardly. He looked to the left and then to the right, trying to judge if he made a mistake. The man had noticed the small sedan, parked on the side of the road. But, perhaps it was one of those robber setups because this woman was staring him down with her whole soul.

Claira noticed his distress, and quickly blinked, looking ahead. "I am so sorry! My car broke down, silly me! I was trying to get my phone to work, but it just would not come on! And then you came along and I thought you were a murderer. I'm sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?" Claira stared into her lap.

The handsome man's face immediately softened. He ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head. He crouched down to meet her eye level at the window. He placed his hand on the door to keep his balance.

The handsome man spoke in a quiet tone, " Hey, I should've thought better about creeping up on you like that."

Claira turned her head to meet his eyes. She gave a small smile as she calmed down. Claira reached her hand through the open window and gently placed it on his shoulder. He flinched, as she realized what she had done and quickly retracted her arm.

"I'm Claira."

"I'm Aiden."

Claira rushed to add, "Could you please give me a ride because I will have a panic attack if we stay on this dark street any longer."

Aiden laughed as he stood. "Yeah, I'll go start my truck." he replied, before walking off.

Immediately, Claira screamed into her hands.

She had either just met the man she would marry... or the man who would break her heart.