Tomorrow’s sun came and stayed, tomorrow’s fried eggs and ham indulged in and consumed without much fret. Tomorrow, tomorrow… and Ash was nowhere to be seen.

Once more, her plate sat cold and neglected.

Thought perhaps she just needed time, give her one more day, she’d be fine.

Then the day after came and went with me lumbering my way downstairs with sullen eyes that morning, wishing I’d just learn to keep my big fat jinxing mouth shut. You know, I got some staplers in my desk drawer that hasn’t seen much light of the day. Maybe it’s about it see should some use, huh?

One of these days, I swear it...

Day after’s breakfast menu was quite a mixed bag, like literally. A Tibetan monk could walk in, see what we were eating, and quietly in his little meditating corner, shed a proud prideful tear.

So many brands of cereal in the pantry cabinet as a result of the other day’s splurge, I basically just took a large bowl, grabbed some milk, and made ourselves one with everything.

What a spiritual journey of self-discovery that meal was that day…

We’ve had plenty more breakfasts after that, Adalia and I, together on a table for three, yet where there sat only two.

It was kinda disheartening to notice myself a couple of days after not even bothering to put a third plate in the dining room. Yeah, that plate was always on a silver tray now, always placed on the ground beside a closed door upstairs, where it would lay untouched until those magic words were spoken aloud.

“Food’s by the door, Ash.”

Couple hours later, both tray and plate would vanish from its spot, appearing magically the very next day clean and pristine inside the cabinet where all the other plates and trays were kept.

“Don’t… need…” Adalia huddled by the couch said to me one day, as I drew up to the living room with a feather duster and broom in hand.

“What, she… she still cleans?” I asked.

She nodded her head. “Always…”

That was practically routine now these past few days. Not much had changed except for the obvious which needn’t any mentioning but that’s not to say that Ash had just dropped off the face of the earth or something, she was still around… occasionally.

Toilet breaks, light lunches, and dinners, laundry duty.

Those things among others got her coming out of her little hidey-hole ever so often throughout the day, albeit briefly, but I still get to see her around, so no complaints here.

Like right then, I was watching TV with Adalia sleeping across from me when I caught Ash from the corner of my eyes creeping to the kitchen for a cup of water.

That one little sifty glance I gave her way told me that while she strived to maintain a level of cleanliness that would make even the best of maids look incompetent, apparently that same level of care does not apply to herself.

Dark rings on heavy eyelids, her hair flowing and shining, now had loose strands poking out of it. Telling signs of a marathon session… knew there was a reason why I don’t see her on guard-duty in the morning as often as before.

Ash had a hobby now.

“Oh, good morning, Master.”

Detected some tension in her voice, which she tried to brush off by bowing her head at me, both hands wrapped around a mug.

“Bit late for morning, don’t you think?” I said, smiling slight.

Got at least three different clocks hanging in the living room, Ash drifted her eyes onto one of them.

Small hand at three, long hand at six… Ash still needed a little time to read time. Seeing her eyes scrutinize over every tick and tock, while muttering numbers under her breath made for a rather endearing sight.

“Ah! My apologies!” Another bow in realization. “It seems I have lost track of time… I did not realize just how late in the day it was.”

“It’s good,” I said, then, noticing how her legs slowly gravitated to the staircase, added, “you uh… you having fun in there?”

In there did not refer to her room. In there meant something else. I think she knew that, for her expression went a little rigid.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Not precisely… but it’s been rather, well, enlightening to say the least.”

Seems I wasn’t the only one on a journey of self-discovery, but I was definitely the only one who did it while munching on some corn flakes.

“Alright, well…” Well what? Have fun? Didn’t look like she was having any. “Just don’t push yourself, okay?”

There was a smile on her face, supposed that’s her conveying that she was fine.

Her eyes say otherwise.

“Understood.”

Mug in hand, up she went, her door closing shut, leaving everything as it always has been.

Nothing has been resolved since that one fateful day. That ‘Later’ that ended the night became an ‘eventually’ that has been placed up high on a shelf somewhere, in a safe, chucked into a vault, inside a volcano, deep under the ocean floor where it remains untouched to this day.

Legends state that only those with balls ever heavy and existing would be worthy to claim such a relic, but alas, I seem to have misplaced my own sadly.

Unfortunate that it is that I am unable to seek myself such splendor, at least I rest with confidence knowing no one else could either, so uh… tough shit, I guess.

Besides, Ash seems to prefer acting like that night never actually happened, which was rather tough to accomplish considering this awkwardness between us was prompted by that one night.

Whatever… if she wishes not to, then I wish not to either. Still, I was confident that there will come a day where the two of us will be peaches and cream once again but until that day comes… well, there’s always television.

Wasn’t anything good on anyway…

Actually, you know what? Do you know what we need here?

When there arises a problem between two people that neither can resolve on their own, who ya gonna call?

Three guesses, and no it’s not the first one that came to mind, that’s too easy.

‘Sides Ash ain’t spooky anyway.

A third party, we needed a third party. More specifically we needed a somebody. Some outsider with some outside perspective to our little domestic dispute here.

Can’t be just any outsider either, hell, anybody can have an opinion and advice on anything - that doesn’t mean it’ll be good. Take me for example, if I followed my own advice at the beginning of this supernatural escapade, I wouldn’t even be here. I’ll still be in that dingy little apartment paying off debts till my back gives out.

No, we needed someone wise, preferably someone with much experience in living life, audacious too, someone who ain’t afraid of calling out things as it was, who always speaks their mind even when they really shouldn’t, bold, loud… brash…

There were plenty of fishes in the sea, but not all of them would really fit your needs, someone of that description was practically a zebra in a forest of horses. Where on earth was I supposed to find someone like that?

Maybe I should consider looking at online forums… don’t expect the solution to come barging in at the front door, anyway.

“HEYYY!”

Someone barged in at the door.

Someone bold, someone brash, someone very, very loud, someone… wearing a large sombrero.

“Buenas tardes, amigo!” Underneath from that huge sombrero came a polite bow. “Como estas, eh?”

Spanish was really not her thing. I know of murders, but she essentially just butchered the entire language with her attempt.

“You’re burnin - you’re burning the sombrero!” I said, seeing white smoke wafting above her head. “Can you not burn the house down?”

“Calmate, compadre,” came her voice so carefree. “No te preocupes.”

“ENGLISH!”

“Dude, chill!.” arrived the English translation, voiced with an amused chuckle. “It’s fire-resistant.”

Adalia was tossing and turning with all the commotion, didn’t wanna wake her up, so I took her advice and chilled, scoffing. “You got a fire-proof sombrero?”

Despite her claims of safety, she still took it off her head, and immediately it was like someone had lighted a beacon in the vicinity, a miniature sun, the way her crimson hair blazed and cascaded, swirling embers into the air - Ria then tossed her locks back, dusting away even more cinders soaring upwards.

“Gift shops got everything nowadays.” From a pocket in her leather jacket, she pulled out an object, tossing it towards my direction. “Here’s ya souvenir, you’re welcome.”

What landed in my open palms was something small, something very clunky, something...

“Silvestre,” I looked back up at her. “You got me cologne from a gift shop?”

“Maybe what you need in order to get a girlfriend is a foreign smell, that’s what I’m thinking, you know?” she explained. “I mean… no harm trying, right?”

“Don’t think I ever mentioned I wanted one…”

“Ah, that’s right,” Ria’s eyes lit up like bonfires. “You got an Elf on the mind, I nearly forgot. You got some exotic taste there, bud. How is she nowadays by the way? Managed to talk to her yet?”

Ooo, couldn’t answer that one, at least not right away… and even then the expression on my face already spoke on my behalf. Ria read it like an open book.

“Aww, that silence is there is a no-no... tsk, tsk, what a shame.”

“I’m working on it.”

“Are you now?” She crossed her arms, eyebrows raised. “How you doing it? Do you go ‘Look, we need to talk’, or do you go ‘Hey, good morning there, bye!’, which is it?”

“Well, aren’t you a perceptive little birdy?”

The phoenix gave a chuckle. “Well, I damn well oughta be. Been hanging from a detective’s neck for years and years now. If I didn’t learn a thing or two, I might as well be blind.”

Clacking on the polished wooden floorboards were her high-heeled boots, leading her towards the stairs where she took a seat on one of the steps, taking in a mouthful of the chilly afternoon air as she stared at me.

“Well,” she said. “Care to fill me in?”

Oh… hold on, what was on the checklist just now? Audacious, bold, brash, speaking without a care in the world… wise - okay, maybe not wise.

An outsider with an outside perspective. The third-party savior that could solve all our affairs.

Well… she’s no zebra, but I guess even a phoenix will do just fine.

Right?

I better get that stapler ready, just in case...