“Was that your first kiss?”

A voice of a man that I’ve never heard before. Did he just kiss me?

There is a strange lingering feeling on my lips. My lips tingled and it ached slightly from his kiss. It felt like there was something that I wanted to say to him but my lips wouldn’t move, and my chest felt tight as my heart beat wildly in my chest.

‘Yes, it was my first kiss,’ I replied to him silently in my mind.

“Relax. Your body is all stiff and your cheeks are bright red. Are you shy or embarrassed? Or perhaps…both?” the voice asked teasingly.

I’ve never heard this voice before, and I had no idea who the man was. Everything around me was shrouded in darkness like there was a heavy smoke clouding my vision. He was near but I couldn’t see him or his face clearly. It was like he was here and yet he wasn’t.

“Did you enjoy your first kiss? Should we give it another try? Maybe your second kiss will feel so good that it’ll make you forget all about your first…” the man suggested seductively.

He’s going to kiss me again?

Although I had no idea who this man is, the thought of him kissing me again didn’t disgust me. Instead, I found myself looking forward to sharing that kiss with him. Without knowing what was happening, I found myself so attracted and captivated by his voice that I couldn’t think of anything else.

**Ring Ring Ring**

“Hmmm…”

My mind felt hazy, and my eyelids felt heavy from sleep as I drowsily reached my arm out to where I knew the alarm clock was sitting on top of the table next to my bed. Morning has arrived and it was time to face reality once more. My hand found the alarm clock and managed to silence the alarm without the need for me to open my eyes.

The sunlight shining in through the slightly parted curtain of the window stung my eyes when I slowly opened them. The familiar plain white ceiling of my room greeted me, and I knew that I had woken up on my small narrow bed in my bedroom. Where else could I be?

Summoning up all the effort that I had, I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. Needless to say, I was alone in my bedroom and there were absolutely no signs of a man ever being in there. His voice and his presence that felt so close to me was gone. It didn’t surprise me, after all, this wasn’t the first time that I’ve had dreams very similar to the one that I had just had. Every time he appeared in my dream, and I heard his voice, my mind would try to remember where I’ve heard his voice before and the answer that I would arrive at would always be the same: I have never heard his voice before.

At least, not in real life.

A sigh escaped my lips and my shoulder drooped at the realization that it was nothing but another dream. That made me realize that I was slightly disappointed that he wasn’t here. I shook my head rapidly form side to side to clear my thoughts. Why did I sound like I wanted to meet him so much? I don’t even know who he is...and he’s probably just a pervert from all the suggestive things that he kept saying to me.

Milla, he doesn’t exist!

I reminded myself again just like I had done countless times before. A dream is nothing more than a dream.

Oh no! I’m going to be late and being late today would be a real disaster! After all, today is the day that I’ve been anxiously waiting for. Today was the day that I would go into the city where I would get a decent and respectable job. I had worked hard to be recommended for a job position in the city and I wasn’t about to blow it by being late.

I got up hurriedly from the bed and after sprinting through the shower and getting properly dressed, I headed downstairs to the first floor of the orphanage where I knew that everyone would be waiting to send me off.

“Good luck, Milla!”

“Best of luck at work. I hope you like your new job. Come visit us often, ok?”

“Take care of your health, ok? Don’t work too hard and don’t worry about things around here. We’ll manage…”

“It would help if you send back money, though…”

The other younger girls in the orphanage shouted quite loudly to send me off. I looked at their smiling faces as I recalled the many memories that we shared. I’m going to miss them when I’m gone but I knew that this was for the best.

“Don’t worry. I plan to do exactly that,” I promised, meaning every word that I had just said.

“It’s time to go. We have an important appointment with your employee in the city and it is a long ride from here to there,” Mr. Helkins said curtly.

“Ok. We’ll then, I’ll be off…” I told all the other girls before I smiled and waved at them.

Back then, I never thought that that would be the last time that I would ever see their faces. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would never see them ever again…

…

**Later that night**

I have never seen this much money before in my entire life…

The spotlight shining down on me was so blindingly bright that I could hardly see very far into the audience. That light now was being blocked by countless green bank notes that were raining down onto me from above. I raised my hand above my face to grasp at one of the falling notes to see if this was real or I was just dreaming all of this up. Instantly, I felt the feel of the note in my hand along with the weight of the chain attached to the metal shackle around my wrists.

--To be continued…