Shades Of Gray.

"I may be useless, but I won't let you die..."

A resolute thought rushed into Serene's mind, her heart was filled with new encouragement and she stood up from the corner she was huddled in.

She did not know for how long she had slept but she only knew that she was so depressed that she cried herself to sleep. By the time she rose up, it was already late in the evening and the sky had become darker. She drew in a deep breath and looked at the figure in the bed, after a while, she turned her eyes away and walked out of the ward.

Little did she know that just as she had left, the sickly young man on the bed opened his eyes, his thick dark lashes fluttered lazily and his lips were pressed together with difficulty.

"Sister..." he blinked, a tear trailed down his pale face and fell on the pillow.

Serene flagged down a taxi in front of the hospital building and gave the address of the most popular club to the taxi driver. In a few minutes, the taxi stopped in front of the club and Serene got out of the car after saying a word of thanks to the driver.

She adjusted her baseball hat and duck her head. She then walked into the club. Being a weekend, the Club was extremely crowded and she had to squeeze through the people to walk into the club.

She finally got through, she stood under a dimly lit lamp and looked around. She looked to her left and saw a figure waving frantically in her direction.

"Hey, Rene, over here!" The person screamed.

Serene's face lit up with a smile and she nodded, she took a step forward and was about to walk toward her friend when she suddenly bumped into a sturdy figure.

"Ha!" A gasp slipped out of her mouth.

Her waist was held tightly by a pair of broad palms that stopped her from falling. A pleasant scent of Pinewood and mint emitting from the body caused her to snap out of her daze and quickly stepped back from the person.

"Sorry!" Serene hurriedly offered an apology and she bowed. Her cap and hair covered her face and one could not catch a glimpse of what she looked like.

For a moment, she heard nothing from the person and only felt a pressing aura falling on her. She could also feel the person's sharp gaze on her which made her stiffen. She then heard the sound of throat clearing and a deep masculine assent reached her ears.

"Watch your steps next time, a place like this can be dangerous, try not to bump into other people"

Serene Knitted her brows, and pursed her lips, she could not detect any emotions from the man's voice and when she raised her head, he was already gone.

All that lingered in her brain was his deep voice and his alluring scent...

She scratched her palm and narrowed her eyes, what was she thinking now...?

"Hey, Serene, here!" Her friend called out and she snapped back to reality.

Serene immediately walked over and sat with her friend, the bartender came over and asked what she wanted. Serene simply asked for the same cocktail as her friend. When the bartender brought her drink, she took a sip and removed her baseball cap.

"You took so long, what were you doing over there?" The girl sitting next to her asked as soon as she saw that Serene had relaxed.

"Nothing, just some stuff" Serene answered and pinched the sides of her glass with her fingers. For some reason, she remembered the man's scolding voice again and realized she never even got a chance to match a face to the voice she heard. She shook her head and snapped out of the thoughts.

"Babe, you are distracted, what are you thinking?" The lady asked.

"Nothing" Serene answered immediately, her response came so quickly that it sounded like she was hiding something.

"Ha! Rene, why fo I feel like this 'nothing' is definitely something?" Her friend became suspicious and she questioned her actions immediately.

However, Serene still shook her head, "Paige, forget it" she calmly uttered and raised her glass to her lips.

"Oh..." Paige murmured and lowered her head briefly before looking up again.

"Yeah, that reminds me, I said I am with you just now, was he troubling you?"

"No, I bumped into him" Serene gave an airy response, she sipped her drink patiently. Perhaps, because of the slight alcoholic content in the drink, her face was flushed, it made it appear as though she was blushing. Or, maybe she was.

Paige noticed her friend's expression and she chuckled, she clicked their glass and smiled.

"This man, does he look good?" Paige suddenly asked, she played with her cup while staring at her friend.

Oblivious to the plans her friend was cooking up, Serene shook her head absentmindedly and opened her mouth.

"I did not see his face" she paused and looked at her drink, "he smells good though" she voiced.

Paige laughed out so hard that she almost choked on her drink and only then did Serene understand what was going in.

"Do I smell a crush now?" She playfully said and teased her friend.

Serene narrowed her eyes, "don't talk rubbish, I came to discuss the job you talked about"

Paige pouted, she looked at her friend with pity and she sighed. The poor lady was obviously blushing and flustered like every lady would when they experience their first crush but, so many bad experiences had made Serene so closed up that all she could now think about was work and money.

Paige drank up the alcohol in her glass in one big gulp and she lowered her eyes. She remembered when they were in high school, despite the problems, Serene still made time to enjoy life but now, she had to bear the responsibilities of her home on her own. It was just too much for the lady.

Serene had forgotten what the colorful sides of life looked like, all she saw was shades of gray.

"Why ain't you saying anything?" Serene asked softly, and only then did Paige return to herself.

She blinked back her tears and forced a smile to spread on her face before returning her gaze to Serene.

"Yes, about the job" she began with a sweet smile.