6 years ago
In a sunny day, the busy street of the business center, people move around in all directions, passing her by and strangely no one bump each other. Everyone seems to be going somewhere, racing to their destinations.
Erica Lynn Reyes is one of them. She wore black corporal clothes. She has been invited to an internship interview at one of the Haw Empire branches. She's stiff in nervous and excited at the same time. This is where she's been working hard for.
Fear out. Courage in. Erica whispered to herself as she took a step forward.
…
Wet tears keep flowing at Erica's eyes like a river. It won't stop even though she wants to. They didn't accept her, neither they reject her. It was more. They hired her as a direct employee of the main branch.
Erica received many awards. Best in things, most of this, a genius of that. As a person who's youngest to most of her peers but achieved many things more than her friends could have in total, this is the first time she felt succeeded.
This is the start of her life to change.
She sits on the floor without care on her image. She's slump crying without knowing if she's an interception on the way.
Suddenly, the door behind her was opened and a person came out. As the said person was talking inside, he didn't see a person is there and tripped over her with him kissing the floor face first.
"Whoa—!"
Both of them yelp in surprise.
Marvin was saying goodbye inside when he tripped over something huge that he only saw that the floor is nearing his face, plunging himself at the floor. Instinctively, he closes his eyes and waits for the impact. He fell unsightly grandiose and painfully numb.
He's in so much pain that he felt a sticky liquid fell from his nose. His nose is bleeding.
"Are you okay?" a soft-voiced was heard. It was Erica, shaking off her hands with her knee-length skirt, she instinctively used it to stop herself to dive.
Marvin turned his head to see an unknown girl, looking at him.
As if struck by lightning he was in a daze as their eyes met, it wasn't the most beautiful eyes he ever saw, but it was the most black and rounded he ever seen. It was glistening.
It was ordinary. It really is, but looking at it now, somehow there's something special. Marvin can't explain what it is, it was when you look at something then the second time you see, it suddenly becomes special.
"Your nose is bleeding!" she exclaimed making Marvin snap out of his daze. She noticed a red thick line under his nose.
Marvin then remembered that he, in fact, is bleeding. "I-I'm alright," convincing himself, while his nose bleed.
"Did I broke your nose?"
"N-no," said Marvin but had difficulty breathing. She broke his nose but he was too embarrassed to admit. A girl broke his nose, if Lucas heard about this, he won't stop until he gets a good laugh.
Marvin shook his head with the thought of his friend Lucas.
He tried to clean his nose to have some a little bit of dignity in front of the beautiful young lady, stupidly using his hands to make it messier.
The girl reaches to her handbag and offers the whole box of tissue towards Marvin, which he decisively took. It was enough embarrassment for today, no need to add one more.
When the girl came closer to him, he noticed the traces of tears from her cheeks and around her eyes are red from crying. "Did I hurt you that badly?" he asks as he followed her eyes, looking closely if he had seen right.
But the girl looks away, wiping the tears that came out and not letting him see what he saw. "You're crying. Did I hurt you somewhere?" he asks as he scans her, to where the injury is.
"Where are you hurt?" he asks in concern when the girl heard him with that voice, she looks at him in surprise. She hurriedly wipes her face as if she was caught stealing something.
"I'm okay,"
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" he panicked. Which, by the way, is odd. "Stop crying! My nose stops bleeding, look look, I'm okay!" but his nose still bleeding. The girl smiled assuring Marvin that she's okay.
"I'm okay. You should go to the hospital to see if your nose is broken." Erica sniffs, stopping herself to cry. "I can't go with you today, but here's the money for the check-up." she reached for her wallet, gave him some money and immediately walk out.
Marvin was flabbergasted. He cannot believe there will be a time where someone would actually give him money. If he looks closely, he noticed that although the girl wore a formal suit, you can see that she wasn't from a well-off family.
But surprisingly, even she had on the cheapest clothes, zero make-up, and no expensive accessories, she didn't look out of place.
Then he realized it wasn't their first time seeing each other. He saw her before. He saw her running towards him, last week. But somehow he remembers the stranger's eyes when he saw her again.
It was a sudden rain when he saw her. She was running with her bag shielding herself from further rain and Marvin noticed her. At first, it wasn't anything but then he saw her again and closer.
It was an ordinary encounter and a chance.