Dark clouds seems to be following the path he is taking. His life is full of rains and thunder. When will it be a life of sunshines and rainbows?
...the feeling he is missing.
'Is this your house? It looks huge. Who are you living with?'
'Alone'
'Oh I see. You must be craving for independence from your parents'
'You'
'Me?'
'When will I be free from you and your questions?'
'What? Oh I'm sorry. I'll get going! Visit the cafe whenever you like Sir! Goodnight! and she wave goodbye to him and get on a taxi.
He entered his house and Mimo came rushing to him like he haven't saw for this whole day. Looks like Mimo felt what he was carrying that it stayed by his side, quietly, feeling the atmosphere. Sharing the loneliness.
Bottles of beer lined up in the table. It has been hours since Lucas started drinking. Wasted. Crying. He died twice in this lifetime. No one to talk to made it even worse. The after dark crawled fast, dawn came and he spent his night sleeping with the bottles that he think might lighten up the heaviness.
The loud noise wakes him up, he grabbed his phone and answered the call.
'Hello?' he answered with a half awake voice.
'Good morning Sir Lucas, today will be your meeting with Sir Manalo for the exhibit.'
'Oh yes, okay okay. I'll be on my way.'
He hurriedly rushed to the bathroom, bumping into things is part of his daily routine. But the four years of darkness made him familiar with things around him especially in their house.
He waited for this day, even though he went blind, he never let go of his dreams in becoming a renowned artist, and he also had his loyal teacher guiding him in pursuing his dreams. He's meeting up with the man that could be a potential sponsor of his exhibit.
In that moment, it made him forget of the burden he was carrying.
'Mom, Dad, I hope this one ends well.'
Before he twist the doorknob, he then again asked for guidance from his parents from above.
'Good morning Sir. This way please.'
'Good morning Lucas. How are you? Please take your seat.'
'Good morning Uncle. I have brought with me my sample artworks.'
'Okay then, let me see.'
Cold hands, sweaty palms and shaky knees. He cannot explain what he is feeling but one this is for sure, he is nervous.
'Why do you want to have an exhibit again?'
'I wanted to show the people my artworks. I wanna prove to them that a blind man is capable of doing things like that, Uncle. Those are not the best, I know, but I can do better, I have more artworks at home. I can sho--.'
'This is what a blind person can do. It is obvious. I know this is your dream, don't do this because you has to, stop proving yourself. Start embracing you. You can be better and you can do better Lucas. We can improve your vision. If you just accept my offer.'
'Are we gonna talk about this Uncle? I already said no, I was blind for four years, I became used to it and now, and now you are telling me that you can help me see, NOW? If you wanted to help you should have done it earlier, but you didn't, I was fighting all of this alone!'
'I'm sorry Lucas, I was not--'
'So am I receiving a no for the exhibit?'
'I'm sorry.'
'Okay then, I better go.'
'Think about it again Lucas.'
'Tsk' and he left without a word. Down hearted. The world has been so harsh on him this fast few days that it was a mystery to him how he is keeping himself aways from giving and tearing up.
He didn't know when and why he came here but he found himself ordering a coffee.
'Here's your coffee Sir.' It was a familiar voice.
'You.'
'Me?'
'How do I look?'
'What? Uhm sad?'
'Tss' he reacted disappointedly.
'Can I sit here with you for a moment?' and she sat with him. They shared a quite minutes of staring blankly.
'How are you?' she asked.
'As what you've said, sad.'
'You can find another girlfriend, same as I had found another pet. You'll be fine in no tims, it's okay to be sad for the wound is still fresh, but don't let sadness stay and overpower you, make a room for happiness too.'
'I'm Lucas.' he feels like this girl is talking too much since yesterday and he learned some things from it as well that she deserve to know his name.
'So Lucas. Hmm.'
'Is being blind a game over?' he asked her out of the blue.
'Ha? Uhm. No, I don't think. You know my father was also blind when he was still alive. That's why I also felt the urged of helping you. But back to my father, despite his disability he was able to raise me well, and I still think he's the best father. So I don't think it's a game over, think of it as an injury during a game, instead of feeling incapable of winning, you must think of alternatives to win, same in life.'
'I was just expecting a yes or a no.'
'Oh sorry I said to much.' She laughed while saying her apologies. Nonetheless, Lucas learned something.
'Lucas, I'll leave you here so you can have some time alone. If you need something I'll just be at the counter.' she said nicely.
'Hey, how about a walk in the park after your work?'
'Oh-kay. Cool. I'll be out in 30 minutes.'
He did not know where those words came from. Seems like his mouth has its own brain that he managed to utter those words. It seems weird. It sounds weird. But something inside him tells him he have done the right thing and something even deeper inside tells him that he is happy.
Happy? Could she be the feeling that he is missing? 🤷