The changes happened too suddenly that Althea was scared to believe it.
'No. No way right? It's impossible for him to feel that way towards me. Someone so far away, someone whose face he only saw a couple of times through pictures, and someone whose background is unknown by him.' She thought.
Ray's message made her mind chaotic for a while before she realized she is running out of time. She shook her head and told herself of what is more important to do right now.
"Hello, Ray. I know we rarely send any audio message and I'm not sure what's happening to you nor how to explain it, but since you seem to feel better with my voice I'll send one to you from time to time. But I gotta go now so I'll contact you again soon." She said in a hurry, sent it then went on her way.
Her footsteps were fast, she was hoping the movements can calm down her nerves. Her colleagues are greeting her along the way and she forced a smile to cover her own emotions.
'No way. Ray... towards me... Could it be love?' Her heart whispered.
Throughout her life, Althea believed different people will show different forms of love. She's someone who believes in everyone's good side, in which some bad actions or path might be a result from something more pure, more kind than what is shown on the outside. It's the same as how she believes some thieves only stole due to their need to feed their families, or how her mother's strictness and idealism to be a form of her love which originated from her mother's wish of Althea's success. Of course, those are not the correct thing to do in any way, and some crimes are too much to tolerate, but in the very beginning, it might originates from a good will, whether towards oneself or another.
Thus, even Ray's sudden change which kind of scares her...
'Is that it? Is it because he loves me? Or am I being conceited?'
Althea bit her lower lip. She was feeling a mixture of disbelief and a bit of fear in her heart. Fear that everything that they have up until now will be ruined if anything happens, fear of seeing the new side of Ray who became emotional when he used to be someone so calm, cold and indifferent towards everything, and... Fear of his sudden attitude which she assume is 'obsession' towards her.
"Calm down, me!" Althea slapped her own cheeks and took a deep breath. She watched some of her colleagues who were busy doing various tasks, and softly reminded herself, 'I can't let my emotions affect my work, everyone is counting on me.'
Thus, even with a chaotic mind, she tried to continue directing her colleagues and visited the classes to remind them about their turns to perform or their schedules. Her fingers itched to open and check on Ray, but remembering her duties, she decisively turned off her notification and dedicated herself to her role in the event today.
***
The event started from morning until late afternoon. It has been around 6 hours since her last message to Ray, and she felt mentally exhausted from enduring her own emotions and worries.
"Althea, are you okay?" A colleague asked as she saw Althea's slightly pale face and tired appearance, partly due to all the works she did today.
"Vice-president, do you need rest? You look unwell." Her friends and colleagues who watched her as she kept working felt worried. She shook her head, forcing a smile and told them she's fine. It's her own personal problem, and any personal problem shouldn't be affecting her duties. It shouldn't.
'It shouldn't, but...'
"Umm, sorry. I think... Let me have five minutes." Althea looked apologetically to her friends. If she insisted to keep working it might make her colleagues feel bothered instead.
"Geez, just go. You deserve some rest and no one will protest about it." Karin was on her way to the stage but stopped by in her track after seeing Althea. Althea met Karin's eyes, then looked around at her colleagues who had been working hard with her to prepare this event. Contrary to her expectations, there was no annoyance nor rebuking glares, only concern is reflected in their expressions.
"Vice-president, the event is going to be done soon and we only need to do evaluation. Also, I can report in your stead so it should be fine." Dev, the vice-coordinator of the event added.
Noticing the small commotion, Lucas appeared with a dignified appearance like that of a real leader and said, "As the president, I'll allow you to rest. And I'm not being partial, everyone knows how hard you've been working to this day. Good work!" He smiled and pat Althea's head.
Althea suddenly felt a bit warm inside, she kept the gratitude in her heart and told herself to be more caring towards her colleagues and organization.
"Promise I'll come back soon." She said as she went off to the resting area.
***
"Huft...." Althea heaved a sigh. She braced herself and took her phone as if she's going to face a life-determining exam.
Inserting the key code to unlock her phone screen, she kept on praying softly in her heart.
'Please let him be normal again. Please let him be normal again. Please let him be---'
Click.
Her screen was opened and there she found... More than a hundred unanswered messages from Ray.