The man, who stood in front of me, had a very soft, sweet and profound beauty. I have always been attracted to men with good virtues and a soft-hearted nature. And Efrain was just the perfect person in my eyes.
His eyes, though monolid, were large, brown and pretty like the idols. Even his hair had been combed back as one, making his soft, kind face shine. His mellow voice was music to my ears and his very presence made my heart flutter.
Perhaps he had all the qualities I wish I had in me and others. There was no other reason as to why my heart would fall for a man who was totally out of my league.
When people asked me, or rather nagged me, about my ideal type, I would say I didn't have any as I found it stressful to think about such things amidst my studies. My nose was always "stuck to a book", as they would say, and it was only in my books that I would fantasize my version of men.
I used to like the good and the bad, but once my eyes fell on Efrain and on how he was always kind to the people around him, my sober heart couldn't take it anymore. And after getting to know him, I developed quite a large package of mixed feelings, something I never thought I would develop in years to come.
"What's the special occasion?" I asked, giving him my whole attention.
"Consider it a date," he started, making my eyes go wide in surprise, "to celebrate our friendship for the last three years. I saw the date on my phone today and remembered the time we were interns. It is nice to be colleagues with everyone now."
The rest of his statement made a hole in my heart. I was expecting too much out of a small lunch. So I decided to decline the offer after knowing a few more details. My mind told me that it wasn't a good idea but I went ahead with it anyway.
"Who would even be coming for that?" I asked as I turned back to the computer screen and tried to prepare the files for tomorrow's early morning meeting. "All the interns to the company left anyway. And whoever now works as an intern, they aren't welcomed well. Poor them."
"Do you want Yusra to tag along?" he asked with raised eyebrows. "I thought it would be special if it was only the two of us since we were the first interns of that batch, and you were the first friend I made."
"Still, why would you invite me, man? Go out and play with your friends on such a bright day. You only get to live once."
"Tch, you're still the introvert who would rather not interact. And look who is preaching what she doesn't follow. Come on, it would be fun, I promise. We haven't gone out in a long time."
The last time he had said the word "fun" was when we were interns. And we had gotten into a load of trouble for spending an extra ten minutes after our lunch breaks outside in the arcade. We almost lost our jobs that day. Almost.
"I do not want a repeat of history," I said firmly and went back to work.
But my fluttering heart wanted to go if he gave me a good excuse. My mind didn't want my heart to break and was hence pushing me to ask the questions to prevent the arousal of any jealousy from a rival or friend coming along.
"It's not going to be like that, alright?" he said, assuring me. "It'll just be the two of us. Plus...,"
I stopped typing on the keyboard to hear the rest of it. But it never came. Before I could turn around, he whispered in my ear with his soft breath, "I have something sweet that I want to tell you. I have been meaning to for a while."
My heart raced at its effect and my cheeks coloured a bright red, as I could make out from the reflection of a nearby mirror I had forgotten to close. I shut it immediately and placed my hand over my heart right after he turned the corner to his desk.
'Was he going to confess about his love or something?' I asked myself. 'It couldn't possibly me. Yet why did he specifically ask me out today when it could have been done yesterday or could wait until tomorrow?'
I was high on adrenaline and my mind seemed to create different hallucinations, all horrifically scary or frighteningly nice.
'Stop, stop,' I breathed out, feeling my cluttered mind swim through all the thoughts. 'Oh my god, I will have a nightmare at this rate.'
"Rina, what are you doing?" said Yusra, bringing me back to the present terror of work that I had to finish for tomorrow's sample presentation.
"Thinking about something," I answered and spun my chair around to face her. "What do you think about..."
Then I told her the entire conversation, from the very first to the last. The only bit I missed out on was where he asked about bringing Yusra along, which I secretly hoped was a joke. I guess I was being selfish, but a little hidden detail wouldn't hurt, right? After all, the lunch was supposed to be between us anyway.
"Do you think he's being sincere? Is he going to confess to me? Am I overthinking it?" I ranted out to her at once.
She looked at me with such disappointed eyes that I shrugged. Love was love and in front of it, anyone would surrender unless it wasn't true love.
"He looked at his phone and remembered the date," she said, slapping her forehead at my foolishness. "How else would he, or any other man, remember such petty things?"
"But it is possible," I said with a pout. "When a guy likes someone, he tries to remember the minute details and surprise her."
"That is a 1% chance. Don't dwell on it. You know how heartbroken I was when that happened to me. I don't want to see you in tears."
"I guess you're right. Let's get back to work. You should be sending me these documents and being punished for that horror story. How come you're still alive and roaming around?!"
With a snicker, she said, "Yes, Miss Head of Finance. I am at it."
Then she left my desk with a wink.
'Now what is that supposed to mean?' I asked and then went back to work without a bother.