Calista could not follow Ryan. He just spoke in a rush as if his entire life depended on it. He kept talking not noticing the fact that she couldn't keep up with him. All he had in mind was to finish starting what he wanted to say.
He almost said all of it in one breath but of course he had to pause to catch his breath and that's when he noticed that she was not entirely listening to him. He paused for a moment, took a step closer and stood directly in front of her with only some space between the two. There was barely any space left has he kept moving forward towards her.
Calista stepped back instinctively but was stopped by the strong grip on her shoulder. Ryan held her by the shoulders and prevented her from moving. Calista's brain was processing the whole information at high speed. She kept thinking about all the ways on how she could escape.
"Listen to me" the seriousness in his voice awoke Calista from her thoughts. She looked up at him and immediately looked away. She saw how deeply he stared at her. Though she looked at him only for a moment she knew that he was focusing on her and only her.
Her heart was racing, she ignored the sirens in her head and stood there. Because she was there to listen to what he had to say. Even though she did not agree to meet him but she stood there, at least for courtesy.
"As I said I really like you and I can't get that out of my mind, so all you have to do is give me a chance and I promise you that I'll treat you like nobody else can, I promise that I won't hurt you, I promise to take good care of you. I'll give you two minutes two think about it" he continued when he got her attention.
Calista's brain simply stopped functioning. Is this what people do when they like someone? Is that how they get into a relationship? Is this how a person forces themselves on others? Do they not care about the other person's feelings? Did they not understand the amount of pressure they are exerting on others?
She barely knew him let alone like him to the point that they start dating. Atleast for her she believed that for a genuine relationship it had to begin with genuine, slowly built feelings between two people.
She opened her mouth to say something, but was immediately shushed by him. "Don't say anything immediately think about it, you have time". She stopped what she was about to say and tried to move back. The close proximity was making her uncomfortable. How was she supposed to think when a person literally shoves their face in front and stare at her for a long time? But she couldn't move behind the strong grip held her in place.
"First, let go of me, as you said I'll think about it so let go of me". She said as that's the only thing she could do. She had to begin somewhere and that was the distance. She hated to stand so close to someone.
He let go of her unwillingly but was ready to hold her back in place of she tried to run away.