"I'm telling you., I wasn't trying to kill myself... I just wanted to get water so I could take a bath.... The water in the house was not running,and I was already covered in soap., so I had to find a way to get water.. And the only means was the well... Vanessa was desperately trying to get this man to understand that she didn't just try to commit suicide.. But it was like explaining a maths problem to a Mathematics Genius who already had the solution to the problem... He was sure she was trying to kill herself...
"Young lady, no matter how hard life gets, suicide is definitely not the answer.. And not just once., you attempted it twice now.. He said with all seriousness evident in his voice and facial expressions...
Vanessa was dumbfounded.. How could she explain to this man and make him believe her.. Somehow, she'd been explaining to him and trying to make him understand., but it was like her words didn't even reached his thick skull.. They just touched the edges of his ears, and bounced back at her...
"Look that day I was out of my mind, I was going through a rough day, and I kind of lost it for a short while... So I'm forever grateful to you for saving me... For the first time since there eyes met this morning., those light Grey eyes seemed calm.. She could see him calming down at her words.. She was being sincere right now.. She was really thankful he saved her...
"But today.., I swear I did not try to kill myself.. I just really needed water to take my bath.. You can go check the bathrooms, you'll see that the water is not running...
He looked at her for a while., she looked like she was telling the truth., but he still had an uneasy feeling... If she wanted to fetch water, then why was she sitting on the well with her legs in it, and why did she jump into the well...
Vanessa saw the look on his face, and she could guess what he was thinking...
"the fetcher was stuck inside the well., and I tried to reach it with my hands, but that didn't work., so I decided to... Well.. Use my legs... But then I tried to use my hands to pull it up.., and that was when I fell.. She had answered his unasked questions., now she was feeling embarrassed over again.. When she decided to use her legs instead of her hands, it felt really right at the time.., but now that she was saying it out loud, she could see how stupid and reckless her actions were... He looked at her for a while like he would look at his daughter if she had done something naughty.. And then he said..
"Even if you are telling the truth.., you know that was a stupid thing to do right??...
" I just realized that now... She said with her shoulders down, and her eyes facing the ground.. For some reason she really looked like his naughty little Em when she would do something bad and get scolded for it... The sight of this woman being like a little child made the corners of his lips unconsciously curl up into a smile.. He just unconsciously kept silent and smiling, staring at the lady in front of him...
Vanessa raised her head to look at the man in front of her.., and for a short while she had forgotten how devastatingly beautiful this man was... Seeing him smile like this rebooted her memory.. From his lovely brown hair to his perfectly arched brows.., then his long accurately pointed nose., to his clean-shaven sharp chin.. And then those mesmerizing eyes that you would want to look into for so long to find out if you could see through its transparency... But lastly.., lastly those alluring light pink lips.. They just simply looked delicious... ' I wonder what it would feel like to dive into those lips.., sucking on them for hours.. They would taste so good...
Unconsciously, once again she was fantasizing about this man..
' how is such a person a preacher... Aren't preachers supposed to be old, and bald and just very unattractive?.. How is this man then a preacher... He is a complete sinner.. Because looking this good was definitely a sin... I mean he was just breathtaking...
And when I say breathtaking., I mean it literally.. His smile had taken her breath away... She had forgotten how to breathe.. Her face was all red from the lack of air...
Nathan noticed her sudden change in facial colors... "Are you alright?.. He asked., but did not get a reply.. He leaned in closer to the point that his face was right in front of hers... Her blood pressure just went up by a hundred and fifty percent...
" Are you okay.. He asks again.. Hey your face is all red is it because of the cold weather??..." you probably have a fever"he said bringing his hand to her forehead... Vanessa's eyes widened as his hands touched her head.. Her heartbeat had become times three.. No times twelve... As his eyes looked directly into hers., all she could do was...
HICCUP!!.. She swung her palm over her mouth to stop it but that was a fruitless effort..
HICCUP!! I'm alright.. HICCUP... I'm..HICCUP ...Okay... Don't.. HICCUP... Worry... She couldn't say a word without hiccuping.., No even if she stayed silent, the hiccups didn't go away...
She wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.. She needed to escape...
"Thank you.. HICCUP!!... for helping me out.. HICCUP!!... today.... HICCUP!!.. And that day on the.. HICCUP!!... roof too.. I think you should.. HICCUP!!.. Get going now.. HICCUP!!... Aunt Margaret isn't ..
"AHH... He suddenly caught her off having remembered something... MARGARET.., CHILDREN.., COOKIES... he said at the top of his voice with his hands on his head...
" oh my goodness.. I totally forgot why I came here, to get the cookies... He ran into the kitchen.., it was right where Margaret had said it was... He was so late.. He ran out of the house with the cookies in hand.., ran past the confused and still hiccuping Vanessa like he was The Flash...
"Oh I almost forgot... He came running back to her... I'm Nathan by the way.., Nathan Bryan, Emily's dad.. I believe you've met her.. He said with his spare hand stretched forward.. Vanessa looked from the outstretched hand.., to the man.., and then back to the hand before saying...
"Vanessa.. Vanessa Jordan.. Then she accepted his hand...
" Nice to meet you...again.. Vanessa Jordan...