Carl walked as fast as he could, squeezing himself into the crowd to get a hold of her. He couldn't wait to hold her and stare intently at her beautiful silver orbs.
"Anne!! Anastasia!!" Carl shouted her name coming towards her from behind but she kept on walking fast as if her name wasn't Anne or she was intentionally ignoring him.
"Anne please wait!!" he yelled so she could stop but it was pointless.
He was already a foot away from her so he pulled her arm and she had no other choice but to face him.
Carl's huge smile that was on his face dropped as soon as he saw the lady's face. She wasn't Anne at all but she looked a lot like Anne from her side view.
She had dark brown eyes, and thin lips but had the same skin complexion as Anne. Carl also got to see that she looked a lot older than Anne. He felt extremely disappointed after seeing that the lady wasn't Anne after all.
He didn't just chase a total stranger for nothing, he also got happy for nothing.
"LET GO OF ME," the lady angrily yelled at Carl.
Carl realized he was still holding her arm and he quickly let go of her feeling embarrassed.
"I'm... I'm sorry miss, I thought you were someone else... I'm rea…"
"…Yeah that's what they always say when they don't succeed in stealing," she said sternly, interrupting Carl.
"what a jerk" she mumbled, leaving
Carl became very sad as he was walking amid the crowd.
"Am I losing my mind?" Carl sighed
"why do I keep seeing her everywhere?" he muttered.
He brought out his phone to call Anne again but her number was still unavailable so he decided to drop another voicemail
"Hello Anne... to be honest with you, I really really miss you and I'm beginning to lose my sanity because of that... Please just a simple text from you would be just fine, I'm not asking for much"
.........…..
Carl got home and he was shocked to see his grandmother. His late father's mom. She's one of the sweetest people and she loves Carl so much. Carl loves her too. Growing up, he was closer to her than his mother because of the way his grandmother always pampers him.
"Grandma!!" Carl said with excitement.
He dropped his gym bag on the floor and rushed to hug his grandmother. She was sitting down on the couch, playing with Richie before Carl came in.
Carl's grandmother, Ms. Natalie McAlester reciprocated the hug, though, she was still sitting on the couch.
The last time they met was when Carl's father died two years ago.
"How are you my favorite grandson," she said, stroking Carl's hair.
"Hey, I thought I was your favorite grandson" Richie pouted with a cute look.
"you're also my favorite" Carl's grandma laughed.
Carl disengaged from the hug and sat down beside her.
"Richie, I have some gifts for you in my bag, go check them out in my room," She said and Richie grinned from ear to ear.
"Yaay!! you're the best" Richie said, feeling very happy and excited and he left.
"What a clever way to get rid of the kid," Carl said.
"Hey! I hope you're not giving Richie a hard time. He's a sweet little boy" she said pointing to Carl and Carl rolled his eyes.
"What is wrong my darling, you don't seem alright," Carl's grandma said feeling concerned.
"grandma for some time now, things haven't been easy. I get easily irritated, little things upset me and I get angry for no just cause. I feel so depressed at the moment." Carl said in a soft tone.
"Hmm my darling..." she said, stroking his face.
"Each time someone gets upset and angry for no reason it means they actually miss someone," she said
Carl delivered a long sigh
"My best friend got into a drastic accident and he's been in a coma for the past three months now," he said.
"Carlos?? That's terrible" She said in shock.
She cupped Carl's face with both hands, staring deeply into his dark green eyes with a suspicious look on her face.
"What is it?" Carl said under his breath, wondering why she was suspiciously staring at him.
"Carlos being in a coma will definitely make you sad but I don't think he's the one you're missing... Who is she?" Carl's grandma asked with raised brows, waiting for Carl's response.
"…grandma," Carl said in a deep voice, looking sideways.
"Hey, look at me," she said and Carl turned his neck to face her.
"I read you like a book, you can't hide anything from me. Darling, you can talk to me, I'm not your strict and sassy mother" she said.
"Her name is Anastasia. She's very beautiful and a self-standing woman. She has the prettiest eyes and whenever I hug her, I feel so at peace and I automatically forget all my problems.
Just like the way I hug you grandma but hers is more intense. It's a warm feeling I've never felt before… I'm so crazy about her and I think about her every single day... but grandma…" Carl exhaled softly.
"…she doesn't love me and it hurts me so much," he said in a shaky voice.
Carl's grandma could see the pain in his eyes. She placed his head on her thighs and gently stroked his back.
"Grandma it really hurts" Carl mumbled.
"Don't worry everything is going to be alright," She muttered, trying her best to cheer him up.
"No grandma don't tell me that," Carl said, raising his head from her thighs.
"Why do I always fall in love without getting loved back? Why am I so unlucky when it comes to love?" he lamented.
His eyes welled up with tears that he has been trying to hold back in.
"You're not unlucky. You just have to be patient with the universe... If it's meant to be, it'll be." She said, using her thumb to clean his eyes.
She kissed his forehead and smiled at him.
"you must've really loved this girl a lot," She said and Carl nodded his head in affirmation.
"I'm just really glad you're here," he said to her.
************
It was a sunny Monday morning and New York University was having a graduation ceremony for all graduating students. Dexter was super excited to finally be a graduate so he could pursue his dream career to become a detective.
He was on a black graduation regalia designed in red stripes that made him look so elegant. There were so many graduating students who couldn't stop smiling and Dexter who was in their midst, wished his sister was with him.
It would've made this special day complete because she has always wanted to see her brother become a graduate and pursue his dream career.
Amidst the crowd, Dexter saw Treasure, sitting alone looking awkward with her nerd glasses yet, still beautiful.
Dexter walked up to her and waved at her, smiling. "hi Treasure"
Treasure lifted her chin and had a beautiful, shy smile on her face after seeing Dexter.
"Can I sit with you?" Dexter asked politely.
"umm sure" she replied and Dexter sat right next to her.
They were both quiet for a while and Dexter felt the need to initiate a conversation to break the silence between the both of them.
"So this is your final year right?" Dexter asked, hoping to get a response from her.
"Yeah. Hopefully, I'll be graduating next year" She said
"Cool, so what's your course of study? Wait! Let me guess… hmm... uhh maths??" he said with a silly look on his face that appeared to be cute and funny at the same time.
Meanwhile, Treasure laughed hysterically holding her tummy.
"Did I guess right?" Dexter said, feeling happy to have made her laugh.
"Of course not" she laughed. "I actually suck at maths, I'm into journalism."
"Oh… well I would've guessed that," he said jokingly.
"yeah right," she answered sarcastically with a chuckle.
"you look really pretty when you laugh" Dexter complimented her with a smile.
Treasure's mood changed immediately after hearing Dexter's compliment. She had a straight face and she was clutching her skirt tight. It was as if Dexter's compliments were like thorns piercing into her ears.
"umm, Are you okay?" Dexter curiously asked because he noticed that Treasure was suddenly uncomfortable.
"I'm… I'm good... I'm fine" she stammered trying as hard as possible to smile but Dexter wasn't buying her fake smile at all.
The vice-chancellor of the University walked to where Dexter and Treasure were sitting.
"Miss Reed, can I see you in my office?" The vice-chancellor said to Treasure.
"Yes sir," She said and immediately left with the vice-chancellor.
"What's with her?" Dexter whispered to himself. He wondered why she suddenly became uncomfortable after he complimented her.
Dexter noticed the ceremony was almost over and he stood up to leave. He saw someone from a distance seriously waving at him. It seemed as if the person has been trying to signal him to get his attention.
Dexter waved back but he wasn't sure who the person was. He had a long look and saw that the man who was standing from a distance was Carl.
"what's he doing here?" Dexter asked himself and he walked to him.
"Prosecutor Carl, I'm sorry for asking but what are you doing here?"
"First of all, congratulations on your convocation," Carl said patting his back.
"thank you, sir," Dexter said.
"So did your sister come for your graduation ceremony?" Carl said, searching around with his eyes if he would see Anne.
'So that's why he's here, wow he's so into my sister' Dexter thought to himself.
"She's not here," Dexter said
"Are you being serious?" Carl said feeling astonished.
"yes! I'm dead serious," Dexter said.
"…but have you been in contact with her?" Carl asked and Dexter shook his head.
"So you're saying you haven't seen or been in contact with your sister for up to three months now??" Carl questioned in disbelief
"Yes, I'm really serious I swear," Dexter said earnestly.
Carl sighed.
"you know I was really thinking she was going to show up at your graduation ceremony… Don't you feel, bad about it, that your sister isn't here at one of your most important events," he said and Dexter kept quiet.
"I thought so" Carl muttered
"I don't feel bad about It because I know my sister so well. She cares a lot about me and even if she's not here, what matters is that she's okay where she is" Dexter said and he was right.
He's grateful to his sister for the sacrifices she has made for him to go to college and become a graduate. When their parents died, she had to drop out of college so she could raise enough money for Dexter to start going to school.
"Well I feel she's practically being selfish for not showing up at her own brother's convocation," Carl said sternly.
"Sir, is this about you or me? Why are you getting more upset than I am" Dexter asked wondering why Carl was being offended.
Carl clicked his tongue, he didn't even realize that he was overreacting.
"I'm not upset" Carl lied. He was definitely getting frustrated about the fact that he misses Anne.
"you said what matters is that she's okay at where she is right?" he asked.
"Yes, sir" Dexter nodded.
"so you DO know where she is right?" Carl said firmly
"uhh... Nope... Nah... I know nothing" Dexter lied and Carl scoffed knowing fully well that Dexter was lying.