It's been eight years since I moved out here in the city where Anna possibly is but, after looking for her all those years, I didn't even have a glimpse of her anywhere. Before she left back then, she didn't say what university or which city she might be staying but I'm not losing hope and I'm not giving up on looking for her. She is the most treasured person I ever had next to my parents.
My friend, Liam, and I are on our way home from work. We are living in the same complex building that's why he took this chance to have a ride with me every time we are going to work or going home. He is taking advantage of our friendship and being workmates, I don't mind it though.
Coming from nowhere, a homeless dog was running in the middle of the road. It was too late for me to stop the car. We bumped into a poor dog, he was bleeding too much, and I needed to put pressure on his wound to stop the bleeding. I didn't want to just leave it and die so I decided to send it to the nearest vet clinic for immediate medication. I covered his wound with my handkerchief to stop the bleeding and let Liam look after him while I drove.
"There is a clinic at the corner of this street," Liam said to me worriedly. I followed his instructions and saw a veterinary clinic around the corner. When we arrived, they said that the vet is not in the clinic at the moment because she was doing something important but they managed to contact her and inform her about the situation.
I was amazed at how dedicated these people are. "Sir, please place the dog here," she offered a trolley where I can put the dog and she started to push it carefully inside the room. I saw how gently she transferred the dog from the trolley too, I think, on the operating table.
We didn't leave the dog until the veterinarian arrived. The door suddenly opens and there is a woman who is rushing to get inside. She runs straight into the reception area and asks something from the girl stationed there, which I overheard a little before she charges towards the room.
The woman who runs just now looks familiar to me. Her voice, her black hair, though I didn't see her face I had a chance to get a glimpse for a second. Are my eyes playing tricks on me? I thought the vet had a similar face to hers. It's been eight years but I still didn't have any idea where Anna might be and now, my eyes are playing tricks on me.
"What is it?" Liam asked me if he knows about the woman I am looking for. I tell him about her in a chance to find her soon. He lives in the city, after all, he knows every corner and every street of this big city, but we still have the same result in the end. He looked at me curiously when he followed my gaze at the vet and asked, "Do you think that's her?" I showed him some of Anna's pictures so he can recognize her once they meet accidentally but I'm not quite sure if she still looks the same.
I want to stay a little longer to check if that's her. It feels like someone kicked my heart when I heard one of the nurses say her name, "Good thing, Ms. Anna came on time or else," she said, amused by how fast the vet came back here in no time.
The vet's hair, her voice, her face, and now her name, what's going on? Is this coincidence? We waited a little more until they finished the operation. My heartbeat starts to race, what will be my reaction if it's truly her, who's I been looking for eight years?
I was so distracted in my thoughts when the vet approached us.
Liam is blocking my view. That's why I can't see her, but when he turns around, I'm pretty sure that she is the woman I'm looking for. Her almond-shaped eyes widely opened, her cute and rosy lips slightly parted in surprise, and her slightly turned-up nose and black hair that was pulled backward shimmered against the light.
This is her, Anna Black, my best friend. My heart beats so hard, it almost bursts out of my rib cage. While I was wondering what I should say, she already stated the words that I can't say. "Hello Mr. Smith," she called me formally then gave me the smile that I am longing to see, "Hello Ms. Black, long time no see," I responded then returned the smile to her.
This is not what I expected to happen before. I thought she was going to run somewhere far away from me, but it's not. She's standing straight in front of me, smiling directly at me. "Do you like to go inside my office to talk about the dog?" She asked me.
She led the way to her office and offered us a seat. She explains everything that we need to know about the dog's condition. From the way she speaks, you can say that she knows what she's saying and you can understand her terms very well. She knows I like dogs so she tried to convince me to adopt him. I'm happy to know that she never forgot me after all those years. We might have been separated for a long time but she still remembered what I liked.
I know and confirmed now where I can look for her. The dog that we bumped into is a blessing and the bridge that connected me again with my long-lost friend. I feel bad for him though, it doesn't have to be that way.
She was about to go back inside the clinic when I stopped her, "wait," she turned around to face me again, we still had time, the sun just set and I know we have many more days to come especially now that I know where to look for her. But I want to spend more time with her, I want to know how she or her reasons why she decided to leave. "Do you have anything else to do here? Is it convenient to ask you out?"