When Clara reached her apartment, she took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling with a hand placed on her chest feeling her erratically beating heart. ' Yes, everything that was real ' she thought incredibly, she quickly went to the kitchen and opened the small fridge to take out bottled water before gulping it down heavily. She went back to the bedroom and lay on the bed thinking about the things that happened earlier.
She felt like she was in a movie and his perfect features kept flashing through her eyes. Although she was very beautiful and got many proposals from boys, even receiving love letters almost every day while she was growing up, she had always kept a low profile and only focused on studying unlike her best friend Maya who was an outgoing person and had one to two boyfriends during their highschool. Her only goal was to study hard and find a nice job to support her family before thinking about love.
She had never had a crush on anyone before as no one had actually captured her attention but from the first day she saw him, she was attracted to him like a magnet and was always finding herself thinking about him.
she stared dreamily at the ceiling for a while and tossed on the bed while smiling widely “ I think I’m in love” she whispered and suddenly widened her eyes, she was surprised at her own discovery “ I’m actually in love” she laughed happily. She can’t wait to tell her best friend, Maya would be so shocked' she thought anxiously but paused and wondered if he likes her too or he just took sympathy to her when he saw her in pain and helped her, she wasn't sure yet but she knew that she had fallen in love with him.
Clara finally fell asleep with a happy smile on her face while still in her thoughts.
*****
Carl reached home and quickly went inside the condo before closing the door on his brother who had waited outside the door to get some gossips. It was 4:12 AM and he was feeling fatigued due to the lack of sleep and the events that happened earlier, his energy was exhausted.
He walked slowly towards the bedroom and remembered Lucy who was sleeping in the guest room, he made a mental note to take her back home the next morning before their father finds out that she sneaked out of the house.
He sighed heavily and removed his coat “ what a long night” he muttered tiredly with a slight smile on his face. He thought about the things that happened earlier and realized that his heart was still beating rapidly, he remembered the extreme anxiety he went through the time he saw her lose consciousness and how happy he felt when she smiled at him in the hospital ward.
If someone had told him before that he would someday have this kind of unfamiliar feeling, he would have laughed it off.
He remembered the countless women that had been throwing themselves at him, however, he doesn't even spare them a glance and even feels disgusted whenever they came close to him and tried to flirt with him, but he was surprised that he took the initiative to even stroke her hair which he found very smooth and soft like silk.
He lay down on his large bed which can contain six people and rested on his back then placed both hands on his stomach and he slowly dozed off with a contented smile on his perfectly sculpted face.
*****
Clara woke up late the next day and felt slightly energized, her stomach ache had subsided and she went out of bed before taking a shower and wore comfortable home clothes; a purple tee-shirt with Barbie cartoon printed on hit and she paired it with a light blue short.
While eating was breakfast, she thought of how Carl had told her to rest at home for the next week and he would take care of everything in the company she wondered how he would do it and continued eating. " Since he's not an employee, he must be a higher-up or maybe a shareholder " she muttered silently while taking a bite from the bread in her hand.
Even though he told her that, Clara still thought of calling Mira to inform her. She finished her breakfast and took the medicine after washing the plates in the sink before quickly going to the bedroom and took the new phone out. She admired the phone for a while with a lopsided smile and took out her old phone, then removed her sim card to insert it into the new phone.
She remembered that Maya had called her before her phone fell and she quickly dialed her number.
The phone rang three times before it was finally picked, then came a worried voice from the other end " CLARA WHAT HAPPENED. I tried calling you so many times but it couldn't get through.. are you alright " Maya said anxiously without pausing. She thought her friend was in danger and was very worried when her call couldn't get through yesterday, Clara was alone in that city and she was afraid she might have run into bad people.
Clara sighed and said softly " I'm fine Maya don't worry... My phone fell on the floor at the company and got damaged "
"Huh.. so that's what happened... How unlucky., you loved that phone very much " Maya said in a gloomy tone. She remembered how ecstatic Clara was when her dad sent her the phone last year on her birthday.
" I know right," Clara said sadly and paused for some seconds before adding mischievously with a cheeky smile " well.., guess what happened...." She asked, putting her impatient friend in suspense.
When Maya heard that, her gossip mode was instantly activated. " What.. what.., tell me., what happened?" She asked anxiously in a loud voice from the other end.
Clara distanced the phone from her left ear and while rubbing it, Maya's voice was too loud almost piercing her eardrums.
" Clara are you there.???... Don't you dare hang up or I'll run back there and scratched off your face " Maya threatened impatiently from the other side, she thought her friend was trying to play a prank on her again.
Clara laughed and imagined her friend's look while she was saying that. She placed the phone on her right ear and cleared her throat before slowly narrating everything that happened, from the first time they met to the things that happened yesterday not leaving any information out.
Maya listened patiently with anticipation, and after Clara was done with her story, she was completely speechless.
After she heard no sound coming from the other end, Clara was slightly disturbed " Helloooo.. Maya are you still there..? " she thought the phone was off and was about to check it when she suddenly heard a screech from the other end, she quickly pulled the phone away again and rubbed her ear. 'If she wasn't careful Maya would turn her deaf ' she thought worriedly.
" Maya!!!.. do you want me to lose my eardrums ?? " She asked, slightly irritated.
Maya chuckled and said happily " Sorry sorry.. I was just so excited.., so what happened next?? You didn't tell me his name., I wonder who is the unlucky guy that captured my best friend's heart .. hehehe.. tell me his name and everything., what does he do..?, and..... " She bombarded her with so many questions that Clara was lost for words.