My three girlfriends had indeed become a part of me that I don't think I could throw away but the relationship I have with them is just different from the ecstasy I felt when I was with Yamada.
With a lot of drifting thoughts in my mind, I left the restaurant and headed to the nearby art shop. The shop is located close to the restaurant, so I could easily walk over there without needing a taxi.
That night, I walked the street of Richmond with my purse in one hand and my latte in the other, I looked at the bright moon over my shoulder as I drank my coffee while walking, it was a bit chilly that time so my hot coffee is doing me a lot of favor by keeping me warm.
I got to a traffic light with pedestrian-crossing in front of it, I finished my latte that time so I dumped my empty coffee cup in a nearby trashcan, I waited for over thirty seconds before the traffic light turned green, at that time, I looked to my left and right, just to ensure that nobody was approaching the crossing with a car, before I decided to walk along the pedestrian crossing in front of the traffic light.
It was a cold night without many cars on the road so I decided to take my time as I crossed the road, I wanted to buy oil paint for the artwork I am currently working on.
The premade mixture of oil paint I wanted to use had run out in our college, I decided to buy a new one at the art shop before the school restocked the paint I was looking for.
As I took my first step while crossing the road, a strong breeze of cold air gusted over me chilling me to the bones, I continued walking and when I reached the center of the road, another wave of the strong wind washed over me, it made my dress to lift exposing my thighs, amidst the feeling of embarrassment, even though no one was around to look at me, I bend over to cover my body.
Unknown to me, I have spent too much time crossing the road and the green light has already turned red without me realizing it.
Suddenly, I heard a loud honk from a huge truck. I was startled and unable to move. At that moment, a thought crossed my mind: that in the end, the Universe had not sent me the love I have been dying to experience, the soulmate I have been wishing to have. In the end, I was going to die with only the thoughts of the love Yamada showed me before he vanished from my life.
At that moment, I could see clearly that the truck was already point blank towards me, I am not a good runner, nor am I good at reacting to sudden changes in events.
That day, my legs betrayed me and stayed stuck to the ground as I was about to get hit by a giant truck. My life was flashing right in front of me at that time, as I had already given up on living before any of my dreams ever came true.
In the moment of certain death, I felt a huge shock on my waist and before I realized it, I was flung to the side of the road with a strange guy lying on top of me, his face was covered in blood as he protected me when we landed on the ground.
***
The sight of blood on the strange guy lying on top of me gave me an unbelievable scare.
I couldn't tell if he was hit by the truck while protecting me or if the wound on his head was caused by our hard landing on the concrete walkway.
At that time, I heard the sound of the truck that almost hit me starting its engine again after stopping for a moment. When I looked into the truck, the driver looked at my face which was stained from the blood of the guy who protected me and took off.
He did not even care to see how injured we were or think of taking us to the nearest hospital.
In a desperate scramble, I reach for my phone which had been flung a distance away in the chaos. Breathlessly, I assure the unfamiliar figure before me that I'll call an ambulance right away.
However, he weakly protests, insisting that there's no need for it, even as he struggles to rise from on top of me.
As he stood up, I could see his left leg struggling to carry his weight, and the way his face was moving showed me that he was definitely in pain.
I watched as he looked back into my brown eyes, his light brown hair styled in a messy quiff was now matted with blood. He has a strong jawline and a prominent nose. His lips were full and slightly curved as he smiled awkwardly towards me—dusting his leather jacket with both of his hands.
I grabbed my purse that was flung on the ground and also stood up, I kept looking at the guy in front of me as he tried to walk away from me, without even letting me thank him or tell him my name.
As he struggled and walked a few feet away from me, my heart couldn't bear to see him in pain, limping along the streets of Richmond.
I rushed over to him and held one of his hands.
"You saved my life and you want to walk away from me, without even giving me a chance to thank you," I said.
I then proceeded on my own and used my shoulder to help him walk more comfortably.
With his hand around my shoulder, I looked straight into his blue eyes.
"I am going to help you walk, at least until we get a taxi."
"Thank you," he responded while smiling gently towards me.
"I am the one that should be thanking you," I insisted. Since after all, he is the one who saved me from getting hit by a truck.
Looking straight into his blue eyes I could see how hard he is trying to act tough, even with drops of blood still flowing down from his hair, he still managed to keep a smile forming on his blood-stained face.