That afternoon turned out to be the most surreal of my life, like something out of the wildest of my fantasies.
There we were, sitting at the table in my living room: my mom smiling warmly and, across from me, the one and only Katrina Erlenbaugh... The real one and not an hallucination....
Katrina sipped elegantly from the tea my mother had served, her every movement was so graceful and refined, As if she were the embodiment of perfection, like a living masterpiece! No matter how I looked at her, she seemed flawless.
However, the silence grew with every passing second—or you could say, the silence was loud! I didn't want Katrina to feel uncomfortable; after all, she was my guest. So, as always, I decided to break the ice.
"M-Miss Ka… Katrina! Why are you—mhmmp!"
Before I could finish talking, my mom clamped a hand over my mouth.
"Oh, dear, there's no need to yell," she said, laughing nervously. "As you can see, Miss Katrina, my daughter is… Energetic. She gets a little too excited every time."
I'm not like that, Mom! Well… Maybe I am, just a little.
I'm going to let go now, but don't yell, alright, sweetie?" she said.
"Mm-hm!" I nodded, while her hand was still over my mouth.
After being freed, I took a deep breath and, in a calmer voice, asked, "Miss Katrina… Why are you here?"
"It's alright, you can just call me Katrina," she replied in a tone so warm and gentle that it felt like a cool breeze on a summer day. "And the reason I'm here… Is because I wanted to have a word you."
"T-To… Have a word? With me?"
My heart skipped a beat. She came to see me? Kyaa!
My mom seemed as shocked as I was.. "What did you do this time, Mila?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern. "Miss Katrina, I must apologize if my daughter caused you any trouble. She can be impulsive, wild, and… a bit odd, but I promise she's a good girl at heart!"
Mom, do you have to list all my flaws in front of Katrina?!
But Katrina shook her head, with a gentle smile."No, that's not the case; it's quite the opposite, actually. I came here to thank her for what she did today."
"What?" my mom and I said in unison.
Katrina stood up from the chair, bowing slightly. "Thank you."
I jumped up in a panic. "M-Miss Katrina! I mean, Katrina! What I did was nothing special, it's not necessary to thank me!" I said.
"No, Mila Velerth. If it weren't for you, that little girl might have been seriously injured or, even worse, a warmonger could've taken her as a hostage. And if that had happened, it could have tarnished our image."
Tarnished their image? I hadn't thought of it that way. Of course, being the only heroes in the city, the Trio Encanto carried the weight of everyone's expectations.
"You were very brave, even in front of warmonger," Katrina said, her eyes meeting mine with firm sincerity. "It's rare to see someone act like you did. It really caught my attention."
Her gaze felt so intense that I had to look away while my face flushed. "It was nothing, really…" I muttered. Of course, I wasn't going to tell her that I saved that little girl for a selfish reason—meeting her.
"Oh, that's nothing!" "My mom said, completely ruining the romantic atmosphere between Katrina and me. "Mila does reckless things like this all the time. Honestly, my daughter doesn't know the meaning of the word limits.'
"Oh? Is that so?" Katrina asked, raising her eyebrows. No, Katrina, don't listen to her!
"Yes! For example, the other day she—"
"MOM, STOP!" I shouted, my face now fully red.
The conversation turned lighter after that; we even shared a few laughs. I took advantage of the situation and gathered the courage to ask for something I'd been dreaming of.
"Um, Katrina… could we… maybe take a photo together?"
To my delight, katrina smiled and agreed without hesitation! I couldn't believe it! This day just kept getting better. After taking the picture, Katrina said her goodbyes and stepped into the elevator.
As the doors closed, I sighed dreamily. But, I knew I'll never see her again. Meeting members of the Trio Encanto was almost impossible, This encounter was something special, like a miracle. I know it's almost impossible because I tried that strategy many times...
But as I stared at the photo on my phone, I felt something was missing. I don't know how to explain it, but I started to feel like I was forgetting something important.
'I'm forgetting something…' I thought frowning.
But then.
"Aha! That's It!"
My mom, catching my expression, gave me a suspicious look. "Mila, what are you up to now?"
"Nothing!" I said in a rush, heading for the door. "I'll be right back!"
"Mila?"
Ignoring my mom, I rushed down 30 floors of stairs and into the street. As I expected, Katrina was surrounded by a crowd of people.
"Excuse me! Coming through!" I pushed past the sea of people, some glaring at me, until I was face-to-face with her once more.
"Katrinaa!" Oops, there's my habit of yelling again.
"Oh, it's you again," Katrina said, smiling slightly after she recognized me.
"Huff… huff…" I panted, with my hands on my knees. Why did I take the stairs?
"You took the stairs?" she asked.
"Y-yes!…"
Can she read minds?!
The crowd murmured in annoyance, clearly annoyed by my interruption. But I didn't care. I had to ask her something important.
"Katrina… I have a question!" I said, still catching my breath.
"What is it?"
"Do you think… I could join the Trio Encanto?"
"..." The crowd fell silent, and Katrina didn't respond without hesitation like she had before; her face was unreadable.
"I mean… I don't want to replace anyone or anything!" I said waving my hands defensively. "I'm just… I'm just a big fan of you, and… I'd really love to work with you someday..."
Katrina's lips slowly curved into a smile when she answered in a calm tone. "Of course."
"Eh?"
"I told you before, you're different. You have something I've never seen in anyone else. Determination, courage, and a spark that can't be ignored." My heart raced as her words hit me.
"If you work hard and improve your skills, you'll definitely make it" Katrina said with the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. We stared at each other for a few seconds, and for a moment, everything around us stopped; it was just her and me.
I broke our exchange of glances and lowered my gaze, I couldn't continue. However, Katrina started searching for something in the pockets of her long black skirt.
"This will work," Katrina said, holding a small piece of paper in her white gloves. Then she focused, closed her eyes, and the paper began to glow with a bright golden light. The people around her and I stared at Katrina in amazement.
Once she finished, Katrina approached me; her face was inches from mine.
'A kiss? No, impossible,' I thought.
Katrina moved past my face and leaned toward my ear, whispering as she placed the small piece of paper in the pocket of my shirt. At that moment, a lavender scent filled my nose. "Here, tomorrow go to the address I've written here, and let's talk alone in a private place, just you and me."
Then, after winking at me, with a graceful leap, she soared into the sky, leaving the crowd and me in awe.
"Kyaaaaa!"I screamed, dropping to the ground and squirming with excitement. I didn't care about the strange looks I got. Nothing could ruin this moment.
When I returned home, still buzzing with joy, I looked at the small piece of paper katrina had placed in my pocket.
"This is…!"
On the small piece of paper, there were instructions about where our date, I mean meeting, would be, along with the time and a few other small directions on how to get there.
Grinning from ear to ear, I held it close… This is a date! Isn't? If it's not, then what would it be?
My mom walked in at that moment, while her eyes narrowed. "Sweetie… that smile of yours is creepy."
I didn't care. My adventure with Katrina was just beginning.