Healing Her Broken Heart

Meeting The Dashing Stranger

Aleyna’s mom was home waiting for her daughter, the resemblance was uncanny. Both mother daughter enjoyed the same petite figure, the same long gazelle brown hair where her mom’s had turned a bit white and the same flawless skin on which her mom now had a few wrinkles due to the toll of running her father’s clinic successfully. The eyes were her father’s though. If anyone ever complemented her, she would immediately pass the credit to her genes. “How’s my lil girl doing?” “Great mom, how about you? When did you come in last night?” Aleyna asked curling on the couch next to her mom.

“Oh, we had to perform an emergency delivery last night, the poor girl’s water broke and we successfully delivered an adorable lil baby boy. I guess the mom was your age.”

Aleyna rolled her eyes and replied smiling, “I’m sure she was mom and thanks for the sandwich, Defne loved it too.” They talked about Aleyna’s project and she promised to keep her mom posted regarding it. “Your Nana’s asleep dear and Mrs. Brown is sleeping with her so tonight sleep in your own room.” “Yes ma’am, and you should be going to sleep as well, the doctor needs her beauty sleep.” Aleyna said giving her mom a peck on the cheek.

 The two headed towards their room The top step of the stairs leading towards Aleyna’s room always creaked under her pressure. She wanted to check on her Nana but quickly decided against it. She entered her room switching on the lights when she heard the rasp of the engine. She went towards the window but only saw the deserted street. She changed into her favourite Pj’s and saw Defne’s text asking as to how her ride back home with Justin went? Well she’ll have to wait for that till morning, my way of getting back at her, Aleyna thought. She had forgotten her prescription in the office, well another night without the meds wont hurt. Soon she drifted off to a sound sleep.

Aleyna woke up by a sudden sound, a dull thud outside her window. She was sure she wasn’t imagining it so she walked across the room towards the window and saw a broken branch lying on the soft snow. It wasn’t there before, this branch must be the culprit probably, Aleyna thought out loud. She went to bed to resume her sleep but after a while of tossing and turning, she decided to work on her project. She came up with a couple of ideas and finally after an hour and a half dozed off.

That morning Aleyna felt good as she was getting ready for work. She had done some constructive work and Mr. Harris would be pleased to notice her progress. She waved a quick bye to Nana and Mrs. Brown, grabbed the grilled Panini sandwich her mom had made and rushed out the door. As always, Defne was waiting for her. “Sorry to keep you waiting, couldn’t sleep well last night so thought I’d work on the project.” “Great, I dozed off rather quickly last night so will start working today and I definitely need my coffee today.” “Oh, how could I forget?”

She stopped at Dunkin’s and Aleyna rushed to get Defne her favourite coffee as she waited in the car. She was waiting for her order, while she took out her card to pay at the counter. “Sorry, ma’am our machine isn’t working today, we’re only accepting cash.” “But I’m out of cash and only carrying my card.”  “We really apologize for the inconvenience but we can’t accept any cards.”

“It’s ok, you can charge this coffee with my order.” Aleyna heard the guy say next to her, as she turned she saw herself looking in a pair of deep blue eyes that seemed awfully familiar. She suddenly remembered the guy from last night and he seemed even more dashing in the bright day light. “No, thank you I’ll go to the nearest ATM.” “It’s not a big deal and the nearest ATM is four blocks away.” “I don’t take money from strangers.” “Well, we can meet here tomorrow again same time and you can pay me back.”  Aleyna thought about going to Defne to ask money but realized they were already running late so reluctantly accepted the stranger’s offer. “Alright, thank you.”

Back in car Defne thanked Aleyna for the coffee, “Don’t thank me a stranger paid for your coffee as inside they were accepting cash only.” “Oh, was he good looking?” “Yes I mean maybe, oh I don’t know.” “Ok, forget about him tell me, how did it go with Justin last night?” “Very good and we decided that we should go out together…..as friends.” Defne rolled her eyes, “Did you scare him off?” “Didn’t need too, he wasn’t too thrilled about being setup as my date. Look Defne, I love you and Adam but seriously you guys need to stop playing cupid I can take care of my love life. I’m just not ready for it yet.” “Oh Ley, we just want you to be happy.” “I know sweets and I am happy like this.” “If you say so.”

They reached their office and headed straight to their respective cabins. After a while Defne came in to inform Aleyna that Mr. Harris was calling everyone into the conference room. Aleyna was answering an email so she asked Defne, who was also her Assistant Manager to go ahead while she joined in five minutes. After a couple of minutes Aleyna picked up her laptop and entered the conference room, the room was dark and a guest speaker was explaining about Rapid Tech on the projector. Aleyna couldn’t see him as he was standing in the dark but listened to his every word attentively, after all this was regarding their new project. The lights were turned on and Aleyna was busy typing the information she had just received. Mr. Harris was introducing everyone personally to the guest speaker when Defne nudged her, “Ley, he’s coming here. Stop typing.” Aleyna looked up and saw a pair of deep blue eyes staring at her. Her breath caught in her throat, she was completely shocked staring wide eyed at the stranger.

 “Good Morning Aleyna, this is Mr. Mark Walsh. He’s here from Rapid Tech and will be working closely with you and Karen for the project. Basically, this whole idea of diversifying is his baby so he wants to have a firsthand information about everything happening here.” Defne pinched Aleyna who then got up and introduced herself and Defne to Mark Walsh. “Hello Aleyna, it’s a pleasure meeting you and I look forward to working with you” Mark said as they both shook hands.

“I cant believe this”, Aleyna whispered as she walked her way back to her office. “He’s too good looking to be working here right?” Defne added. “No, it’s the third time in less than twenty four hours ive met this guy?” “Wait, what? Have you two met before? Do you know him?” “Yeah, well last night we accidentally bumped into each other at the restaurant and today hes the one you should thank for your coffee.” “Do you think he’s stalking me?” Aleyna looked at Defne perplexed. “Aleyna stop, you seem paranoid. It’s a mere coincidence.” “Well a big one if you’re asking me.”

With these thoughts in mind, the two girls went to resume their work. Aleyna called a meeting of her group members to discuss the pointers for the project and gave everyone their tasks. Meanwhile, Mark also attended the meeting but only as a spectator. He could see how focused she was to her work.

 At the end of the meeting he came to Aleyna, clearing his throat, “So whats your status?” Aleyna turned around completely caught off guard, “I don’t seem to understand you.” She replied biting her lower lip, a habit of hers when she found herself in a fix. “I am talking about the project.” He added running his fingers through his jet black wavy hair. “Oh, we’re working on it. It’s in progress stage. I need to ask you a few questions regarding the Organizational Design if you have time.” “Sure”.

Aleyna was deeply struck by his blue eyes and often found herself staring into them, something she wasn’t too pleased of doing. Their meeting lasted an hour and she spent most of it admiring his well framed face, his square jaw and his perfect tan. Later, she felt furious at herself. How could she even tell this to Defne? Her heart was beating faster than a humming bird’s wings. She stayed in her cabin for the rest of the day, at home time when she was finally about to leave, she saw Mark leaving with Karen.

“She sure doesn’t waste time” Defne added. “She is fast and pretty. Anyways, who cares?” “Well, do you think she is pretty enough to land herself a guy in a couple of hours?” Aleyna asked, Defne looked at her friend closely but refrained from making any comments, “No way, they’re probably going to discuss about work.” Aleyna shrugged her shoulders and the two friends walked towards the parking lot. She reached home, ate her dinner in her Nana’s room while Mrs. Brown fed her. It was a ritual both she and her mom followed, while they could also get an update about Nana.

“How was she today Mrs. Brown?”, “Oh, the usual honey. Didn’t say much.” “When is her next appointment? “After two days. Would you like to come along?” “I wish I could but with my work and project, things are pretty tight.” “I understand dear, ill let you know what the doctor says.” “Thank you, please take good care of my Nana.” She kissed her Nana and waved a good night to the two senior ladies. It was weird how there were only ladies living in that big house now and no man with her father gone. Once she was so excited when the Christmas Season started and decorated the whole house and put up the Christmas Tree but now she dreaded it as it brought back the tragic memories of her father’s death and his funeral six years ago and how her Nana collapsed at the same time. She shivered wondering why was it so cold today. Her mom was still at the clinic so she headed to her room. She changed into her warm Pj’s, made a low ponytail and decided to hit the sack.

Mark Walsh was a professional in his job, he was only twenty seven and became the Project Manager for Rapid Tech. He hadn’t dated for the past nine months as he never had time and always thought his work came first. When he bumped into Karen for the first time at the restaurant, he was captivated by her eyes. The sadness he saw in them made him want to get to know her. He couldn’t stop staring at her at the restaurant. She seemed so intriguing and vulnerable. Meeting her at Dunkin’s was a complete coincidence and he had wanted to help her immediately and now finding her at QuickLink Telco, he knew it was fate. Mark decided he had to get to know her more. The sight of her biting her plump red lips was spinning in his mind, she seemed so innocent just like a child. He was definitely impressed by her hard work. He remembered he had to meet her tomorrow at Dunkin’s and was really looking forward to it.

He wore a blue shirt with his favorite black tie, black trouser and a long black coat. He wanted to reach their on time so he left immediately. When he reached there, he saw her sitting near the counter looking gorgeous in a navy blue knee length dress but she wasn’t alone. Her friend Defne and a male friend were also there who was later introduced as David. “I’m sorry, did I keep you waiting?” “Oh no, not at all. We just reached here and then we met David as well so we were just catching up.” Both walked towards the counter, “Thank you for yesterday, can I pay for your coffee today or would you like me to give you cash?” “Aleyna, we’re not strangers anymore so you don’t need to pay me back and I was glad I could help you when you needed it. Hope you enjoyed your coffee? “Ah, that you need to ask Defne because she was the one I was buying it for.” And they both laughed. After much insistence, Aleyna paid for Mark’s coffee and all four of them headed out.

They all went to their respective cars, Aleyna was about to open the car door when a strong guy pushed her to the ground and ran off with her purse. She fell really hard and bruised her knee and hands. When Mark and David saw what was happening, David ran after the mugger while Mark rushed to her aid, cleaning her hands and helped her to get up. Defne was also by her side. “Are you okay Aleyna? Lets take you to the hospital.” “Yes Aleyna, I’ll take you there.” Defne added worried for her friend. “No, please I’m okay just a little shocked, I’ll be fine.” Mark helped her back in the car. David came back breathless with her purse, “David! I hope he didn’t hurt you? You didn’t need to go after him.” Aleyna exclaimed with concern, “Check if anything is missing Ley.” He pointed towards her purse. “What happened to that thief?” Mark asked, “I beat the crap out of him.” “And he didn’t retaliate?” “Well, maybe he got scared, who cares.” “If you don’t want to go to the hospital come to my clinic, ill clean your wound.” “Oh no, thank you I’ll just go to the office, don’t worry about me David.” “Yes, we have a first aid kit there.” 

Aleyna was completely disheveled so she tried to fix herself in the car. She drank some water in her friend’s car to calm her nerves. Once in office, she quickly went to her cabin and Defne grabbed the first aid box. Just as she was about to clean her wounds, Mr. Harris’s secretary came in asking for Aleyna. Defne went to his office instead to let him in on Aleyna’s situation. Mark brought her some hot tea and started to clean Aleyna’s wounds. Aleyna became conscious of his touch on her well-toned legs. He was being very careful not to hurt her so he was soothing her wound with her soft breath. This made Aleyna shiver inside and she closed her eyes. His touch aroused feelings inside her she didn’t like.