HIM FOR HER

Chapter Five

The world moves fast, a notion that Stephanie shares with other people. It has been exactly two weeks since that night. And exactly two weeks she had last seen him. It was as if he disappeared with time. No amount of looking around or turning her head at every corner met the greenish brown eyed boy.

She felt disappointed and sad. Life became even more lonely. Was that not what she wanted? She must have scared him away with her words that night. But it was better that way. He won’t give her what she wants anyway, so it was better that way, right?

Lies. Another lie.

Nothing was okay with it. It was much better when she could see him everyday, at least she had the chance to glance at him. But her greedy self had to mess that up too, just like every other good thing that had chanced their way into her life. She wanted to scream in frustration. To hit something, just to relived herself of the frustration in her life.

But she didn’t want to scare her co-worker or the customers having their sweet time over a cup of hot coffee and mouthwatering desserts.

“What’s wrong with you Stephanie?” Anna asked, obviously noticing how weird she had been as if she messing up three orders weren’t enough proof that something was wrong with her. “Are you sick? Do you need a break? You can take one if you’re unwell. I can finish up for you.” She sounded concerned and Stephanie felt guilty.

“It’s okay. I am alright.” She forced a smile, hoping to dispel the worried gaze on brown eyes. But she had forgotten how observant the girl was. She was the closest thing she had as a friend and the girl seems to know her well.

“I don’t mind. It’s almost time for closing, and there’s not much work to be done.” She insisted.

Stephanie opened her mouth to argue but she cut her off.

“I promise to call you if things get out of hand, nothing I can’t handle though. As long as it will make you not to worry, then I will do it.” She said in a sing-song manner with a grin.

Stephanie was grateful. She really needed the rest, even though that workaholic part of her was in doubt, if she was allowed to enjoy such luxury.

“Thank you," she muttered, sincerity dripping from her tone.

“You’re welcome. Now, off you go.” Anna almost pushed her away from the counter towards the back door that led to the small backyard.

She followed her order with a chuckle which disappeared immediately she was left alone. A deep sigh escaped her lips as she sat down at the bench lying there. She leaned her head on the wall and let her eyes fall close.

The empty feeling in her resurfaced, another reason she didn’t want to take a break.

Work kept her busy and she couldn’t dwell in her thoughts that much, but Anna seems to think she was better off away from the café anyway. She squeezed her eyes shut, wincing at the ache on her head. She blindly reached for her temple, and let her thumb and index fingers rub soothing circles on them in the form of a massage.

It wasn’t much, but the pain was relieved albeit a little. She let her hands drop limply to her side, falling into a meditative stance. It could be minutes or seconds she sat there unmoving; she can’t really tell. But she felt a shadow loom over her after a while.

“Do you need my help now Anna? I thought you said you could handle it.” She said with a chuckle, yet to open her eyes.

“I will hate to disrupt your meditation, but it’s almost 10pm.” Her eyes flew open immediately.

“I allowed him entrance and led him all the way to you,” Anna yelled from the door before making herself scarce, probably on her way home. Stephanie returned her gaze to the figure still staring down at her with a grin.

“Hello. It’s been a while.”

***

It was exactly the same scene from two weeks ago. The same park. Same swing. Same atmosphere. Even the sky was filled with the same number of stars as of that night. The same silence that had accompanied them that day fell on them. The euphoria was too much to be a coincidence. It was as the universe was creating a replica of that day.

“I missed you.” Just like that day, he was the one that broke the silence again. Stephanie whipped her head to stare at him, stunned. She couldn’t believe he shared the sentiment with her.

Don’t get your hopes high. I am sure he didn’t mean that.

The treacherous part of her whispered.

“These past two weeks, I gave a lot of thoughts to your words.” She knew what he was talking about, but she listened with a tense heart.

“Just like you, I have always been lonely. The only difference between us is that I have a family; a mom and an elder brother. But that’s all they are to me. They don’t care about me at all. It has always been me and an empty house. I guess I thought letting people want me and reeling in their attention will fill the deep hole in me. But I was wrong. I always end up returning to the same house with those feelings. These past weeks made me realize that none of that happiness I felt among these millions of people was genuine. They were all fake and somewhere in the middle, I had lost myself to the extent I had no idea what I wanted anymore.”

Stephanie has two feelings about that park. On one hand, she hates it. She always gets too emotional the two times she had been there, to the extent she revealed her deepest secret to her crush and kept him away for two weeks. On the other hand, it made her realize that life was fair to everyone. Things don’t always look as they appear. It taught her that there are always two sides to everything. She might like it a bit too much because it gave her the opportunity to know more about her crush.

“There you go with those same looks.” She didn’t know she was staring too much till he called her out of it. But unlike before, she didn’t shy away. Maybe everything changed when she realized that he was just the same human being as her and experiences feelings like her.

“What look?” she asked with a curious chuckle. She wanted to know what she looked like to him.

“You look at me like I hung the stars. Like I hold all the answers to the world’s secret.”

He said with a fond look, and she might have an idea of what he meant cause he was looking at her that same way. She was right. Everything had changed, and something tells her it might be in her favor this once.

“What if you do?” she asked boldly, taking him by surprise. She watched intrigued, as a pink hue appeared on his cheek and he looked away. Stephanie wondered why she had spent so much time discouraging herself from going after her heart's desire when she could have this reaction from him.

“When did you start liking me?” Anderson asked after coming out from the effect of her words. It was a new discovery he made which, he won’t deny he does like. Just like everything about her.

“Not telling.” She said teasingly.

“That’s not fair.”

“Why do you want to know?”

“So, I can know how much effort I need in returning it.”

She laughed. Loud and free. It was very liberating. And nice too. He joined her, their voices combining to form a melody that soothes the night. It was a joyous rhythm created by two lonely souls who found each other under a starry night.