LANCELOT

She’s been bored or the entire week that has passed. So far, no man was walking up to her unexpectedly just to force her to pay for the money she owed.

She wonders what happened to them.

They were waiting for their professor to arrive when she decided to lay her head on top of the table while playing with her pen. She has not started even a single line of the book that she wanted to write. Her professor is pissed off, yet she can’t force herself to write anything.

Her pen twirls around as she plays with it. It took five minutes of playing before her professor came in and handed bunch of booklets to one student asking him to distribute it to the entire class.

A red covered book laid flat on her desk.

“Unpopular legends.” She read it softly.

She flipped the pages of the book and thought there must be about a hundred pages.

She turned to the first page and saw the table of contents.

“Welcome, today we will be talking about some of the most underrated legends of all time. For the entire month, we will be talking about each of these individuals to help ignite our inspiration. Clearly, some of you needs help.”

He saw her professor stealing a glance towards her direction.

“Now, let’s all turn to the very first story.”

Everyone silently flipped the pages turning into the page their professor instructed them with. The illustration of an Arabic woman welcomed them. Her face looked like a typical Arabian goddess. One that looks like every other goddess she sees on TV. She stared at her illustration, more specifically to her eyes. Suddenly, flashes of a peculiar sound started to fill her ears. She turned around, trying to figure out where the sound is coming from.

The click-clack sound against the floor made her suddenly stood up.

“Yes Charlie? Mind sharing us your thoughts?”

Everyone in her room was staring ta her.

“I’m sorry, I was... do you hear that sound?”

She could see her professor’s brows furrow at her inquiry.

“Which one? Coz, I think for the past hour, I have only been hearing the sound of my own voice, which you’re clearly not listening to.” Her professor sarcastically pointed.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be…”

“Sit down Charlie, unless you’d like to share your thoughts about our topic.”

She sat down instead of asking further. Something strange is happening to her.

For the past week, she thinks she’s missing out on something. She could not quite define what it is, but she knows something is wrong.

Her class ended like a blur and all she could think of was the click-clack sound that suddenly woke her from her boredom.

As like any days, she walked towards the ice cream truck she usually drops by and ordered her usual favorite. She looked at the small kids playing on the park not too far from the truck while devouring her favorite ice cream.

Then the click-clack sound started again, prompting her to stand up and look around her. She’s the only one nearest to the ice cream truck, while its owner was reading out an Archie comic. She could feel the lines that’s forming in her forehead with what’s going on.

Where is it coming from?

She must be dreaming, isn’t she?

She must be hallucinating.

Dunking the remaining ice cream on the bin, she decided to just let go. Severely disappointed that she is still unable to figure out where the sound is coming from.

She treaded the path towards the pizza shop where she’s working. The place was swamped as soon as she arrived. So, she hurriedly timed in, grabbed her apron and faced the cashier as the student prior to her has just ended her shift.

She smiled at the first customer she gets to entertain at that hour.

The next six hours were too busy for her to even think about anything other than pizza slices and colas.

When her shift finally ended, that sudden lonesome feeling started creeping her again.

It felt like there’s something huge that’s missing, and she just can’t figure out what.

Meanwhile, the Jinni sits in her comfortable sofa, sipping her tea. She hears the door swing open and smiled.

“Look what the wind brought in.”

She could hear the bustle of steps getting into her personal salon. Then in came Charlie’s professor, sat down across her and helped himself to some tea. He took his time sipping it and swallowing the liquid.

“So, how is she?” the Jinni asked.

“It may take some time. But I think she’s getting there.”

“Why would you think that?”

“She’s not herself today.  We’ll I guess every other day after you said she’s been here. She seems lifeless.”

The jinni smiled and fixed her hair, pulling it down.

“Do you really think it’s her?”

“Well, I am never wrong.” She started to stand up and walked towards her own kitchen, the professor following her along with his tea.

“You’re right on that one. But what if it would take much longer?”

The Jinni could be heard heaving a deep breath.

“We have time.”

“You know very well we don’t have.”

“Of course, we do,” she clapped her hands, dismissing whatever the man is saying and in front of them, a banquet slowly started appearing, “Time is a created thing, and when you say we don’t have time, is just the same as you saying we don’t want to, or we don’t have to. Our reality on the other hand, will require us to be patient, because we have to.”

She flipped the train of her dress and sat on the edge of the long table where the gregarious display of banquet lay.

“I’ve decided Indian tonight. Would you like to join me?” she teases him with the red wine she started to slow pour into a beautifully designed cup.

The professor smiled.

“I will never be able to say NO to you madame.”

“Of course, you can’t.”

They started their meal, quietly prospering on the delicious delicacies they have that night.

Charlie sat on the roof top of their apartment building as she munch on her Chinese take-out. Her life seems too stagnant, too simple. She’s been alone for some time now since her grandmother has passed. Both her parents died in an accident not too long before her grandmother died as well due to heart complications.

But her peaceful dinner was suddenly startled by the loud bang of the door as it opens for someone. She almost dropped her food, since she was sitting on the edge of the roof.

She turned around to find out who it was.

There stood a lanky tall man, ruggedly pacing back and forth against the marbled rooftop floor.

She leaned her head sidewards as she continues to observe the man who just arrived and broke her peace.

Something seemed to be irritating him. And all she could do is squint her eyes, guessing what it was he was so irritated with.

Now she’s lost her appetite.

She turned toward the man who still doesn’t seem to notice her.

“Hi!”

“Holy Mother of—” the man she just called out really looked like he was scared to his death.

“Chinese?” she held out her Chinese take-out that was half empty.

“How long have you been there?” he harshly asked.

Charlie turned her head left and right, “I’ve been here before you even arrived. I guess you were too aggravated to even notice me. So, Chinese?”

 “No, I’m fine. Thank You.” His voice started to go soft as he sighed and released a quick deep breath.

“You seem agitated. Having a bad day?”

“Way more than a bad day.”

She shrugged. “Well, I can relate to that.” She turned back towards the cityscapes she’s seeing on that rooftop and sighed.

“What’s on your mind?”

His irritated tone has now totally disappeared. He leaned on the edge of the ledge and looked down on the busy streets below them.

“How insignificant my life is. Very sedimentary. There’s no fun, no twist, it’s like a book published without any plot at all.”

“Wow, huge comparison. I guess your day was way worse than mine.”

“Well, I think anyone’s life is more exciting than mine right now.”

“You’re crazy.”

“What? Why?”

“No one’s life is comparable to anyone else’s. Yours might not be as dazzling as everyone else’s right now, but your time shall come.”

“Well...” her mind suddenly fell on deep thoughts, a distinctive voice was starting to whisper against her ears, “Hmmm.”

“What is it?”

“Something just started to fill my mind, it’s like a memory or something. But I could not quiet comprehend it.”

“Well, that’s odd.”

“I know. It’s as if lately I’ve been missing some memories I could not even recall. And every now and then, something just spikes in my brain. Something just keeps bugging me.”

“Like what?”

She turned to the man standing beside her.

“I don’t think it’s a conversation for a first meet.”

He chuckled at her sudden realization.

“Right. I’m sorry.”

There was something very amusing with the way he was staring at her.

“I’m Charlie by the way.” She held her hand in front of him.

“I’m Lance. Lancelot to be exact.”

“Nice to meet you, Lance.”

She held his hand against hers, feeling it’s soft complexion against her slightly calloused ones.

There’s at least one good thing that happened to her today. Lance.