3:30 PM. The gates have opened for the dismissal of the primary school students. Edward Bartlett, a first grader teacher, had just walked out of the building to monitor the school gates. On his way to the gate, a little girl who was sitting alone on a bench caught his attention. The little girl was in a frilly blue dress staring down at her swaying little legs with matching blue doll shoes, and a blue sling purse beside her.
He approached her. "Hello, little girl, where are your parents? Why are you alone?" And the blue hues of her eyes met his.
Zia Scott's eyes quivered as the man she had been longing for two weeks had appeared before her. "E-ed...ward...?"
His forehead wrinkled for a second but it then vanished and got replaced with a sweet smile. "You know me? I haven't seen you around before though. Can I sit next to you?”
She just nodded in response, then he sat beside her.
"I...I…” She was reluctant to say anything. Her mind went blank. She had so much to say to him, so much that she didn't know where to start. All she could do was to look at him and study every feature of his face before he vanished again. The face of the man that she loves.
However, in his eyes she just looked like a little girl who was not very good with talking to strangers. "Uhmm, what's your name? So I can page your parents. Maybe they’re still in the campus." He continued to smile at her, trying to give her a sense of comfort.
"Zia!" She exclaimed, but then her eyes widened as she realized her mistake.
Edward, who heard the name of the woman he had been missing for weeks, was also surprised. "Zi...a?"
"Phia!" she added. "I'm Sophia. Yes, t-that's my name," she stuttered, trying to avert her eyes.
"Sophia..." he whispered underneath his breath, repeating the name, then he looked at her. "You have a very beautiful name."
"Y-yes." She fiddled with her fingers in nervousness. "M-my dad named me that," she said, bringing consistency to the lie she had told Jonathan McGrath.
"So where are your parents, Sophia? Why are you here alone?"
She looked up to him. "P-parents?"
"Parents?" she thought to herself. What excuse could she give? She had just been aimlessly wandering around the streets alone as her thoughts also wandered on the possible explanations behind her mysterious situation. And her feet had just subconsciously brought her inside the school campus where Edward was working. It was as if her feet had followed what her heart desired.
"Sophia?" His soft voice had brought her attention back.
"Y-yes?"
"Are you waiting for them to pick you up?"
"Y-yes."
"Then, while you wait for them, do you wanna hear a story?"
"Sure!" She responded with enthusiasm, trying to act like a kid.
He leaned his back against the bench as he stared into the far distance. "Once upon a time, there was a little boy, I think he was around your age." He softly chuckled. "He had just moved into a new neighborhood, he didn't know anyone. He was lonely and grumpy."
While he was looking away, Zia took out her phone from her purse and sent a message to Gray in secret.
The text message read:
Gray, I'm with Edward rn. At the school. Pick me up ASAP.
Oblivious to her actions, he continued to tell his story. "One time, while the little boy was playing alone at the park, three big boys came and bullied him. But just then, a soccer ball came flying out of nowhere and hit one bully in the head and his nose bled. And as the crying little boy looked at the direction where the ball came from, he saw an angel." He turned to her. "Have you seen an angel?"
"No." She pouted.
"No but after all that’s happened to me, seeing an actual angel won’t come as a big shock to me anymore," she thought to herself. "But wait." She brought her little fingers up to her chin as she thought hard. "Is he talking about the first time we met?"
"I met an angel," he continued. "She had sapphire eyes and golden hair."
"You're making me look like a treasure box with that description," she chuckled as she thought to herself.
"She saved the little boy from those bullies."
"Oh," she thought to herself as she sighed. "Gray totally disappeared from his memory when it was actually her who kicked the ball. I just helped him get up."
"And since then, the little boy and the angel have always been together." He turned to her and smiled.
"That's it?" She asked in dismay.
He chuckled. “Do you want more?"
"Yes!" She raised her fist in the air to show excitement.
"Because Gray is still not answering me," she thought to herself.
"Hmm." He rubbed his fingers on his chin. "Then should I tell you a sequel of the story between the little boy and the angel?"
"There's mooooore~?" she tried her hardest to sound interested, clasping her tiny hands together over her heart. "I wanna hear mooooore~"
"This cutesy act is draining my energy, I swear," she thought as she stole glances on her phone beside her for Gray's reply.
"So as the little boy spent time with the angel," he started again. "He realized that the angel was actually a little girl. Then as they grow old, the little boy who had become a young man fell in love with the little girl who is now a young woman."
"Wow, they grow up fast," she nonchalantly uttered, spouting silly comments like a little child would do.
"Well, they're fictional characters after all." He chuckled. "Anyway, the young man, he was quite handsome." He lightly scratched his cheek. "And the young woman was extremely smart."
"Wait," she interrupted. "Is the young woman not beautiful?"
"Wha--of course the young woman is beautiful too," he replied. "In the young man's eyes."
"How dare you. If I weren't in love with you too, I could bait a guy or two, you know," she thought as she glared at him.
"Ah," he uttered. "She has an angelic voice too," he added.
"Because she's an angel, yes," she said with a conceited expression as she crossed her arms and nodded along.
He found her actions funny. "You're such a precocious child, and listens well too." He patted her head lightly.
"So what happened next?" she asked, seeing that Gray still had not responded.
"The young man was hesitant to pursue the woman. They have been friends for a long time after all, he was afraid to get rejected and their friendship might also fall apart in the process. And all the guys who pursued her were rejected for the same reason: she has no interest in romance." He turned to her. "Do you have someone you like?"
"Should you be asking that to a little kid?" she thought to herself.
"I'm still too young to think about love," she responded with her arms crossed.
He softly laughed as he found her actions cute. "How old are you, Sophia?"
"Twenty-five," she thought to herself. "But clearly you won't believe that."
She looked at him. "Take a guess."
"Hmm." He tilted his head as he stared at her, studying her height. "Five?"
"Yeah! I'm five years old!" She stuck out her left hand to his face, showing five fingers.
"What a smart little girl." He smiled. "Just like your name."
"My name?"
"Yeah, your name is a Greek name which means wisdom." He lightly touched her nose.
"I see." She giggled as her nose felt ticklish. "Why do you know that?"
"Hmm." He exhaled heavily. "My fiancee taught me that."
She noticed that he was starting to space out. "And so? And so? What happened to the young man?" She hopped on her seat, catching back his attention.
He smiled at her then turned to gaze at the far distance once again. "The young man plucked all his courage and finally confessed to the young woman. And despite the young man's worries, she actually accepted his love right away."
"The man must be so lucky." She smirked. Fortunately due to the huge gap in their height, he didn't see it.
He curved up a smile as he lifted his head to look at the sky. "You're right, he's the luckiest and happiest man in the world."
She was surprised by his words. She could not help but feel butterflies in her stomach. A lot has changed--the situation, her body, her lifestyle, Edward's daily life without her. But one thing that remained was his undying love for her. It seemed that her message was assurance enough for him to continue living and await her return.
"E-edward." With her call, a series of thoughts bugged her mind. Should she tell him the truth? Gray believed her so maybe Edward would believe her too? Edward would surely understand her, right? And even if he wouldn't, she could just tell him secrets that only the two of them knew like the way she was able to persuade Gray.
"E-dward, I--" she stuttered in nervousness.
"Hmm? What is it?" He looked at her, paying close attention to what she was about to say.
"I--"
"Sir Bartlett!" A woman with raven black long hair wearing a provoking red blouse that exposes her cleavage paired with a black pencil skirt called out to him as she approached them.
"Ms. Cogzell." He turned to her and stood up.
"Mrs. Bowtell wants to see you in her office," she said as she stood before him.
"Okay, one second." He turned to Zia and crouched down to level her eyes. "I have to go now, will you be alright by yourself?"
"B-but I still have something to say," Zia exclaimed.
He gave her a couraging smile. "Yeah? What is it?"
She stared into his eyes. "I--I--" she was hesitant to tell him. She was afraid. He had just gone back to work after he grieved for a week. She didn't want to give him news he will get stressed about for another week. She noticed the woman glaring at her with crossed arms behind him. The woman was tapping the sole of her heels on the pavement, waiting.
"Sophia?" He brought back her attention. "What is it?" he asked in a soft voice.
She stared into the green hues on his eyes as she thought to herself, "I miss you."
"Thank you," she uttered softly, almost whispering.
He projected a sweet smile in return. "Thank you for listening to me."
She just sighed in her seat as she watched the man of her life walking away from her, slowly disappearing from sight.
"I don't like that woman."
She was startled by the sudden voice coming from the back. As she turned around, it was Gray.
Gray crossed her arms as she continued to stare at the back of the woman beside Edward. "She looks like a snake, and I hate reptiles."
Zia looked up to her. "What do you mean?"
"It's my gut feeling. She's dangerous."
Thank you for reading! Have you also had romantic first encounters? Share your thoughts in the comments!
As the rising sun casted a rosy hue across the morning sky, golden fingers of sunlight lit up the city. The just-risen sun shone softly on the streets, bringing with it a flurry of early-morning activity. As the light of dawn seeped into the cracks of the blinds on Gray's window by the living room, it touched Zia Scott's eyes awake who was sleeping on the sofa. "Arghh," Zia yawned as she rubbed her bleary eyes. "Time..." She turned to her side to reach for her phone on the coffee table but to her surprise, Gray Stewart was sitting on the coffee table with her knees open, arms crossed and an annoyed expression. Zia stared at her for seconds, then she covered her eyes with both hands. "This dream is too scary." She rolled over to her side, facing the sofa's back. "I need to wake up," she yawned, then closed her eyes again, encouraging herself to sleep.
After dropping Zia Scott off her apartment and sending her to the door, Gray Stewart went back to her car parked right in front. However, as soon as she grabbed the door's handle, her gut grumbled. "I'm hungry." She looked around with her hand on her stomach. Walking a few steps on the right, she found a convenience store. She entered the store and grabbed a bottle of water and a tuna-flavored sandwich. As she made her way to the counter, a five feet blonde woman in a red fitting dress cut past her in a hurry. The woman placed her hand cart on the counter. Inside it were a few boxes of band-aids, elastic bandages, adhesive tapes, gauze pads and rubbing alcohol. When the woman handed her card for payment, the cashier swiped the card on the payment terminal; however, the machine made a beeping sound. "I'm sorry ma'am, your card was declined," the cashier said to her. "W-what? Why?" Contrary to the woman's bold clothing, her voice was surprisingly soft and a little bit high-pitched. "
"Take care on your way home, kids," Edward Bartlett said as he waved the students goodbye by the gates. Then, he walked back inside the building. As he went back to his classroom, Belinda Cogzell was sitting on his chair behind the table. "Oh, hey, Ms. Cogzell," he called to her as he approached her. "Hi, Sir Bartlett," she replied with a smile. He grabbed a spare chair and sat by the table, minding a safe distance from her. "Can I help you with anything?" "Yeah, you see…" She leaned on the chair with her legs crossed, exposing her perfectly tanned thighs under her bright red pencil skirt. "I've already been working here for a week but I'm still confused on some stuff." "Oh, sure, what is it?" He genuinely asked as he looked into her eyes. "I'm still vague on what we, teachers, do aside from teaching." "Hmm." He leaned back on his chair as if he was thinking. "In a nutshell, as primary teachers, we are responsible for teaching them the national curriculum subjects. We're here t
"But I still owe you a proper apology," Belinda Cogzell uttered as Edward Bartlett headed for the door. "Yeah, why don't I treat you for dinner, how does that sound?" "Dinner?" he replied. "Yes, please, I really feel bad about what I said about your fiancee." She slowly approached him. "Just a light dinner between co-workers, what do you say?" "I'd love to but I already made plans, Ms. Cogzell, maybe some other time." Her face contorted. All her life, no man had ever resisted her advances. She would make even the toughest man with the highest pride beg on all fours just to make her stay. She had taken pride in her beauty and irresistable bombing hourglass body. With that weapon she was able to sabotage relationships and families. Men were at her mercy. And she merely thinks of them as her source of money and fun, mere tools for her entertainment. She is like a viper that captivates men and wraps them around her little scheme before inflicting her veno
"W-hat the---" Zia Scott uttered and ran off in panic. She sprinted out of the campus as she painfully sobbed. And as she trudged along the sidewalk all the while sniffing the snot running down her nose and wiping the overflowing tears in her eyes, horrible thoughts were haunting her mind. Who was that girl? What were they doing? What is she to Edward? What were they doing? What is their relationship? What were they doing? Does she know that he's engaged? What were they doing? Where did they meet? What were they doing? When did they meet? What were they doing? What were they doing?! "JUST WHAT WERE THEY DOING?!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, then a new set of tears had flooded her already dried-up eyes again. "Seriously," she uttered in between
"Likewise." Sarah Lewis curved a smile as she heard Gray Stewart's response. "It's really funny how you always catch me when I'm in trouble," she said as it went silent again. "Yeah," Gray shortly replied while keeping her eyes on the road. "You're like my personal saviour," Sarah said. "Always to the rescue!" She thrusted her arm out as if imitating a superhero's typical flying pose, then she laughed softly as she put her arm down in embarrassment. "Yeah." She briefly glanced at Gray then on her hands resting on her lap. "I'm sorry, I must be annoying you, I'll just keep quie---" "It's fine, keep talking," Gray said while she b
As soon as Gray Stewart and Zia Scott heard about the dreadful accident, they rushed over to the hospital. As they arrived, they saw Edward's mother pacing back and forth near the reception area, awaiting their arrival. "Martha!" Gray called out her attention. "Where's Edward." "Come with me," Martha said as she walked away, and the two followed behind her. "What happened?" Gray asked as they were walking. "I--I don't know," Martha's voice was breaking. "I...I heard he got hit by...by a car just across the school. T-the driver was speeding a-and...and noticed him too late. He was hit pretty hard," she explained. "Here," she added as she stopped on her tracks. "He's still inside." Gray and Zia looked at the room she was referring to. "The operating room?" Zia asked. "I-it's been an hour, I'm so worried," Martha answered as she brought a hand up to brush up her hair in exasperation. "W-wait," she added. "Who's this?" she asked as she pointed at Zia. Gray glanced at Zia beside h
"Hi, I'm Belinda, Belinda Cogzell. Edward's friend from work." Gray Stewart briefly stared at her then she continued reading her magazine. "Are we in hell right now?" "Excuse me?" Belinda said with one eyebrow raised. "What?" Gray glared daggers in her with her dead fish eyes. "Oh, I was reading a line in the magazine." "Ah, I see," Belinda responded. "Look, I just came here to visit Edward. I wanna see how he's doing," she said as she gestured her hand towards his bed. "Well, he's lying unconscious with that massive choker on his neck and a few stitches and little metals replacing his crushed bones inside. So I guess we can all agree that he's definitely fine," Zia mumbled to herself as she rolled her eyes in annoyance.