Stronger than the storm

The tutor

Piper

And this time I was the winner! She thought she had knocked me out and instead she couldn't.

I leave the classroom and walk proudly through the corridors of the university, stop by the vending machines and decide to have a cappuccino.

I'm about to insert the coin into the vent when someone else does it for me.

"I'll get you this," says Alex smiling at me.

"I'm poor, yes, but I can still afford a cappuccino", I reply with an ironic air.

We wait for a few moments, then the tic of the machine brings me back to reality, I take out the hot drink and start sipping.

Alex inserts another coin into the dispenser and hits a random button.

I can't help laughing.

"But do you always do this?", I ask her.

"So how?" she says back.

"Do you choose drinks at random?"

"It's always nice to try something new in life, don't you think? I'll let the machine choose. "

"What a bizarre philosophy!", I exclaim, continuing to sip the hot cappuccino.

She goes over to the machine and takes the glass.

You see? Ginseng It's my favorite ", she exclaims with satisfaction.

"It's not true though, you already know it."

"It's always like the first time when you drink a ginseng, trust me.", she exclaims winking her eyes.

I smile and shortly after throw the glass into the bin.

"Thanks.", I tell her.

"And what for?" she asks.

"For the cappuccino.", I reply, but in reality I would like to thank you for being the way it is.

"Excuse me, will you keep it for me for a moment?", She suddenly says, handing me her glass.

I grab it and hold it tight as I watch her breathe on her glasses and wipe them with a hem of her shirt.

She takes the glass back in her hands.

"The ugliness of wearing glasses", she continues, "drinking something hot is a challenge.", she laughs.

I can't put into words the effect it has on me being with her. It is the most beautiful and natural thing in the world: I feel at home.

Alex is a closed book to be discovered little by little. She doesn't tell anything about her past, she is reserved and wary enough to show her feelings, but I want to find the key to be able to enter even for a moment in her mind.

"You forgot about today's lesson." she suddenly says.

"What lesson?", I ask not aware of that new commitment.

"I'm your tutor, remember? Today we begin ", she tells me.

"But I have to work!", I reply back.

"I talked to Jack, he leaves you free for two hours a day.", she says looking at me.

I think about it. I'm not ready.

"It's only a week, you'll see, you'll learn a lot of new things."

I let myself be convinced and I accept.

"Then I'll see you at 3 p.m. two blocks from here.", she tells me before running away.

I stay near the vending machines a little longer. With my eyes I focus on the students who go up and down the stairs, while with my mind I'm elsewhere.

"Will I have been right to choose you as a tutor? Not that I really chose it, it all happened so quickly ... ", - on the other hand I think I have known her for such a short time, and I don't want that time spent in close contact can ruin that nameless something that slowly we are building, brick by brick.

"Or at least ... that I'm trying to build.", I tell myself.

The problem is that I've always been a girl with a head on my shoulders, I dreamed very little about my future in childhood and adolescence: something else has always caught my attention.

I constantly put off everything and I was satisfied with what happened. So when Jack hired me I believed that this was the goal of my life, when it was just the beginning.

You must never lose sight of your dreams, if you have, or if you have never dreamed about your future, you should start doing it.

And I find myself trying. I am no longer a girl, I am in the middle, and I am terribly afraid of making mistakes.

However, I want to learn, discover, know.

I feel I have had so little ... I want to fulfill myself, for myself, not for others.

It is as if every night all my life I have spent in the company of the moon and never dreamed of reaching it.

I take the phone out of my pocket and walk towards the exit.

I dial Jack's number.

"Hi Jack, how is Sam?", I ask him.

"Hi, Piper. She is much better, even if she needs to rest. Maybe in two days they will send her back home. I need to talk to you as soon as you can. "

"I'm passing by the hospital tonight, okay?", I tell him.

"See you later, I'll wait for you.", He says closing the conversation.

I put the phone back in my bag and light up a cigarette.

The air is freezing today, my nose freezes.

"Who knows what is so important to tell me Jack.", I think to myself.

I start walking aimlessly through the streets of the city.

The appointment with Alex is in two hours and I want to stretch my legs.

I decide not to go too far - it will be better to stay around so as not to be late. Punctuality has never been my strong skill - I know myself well.

I look at the sunny shop windows focusing on the clothes. There is a month to Christmas, and I will have to decide to find something to give to my family.

Time passes quickly. Time to go back, I think.

I don't know what to expect, I just know that this time we will spend together can do me good or it can hurt me.

I'm fine with both.