Asymptote

Chapter 1: Mission Accomplished

He had been gathering up the courage to ask his beautiful colleague out for lunch. They had been chatting on the way to her apartment when he decided it was time to give his offer.

“Hey, would you like to have dinner together tomorrow and go see a new movie?” he asked with a shaky smile, slight blush on his cheeks and heart beating fast. He was afraid he had sounded too straightforward. His mind was thinking of all the possible negative responses.

“That sounds nice,” she replied with a smile.

With all his worries disappearing in thin air, his face lit up and his confidence was boosted. “Great! Will 5pm be good?”

“5pm, it is. See you tomorrow,” she said as she waved goodbye at him and began to enter the apartment building. Just after taking a few steps away from her, he looked back with a shy smile and was greeted by hers. Oh, how that smile could light up and give warmth to a dark, cold room. He couldn’t help but look down with a grin as he walked home.

They had been friends since her second week of arrival in Riverlake High where he taught mathematics. She was temporarily teaching there for a research she needed to do to get her degree in education. Meeting each other after their day at school ended had slowly become a routine. He would walk her back to her apartment and they would ask each other how their day had been. There were times when they would ask about the other’s personal life but most of the time a comfortable silence would enclose them like a bubble, shutting down the world around them. Walking side by side, just the slightest brush of their hands against each other made his face heat up and his heart flutter. Her presence could make him feel like the luckiest man in the world.

He remembered the first time he met her – he had been teaching at that moment when she and the head of the mathematics department entered the class to observe his teaching method. His heart had sped up and he had felt beads of sweat streaming down his back and forehead. No, it hadn’t been the fact that his boss was there – he was simply captivated by the beauty before him. He didn’t get the chance to know her name, however, until two days after.

The school had held an assembly for an annual event to appreciate the teachers and school staff. He was slightly disappointed that she was seated two chairs away from him but he was lucky enough that Mr. Shor, a fellow math teacher, sat on his left. He knew he would be very awkward if he were seated next to her anyway. Twenty minutes into the event, he left for the bathroom and came back to find his seat taken by a female teacher who had previously sat on his right. Dammit, he thought. He had no choice but to sit next to the most beautiful lady he had ever laid his eyes upon. For the first five minutes not a single word was spoken. Mr. Shor repeatedly signaled him to talk to her. It was then he realized that Shor was behind this. No, he mouthed at his friend, dragging the ‘o’ as he shook his head with squinted eyes. Shor rolled his eyes and asked, “Excuse me, miss, but I believe we haven’t caught your name.”

“It’s Carly, sir,” she said, giving a polite smile. Carly. Carly – her name sounded like a beautiful symphony in his ears.

“Ah, Ms. Carly, what a lovely name. This here is Richard, a good friend of mine,” Shor said, pointing at me. I shot him a look but he simply shrugged it off.

Carly gave a warm smile and offered her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Please, just call me Richard. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a big age gap between us,” he replied casually until he came to the realization that it wasn’t really appropriate to say such thing when they had just introduced themselves. Fortunately, she seemed indifferent to his response and they continued their conversation. He had a feeling it was the start of a beautiful friendship.

His mother looked over her shoulder, while stirring the soup in the pot, when she heard the door open. He was still smiling when he walked in. “You look happy,” she said. It was rare to see him like this before; her son had always gone home with exhaustion evident on his face and she wished she could do something about it. “Is it a girl?” she asked jokingly. He stopped dead in his tracks at her question – he definitely did not see this coming.

She looked at him, waiting for his reply, and she saw a hint of blush on his cheeks while he stuttered. Not wanting to tell his mother about Carly as of this moment, he decided to deny it. “Oh, no, Mom. There was just something exciting that happened at work today.” Well, that isn’t a lie, right? he thought. That’s just half the truth.

“I’m your mother, Richard.” She rolled her eyes at his lie. “You just wasted your breath lying to me.”

“Really, Mom, I wasn’t lying. Why would I lie to the world’s greatest mother?” His teasing self was resurfacing, though he could still feel the anxiety in him. He wasn’t ready to tell his mother just yet; totally unprepared for the questions to come.

“Oh, please.” Laughing at his reply, she rolled her eyes once again. “Well, then. Let’s just forget about it and have dinner.”

And that night – after helping his mother with the dishes, finishing up a bit of his work and taking a shower – he flopped down onto his bed with excitement for his first ever date with Carly despite the exhausting day he had gone through. Putting his right hand under his pillow, he quickly fell into slumber with only one thought in his mind – Carly Davis.

That's all for Chapter 1. Sorry if it isn't that good and if there are some grammatical errors; this is my first time writing a series. I really hope you enjoyed it though. Either you did or didn't, please give some opinions or suggestions. Thanks!