Two months had unfurled like a calm banner since Lily's release from the hospital. The doctors had called her recovery a miracle, a sentiment Lily herself could barely comprehend. There were no internal injuries, no lingering physical aches, not even a faint bruise or a raised lump where the traffic light had struck. It was as if the accident had been erased from her very body, leaving not a trace. But the true miracle, the one that hummed beneath her skin, was the profound shift in her luck. For twenty-four years, misfortune had been her constant companion, a shadow dogging her every step. Now, it was simply... gone. Not a single spilled coffee, not a missed bus, no unexpected downpours. She wasn't about to complain.
Her former boss, Ms. Kim, predictably fired her while she was still laid up. Lily hadn't even batted an eye. It had been an expected, almost mundane end to that particular chapter. What came next, however, was anything but. She'd applied for the planetarium job on a whim, barely daring to hope. To her utter astonishment, they hadn't just acknowledged her application; they'd called her for an interview. And then, they'd hired her. Starting in a few days, she would be surrounded by galaxies and nebulae, sharing the cosmos with others. Her astronomical studies major in college, often mocked as impractical, had finally found its true calling.
Everything, it seemed, was aligning perfectly. It was as if the universe, after a long, cruel joke, had finally decided to smile on her.
Today, a crisp, biting wind carried the scent of distant rain, making Lily crave warmth. She decided against her usual hurried walk to work (a habit now happily broken) and instead strolled towards a nearby Starbucks, not for coffee, but for the soul-soothing embrace of a hot chocolate. After ordering her extra-large, extra-whipped concoction, she scanned the bustling cafe for a quiet corner.
Her gaze snagged on a figure seated deeply in the back, shrouded in the cafe's dimmest light. He wore an all-white suit, stark against the muted tones of the room, and was slowly sipping from a porcelain mug, his head tilted slightly as if watching something with intense focus.
Lily raised an eyebrow, a flicker of confusion. She subtly glanced behind her, assuming his attention was fixed on someone else, perhaps a friend or a date. But there was no one. When her eyes returned to him, his gaze was still locked on her, unwavering. And his eyes... they were an impossible, mesmerizing shade of glacial blue, like polished sapphires holding secrets.
Now, Lily wouldn't call herself brave. She rarely initiated contact, especially with attractive strangers. Yet, something primal, an inexplicable force, pulled her towards him. It was like an invisible magnet, drawing her across the crowded floor. As she began to walk, a subtle shift crossed his features. He raised an eyebrow, a fleeting look of surprise on his face as he realized she was indeed approaching him.
"What is she doing?" Alexander thought, a tremor of pure disbelief shaking him. "She can't see me. It's impossible for anyone I don't wish to see me." He quickly scanned the cafe. No one else seemed to notice him, their eyes gliding over his figure as if he were thin air. Only she saw him, clearly and unequivocally.
Lily reached his small, circular table and, without hesitation, slid into the empty seat directly across from him. "Um, hello," she began, her voice a little softer than she intended. "I'm Lily. I saw you staring, so I thought... do you need some company?" She offered him a friendly, tentative smile.
Alexander merely stared, his own perfectly composed facade crumbling. Not only could she see him, but she was talking to him. Engaging him. His client.
A nervous laugh escaped Lily, and she ran her fingers through her dark hair, pushing her bangs from her eyes. "I'm sorry, am I bothering you? Did I read your intentions wrong?" she whispered, then took a long, fortifying sip of her hot chocolate, the warmth doing little to quell her unexpected boldness.
Alexander cleared his throat, attempting to regain a semblance of cool. "Y-you can see me, right?" he managed, the question more a stammered statement.
Lily laughed again, a soft, melodic sound that sent a strange flutter through Alexander's chest – a feeling entirely new and slightly overwhelming for a being who had existed for millennia. "Well, yeah," she joked, her eyes sparkling, "it's hard not to see you with that bright white suit on." She pushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes again, her gaze lingering on his.
A heavy silence settled between them, each lost in their own turbulent thoughts. For Alexander, his mind raced, frantically sifting through eons of experience. He'd been a guardian angel for millions of years, guided countless clients through their lives, intervened in a million small ways. And not once, not one client, had ever seen him, let alone spoken to him. He was, to put it mildly, freaking out. And the fact that she was even more beautiful than he remembered from the hospital – her deep brown eyes expressive and warm, her dark bangs framing her face perfectly, the healthy glow back in her skin – wasn't helping his unprecedented emotional upheaval. He shouldn't be feeling this attracted to a client, especially his client.
Lily, on the other hand, simply absorbed his presence, her gaze tracing the flawless contours of his porcelain face. His skin was impossibly smooth, utterly devoid of wrinkles or imperfections. How could anyone in real life possess such ethereal beauty? And there was something else, something tugging at the edges of her memory. He seemed so profoundly familiar, yet she couldn't place him. She certainly didn't just walk up to random beautiful men and strike up conversations. Tilting her head to the side, the question that had simmered since she first saw him finally bubbled to the surface.
"Do... do I know you from somewhere?" she asked, her voice quiet, trying to wrap her brain around the inexplicable sense of recognition. "You seem so familiar to me."
Abruptly, Alexander bolted upright from the table. The sudden motion jostled the flimsy table, sending Lily's hot chocolate cup tilting precariously. She snatched it just before it spilled, her eyes wide with surprise. "I... I have to go! I'm sorry!" he stammered, his voice tight with barely contained panic. He practically speed-walked out of the cafe, abandoning his still-full drink on the table.
"Was it something I said?" Lily whispered to herself, bewildered by his sudden flight. She looked down at the abandoned cup, a small frown on her face. Picking it up, intending to toss it in the trash for him, her eyes caught the name scrawled in black Sharpie on the side of the disposable cup: "Alexander..." she breathed, the name a soft echo in the now quieter cafe.
Meanwhile, Alexander strode down the bustling sidewalk, his pace frantic. His mind was a whirlwind of questions and impossible truths. He could sense, faintly, her quiet call, the sound of his name on her lips. But he kept walking, needing distance, needing to process this utterly unforeseen complication.
YOU ARE READING
Miracle
Storie d'amore***** Lily has always been a clumsy unlucky person all her life tripping over chords bumping into walls where a normal occurrence for her in her verily normal life but a traffic light falling on her head, was a whole new level of unluckyness who kne...
