special brew. | BrightWin

19.

W

I recognised the familiar sillouhette of his back from where I was standing. Luckily I had brought an umbrella, or I'd be stranded in the rain like that little fool sitting on the beach alone.

I somehow knew that he would come here as he always talked about how special this place was to him, and thankfully I was right. I also overheard everything he said to his mother over the phone, and now I understood why he reacted so strongly.

I was shocked more than anything else as I knew my P'Bright never raised his voice at anyone, much less me, no matter how upset he might be - the fact that he did meant that he must be feeling absolutely awful, and was pushed to his limits. I've never experienced such a loss, but I can guess that it must be unbearable especially for a place that he started from scratch, and had been through so much to get to where he is today. It pained me to even imagine how upset and hurt he must be feeling.

"You could get struck by lightning, you know." I said as I stood behind him, holding the umbrella over us.

He looked up at me with a shocked expression, and didn't say a word. He probably didn't expect me to be here.

"Are you going to just keep sitting there and staring at me?" I asked after a long period of silence. He realised something and quickly got up, dusting off his bottom.

"You...came."

"What were you thinking sitting out in the rain like this?" I nagged, dabbing his face dry with some tissues.

His lips were trembling and his eyes shone with tears as he pulled me in. He tightly wrapped his arms around my neck, and I could feel his heartbeat against my chest. He was sobbing loudly into my shoulder, and I used my free hand to rub his back.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." He kept repeating over and over. The way he held on to me so tightly while he said those words were as if he was afraid that I'd disappear if he ever let go.

"Look at me." I said, gently pulling away and lifted his chin with my finger. "Gosh, your eyes are all red and puffy. Don't cry anymore, okay? We gotta get you home to change out of these clothes or you'll fall sick."

He squeezed my hand, and his gaze was filled with desperation and sadness. "Are you mad at me?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." He kept repeating over and over. "It is all my fault. Please don't break up with me..."

"You idiot." I smacked his head. "I'm mad at you for getting drenched out in the rain like this. What if you fall sick? Or get struck by lightning? I was worried sick, you know? You're lucky I could guess where you went, you didn't even pick up my calls-"

"...you're not mad at me for what I said?"

"No, because I know you didn't mean to. But I'm mad at you for neglecting your safety like this."

He started bawling again after I finished my sentence, and held his arm up to his eyes like a little child. I removed his arm and wiped the tears away with my thumb, and planted a kiss on his cheek where the tears had stained.

The sky just looked scarier by the second, and I was getting anxious of the loud roars that were sure to come. "Can we go home now?" I asked nervously.

Just as I said that, I saw a stroke of lightning flash across the sky in front of me. I quickly squeezed my eyes shut to brace for the terrifying sound coming after, but instantly felt a pair of hands covering my ears. All I heard was a soft, mumbled growl for a split second, then opened my eyes.

Bright was covering my ears with his hands, and looked at me with worry while asking if I was okay, and I nodded.

"You dummy, why did you come out knowing there was a thunderstorm?" He asked softly.

"To find this idiot, of course." I said, poking his chest. "You can't possibly expect me to just be waiting at home without doing anything. I was so anxious to find you."

His hands moved to touch my cheeks, and he pulled me towards him. I felt the warmth of his lips against mine, and I could taste a tinge of saltiness from where his tears had flowed. He gently pulled away after a long while, and enveloped me in a hug that conveyed all the feelings that he could not put into words.

I decided to accompany Bright to work the next day as he said he'd be telling the news to Film. This hasn't been easy for him, and I wanted to be there for him.

After he broke the news to her, she was visibly upset. She didn't cry, but we could both tell that she was just as troubled by this piece of news like Bright was.

"Boss." She said in a serious tone, that sounded as if she was trying to hold back her tears. "No matter what, I will work for you until the very last day as long as you'll have me."

Bright immediately hugged her tightly and kept repeating the words "thank you". Bright wasn't the kind to express his feelings openly, but he'd always talk about how grateful he was for Film. I could tell that Film cherished Bright just as much.

"Thank you too, Win. Because of you, I got to see my boss smile again. You have no idea how long I've waited to see him look this happy." She said as she hugged me tightly too, to my surprise.

"Really? He never smiled like this before?"

"Of course he did. But he lost it ever since things got bad, until after you-"

"Right, well, it's time to finish things up and go home." Bright interrupted. It seemed that there was something he was refusing to tell me, but I decided not to pry. Film just raised her eyebrows at me and shrugged, even though I have no idea what it meant.

Over the next few weeks, Bright became more open to finding a new location. He had been trying hard to persuade the landlord to renew his lease for quite a while, but was disappointed every time. I think it slowly dawned on him that the landlord was not going to change his mind, and he started to explore other options. It wouldn't be the same starting over somewhere else for sure, but at least he could continue running this business that he loved so much on a new chapter.

He'd been looking for spaces for quite some time, but the rent was too expensive, or the place was too far. I told him to be patient and slowly look for the right place instead of settling for less, which he understood.

Unbeknownst to him, I had been sourcing around myself for realtors who could get a good location. I knew next to nothing about such things, so I had to ask around to know where to begin.

"Here's the contact of the guy I told you about." Dew handed me a piece of paper during work one afternoon. It had a number and a name written on it, which I kept in my pocket. "I've heard from numerous people that he's pretty reliable, and he's a nice dude too."

Dew's outgoing personality really did come in handy at times like this, as it earned him many valuable connections over the years since people loved talking to him.

"Thanks bud. I owe you."

"Fried chicken next week." He winked, sitting back down on his chair.

I called up the number on Saturday when Bright was away at work, and the guy on the other end of the line sounded more professional and patient than most of the previous realtors I contacted. I held high hopes in my heart as I arranged a date to meet with him, praying that I could score a good deal for P'Bright.