The Best Mistakes

32. Kayra

“I'll meet you back at home.” I waved at Amy and rushed inside my department building. Amy and I were both in a hurry since morning, as she wanted to meet Jake and I was going to see Nolan.

I had to lie that I had some work to finish at my department so that no one doubts. I couldn't just say I was meeting my boyfriend like Amy and to be more convincing I really went inside.

“Oh! Hey, Kayra! Great timing. I was just about to call you.” Lorrie walked towards me with a huge box in her hands which she put down when she stopped before me. Lorrie was in the same class as me and a good friend.

“Hi, Lorrie!” I smiled. “What's up? Why did you want to call me?”

“Oh!” She grinned and her eyes twinkled which gave me an ominous feeling. “Actually the professor assigned us to deliver these boxes to the management offices of each department.”

“What?” She walked me towards the office and my eyes widened as soon as I saw dozens of boxes stacked on each other.

“These have old reports and files of events and campaigns for the management. And just so you know, everyone was assigned different tasks and this is ours. Way to exploit students for free labor.” She sighed. The look of dread and defeat visible on her face.

“Do we have to move everything?” I asked with the same dread and when Lorrie nodded my heart sank.

If I would do this work then meeting Nolan would be impossible. This would take like a whole day without the lunch break. And considering the huge distance in every department building, I was sure I’d be dead to do anything later. Then should I slack off?

“And there's no getting away with this,” she said as if she read my mind. So, I was obliged to do this and I couldn't even bail out. With a huge weight on my heart, I took out my phone and texted Nolan that I wouldn't be able to meet up.

The sunlight and clear sky which seemed pleasant in the morning were now too irritating to bear now and the wind blowing on my face was too strong. There was nothing good about today. Everything seemed dull and full of bullshit. Even the couples seemed more disgusting than ever.

A couple who'd held hands and laughed like they were the only ones there passed by us. I instantly thought ‘Cringe’ in my head as soon as I saw them but the reality was, I wanted to do that too.

Just look at me. I was all excited and over the moon to meet Nolan and be with him but here I was doing hard labor instead. My day was going way too opposite from my expectations. What a day!

“We'll take the south and west buildings and you take the rest.” Lorrie split the group into two with three people each. I was going with her to the south and west campus.

South campus had a total of five departments: Liberal Arts, Linguistics, Mathematics, Architecture and Literature.

And West had four departments: Accounting, Economics, Human Resources and Business Adm.

Walking over half the campus and departments holding a heavy box was definitely going to be a tough job. “Let's go to the West first. It's near.”

“Yeah, you're right. Let's head to the Accounting department then.” I nodded at Lorrie and followed her lead. It was definitely going to be hard.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

“Why the fuck do they build their offices on the top floors?” Lorrie grumbled. This was the third building in a row with their office on upper floors. But this building was  comparatively good because the lift was working here.

We wouldn't have to climb all those stairs like back in the Economics building. We were so dead as we reached up to their office and the other girl nearly collapsed.

“Everything is testing my patience. At this rate, I might kill someone.” Lorrie fumed with anger as we got in the elevator.

“Take it easy, Lorrie. We're even half finished and the rest won't take much time.” I assured her as if I wasn't exhausted myself. But I made peace with my conditions today, there's no point in sulking and throwing tantrums anyway. It's not like it'd change anything.

The elevator dinged and stopped on the sixth floor. The doors slid open and when I looked up, a familiar face which I was dying to see from the past week stared back at me with surprise.

Nolan was standing in front of the elevator with a few people and I knew from his frozen expressions that he was surprised to see me here. A smile bloomed on my face as soon as I saw him. I wasn't much surprised because Business Adm. was Nolan's department and it was normal for him to be here. But God, was I too happy to see him? Yes.

Nolan composed himself and tried to contain his smile. He moved inside the elevator along with other people. I moved a little to the side so that he could stand beside me. And being the smart idiot, he understood.

Suddenly the day didn't suck anymore and all the exhaustion flew away. I felt lighter, maybe because he was helping me lift the box discreetly. He supported the weight of the box with his fingers from under the box, so that no one could see.

I hid my smile at his kind yet adorable gesture. It wasn't helping me much but I was happy that he was worried about me. But before I could properly enjoy this time, the elevator stopped. The door opened and he had to get off. Nolan took his sweet time to slowly get off the lift and took as small steps as he could.

He turned back one last time to look at me. He averted his eyes downward and then back at me. The doors slid closed and the elevator went upwards. I pondered on the meaning of his action.

And once again the doors opened and everyone got off. “Aren't you getting off?” Lorrie asked as I was still glued to my position in the elevator.

“I-uh actually forgot my phone at the lobby. I'll go get it real quick.” I tapped on the button and the doors closed before Lorrie could say anything. “Wait-”

A full blown grin spread across my face like an idiot when the elevator stopped and the first thing I saw was Nolan waiting for me. He also grinned ear to ear and stepped in the elevator.

He hurriedly pecked my lips and we giggled in unison before his friend called him. “I gotta go.” He stared into my eyes. A few seconds with him were enough for me to forget all my fatigue.

I was a blushing mess by the time he got off the lift. And he was just there for like five seconds. “I'll call you later,” I said laughing at how he was walking backwards while sending me flying kisses. What if anyone sees us?

He was so freaking childish. Oh, I loved him. I was going up once again looking like a lovesick fool. It was like a small kiss from him had me full of energy once again.