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THE COLD WAVES of air pierce into her skin as she steps out of the train. Folding her arms to confine her body warmth, she walks into the building to meet a room of glimmering golden lights. She slings her bag over her shoulder tightly and watches the crowd of people hover around her.
Hunger flares up in the bottom of her belly and she walks to the nearby shop, wanting to stop the growling sound in her stomach that was being produced, secretly wishing nobody around her would hear. The lady in the apron and the cap looks at least of an age of forty and she welcomes her with a kind smile on her face. "What do you want, dear?"
"I'll have a chicken sandwich," Lea smiles genuinely. She always liked people who smiled and especially people who managed to pull a smile even in the hardest of times. The place was crowded and if it were her, the hecticness would've driven her insane. But, the woman in front of her throws a smile on her face easily ignoring the burden of a work that she was carrying, amazing her by surprise.
People bump into her shoulders and apologize just for the sake of apologizing but she easily ignores it. All she can do is dive it into her sandwich that she's been waiting to eat for so long.
The meat tastes cold and sharp on her tongue as she bites the first slice of her sandwich but her tummy stops to growl, so she's relieved. She finishes the sandwich in a few minutes and goes for a water bottle later and gulps down a good portion of it, relieving her clench of thirst.
The thought of catching a taxi and going back to the University bores her for some reason but without further ado, she walks towards the exit slowly, managing to drag herself. She wanders her eyes around the room to see people busily on their phones, a man yelling at another on the line, a woman weeping over something that happened, a couple sitting together but looking into their phones like they didn't care about each other. All of a sudden, her mouth drops wide open when she meets a familiar dark-skinned face. Bash.
He sits on one of the benches, his lashes fluttering in confusion as though he were flustered. Without wasting another second, she walks towards him so that she could greet him. "Bash," she squeals enthusiastically and he lifts his face to meet hers. "What are you doing here?"
He stares at her for a while, like he was squeezing his mind to come up with an answer. His bag sits on his side and Lea lifts it up so that she could sit beside him, placing it on her lap. She watches his Adam's apple dance in confusion and she tilts her head waiting for an answer, realizing that he never opened his mouth in a whole of two minutes.
"What's wrong, Bash? You look troubled," she finally blurts after an enormous amount of silence between them.
'N-Nothing," he stammers back a reply. "I'm going home," he declares.
"Why all of a sudden?" she inquires. She watches him set his lips into a thin line.
"Mom's sick, Lea."
"Oh," she nods, processing his words. "What's happened to her?"
He fidgets his fingers tugging at the hem of his shirt. "Alec sent me an e-mail asking me to go home immediately. So, I'm going."
Her features tense up instantly. "But, now she's fine right?"
"Lea, why are you asking me these questions?"
She drops her head down in realization, focusing her eyes on the floor in disappointment. "You don't want to tell me either."
The announcement for his ride rings in and he immediately pulls his bag from her lap - gently enough to not hurt her - and drops his eyes to the floor. "I'll see you later, Lea," he says and starts walking, following the directions to his ride.
She sits there silently with her composed-self, wondering what the boys were hiding from her. But, being driven by the curiosity that her body melted together with, she immediately stands up from her seat and runs towards Bash who was already walking far away from her.
"Bash, wait," she stops him in a matter of seconds. Her chest heaves up and down as she tries to catch some air and he stares at him with a void emotion on his face. "What are you not telling me? Tell me what happened to your mom," she pleads gently.
He shakes his head in disapproval and purses his lips. "Lea, I really have to go, right now."
"You don't have to tell me what the problem is. Just tell me if she's fine now."
"Lea, you don't get it," he shakes his head.
"What don't I get?"
"I promised him not to tell anyone."
"By him, you mean Alec."
"Yes."
"Damn it, Bash. Just tell me what's wrong already."
"Lea," he sighs. He shuts his eyes and inhales a sharp breath, gathering his confidence. "She tried to kill herself today."
Her jaw drops instantly realizing that she did ask the wrong question. "Why?" she blurts. "Why would she do that?"
"I'm going to be late. I better go."
"You cannot leave me without an explanation, Bash."
"Alec is closer to you. Ask him instead," he says, slapping in the words with a tinge of anger attached to it and makes his way away from her. She stands there like that for a while, and watches him disappear into the walls.
Involuntarily, she reaches for her phone from her bag.
