In A Million Years

1 // The Man In The Suit

"It was the night I chose my favorite dress and you were wearing your best suit. It was about that time when everyone was sound asleep and I was up talking to you. No one told me the right way to fall, fall deep in love. You held my heart in the right ways, just like a gentleman,"

- Daniela Andrade, Gentleman

[ DANA ]

When I arrived at the bus, I looked up at the sky. A canvas of dark, melancholy clouds cascaded under the blue sky. My mother and I just got off the phone, arguing about my love life, my marriage status, and how many people were asking when I'll have a husband. I guess the weather was a bit appropriate. I pulled out my umbrella, ready for the rain to pour down. 

That's when I noticed him-- the man in the suit. He looked even more depressed than me and the clouds combined. It was like he had his own clown raining onto him and ridiculing him. It was a sad sight, honestly. 

The rain didn't started falling until after the man and I headed into the bus. When he noticed me staring at him, I gave him a quick smile. The man didn't bother to return it and turned his head away, jamming his hands into his pockets. I scrunched up my eyebrows and sighed quietly. 

Coincidentally, there were only two remaining seats and we had no other option but to sit next to one another, not that I really cared or minded. I glanced at him again, then began staring at the poles. Should I ask him if he's okay or would that be too annoying? If I ask him what's wrong then that would be prying into his business. 

I looked at him again only to find him staring back. "Hi," I smiled again. I noticed his eyes were really puffy and there were practically barely any emotion in his ice blue eyes, but through all that, he forced a smile. Who could be so evil to drive a man to cry so much to the point where he couldn't feel anything at all? 

"Hi," he replied, his voice shaky. For some reason, I wanted to cry, too. It basically broke my heart when someone else's heart was already broken. "Did you, uh, need something?" I pondered on it, still staring at him. His hair was an absolute mess as if he ran his dark hair through it like fifty million times, his lips were chapped, and he looked like he could have a breakdown any second. 

"Um," I began, "I just wanted to know if you were.. okay," 

"Oh, I'm doing just dandy," he laughed, dryly, "thanks for asking,"

"No," I breathed, "no, you aren't,"

The man looked at me surprised but quickly regained himself. There was a long, relaxed pause between us before he opened his mouth to speak. "I'm Silas, what about you?" 

"My name is Dana," I replied. "Do you mind if I, uh, ask what happened? You don't have to if you don't want to. I really don't want to pry into your business, so you can tell me if I'm being too--"

"My fiance left me," Silas said, leaning back into his seat. A couple people stared at him, eyes full of pity. He just ignored them as he fiddled with his hands. "Well, ex-fiance. I was just about to finish my vows when she decides to cut me off to say, 'Silas, I can't do this,' and she runs away,"

"Oh, wow," I mumbled, looking at my feet. 

"Yep.. It hasn't even been twenty four hours and yet, I feel like a total waste of space with practically no meaning to anyone. It's like I was so caught up in the past five years that I didn't even realize that she stopped loving me. I don't even think she ever gave a damn about me," Silas muttered, sniffling a bit. 

"I don't really have an experience on love, but it seems pretty hard to go through something like that," I said, softly. Silas didn't say anything. "What are you going to do about it?" 

Silas shrugged. "I don't... I don't know. I really loved her, you know? She was everything I ever wanted. I gave up on my family for her, I gave up on everything for her and she just ups and leaves, not caring about a damn thing. If she didn't want to marry me, she could've said no. Woulda saved me a lot of trouble,"

"What is it like to love someone that much?" I asked, suddenly curious. 

Silas sighed, heavily. "It's painful. But, it's also something that everyone should experience," 

"I've read in a lot of books that love can happen more than once, you know," I pointed out. Silas chuckled. Once the bus stopped, a few people, Silas, and I got up. "Oh, this is your stop too?" 

"No, I don't really have a stop. I definitely don't want to go back to our old apartment, so I'm just walking around," Silas admitted. 

"Oh, that's too bad," I sighed. "You can come with me to my place, if ya want. You could stay as long as you like. I don't really mind," Silas looked at me, curiously. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" I giggled. Silas smiled, for real this time. 

"I never really met someone who invites a random stranger to stay over their house. I could be a murderer, stalker, psychopath, burglar, or something like that," Silas replied. I shook my head as we walked outside. I pulled the umbrella open and handed it to him to since he was the taller one. 

"Well, Silas, I know for sure that you are not either of those things, so let's hurry up and get to my house," I said. I began to walk until Silas stopped me. "What's the matter? Changed your mind about the apartment?"

"No, it isn't that.. It's just that I can't bother you like that. I can't just barge into your home and invade your space. I mean.. I don't even know how long I'm staying or how long it'll take for me to find a new apartment!" Silas exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. "I live alone in a three bedroom home with no one to talk to and no one to hang out with. Not even in this whole city. The only people I talk to is my family, my patients, and clerks. You wouldn't be invading my space at all,"

Silas began to laugh. I stared at him like he was crazy. "What? Did I say something wrong? Why're you laughing like a lunatic, Silas?" I asked. Silas shook his head, trying to stop laughing.

"I just.. didn't think you were capable of rolling your eyes," Silas chuckled. 

I raised my eyebrows and gasped as we walked towards my house. "What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded. Silas shrugged.

"It means that in the eight minutes that I've known you, you became the nicest person I have ever met," Silas replied. 

"So, that means that I can't roll my eyes?" 

"It means that you are too nice to,"

"Oh, shut up," I giggle. There was another pause of silence. 

"Dana?" Silas called. 

"Hmm?"

"Thank you,"