The Love Expert

Chapter 1

“Do you want to go home?” Johnny asked his girlfriend with a devil smile. He believed that the main event was not during the date but during the time they went home. “Okay.” Kate replied with the same feeling as his.

When they entered Johnny’s condo unit, they peeled off their clothes and kissed each other on their way to the bedroom. They had a steaming and erotic night. They did not have a dull moment. Whenever they got tired of doing their thing, Johnny opens up a topic that will make the girl laugh or make her fall in love even deeper.

After the girl woke up, she found a bouquet of flowers beside the bed with a breakfast meal prepared by Johnny. “Oh Johnny, you’re so sweet!” The girl was pleased by the romantic ways of Johnny.

***

Johnny has an ordinary life. His parents already passed away. His brothers and sisters had their own families. That is why he was living alone in an apartment near his workplace. He works as a salesman in a department store. He had a very few friends. He is an introvert and a lonely person.

 “Good morning, Sir! Do you want to try our new arrivals?” Johnny pointed his hand to the newly delivered jeans in the department store. The customer ignored him and scanned the jeans. This is the usual scenario everytime he goes to work. He greets the customers, shows them the different products offered in the store, and assists them in buying those. Because of his shy nature, he never performed well enough in his work as a salesman which requires social skills.

After the work hours, he went home to rest. He took his cell phone to play some games then he noticed that tomorrow will be his birthday. He wondered if someone will give him a gift or anything that will surprise him. He ate his snacks and slept.

He woke up and it is already morning. “It’s my birthday today.” He sighed. He thought that all his expectations about surprises or anything that can make him happy will not happen. He just took a bath and prepared himself for his work. As he walked inside the department store, he came across with his co-workers but none of them greeted him. The whole day had passed but still, no one has remembered his birthday. As he was on his way home, he went to a grocery store to buy some beer and something to eat. “I’ll just put up my own party since no one remembered my birthday.”

He spent the whole night drowning himself in alcohol and chomping grilled beef. From time to time, he checks his Facebook account to see if someone has greeted him. Unfortunately, there’s none. He also waited for his phone to ring hoping that there’s someone to greet him. Again, there’s none. He just waited for his birthday to end.

The moment he woke up, he looked at the clock and was shocked. He has been an hour late for his worked. He hurriedly took a bath and dressed himself. When he arrived at the department store, his supervisor gave him a warning. “You know what will happen if you become late again next time.” His boss said. “Sorry, Sir. I won’t be late again.” He already received many warnings before. He was lucky that his boss was a bit patient.

He saw a girl searching something in the tops section. She was the girl of her dreams. She was the reason why Johnny was inspired to go to work. Johnny considered his work as a hell and the only thing that relieves him from his job is when the girl of her dreams comes to buy something. The girl was a regular customer but Johnny was not able to know her name. Johnny was not talkative and he could not converse a lot with any person. He just watched the girl as she was busy looking for something to purchase. In addition, he’s in the store to work not to get to know with people.

The girl looks to be from a well-off family. She always wears elegant-looking dress. Her friends were also classy. The way they talk and move, Johnny could tell that they were from the upper class of the society. Another day had passed that he let the girl escape from his vision without getting to know her. He felt sad that he could not do something to be close to the girl of her dreams.

Johnny went home again to rest after his exhausting work. He went to his room and sat down. He looked at a picture hanging on the wall. It was the picture of his father. His father was not a conservative one who prioritizes his son’s studies before love life. His father always pushed him to court a girl. There was a time when he tried to court a girl he had a crush on. His father gave him some tips.

“Just say hello to her every time you meet her.” His father reminded him. The girl was his schoolmate and Johnny would always waste his opportunities to talk to her. After class hours, his father would asked him if he was able to talk to the girl but he would always reply negatively. His father never failed to repeat his tips in order to jog it in the memory of his son. “Son, just say hello to her or prepare an interesting topic when you talk to her like something about her family or about her hobbies.” There were times wherein Johnny had a chance to talk to her. However, Johnny could not speak anything as if his tongue was tied. Johnny was a total dork. His father passed away without seeing his son having a girlfriend.

It was Johnny’s day off so he has no work to attend. Johnny rode a bus on his way to the mall. It was very rainy that he could not see the places over the window of the bus. He startled upon seeing that the wiper of the bus was not functioning. He was even frightened when he saw that the driver was a very old man. The driver looked at him and smirked. “I hope he still has the reflexes and skills to drive me safely to my destination.” He thought. He just put his trust on the driver believing that he was a veteran and that he could manage to drive safely even if he was in that kind of situation. Johnny felt sleepy as he was staring at the blurry window of the bus.

“Where am I?” Johnny found himself on a hospital bed.