Take Me Back To Paddington (SERIES)

Chapter 27 - The First Night

I was standing in a crowd, confused and unaware of what to do, or what was going on. My eyes were looking at those rectangular LED lights on the wall as they served the purpose to decorate rather than brighten up the area, and movie posters inside their frames.

The chattering; indistinct or audible to the details, crawling into my ears that made everything so noisy, so chaotic.

The smells announced their presence; people's sweats, unwashed clothes, cigarettes, freshly rained atmosphere, caramelised popcorn, all stinging at the bridge of my nose at the same time.

I brought my head down, looking at myself. A new looking pair of white sneakers that I didn't remember buying were covering my feet, also black pants and t-shirt matched with blue jeans jacket on the outside.

Thinking, I began to touch my own clothes and I could actually feel the fabrics with my fingers. I felt my own body. I could feel the weight against my skin.

I brought my right hand up, climbing to my face as I started to wander around; feeling my nose, eyelids, mouth, cheeks, and they were all sending signals through the sensory system to my brain as I was being touched.

But my rapid heartbeat at the moment was even more obvious to the reality I was experiencing; I was breathing. Those heavy breaths were handled poorly since I was getting more nervous as the time running, and they did a good job in putting some weight on my chest.

I thought it was best if I looked for a wall to rest against and calmed myself down, grasping my surrounding and getting my mind together. But I was scared to even take a small step; can I walk with these legs? Or will I fall?

I wiggled my toes inside the shoes just to figure out if I could move them like my hands and fingers, and I got my answer straight away. They could be moved like normal legs should be.

But I wasn't lucky enough to generate the most needed calmness I seeked for when I was startled by a light touch on my shoulder, causing me to turn immediately in the fastest response.

"I'm so sorry!"

I heard a voice that was so familiar, giggling as my eyes began to see who just gave me a touch.

"I am super late!"

Something just struck me right into the chest that felt like my heart was actually stopped beating for half a second, and continued to beat again, growing the tightness inside as it got harder to breathe.

My eyes welled up with tears of longing in an instant, causing the stabbing pain in my nose to get worse, and my bottom lip  quivered just like my whole body.

Hers, in the other side of not knowing what was happening to me, looked into my eyes as lines of worry began to form on her forehead.

Her giggles stopped, lips no longer smiling.

"Is everything alright, Lisa?" She appeared to be concerned in genuineness, taking one step closer to me while I couldn't even feel my knees anymore.

The tears were filling to the brim of my eyes, muting my mouth with the lump in my throat.

My love Chae, was there, right in front of me and I just stared at her in waves of feelings that I couldn't describe and comprehend. I just shut her out when she talked to me in all the honesty and care I could see through her tensed eyes, no matter how hard I wanted to reply her and I was so sorry that I couldn't.

She lifted her hands, carefully grasping both of my arms as gentle as she was when she probably saw the anxiety that had taken over my body.

"Lisa?" She sent another strike of agony into me when she just called me the same way she did whenever she reached my apartment from work, looking for me after she locked the front door.