When We Met

Chapter 3

The morning sun beamed its flaming arrows of light through my hostel window making me turn and cover my sleepy face with my deep blue velvet-soft comforter. It was a Saturday and having no classes, I had no intentions whatsoever to wake up before 9:00 am.

I pulled the warm cover over myself, wiggled myself into a comfortable position and drifted off again to Slumberland. I was about to fly off with my dream friends to some candy land when I heard my phone ring. I grumbled under my breath and ignored the caller, determined not to let anyone disrupt my beauty sleep. The caller seemed to have given up, to my relief, but as I got comfortable, my phone rang again. I groaned at the thought of getting out of bed. I slowly pulled myself to a sitting position, rubbed my sleepy eyes as the sun rays almost blinded me and yawned. This better be more important than sleep.

I looked at the ringing phone on top of my study table. Getting off my bed, I slipped into my duck slippers and headed slowly towards it. I dragged my feet across the wooden floor as though they had suddenly gained weight. At that time, the chair seemed far off and the phone too loud. I grumbled again and dropped on my chair like life was weighing me down.

I reached out for my phone, picked it up and focused on the caller. At first, I couldn't make out the name of the caller, but as my mind slowly woke up, the letters became clear, appearing one after the other.

R Y A N    K H O L E

I blinked, rubbed my eyes and focused on the name again. It was Ryan alright. Out of nowhere, my pulse started racing as blood rushed to my cheeks making them heat up, turning them a slight shade of pink. Good thing I'm alone here. I wouldn't want anyone, not even my brother, to see me in such an embarrassing state. Anyway, remember that Friday night that my brother and I went out for our Siblings' Night Out? That is the night I met this guy, Ryan Khole.

***********

Flashback to 1 month ago.

"So have you thought of the movie we-"

I was about to ask my brother what movie we should check out when I accidentally ran into someone. And someone who was carrying steaming hot cups of coffee. I winced, grimaced, and made sounds caught between screaming and shouting as the hell hot liquid splashed on my blouse. My brother was about to punch the guy right in the face but I told him to just calm down. It was an accident anyway.

I clutched onto my wet blouse and regarded the person who had decided to mess up our night. He was a tall, white, athletic guy, reminding me a little of Brandon. He had icy blue eyes and bushy eyebrows. His face was well-contoured, every feature placed so perfectly in place. His lips were a deep red, or pink, that parted into a sorry smile revealing a set of perfectly fit teeth. His brown hair, shoulder-length, fell so normally on his flushed face. He tried to blow it off as he fell a little back at the impact.

"I'm so so so sorry, miss," he said putting all he had down to try and help.

"Sorry doesn't dry her blouse man, does it?" Frank snapped clearly irritated by what had just happened.

The guy started trembling in terror at Frank's intimidating tone. His face turned pale and his lips mumbled a mixture of sorry's and I didn't mean to's.

"It's okay, bro. I'll fix this in a few. I just need a bathroom. Where can I-"

"Don't worry about that. I am heading to my friend's place just a block away. I could take you there to change if that's okay with you." He said, his face looking uncertain but determined to help.

I lifted my eyes off his face and looked at my brother who seemed quite satisfied with that and nodded to confirm.

"After you...um," I stammered, not knowing what to call him.