One Shot Entries for Various Challenges

#JustWriteBits May 2020: Hooded

The train rumbled along slowly. She stared out of the window and sighed. What she'd done had been brave, right? She'd taken the bull by the horns. She'd bit the bullet. She'd struck when the iron was hot. She'd sucked it up, thrown caution to the wind and had shown her mettle. She had been crushing on Letty for almost a year now and had finally told her. She sighed again, turning away from the window. It hadn't gone to plan at all. Letty had been kind. That just made it so much worse. No. Not that. The fact that they worked together was definitely the worst part. Letty hadn't outright rejected her, but she hadn't accepted her either. She'd just skirted past it, as if it meant nothing to her.

"Loving you is the most exquisite form of self-destruction." - Anon

The train stops and Rayleigh gets off. At the café, she orders for two before heading to the office. As usual. While walking towards Letty's desk, that familiar giddiness flares up. Even though she acknowledges Letty's indifference, Rayleigh can't help but still have feelings for her. She'd had feelings from the first time they'd met, when Letty had taken the new intern under her wing to show her the ropes. Rayleigh can't tell you why she felt the way she did, even if she tried. It just happened. And she'd been crushing ever since.

"I don't really know why I'm still hoping." - Anon

"White chocolate mocha Friday." Said Rayleigh, placing the hot cup of coffee on the desk.

Letty looked up with that dazzling smile and sparkling blue eyes. "Thanks Ray."

Rayleigh smiled back and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She walked over to her own desk, that giddy feeling still coursing through her. It was like this every time she was around Letty. As she powered up her computer, Rayleigh let her mind drift back to that one night her and Letty had ended up together at a Karaoke bar with friends after work. They'd sang a Westlife song together and Letty hadn't taken her eyes off her that whole night. As they'd later staggered out of the bar into an Uber, Letty had taken her hand and intertwined their fingers all the way to the car. It never happened again, and they never talked about it.

"You became my world and I settled for just being your escape." – Pierre Jeanty

Sometimes the thought would cross Rayleigh's mind that she wouldn't be able to love anyone like she loved Letty. It was a scary thought. A heavy thought. Deep and biting. Rayleigh's daydreams and fantasies were just fuel to this frightening fire. When she closed her eyes, she only saw Letty. The curve of her lips, the glint in her eye, that look she gave her when they laughed at an inside joke, the frown line above her eyebrow... And now, after her awkward confession, she'd been trying to at least salvage their friendship, but it was really hard. Everything conspired against her. Why in the world were there so many sad love songs on the radio in the break room? Rayleigh sighed. She'd had no choice. She'd had to do what she did last night, or she wouldn't be able to get through.

"The biggest curse in life is not losing your love, but not being loved by someone you love." – Kiran Joshi

It was a few minutes past lunch. Rayleigh was collecting papers she'd sent to the copy machine. She looked out the window as she walked back to her desk, drawn by that invisible feeling of someone watching her. She stopped in her tracks and stared. There was someone standing across the street from the office building. They were dressed in black jeans and a black coat with a hood over their head, covering their face in shadow. They pointed directly at her. Her heartbeat sped up. When she had called the service last night, they said they'd get back to her, but not when. Not how. She was sure this was them. Without a second thought, she dropped the copied documents on her desk, grabbed her bag and walked out of the office, towards the hooded figure.

"... you had my heart before I could say no." – Anon

She followed the hooded man into a van. It sounds worse than it was. She'd been looking forward to this ever since she'd made that call. The man said nothing as they drove to the lab, a few miles out of town. She knew that she was going to get into trouble with work, but she was in a lot more trouble with her heart. She could barely sleep. Barely eat. This was important. Once they were at the laboratory, she was requested to strip down to her underwear and don a hospital gown, before being led to a dark room, where she was strapped into what seemed like a dentist's chair. She tried to keep herself calm. Centred. She had to do this. She had to.

"It's pathetic really, how much I still hope it's you and me in the end." – Anon

As Rayleigh buttoned up her shirt, getting ready to return to work, the doctor knocked and asked to come into the room. Rayleigh invited her in.

"We found the neurons that fire for her." The doctor explained. "We've been able to isolate them and design the nanites that will destroy the connections that make you love her hopelessly. If this works, you will never be able to love her again."

"Thank you!" Rayleigh breathed out in shaky relief, only just holding back the tears.

"As we mentioned before, the research shows there's a five percent chance this won't work." Said the doctor.

"Don't worry doc. It'll work." Said Rayleigh, confidently. "I've never been the exception to the rules."

Rayleigh was swallowing the pill of nanites before they'd even offered her a glass of water. In only a few hours, she would be cut off from these feelings of unrequited love that were drowning out every other meaningful thing in her life. She could hardly wait.

"I want to feel that kind of love again but not the kind of pain that comes with it." – Anon

She walked back into the office feeling flustered. She headed for her desk. She was ready for the shitstorm she was walking into for leaving without letting anyone know. Instead, she found her outbox file full and her inbox file empty. Everything she'd needed to do was already done. She looked around the office. No one looked up at her. They were all busy trying to wrap up for the day. She turned around at a voice behind her.

"Are you okay, Ray?" Letty asked.

"Yeah." Rayleigh looks down at her completed work, then back at Letty. "Did you...?"

"Don't worry about it." Said Letty with a smile.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

Letty is about to walk away, but Rayleigh stops her.

"Wait." Rayleigh called out. Letty stopped and turned to face her. Rayleigh took a deep breath and asked, "Why?"

Letty walked back, standing close. Way too close for the workplace. "Because I like you too."