NOT UNTIL
She sat next to a stranger. "Hi." She greeted while waving her hand.
The stranger looked at her and greeted her back with her sweet voice. "Hello."
Maybe it's weird, but she loves meeting strangers everyday. It's like a habit already. She's maybe collecting friends. But the weirdest part, she's not asking any of their names.
"You're heartbroken, aren't you?" She told her.
"H-How'd you know?" The stranger asked.
She chortled. "I just know. Besides, your expression was too common. I've
met a lot people with the same state as yours. Heartbroken face wasn't that hard to know."
And one more thing, she loves to approach people who're experiencing heartbreak.
"How can you know if the person loves you?" The stranger muttered suddenly.
She tsked. "My God. That question was too rusted."
"Fine. How 'bout this one? How can you make the person fall in love with you?"
"Let me ask you that instead." She shifted on her seat "How can you make the person fall in love with you?"
The stranger thought deeply. "Reach their standards? Be the person they want you to be?"
She shook her head twice. "Nah-huh. Just be who you are. When you fall in love, you'll forget that you fell to a person opposite to what you desired. You know why?"
"Why?"
"Because your heart was the one who chooses. And heart knows no standards. Don't be the person he wants you to be. Because he'll love you the way you are."
The stranger creased her forehead. "I don't get you."
She smiled. "Neither I am. But let me tell you a not so short story."
"Shoot."
"What would you prefer, 'once upon a time' or 'in a far away land'?" She joked.
The stranger glared at her.
She laughed. "Okay. Kidding. So, here it is. There this girl. She's an author and up for travels and adventures to find ideas for her novels. And also to find her missing piece. Her life with her so called family was not really good. One morning, in a vintage coffee shop in Rome, she's sitting on a high chair in front of the glass wall. She can clearly see the busy people walking the street. She's sipping in her latté while struggling to think for a good description for her leading man when the sound of the chimes filled the quite surrounding. It was just a customer so she didn't bother to lift her head up. But that customer walked passed through her, his manly scent lingered in her nostrils. She knew it's a 'his'. Unconsciously, she lifted her head and looked at that certain customer and she was welcomed by a Greek god. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Her eyes stayed until he turned at her and their eyes met. Her heart beats so fast but she did not look away. He walked in her direction and all she did was to stare at his breathtaking green eyes. She sit there like a statue when he asked her if he could sit beside her. Then she said yes. And like a cliché story, they talked and talked. He's Lucian, by the way. Unfortunately, that's not the last time because they exchanged numbers until they finally got to know each other. She found out that he's a successful photographer and also travels the world for new sceneries to capture. He's half Filipino and half Greek. They became really close until they developed feelings. They got together. She's an author and he's a photographer, so they clicked. They worked together. She makes stories, he makes book covers. And of course, in every love story there comes the pains and heartaches. One of those was his mother was against their relationship. But they overcame it. They made it to the aisle. They made a big and happy family with their five kids. They're so much in love. Finally, she found her missing piece and that is her husband, Lucian, and their kids. She's finally happy, so much happy. You know who's the girl?"
"Who?"
She smiled. "It was me."
The stranger's mouth parted while shaking her head "R-Really? Wow. That was... a great story. I envy you."
She shook her head. "You should not. So, as I said, I was finally happy. Not until..." She trailed off and stared at nothingness.
"What?" The stranger beside her asked with anticipation in her tone.
"Not until I woke up one day, realizing that it was all a..."
"Oh c'mon! Say it!"
"... lucid dream."
