The pen was still in my hand when the conference room door opened behind me. Stricken with fear, I dropped the pen in the gentleman's hand and apprehensively moved away.
"Thank you," the gentleman said, composing a smile on his face, which I barely looked up to see.
I timidly nodded.
"Hey relax ... I won't bite you," he said, trying to catch my frenzied gaze.
With my gaze still lowered, I sighed. How could I tell him that it was not him, but my own fears that haunted me? Fears born out of a broken past, where my husband (EX husband) would become suspicious of me if ever a stranger talked to me anywhere; of how I once got slapped for smiling at a shop vendor, or the time when I was waiting for him to pick me up from home and he spotted me in the lounge, standing alone with my cousin.
The fact that people can assume the worst in any given situation sends shivers down my spine everytime I get into an awkward situation like this one.
"Hey!" A voice snapped me out of the tortures of my mind. It was Daria. She placed a hand on my shoulder and walked me to the elevator.
"What was all that about?" Daria asked, while we waited for the lift.
"Wh- what? What do you mean?" I replied, somewhat dumbfounded.
The elevator bell rang, and moments later, the door opened for us. We both stepped inside.
"What happened with Mr. Rehan?" Daria asked, a bit more informally now that we we were all by ourselves.
"NOTHING happened!" I blurted, arching my brows. "I don't even know the person..."
"Okay, then why did he come up to me and say that I needed to take special care of you?"
"I don't know ... I swear I didn't speak to him."
"Well he was deeply concerned about you," she said, before stepping out of the elevator.
I stood there a moment. I wanted the elevator to take me all the way back up, so I could see the guy again and tell him that I was not terrified of him -- well maybe slightly intimidated, but certainly not afraid.
The elevator door almost closed on me, when instinctively, I put my hand out, and the doors parted again.
If fate has brought us together, surely we'll meet again.
YOU ARE READING
AFTER DARK
RomanceThere is no such thing as a perfect marriage, there is no such thing as perfect partners and there is certainly no such thing as a perfect life. Coming through the darkest storm in her life, Sarah finally finds a glimmer of hope to live through anot...
