Her Flaws

Chapter 17

(Do check out the teaser for upcoming chapters!)

So I started working at the guest house. When I went through the biodata of all the people working at the guest house. I got a shock. I was surprised but I was expecting something like that since the day I had breakfast in his office. I told you his surname made me uncomfortable. His name was Sheridan Clarke. He was a student at Pinagbuhatan High School and later got transferred to Greenlight High. This made all my doubts clear. My memories were all now unambiguous. I was sure of the thing I had been thinking since then. But he looked all grew up and changed or I was tangled in my life that I didn't even care to look at him carefully or remember anything useless like him. He is my first love, who met me coincidentally and became a lamp in the dark, for me. Every path you choose leads to a different destination. A destiny that is unpredictable. This is not a coincidence. This is what you call: fate.
“Since when did you know my name?” I asked just as I entered his office. He shifted his gaze from his computer screen for a moment and then started working again.
“You're dumber than I expected.” he said without having a change of expressions.
“I'm seriously asking.”
“I'm seriously answering.” he laughed, “I had tried to recognise you but couldn't, since we hadn't spent much time together at school. So my memories were all faded. But when I checked the guests list at the reception desk, I knew it was you. So yeah, I've known your name since the second day you came here.” and he completed the sentence with a genuine smile.
“Why didn't you talk to me about anything?”
“It was pointless discussing the past that matters nothing now.”
“True.”
“And listen, no workers enter my office like this. You just barge in and start yelling at me. Are you my wife or something?”
“Whatever.” I turned to get out of the office.
“Well, but I do want to talk to you about many things. You were the daughter of Professor Smith at our school but now you say that you're a vagabond? How?” he continued, “I've heard that Professor Smith is still teaching there and will retire in four years.” he had interrupted with things that made me stop and my heart pound wildly for a minute.
“It's a long story.”
“I will listen to it.”
“But I don't want you to listen to it.” I said this and came out. The last words of him put me in a perplex state. What if he gets to know everything and reports me to the police? I haven't done anything wrong, I haven't killed her, why should I go to jail?
I got myself a cup of coffee and sat at my desk. I didn't have to do much work. I just had to enter the basic information of the checking-in guests and the check outs of them. But not many guests come to the guest house so I had a comfortable place to work at. The kitchen section was managed by Len and there was a sweeper old lady who was very nice to me and Maricur the nurse who was hardly a year older than me, she used to work part-time there, she was still a student of Nursing. They were now a lot friendly with me. It feels good to have people around than to feel completely alone in a situation where you don't know what will you do next and what will probably happen to you in the future, I couldn't even guess. I was lost in my thoughts when I noticed a guest coming in.
“Welcome s--” my sentence remained incomplete because the guest I was going to greet was Nephi.
“Oh. Hello!” I said.
“Hi. How are you? You told me that you were staying here so I thought I should see you.”
“I'm good. I got a job here.”
“I see. Why don't you join me for a coffee?”
“My boss will get mad at me.”
“When does your shift end?”
“At 12 am.”
“Alright. I will come here then. We can talk here in the lounge.”
“See ya!”
Yesterday in the church, this guy helped me gather myself. He told me that it was his dream to become a reporter but his parents forced him to study Computer Science. And finally, he ended up fulfilling his dream. He satisfied his parents too. I told him that my father punished me in my sister's place and how tough everything was for me.
“Ah! An abusive parent! A messed up childhood and more ruined adulthood. I can understand.” he said.
I opened up my heart to him. I really wanted to cry and tell someone that how I had felt all my life. And he offered me a shoulder to cry on. I was very thankful to him. I've often heard that people you meet at sacred places are sent by God to help you. And I trusted God this time. I wanted to give it a shot.