Bryce carefully stretched his left arm towards the other side of the bed, afraid that Nia will woke up if he will touch her without opening his eyes.
He silently turn around to face the side table and open his left eye to see the time on the clock. It's quarter to six in the evening!
He quickly jump out of the bed and his butt bounced on the carpeted floor.
"Ouch!", he rub his aching butt with his right hand before he continue to stand up and glance on the bed but he only saw some hair strands on the other pillow.
Why didn't I wake up with the fire alam sound of the clock? It didn't happen before to him! He will usually woke up with the sound of it, thinking there will be a fire in the house!
Or maybe Nia woke up because of its sound and didn't bother to wake him up? Or is it because the woman didn't notice him sleeping beside her on her own bed?
Argh! I don't know what to think now! Where did she go without even checking her housemate? Did she leave a note in my desk or refrigerator?
With that thought, he run towards his working desk to check if there is a note but none. It's the same as when he went to check on his fridge. He even checked all the bedroom doors thinking it might be there but still nothing was left for him.
He sigh in defeat. They have their separate lives, yes, but isn't it a silent agreement to leave a note to show some respect to the house owner?
He shook his head in disbelief.
"Nia? Where are you?, Aren't you gonna cook some dinner? There's rice at the bottom part of the kitchen sink cabinet!", he shouted, hopeful that the woman will respond to what he said.
After a couple of minutes, he impatiently walk towards the door and walk out of the house. Maybe he can ask the guards if they saw her going somewhere or he can request to check the Cctv's around the building to find her.
He saw a guard near the elevator and ask him if he saw a woman coming out of his condo unit but the guard stare at him before he answered.
"I don't think so, Mr. McClave. I wouldn't leave my post unless there is a temporary guard to switch on my post."
"Thanks!", I muttered before I decided to walk outside of the building.
The sky's showing different colors--yellow orange, violet and reddish shade on the clouds which makes me mesmerized to the sight as if I was hypnotized.
It's been a while since he last watched the sunset. He still have Claire back then--his ex-girlfriend--who loves to travel and makes him appreciate the nature around him.
He shrugged as the dusk came in and continue to walk passed those street stalls serving street foods.
His housemate might not eat those if he will buy it as their dinner. Or he can let him eat those. What a bright idea!
He smirked and ordered two cups of chicken skin, orange eggs, four pieces of duck eggs or balot with seasoned vinegar, fish balls, kikiam and squid balls. This are the most popular Filipino street foods that you can find anywhere in the streets and it's his favorite comfort food.
He also went to a nearby take out stall to buy their meal-in-a-box. He chose the tapsilog, which consist of beef tapa, fried rice and fried egg and the other one is longsilog, which consist of longganisa, fried rice and egg on the top of the cup. He bought extra hotdogs and pork dumplings for dessert.
He always eat at that stall whenever he can go out to eat but it's rarely to happen. Most of the time, he will prefer to order food online specially if he's working in a project that needs to be finished immediately. And he missed eating that food!
It's a good thing that he had a housemate to feed because at the back of his mind, he want to give her a nice impression on him. She's a visitor after all! Even if he didn't want her in his condo.
****
Nia sigh deeply. Sunset or nightfall reminds her off the past she wants to forget.
She rarely open her window curtain blinds two years ago when her father died. She wants to be reminded that her dad loves her and is still by her side.
It may sound silly and crazy but it's her way to remember their happy memories together when he was alive.
James was a jolly person and makes her smile even if she was drown with disappointments before. He was her inspiration and role model in life. When he died, she felt that her world shattered into pieces and she won't recover anymore because the only person who can make her smile when crying has left her.
But as she watched the sky enveloped by the darkness, she realized that tomorrow when the sun shines again, there will be another day that she needs to conquer. That she can wait for the things that will happen to her everyday as long as she stays to have a positive outlook on life.
Maybe the Psycho-therapy is working now!
After every nightfall, there will be a new life to start when the sun shines.
She smiled and got excited to post her new quote of the day in her I*******m account. She almost slipped on the edge of the narrow side of her sanctuary. Her heart beats faster than normal and she was terrified! She didn't want to die just yet since she had a new purpose in life that she will look forward to!
After balancing herself on the narrow track, she carefully went back to the balcony where she use to enter the house. She's greeted by the darkness of the house and the only light that she can see is the light illuminated from the half moon outside.
Though she cannot have a good sight of the house and she's not familiar yet on where are the light switches, she managed to sit on Bryce's desk.
She will just wait there while observing the moon outside. It will make her calm down by just looking at since her hands starts to shake uncontrollably again.
Maybe once she appreciates the positivity of every negative things, she can get over her trauma.
Nia didn't know how long she's staring at the bright, perfectly shaped moon with a couple of stars in the sky.Her heart beats faster than normal--indicating that she's very nervous. The trauma she had experienced made her comfortable in the dark before the therapy. But after the psychologist confirmed that she can handle it without the therapy, her doctor also explained that there will be an instance that she may have an attack due to her own actions and emotions.In short, she needs to manage her emotions to stay calm all the time. In that way, she won't have an attack anymore.She sigh deeply, shrugged and closed her eyes.This is the situation that she need to conquer by herself without any help of others. She doesn't need to be dependent on someone since all the things, people and place she's currently in will only be temporary.How about Bryce, will he be just a man she met a few mon
In Bryce's eyes, having a man as your best friend is not suitable if you were a woman--he always tell that to his girlfriend Maristal Chavez.He actually dislikes seeing her best friend Dylan around them during their outdoor dates. Maristal always argue that its better for them to have her best friend accompany in exchange of having a good public image. And he disapproved of it but she is always the one who wins the argument in the end.Why? Because he loves her so much. She was his world. She accept him wholeheartedly when he needs someone beside him. She made her feel loved and let him believe that they will be the one for each other forever.Bryce is a field journalist and he has his own office in the publication company--even though he's mostly out for field reports--where he met Maristal being the Editor-in-Chief's secretary.Maristal is very defensive, always rude when he talks to her but when he got into her submissive side, they unexpectedly clicked.
Nia felt like she was in a deep slumber for a long time and she just woke up with ease.She tried to remember what had happen but she can't. She had no memory but she's happy.Without thinking anything, she get up from the bed only to be surprised. Her body remains on the bed but when she double checked, she's also standing straight next to her body!When her eyes roam around, there are other patients lying on the beds nearby and her bed is near the glass window.The room has a light coming from the fluorescent light on the ceiling and there are two doctors and three nurses around her bed. One of the doctors is currently pumping her heart, the two nurses are checking her vital signs and putting some liquid medicine from the vials to her dextrose using a long syringe.She cringed. If she's conscious right now, she won't let them stung her with that.She's the type of pers
Surprisingly, Nia noticed that Bryce do all the things to make her comfortable on her stay in the hospital. Bryce didn't say anything after she woke up the following day. He volunteered to help her get up, to guide her in going to the bathroom and even feed her. Nia is very touched by his gestures and realized he's a warm, loving and caring person although he say otherwise. It's her third day in the hospital and still waiting for other examination test results. Bryce did all the walking and talking with the doctors the whole day and at night, he will stay awake until the last doctor's visit to check if her vital signs are stable. Nia smiled at the thought of having him as her boyfriend. She can imagine his pale lips twitching when he will talk back at her every whims but he will give up on the end and he will still give what she wants. She sigh and silently pray that she can stay
Nia is clueless as to how Bryce manage to bring her home with a wheelchair. She's very uncomfortable sitting on it while all the passersby judgemental eyes were on her until they reached the parking lot. The doctor recommended for her not to think deeply of anything for two whole weeks to avoid stress and not to wash her hair because the fresh wound might open up--the water may came inside her brain and it will decay in less than a year that can cause her death. She still wants to live. She wants to explore, experience adventure and travel--with Bryce if possible. "Why are you smiling while staring at your hands? Care to tell me what is interesting there?", his brows were in a thin line together while his eyes shows he's oblivious of her thoughts. Nia rolled her eyes and murmured to herself, "I thought women are the only busybody." The wheelchair stopped in front of the elevator abruptly. "What? I heard something about busybody
Bryce was left slumped on the tiled floor while staring at his bleeding wound on his palm. When Nia left him, he tighten the small piece of cloth around his hand and since he cannot tie it, he just told the excess inside the other roll. He knew that it was his fault. He shouldn't blame her to what happen on him. It was not her fault that his past is now backfiring. He glance at the messy house. All the things he managed to buy using his own money by earning a living is now a waste. The white antic jar with bulge flowering design that he purchased from his friend--that came from thailand--was shattered into tiny pieces. All the kitchen utensils were cut into half and thrown into a nearby garbage. The couch cushions and pillows were sliced in half. Most of his electric gadgets looks like it was hammered merciless into thin soda cans.
Nia nearly crumble down on the busy high way when the window she leaned on suddenly burst open. Her right foot slide down and she lost her balance. She got scared thinking that she will fell off face first on the cold pavement down the busy street without even saying anything to her mother for the past few days! Her heart sank when she didn't even hold on to the window pane! Nia closed her eyes to think straight--to clear the anxiety that is starting to build up--when a hand grabs her before she could go down further. "Jeez, woman! What are you thinking when you decide to hang out here? It's very dangerous when it's twenty floors downwards!" She abruptly hold on to the man's hand for her to survive. The man instantaneously tighten the grip on her knuckles and pull her up the window. She careen on the floor after touching the other unit's floor. Her breathing
Nia let herself enjoy the companion of Dylan and Wade even if its a little uncomfortable for her. She didn't know why she felt that way when the two of them seems to be friendly. After the early dinner they had, Dylan ask her to come with them in a nearby resto bar and she was obliged to come since they didn't take no as her answer. She didn't regret agreeing with them, this she enjoyed every minute of it. Though Wade and Dylan seem to be drown to the crowd and they left her for a few times in the bar counter, she let them be. Its like one of those night where she partied all night in New York with her friends in the Restaurant she works with before. She smiled at the thought of how she dance with everybody last night while enjoying every drink everyone offered for her. She didn't even had the guts to let the two know when she came back to Bryce unit after three hours. She needed