Unexpected Lover

Unexpected Lover

I remembered the time when I first saw him. It was a hot summer day and I was waiting for the bus in the station. It just so happened that I had to visit my grandmother and the situation I heard is of such degree that I could not let a hot day postpone my appointment. My bag was too much to bear for a frail girl like me, so I went to sit at a bench inside the bus station. The atmosphere inside the station was somewhat acrid and rusty, and I put my plain white handkerchief over my nose. Given my natural intuition and massive boredom, I surveyed my surroundings with sharp eyes. The station was half full of different kinds of people. A young mother was hushing her crying son (much to my irritation), her young husband smoking cigarettes to his heart's content (much to my disgust), an old businessman that was seemingly impatient and checkes his cellphone regularly, an entire group of 5 teens laughing way too loud and a guy that is making me feel uneasy for his sneering stares. I immediately got paranoid and ignored him completely. But I could feel his eyes locked in my back, and it was as if I wished that it never happened that I went there.

I decided to take a peek of him using the reflection I found in the window in front of me. It was a bit distorted and fuzzy, but I could still clearly see his image. A man about my age, he was light-skinned, average height and frame. He wore a simple blue and white striped polo shirt that accentuated his fit body and a pair of faded blue jeans that further showed his apt body. He kept his gelled-hair short, which I found suited him, and the features of his face are somewhat spectacular. I noticed for the first time that his eyes were deep azure, his nose are like those of famous sculptures, his lips are of such gentleness that you'd think it was a lady's. I re-examined his face, and I said to myself, "Not bad, not bad at all." I didn't notice that it showed in my facial expression that I was carefully criticizing his face; the next thing I knew is that the blurry handsome face in the reflection in front of me was smiling ridiculously, and I heard chuckling from my back. "Crap!" I said to myself. He must have seen my scrutinizing look of his features. I felt myself get even warmer as I reddened in embarrassment. All of a sudden, a bus came and I was saved by the bell. I swiftly stood up straight and dragged my bag from behind me, then quickly headed for the bus door, redness still evident in my face.

I felt relieved that he didn't follow me as I entered the bus. I unthinkingly took the only seat with no occupant in it and coincidentally, there I was, sitting adjacently in the view where he is standing outside of the bus. We stared at each other for a moment, until he broke the eerie stare with a smile, a set of pearly-whites flashing a cuddly, angelic smile. I felt the urge to look away, but I couldn't. His smile continued and it was followed by a wink, and I blushed to myself. Too bad though, the bus is already leaving, and he was disappearing out of view, and I am alone to myself again now. Amidst the busy people inside the bus, I thought of the enigmatic, mysterious yet friendly-looking man. He must have liked me, and I felt myself returning the favor, but that all ends there, because we have no way of communication, unless I get out of the bus and look for him, but that is against the social norms. I put my hands inside my checkered shoulder bag (for it was too cold inside the bus) and closed my eyes for the loss, and I felt something smooth inside my bag. I don't normally put anything in this compartment of my bag so I checked the stray feeling, and found that it was a piece of folded paper. A folded paper? When and how in the world did it came here? I put all the questions aside and opened the note, and it revealed a cellphone number and a short hand-scribbled message, "Call me. Signed, Clarent, the man who stares lovingly at you. " The next thing I knew, I was panic-dragging my cellphone and saved his precious numbers to my contacts. "This is one unexpected lover." I said quietly to myself, smiling.