The Dying Sun [NOVEL] Chapter 6

                                                      chapter 6

         Two day have passed since we last spoke. I see her on my way to work, our conversation had been limited to  'good morning' or 'In a rush, see you in the evening' or 'off to college, bye'. When I get back from work I find her door close against me. Once she had come to lend me a book of hers.

   "A book?" I was confused at the moment.

"You said you had no hobbies so I thought of finding you one." She smiled and I remembered what joy it brought to me to see her eyes lit up with her smile and then she glanced at her watch and said "Oh, I'm gonna be late, see ya later."

 Today being a Sunday, I don't have to go to work and she doesn't have college either. I thought of asking her out, showing her the city but I was scared. I walked to my door several times and then came back and sat on my couch in frustration. Once I even went up to her door and almost knocked when I forgot what I was supposed to say and went back.  A slight knock on the door almost made me jump from my couch. It was either her or Lockwood. I took a quick glance at the mirror and opened my door.

             "Good morning, today you and I are going out for breakfast." She seemed as cheerful as a child with her smile. Her hair was let loose and a few strands fell to her face, she tucked them under her ears. I was lost in that moment that I forgot what she had said.

  "I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked.

She smiled again and it was harder for me to concentrate when she smiled and I wished that smile would be on her face forever. "You and I...breakfast?" She said again.

"Sure." I said. I was already dressed so I just needed to lock my door.

           We walked down the street to the nearest restaurant. The sun made her light brown eyes almost golden. I felt like I had a lot more to know about her. At first she seemed like that perfect Indian girl and the next time she wore jeans and leather jackets and now, she was wearing light blue jeans tore at the knees and a brown t-shirt that said 'GIRLS RULE'. 

          "What's the most beautiful place in this city?" She asked me.

Even though I've lived most of my life in this city I didn't even think about 'the most beautiful place'. My mind ran through most of all the images and stopped at the park bench facing the sea. We had stopped walking and people were walking past us. I stared at her for a minute and said "I'll take you there." I expected many questions from her but all she did was smile and said "Okay." and then she started walking. I stood there for a moment, I was surprised. 'Okay', that word seemed to hide something but what? "Are you coming or not?" she shouted. "Yeah."

                    She sat in silent opposite to me and ate her breakfast. The silence seemed awkward to me. "So where are you from India." I asked her.

       "Mumbai." She said."Juhi, Have you ever being there?" She asked.

"No." I said. I didn't knew her enough to tell her my story but still I felt like I've known her for my entire life. "Do you have any brothers or sisters..?" My voice trailed on.

    "Two elder brothers. You?" The conversation was going places that I had shutdown and closed by building walls and I had no intention to break them anytime soon.

"No. So you are an art student?"

     "Engineering actually" I raised an eyebrow." Yes, I like to paint and draw but Abba [dad] thinks that studying art can't really get you anywhere so..Did you ever go to college?"

 "Yeah, but I dropped out at the last year."

 She didn't ask me why. I've had dated before, I've had girlfriends before, none too strong to even last for six months. She..she was different, she was special. I didn't know what it was that made her special. Maybe she was the 'one' but do I deserve her? I don't know the answer to that.

              "So, can we go there now?"She asked me as we walked out of the restaurant.

"You can't really enjoy the beauty of the place right now, I'll take you there in the evening. Do you have anywhere else to go?" I asked.

   She stepped closer to me inches from my face and said "Let's go paint the city red." and then she dragged me through the crowd.

            I glanced at my watch. It was 7:30 and I was out of my breath. I never had such a day in my life. We went to a mall, watched movies, went grocery shopping and she wanted to slide on the tile floor and hit the chocolate bar rack and fell. The store owner chased us, we laughed so hard that our stomach's hurt, We drank slurpees so fast that we got brain freeze. To me I just started living but to her it might've been just a normal day and that scared me because I knew she needed someone better than me.

         We walked slowly through the park."It was fun" She said. "Yeah." I agreed, trying my best to hide all my fear and pain beneath a mask I've created myself but is it hard enough? hard enough that she won't break through?

"It's beautiful" She said. We were sitting next to each other staring at the setting sun." I know." I said. But something was different, It was more beautiful. I had sat on this park bench a thousand times and stared at the sun but it never felt this beautiful. A soft breeze made strands of her hair to fall from behind her ears. Before I knew what I was doing my fingers were tucking her hair behind her ears. She stared into my eyes, she didn't say a single word, just stared at me and back at the sun. She stared right at the sun as it disappeared into the ocean sending streaks of orange and red into the atmosphere. It lit up her face but still if you looked closer you could see a hidden pain in her eyes somewhere, a pain that said 'help, I'm trapped.'

         We walked silently to the apartment. She was right by my side, our shoulder almost touching. We reached our doors. "I had fun today." I said. I leaned my back against the wall. She smiled and leaned towards me, closer and closer to whisper in my ears. She was close enough that I could smell her fruity shampoo and the sweet flowery smell of her skin. "Life is too short David, too short." and then she opened the door and closed it behind her. I stood there, too numb to move, too numb to even breath. My knees and hands felt numb and weak and I realized 'she's going to my destruction but I' don't care 'cause I'm head over heels in love with her.'