Chapter 1. THE LOST HOPE
He lay dead on the cold footpath reminiscing the words,” You’ll never succeed.” — Ryan, a wealthy businessman had everything a person could ever desire. The only thing he lacked was a LIFE. Sometimes you must let go of happiness to become successful. He had never experienced being happy on his journey towards success until; that day...
Hi there. I’m Ryan. You must be wondering how I ended up on a footpath? or are you wondering why am I not happy even after being so successful? I do have everything except a reason to continue this life.
Funny, right? People want success more than life itself. But what’s the point of success when life itself slips through your fingers like sand? Sometimes, you must give up something in order succeed and yes, I did too. I lost everything that was once mine. I lost myself.
“Ryan? ” Her voice wasn’t clearly audible, but it was loud enough to make me stop.
I turned around. It was her. I never expected her presence, that too here. Why? I wondered.
“You… you scared me,” I stuttered.
“I could say the same,” she whispered with a shiver. “But… why?” I asked.
“Why not?” she replied, her voice trembling.
Why was she here of all places? I wondered as silence crept in.
We sat in silence on the cold floor, the city lights flickering below us. “Shouldn’t you be glad we met like this?” I asked trying to break the silence.
“Maybe I am.” She replied while smiling faintly through her tears
There was so much I wanted to ask — what had driven her here, what pains she carried, why she looked so pale and tired. But I held back. She was shivering, so I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Th…thank you, Ry…yan,” she said, barely able to speak.
She was burning with fever. I touched her forehead instinctively. “You have a fever! Let me take you to a doctor!”
“No need,” she said. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
“What are you saying, Maria? This isn’t you… please!”
But she just looked away, her face calm, her freckles almost glowing under the faint moonlight.
Maria! Hey!! What are you looking at? I have been calling you for 10 minutes now. Maria turned back to see Sam’s worried eyes staring at her. Just to realise she had been imagining things. Was Ryan even here? She wondered.
Ryan was shocked seeing Maria on the terrace. He had so many questions yet no answers. “Why did I run out of there like this?” I mumbled to myself while trying to convince myself I did the right thing.
“Oh gosh, what would she think of me? How could I leave her like this! Oh, you stupid Ryan.”
I tried to sleep while forgetting what had just happened.
Meanwhile, Maria was trying to calm herself trying not to think about things she had hallucinated. Sam was with her, yet his presence wasn’t enough.
Days went by while I and Maria never crossed paths. I kept wondering what she thought of me and what my actions must have did to her. I couldn’t focus on my work and kept getting yelled at by my seniors. “Should I talk to her? But it has been so many days. Would she even remember me? Ahh what should I do?”
Maria went on with her daily corporate life trying to convince herself that it wasn’t just an imagination. Thoughts kept eating at her barely being able to make her get through her life.
Two weeks go by. I was invited to a fellow colleague’s housewarming party, and I attended it to get my mind off from things. “Hi Ryan, meet Maria, our star performer.” said Sam. I nervously smiled pretending not to know who she is. We passed glances and as I was about to leave, she held my hand tightly with a firm grip...
