1

I’ve never written romance before (excluding that Sanders Sides thing) so if it’s not good, that’s probably why. Enjoy!

He had a reputation for being ruthless, soulless, but that’s not the man I knew. Around me, he was someone else entirely. I’ll never forget the day we were first acquainted. At the time, we were both studying to become surgeons in medical school. My heart was always set to help people, even when they disrespected me. He, though, was known as a hard-working brute-he didn’t let anyone get in the way of what he was doing.

We had many of the same classes, but we actually met personally at the mall. He seemed quite upset when he walked into the food court. I don’t remember exactly where I was working, but he needed food for himself and his mother (who was quite ill). I recognized him and I suppose he recognized me too, after I had asked him if he was doing okay. His eyes lit up a bit when he looked up at me-as he recognized me. I asked, “We go to the same school, don’t we?” to which he responded, “We have a few classes together, yeah.” Then he was still quite stern. Now he’s the love of my life.

I asked once again, “Are you alright?” as his expression did not change. He looked troubled. My shift was over in five minutes, so I offered to get him some food so we could sit and talk about it. Though he said he was fine, I insisted. He turned me down, however. Said he needed to get home to his Ma. I completely understood, so I offered him my phone number so he could contact me later. It seemed he appreciated the gesture, as his eyes lit up once more. He flashed a smile, said his thanks, and left with his order. We didn’t even exchange names.

Later that day, around eight o’ clock or so, I received a call. The man explained things had been hard for him and his Ma for a while. She was incredibly ill, which was unfortunate because he was still enrolling in college. With college comes debt. They could not yet afford treatment. It was only until later I was informed she had a brain tumor. He seemed quite upset about this, which was odd at least to me, because he rarely spoke in class, let alone express emotion. I comforted him the best I could. It was then we exchanged names. “I’m so sorry to lay all this down on you before even introducing myself.” He apologized. “I’m Chase.” I liked Chase. He was kind under all that brutality.

“I’m Melody.”

“I saw your nametag at the court,” he explained. I felt a bit silly, after all, he already knew my name and I had just introduced myself as if he hadn’t known.

See, I like to think of myself as a confident kind of girl, but I’m not cocky or anything. Sometimes I’ll act stuck up as a joke, but usually I’m pretty upbeat. I had always been confident about my looks too; my half-shaven pixie cut, and my style of sweaters and jeans. Round glasses, too.

Because of my balanced ego, I decided to make the first move. I suggested he come over to my apartment for dinner the following Saturday, and he enthusiastically agreed. I made sure my home was clean-or at least looked nice-before Chase arrived that night.

I like to think I’m also a casual person. I never go to the complete extraordinaire, but I’m never all that boring, either. I’m the simple type. So, for dinner, I just prepared us some ham-steak with green beans and some mashed potatoes; a practical meal I prepare myself almost every week. I’d hoped Chase would enjoy the meal.

He comes over and we greet each other. We sit down and busy ourselves in conversation as we dine at an extra counter meant for meals in my apartment. We went on and on and on, especially about school.

“I’m looking to become a surgeon,” he explained. My heart fluttered, as so was I. I told him so, and he looked overjoyed. Chase suggested we get together sometimes and study with one another. I loved the idea.

We finished supper and I collected our plates to place into the sink. My mom gave them to me when I moved out-they were cheap glass, but had a lovely green vine design around the rim of the plate.

Chase claimed he would let himself out, after commenting what a lovely time he had. He suggested we get together again soon. “I’d like that,” I replied. And so he was off.

He had a reputation for being ruthless and soulless, but he sure did talk a lot with me.