Chapter 1
Looking back now, nothing about this day whispered to her what it would bring. Nothing at all. The weather was perfect; the skies were clear, and not one single drop of rain was predicted. She had woken up with plenty of time to spare before she had to take the subway to her job downtown. She hated the job but it paid well.
Yes, it was just like every other day. She had eaten her toast and orange juice, skipped downstairs, smiled, and chatted with the building janitor. She had even waved at Bernard; the newspaper delivery man before she headed to the subway to take the train that would take her downtown. Her day had gone, as usual, nothing could have made her think this day would be different. Yet, it couldn’t have been more different from other days.
At 30, one would think she would be married with a family of her own. Rowena’s life couldn’t have been more different from what her mother must have been thinking when she named her. Her name meant fame and happiness but at 30, Rowena was broke, single, depressed, and unpopular.
With hair like the moonlight and skin like olive, she was certainly not ugly though her fashion sense left much to be desired. Her nerdy personality however meant she had few friends. Truth be told, she had no one but Bob, her colleague whom she had met when she applied at ’Harry & Harry’s fresh out of Uni and a relationship. Bob was the only employee who bothered to acknowledge her existence outside work. She wasn’t unaware of the snickers from her other colleagues when she walked into a room but she had come to ignore it. She had made peace with the fact that she was unlovable. Her past boyfriends had told her that much.
She was over that.
Looking back now, perhaps she should have stayed in bed that day or stayed later at work. Perhaps. Now that it was all over, there were so many what-ifs running through her head but they didn’t matter now. He wouldn’t want this for her.
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“See you tomorrow”, she said to Bob as they parted ways at the Subway. They had finished work so late. She found her train and found herself a seat thinking of what she could put together for her dinner today. She was still thinking when the train arrived at her stop. She looked up at the announcement of her stop and realized it had started raining sometimes during the ride. She had no umbrella as her weather app had predicted clear skies and as she looked around, she realized she wasn’t the only one in this situation. She got pushed around as other people ran for cover.
In minutes, she was drenched, the rain had come with a slight wind. The wind threatened to make her fall on her face even as she pushed her way home. She pushed on until she walked into someone. Wondering why someone else was walking in the wind that had made cars stop in the middle of the road, she looked up to see deep blue eyes staring back into hers. The eyes were empty and she just knew he didn’t even realize he was in the rain. Looking him over, she notices the bouquet of peonies he held firmly in one hand. She dragged him out of the rain into the nearest shelter she could find and tried to shake him to get him to react. Yes, try, the man had strong muscles, the type a girl might daydream about in the right situation. But this was hardly the right time or situation.
After what seemed like five minutes, he seemed to look up and notice her. He looked past her to the rain outside and back at her and said “thank you”. She shook her head and asked, “why were you out in that rain?“. He shook his head as if to say it wasn’t raining when he was out. He finally said “Personal Business”. She looked from him to the peonies in his hand wondering what could have happened. He noticed her looking at the flowers and held them out for her to take and when she just kept looking at him “for saving me”, he said.
“No, it was nothing”, she said. He insisted and she eventually caved and then he smiled before walking away. She realized that his blue eyes lit up when he smiled and his left cheek had a dimple. Watching him walk away she realized; that she didn’t ask for his name nor did he tell her why he was out in the rain.
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Fate sighed as she looked down upon them both.
A very short first chapter, I know but I promise to make it up to you guys.
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