How we sat down beside each other, kept locking eyes at different intervals — the only thing that went through my head was I need to see her again.
No, I wasn't shy, but for some reason, I just couldn't ask for her number and before I could figure out why, she alighted from the vehicle and In all sincerity, I was this close to getting down at that same junction just because I couldn't bear the thought of losing the chance to see her again. I sighed and looked up after the cab had zoomed off, and I couldn't see her anymore. I whispered to myself, "Universe, do your thing."
Exactly one week later, I had a little déjà vu while walking towards the park. And guess who I...
"Excuse me, hi, I'm David. I don't know if you remember me." (My thoughts: boy, how would she remember you? You made no attempt to speak to...)
"Yes, I do remember you. From the cab, right?"
"Yeah. How are you? Are you a student?"
"Yes, I am."
"Oh, cool. What department?"
"Um, Philosophy. It's my first year actually."
And for about two seconds, I felt like the happiest senior colleague ever. "Universe, I see what you did there." With a smile on my face, I said,
"Oh, cool. I'm also in that depart—"
"Ellie, let's go!" her friend said, pulling her away. She waved goodbye.
"Who be this bad belle!?" I said, smiling angrily and waving back.
Well, I got her name at least, and she's in my department, so we'll definitely see each other again. Days went by, then weeks, then months, and I slowly shifted my hope from finding her to getting better grades because exams had commenced.
The night before my last paper, I was seated alone, struggling to stay awake at 1:00 am while nodding to the frustrating melodies of mosquitoes. I heard someone call out with a salutation,
"Sir David."
"It is definitely not me. Who could be saluting me post-midnight?"
So, I ignored it, but the voice called out again, "Senior colleague, are you sleeping?"
Now the voice was familiar, so I grudgingly raised my head up. There she was, radiating beauty at 1:00 am. Suddenly, the melodies stopped, and I won the battle over sleep.
"Hey, how are you? It's been so long."
"Yes, yes... I fell ill for a while, but I'm stronger now. How are you? How have exams been? You're in Philosophy, right? Come and teach us Ancient Philosophy."
Ladies and gentlemen, those words didn't just confirm the victory over sleep; they sent it to bed. I taught them till the break of dawn without a flinch. As soon as I was done, I took her number and ran to prepare for my 8:00 am examination.
After the exams, I met her with high expectations for the holiday and next semester but she broke the sad news to me.
"It's my final semester here."
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