Priscilla

I looked outside my room window, it was raining quite heavily I couldn’t even see the building next door due to the heavy rain. With both hands, I closed my face and wiped it down before leaving my bed. I walked to the toilet before turning around to my bed again as my phone rang. When I saw it was my friend, John, I picked up the call and told him that I was heading to shower and I would be meeting him at the cafe in an hour. He then said okay before cutting the call, and as I put the phone on my bed I remembered about last night’s dream. 

I took off my clothes, got into the shower and stood down the warm water poured out the shower head hitting the top of my head and my body. I kept my eyes closed as I was thinking about the dream and questioning myself why I suddenly dreamed about that person for God knows why.  Around 15 minutes later I walked out of the toilet and wiped my face dry before applying moisturiser. I then sprayed the body spray before getting dressed and checked my phone as I received texts. 

I got out of my room and walked to the kitchen to have some water before leaving for the cafe. As I was about to leave I saw a mug which was gifted to me by her, I stood looking at it for a while before asking myself whether the mug reminded me of her and I ended up dreaming of her. I just smiled, shook my head and left home with my umbrella as it was still raining but not as heavy as just now. Before I started my 10-minute walking journey to the train station I took out my AirPods and plugged it in my ears playing some classic songs.  

About 10 minutes later I reached the train station and tapped my train pass on the ticket gate before walking down to the platform. 2 minutes later the train which I was supposed to get in arrived and I got in before taking my seat on the middle coach. I took out my phone, opened WhatsApp, searched for her name and opened the chat. I realised the last I texted her was about 2 weeks ago asking how is she doing that’s all. I then breathed in and took my courage to text her today, asking how is she and maybe telling her about the dream. 

Hey, how are you doing? Hope things are going well for you–well I just texted just wanted to ask how you’re doing as I don’t know why but I dreamed about you so yeah, was just you know wanted to make sure you’re all fine and safe. 

I typed out the message and looked at the message for a bit before tapping send. The message was sent and delivered, and at the same time, I also reached the station which I needed to get down to. I got off the train, and walked up to the exit from the platform, by the time I got there the rain had stopped completely, it was easier walking to the cafe which is about 5 minutes away. 

As I got near the cafe I called my friend and informed him that I was nearing to which he said that he was already in the cafe and ordered drinks for the both of us. 

I got into the cafe, saw John sitting by the window, walked towards the table and tapped him on his shoulders before taking the seat in front of him. “Were you waiting for long man”, I asked John as I took my phone out to check whether she replied yet. John said it’s just been around 5 minutes since he arrived and ordered the drinks before I reached. He then passed me his phone showing me an e-mail which stated that he had been selected for the next stage of the interview in the dream company he had applied for. 

“OH MY GOD!!!! Bro congratulations!!!”, I said loudly as I was so happy and excited for John as he was really trying hard to get into this company and now he’s just one step away from achieving his dream. “John, oh my god, I’m super happy and proud of you man, you’re getting there buddy, and I’m sure you’ll ace the final interview for sure”, I told John and at the same time our order arrived. “Oh the black coffee is for him,” John said to the waitress and she gave me a weird look before placing it near me. 

John giggled and said “I told you it’s a psychopath type of a drink” before taking a sip of his Matcha Latte. I just stared at John and drank my black coffee with no sugar happily before checking my phone again to see if there was a reply from her. John was curious as I kept checking my phone every 5 minutes and he asked me if everything was alright. I sighed and told him the whole story to which he responded by laughing out loud, it was surprising and embarrassing at the same time because I couldn’t understand why he was laughing. 

“John hey, come on man, stop laughing, gosh”, I was telling John as he kept laughing before finally stopping and apologising to me. He then finished his drink before telling me that she might find it creepy receiving the text all so suddenly or she might just say thanks for asking how is she doing and just ignore the dream part or she might just choose not to reply to me. “That’s not convincing at all John” I told him as he giggled to it before telling me it is okay and just wait for the reply. 

20 minutes later we left the cafe and I told John that I needed to head to the bookstore for a while as I needed to get a book that was related to the research I’m working on right now. He said okay and told me he would be at his girlfriend’s place who had been our mutual friend since high school. “I’ll then just give you a call once I’m done, if you’re still at Jane’s place then I’ll come over”, I told John before walking away to the bookstore. As I walked down the street, suddenly my phone vibrated and received 2 new messages. 

I took my phone out and stopped walking for a moment seeing who the text was from. I smiled looking at the text as it wasn’t as bad as what John said or I suspected. She actually replied to my text on how she’s doing plus she also replied to the message where I mentioned the dream. 

NO WONDER IVE NOT BEEN SLEEPING WELL–so anytime I’m not sleeping well it’s because of you huh, oh I’m so going to come down your house and haunt you, George. 

I giggled and replied to her it didn’t make sense at all, how does my dreaming about her affect her sleep?  She then replied stating that it did make sense and asked me to Google and attached a laughing emoji at the end. I was laughing alone by the street reading her replies to which I replied that it’s not entirely my mistake for her to be losing her sleep along with a laughing emoji before continuing my walk to the bookstore. A few minutes later I received a text from her and when I checked the message she replied saying It isss–YOU OWE ME A MEAL NOW!!.

I just giggled reading that text and even before I could type a reply I received a call, she was calling me at the exact moment. I answered the call, placed the phone on my ears and with her sweet voice she said “Hey George” excitedly which got me smiling. I could hear my heartbeat beating so fast and loud when I was on the phone with her, to be honest, I couldn’t understand why I was so nervous and anxious to talk with her. “Remember George, you owe me a meal okay, you keep messing up my sleep schedule huh”, she said giggling on the call.

I then jokingly asked her back whether a Happy Meal from Mcdonald’s is fine, and I didn’t expect that it would crack her up. She kept laughing before stopping and saying that it’s okay. “You know I’m just joking right, you just update me once you’re back okay, then we can go out”, I told her as she said okay before we hung up the call. As I was about to reach the bookstore my phone vibrated again and it was a text from her saying it was good talking after some time. 

I replied it was yes it was to her and also added And just curious, is this your way of asking me out? with a laughing emoji at the back. She replied with a laughing emoji first before continuing the text with Maybe as a reply. I just smiled reading the text and replied to her take care and liked the message she sent before entering the bookstore to get the material needed for my work paper. After about half an hour of looking around the bookstore for the material which is needed, I then finally found it. 

After paying at the cashier, I then walked out of the bookstore and texted John saying that I was done with the purchase and I’d head to Jane’s place to join them for lunch together. As I was walking to the train station, I walked past the park where I first met her during my college days.  4 years ago, on September 28th 2019, John and I were walking at the park while discussing about assignment when suddenly someone bumped into me from the back. I turned around and I saw a petite-sized girl, in a red dress with a black backpack standing looking all confused. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you, I tripped over the stone when I was walking” she said with her soft angelic voice while pointing towards the stone she tripped over. When I saw her I realised that she was one of our classmates, she sits at the front and doesn’t talk much, only when there’s a need for discussion or when someone asks her a question she speaks then. I said it was okay to her and continued walking before asking John what was her name which he whispered in my ears. “How do you know all this so fast man”, I asked him to which he just smiled at me.

We then kept meeting quite frequently in the college, and slowly we started becoming friends. Day by day she was getting more and more comfortable around Jane, John and myself. She has always been a so-called fan of Jane and John as they were one sweet couple in college, plus they were our best friends. “Excuse me”, an old man’s voice got me back to reality, cutting the memories short. He was struggling to carry his heavy grocery bag and he was asking for my favour. I helped him to carry the bag to the bus stop as his son was waiting for him in the car. 

About half an hour later I reached Jane’s place, John opened the door for me when I knocked on it. We then had our lunch and Jane asked me how my research was going on the project that I was working on. “I’m nearing the final stage Jane, if this goes well then I can pitch this idea to the company and if God will, I might get the job there”, I told Jane while I was filling my cup with ice water from the jug. Jane wished me luck and passed me her cup to get it refilled with ice water too. 

A few weeks later when I was at home working on the project which was nearing the deadline, suddenly the doorbell to my house rang. I was in my room and the doorbell caught my attention, I stood up, and checked my phone to see whether John texted me saying he was coming over or anything but no. I walked towards the door feeling confused as nobody usually comes over to my place other than John or sometimes together with Jane. The doorbell was continuously pressed as I was walking towards the door. 

When I opened the door suddenly a jacket was thrown at me, I quickly ducked and stood up again ready to throw punches but then I just stopped seeing who was it. “Priscilla?”, I said surprisingly looking at the person outside of my doorstep. It was her, it was Priscilla, in front of me, after all these years once again. Looking angelic as always with that star-like bright smile of hers, standing by my doorstep with her luggage. “Are you surprised George”, she asked me as I welcomed her in and picked up the jacket she threw at me. 

“I swear I was surprised, what are you doing here, it’s been so long since you left and you didn’t even tell me that you were coming back”, I asked her as we walked towards the hall and took our seats. She then told me that she wanted to surprise me and she got my house address through Jane. We spoke for hours as it’s been so long since we last met and we hadn’t been texting much due to the working time.  “Priscilla hey, I wanted to tell you something, it’s been in me for quite some time now and I feel like I need to get it out of me”, I told her as she looked concerned. 

“In your eyes, I feel like I’m all lost in the giant Universe, in your smile I see the possibilities of my future, in your laughter I see my happiness, and right now, I’m here standing asking will you hold my hand throughout this journey called life together”, I confessed my long locked feelings to her which got her all shocked. She stood up, wiped her tears and quickly left my house ignoring me calling out her name and apologising. I facepalmed and called myself stupid before getting up from my couch and walking out of my house to look for her.  

I opened the door and I found her waiting outside by the street looking in the opposite direction. I sighed and slowly walked towards her, I then called out her name and apologised to her for the sudden confession which made her upset and probably uncomfortable. She turned and looked right into my eyes before hitting the top of my head, which got me surprised. “It took you this long to say all these huh George, you know how long I’ve been waiting to hear this from you’, she said as tears rolled down her cheeks and a bright smile appeared on her face. 

I was shocked to hear those words from her and when I looked at her, she smiled and nodded her head saying yes before hugging me. We laughed as we hugged each other close and tight before she broke out from the hug, looked at me and said “You still owe me a Happy Meal” before laughing. I smiled at her and leaned forward to give a kiss on her forehead before telling her we could head out to have our Happy Meal together now at the nearest McDonald’s. To everyone out there, I just want to say that, it’s never too late, trust your instinct, it will be okay, I promise. 

-THE END-