It was Sheila's 14th birthday party when they first met. Her green, excitement-filled eyes caught his gray ones. A small smile started to form on Sheila's lips but he never smiled back. Instead, he hurriedly looked down to the floor. A shade of crimson red colored his freckled cheeks.
Sheila thought he was cute. His ears were a tad big and his nose was slightly crooked, but there was something so sweet about him that made Sheila's smile transformed into a grin as she excused herself from her friends. She went up to him with a small wave.
"Hello!" she said, taking his hand and shaking it vigorously. He looked up, looking surprised. "You're Lisa's brother right? Ian?"
"Yes," he said.
Sheila swung her arm around his shoulder, which was a tough feat since she was only 5ft 2 inches tall without the heels. "We're going to be great friends!" she said, throwing her head back and laughing. Ian could remember that happiness in her forever.
Over the years, they did became great friends. Whenever she met up with him, her eyes shone brightly. The same excitement that Ian saw years ago never did fade away from her eyes. He found it amazing, if not a little bit intimidating.
Sheila was always cheerful. And he was the shy one. But nonetheless, Ian enjoyed her company. After almost two years of knowing each other, Sheila found out that unfortunately, Ian's dad found a new job in New York. As a senior executive in accountancy.
"New York huh?" she said, looking at the night sky like everyone else were. The kids were running around, waiting for the fireworks. It was 4th of July and Sheila made a 'pinky promise' with Ian to see the fireworks together for the first time.
"I'll be leaving in a few days..." he trailed off, unsure on what to say on this occasion. It was the first time that they would be watching the display, and it would probably be the last time. Sheila knew this.
And for the first time ever, Ian saw pain and sadness in her eyes.
It was painful to him, to see that Sheila was in pain. The bright enthusiasm in her eyes were gone. And Ian didn't ever want to do that to her again. He too looked silently up to the dark sky. They could see the stars, the veil of glitter shining down upon them.
The fireworks started.
And Sheila...was crying.
Ian didn't told her when he was leaving, so Sheila made sure to appreciate the days left with him. On that Friday afternoon, she went to his house to bring the baked cookies he was so crazy of. So crazy that after the first bite he took, he looked at Sheila as if in a trance and said, "Sheila, will you marry me?"
Sheila giggled at the thought.
But when she arrived at their house and peeked inside through the window when nobody got the door...it was empty.
She went back to the doorstep and saw a red envelope in the pot of flower. Tearing it open, she recognized the handwriting as Ian's.
'I do not want to say goodbye,' he wrote.
She sat at the doorstep. She was clutching the letter tightly.
"Ian..." she said, a sob escaped from her lips. "You idiot!" she whispered angrily, wrapping her arms around her body. "You idiot!" she repeated, tears streaming down her face. "I hate you! I hate you!" she said, rubbing the tears away from her eyes.
But she knew it wasn't true.
Because the truth was, she hated herself. For not being there in time to tell him how much she loved him.
She left the cookies on the doorsteps.
On her college's term break, Sheila worked part-time to ease her parents' burden of paying for the school fees and her small apartment. It was a gift shop, with cards and bouquet of flowers and cute little teddy bears.
The shop was just so sweet. It attracted her.
She was arranging a bouquet of tulips when a customer came in. "How much for these thingys?" he asked and Sheila had to laugh. "Well," she began, putting the vase aside and leaning forward to point the card to him. "Cost 99 cents. And that teddy keychain is two fifty."
He paid and asked her if they had a pen. "Yep!" she says cheerfully, giving him one. "You're in a hurry to write that card. Last minute Valentine gift ey?" Sheila said, smirking.
Men, she thought.
"You can say."
She stared at the way he wrote.
"Say..." she trailed off, deep in thought. "Have we met somewhere?"
"Oh?" he said. "I sometimes hang out at Webster Hall," he said, shrugging. "You know how friends are so insistent in dragging you out for a night to supposedly pick up some girls. Shame that they ended up home with nothing but slaps."
That must be it, Sheila thought. She suffered the same fate as he did.
Sheila laughed. "What about you then?" she asked.
"Well, to be honest, I only have my eyes on one eye-candy."
He stuffed the card into the free, white envelope and gazed into her eyes.
"Who might that be, now?" she asked.
With a final scribble on the envelope, he gave it to me. On the envelope, he wrote 'with love, Ian.'
"You."
A/N: Meh, I knew I shouldn't have written this XD
