A Step Closer to Love

“Okay Bye, I will call you later,” Arabella said over the phone as Kieran walked in. She did not want Kieran to have to listen in to her conversation with her sister something about it did not sit well with her.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

He walked to the seat in the private room and dropped his keys to the table. She had had a long conversation about everything and anything with her sister and she had advised her to date someone as soon as she could.

“Has the doctor come?” Kieran asked as he watched her drop the phone from her ears.

“Not yet” she said as she tried to watch him. “You know you don’t need to stay with me? I am a big girl and I can take care of myself”

“Yeah you can and with that foot too,” he said in a mocking tone.

“I won’t be in this situation if not for someone” she murmured as she picked up her phone and pretended to tap away on it.

“I am sorry”

She lifted her head to him. She did not expect him to apologize. It was not entirely his fault she was in that situation. She has foolishly done something. What was she thinking anyway? She was not athletic so why would she think of going a long jump across the hood of the car?

“Your apologizing makes me feel weirded out about the situation”

“What?” he asked in shock.

“I mean, I know it was a foolish thing for me to jump over the hood of the car and I only did that because you were giving me an extremely hard time, but your apologizing for giving me a hard time now makes me feel more foolish about my choices”

“I only said it because I am, if I am sorry then why can’t I say it?”

“It is just that I feel like I am reflecting on all the choices I have made recently. Did I make good choices or am I just winging it?”

Kieran could sense that the discussion was taking an emotional turn and he was sure they were not close enough to have such discussions with each other.

They might have known each other as children but that relationship did not mature and they were not in the same league.

“Are you sure you want to talk about things like this with me?” he asked and she lifted her head to him. Her face conveyed the confusion brewing in her. “I am only saying so because you might end up spilling and then regretting it later”

He was so wise and she felt it, why would she want to begin to talk about the foolish decisions she made recently to him? They were not close at all. The only reason she was in this room with him was because of a decision like the one she was about to make.

She cleared her throat and looked around. The silence would be awakward and she would rather go anything else but she knew talking would ease it all.

“So what made you go into the publishing industry?”

“It is a very lucrative business”

“Money?”

“Yes money”

She was shocked. Of all the people she knew who were in the same industry as her most of them were there because of passion this was the first of its kind.

“So you are money-driven?” she asked him.

“Isn’t everyone money-driven?”

“I am doing this because of my passion fot hard copy books and how much I want others to read such masterpieces by the authors” she answered.

“Well if that was the reason then you won’t collect any salary, you won’t have to leave Japan to come all the way here for this job,” he tells her.

She opens her mouth but her head goes blank. She tried to think deep of anything she could say to counter what he had just said. She was not money-driven. She really did want people around to read those stories and have great dreams like her.

“See that, you can’t counter that”

“The only reason we collect a salary is to survive”

“So we need money to survive but we refuse to accept that money drives us? Humans are peculiar don’t you agree?” he asks standing up.

“I do not agree with your philosophy but I do not have any points to counter you so I am going to let it be” she says and she watched the corners if his mouth lift up briefly before they drop back.

“I have to go check why the doctor is yet to come here” he walks to the door and stops before he opens it to stare at her.

She diverts her eyes to avoid it looking like she was staring at him. “I will be back” he said opening the door and leaving.

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. Why was he right? She hated that he said the truth and that it was not the truth in her eyes and that there was nothing she could use to defend herself.

While she was still trying to organize her thoughts he enters back and stood with the closed door behind him. “He would be here shortly” he walks back to the chair he had been sitting on.

“Oh my,” he said suddenly causing her to raise her head to meet his gaze.

“Is something wrong?”

“Would you like something to eat?”

“No, I am fine thank you”

His thoughtfulness somehow touched her. It was weird because usually men would not think that far when dealing with others. Was it because he was older than her?

“Still I think you will need something, you have been prescribed pain killers right?”

“Yes I have been prescribed but I doubt if I have been given any because it still hurts”

“I would step out to get something for you to eat quickly, I am sure they would attend to you soon” he said standing up and picking up the keys on the table again.

“I am good” she echoed as he walked to the door.