"Are you certain you're okay?" asked Johan.

"Yeah. I don't know what came over me, but I'll be okay. I'm sorry for scaring you like that."

"I'm glad that it wasn't anything serious, but are you also going to be okay going home this late?"

"It's fine. It's not the first time I've ridden the bus this late."

Johan sighed, "I would offer you a ride home, but I don't think it's appropriate of me to do so."

Looking at the purple skies above with the moon already visible, "It's fine," she assures him. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll be alright. I'll even message you when I get home."

"No, don't message me. I guess I'll trust you. He turned around and opened the door to the driver's seat. "It was great to finally meet you, Lucy. I'm glad we could have a chance to talk face to face. I'm starting to feel better about myself now."

As he sat down on the seat, "Wait," she said. Johan gave her his attention once more, “What about... Uhh... do you think maybe... we can do this some other time? You know, just talk... like this?"

"Lucy, that may not be a good idea. This is one of those things that people tend to talk about."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you already know."

"No, I don't. That's why I asked."

His hand gripped the steering wheel. "Lucy, I don't think we should make it a habit of seeing each other. It's not right, you know? This is one of those things people say is not right. An adult like me hanging out with a girl your age."

"But why not? You're not a creep or anything. That's what they mean, right? Criminals and people like that. You're nothing like that."

"That's not what people will think. They'll all just assume the worst. It'll be too much trouble. I'm sorry but there won't be another time."

She wanted to argue further but it was evident in the tone of his voice that he made up his mind about the matter and she reluctantly nodded.

Closing the door and buckling up, Johan pulls out of the parking spot. Waving goodbye to Lucy, she returned the gesture. The car drove onward, the sight of Lucy now shrinking on his rear-view mirror. A turn from the corner and she was gone from his sight.

A variety of emotions were flowing through Johan. Feelings of regret, the desire to apologize, and even anger. 'It doesn't matter. It's done,' he thought to himself.

As he continued to drive home, he received a notification on his phone. It wasn't so much a message as it was only a symbol, A heart emoji sent by Lucy. In an instant, his anxiety washed away leaving him with a sense of joy that made him smile as the continued on his way.

--

The night had officially arrived when Lucy stepped out of the bus and started walking the short distance home. 'This is okay, right?' She thought to herself. 'After all, he's an adult and I'm still just a kid. I don't even know a thing about this at all. But am I really going to be okay? And what about him, does he really feel better? But he said so himself that he was. Well, he is an adult, he knows more about this than I do.'

She arrived at her apartment and as she approached the building, she spotted a car opening in the parking lot with her mother coming out of the passenger side and a strange man coming out the other. Carry nearly trips as she holds on to the car. The strange man lifts her into his arms before continuing to enter the building. Daylight would have provided ample time for her to wait for him to leave but the choice was not hers to make in the darkness. The longest delay she could request was to wait for both to enter the elevator. Once the doors closed, Lucy proceeded.

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As she waited in the hallway, the strange man who held her mother exited her apartment. As he walked past, he glanced at her momentarily before continuing to head toward the elevator. She continued toward her apartment and only turned her head back when she heard the elevator door ding, quickly glancing at the man entering. Exhaling, she unlocked the door and entered her home.

Her mother was not present upon entering. 'She must be taking a shower,' she thought looking at a bottle of wine on the table that was leaking into the carpet. 'I'm going to be okay, right?'

--

"Welcome, Lucy. Do come in," her father welcomed her.

"I'm not planning on staying long," Lucy said as she entered his apartment.

"All the better for me. Besides, by the sound of your serious tone I will take a guess that you had time to think. Perhaps a decision was decided upon."

As her father sat on the couch, Lucy stood a distance from her father, "No, Sir, I haven't decided."

"Is that so? Considering you didn't visit me yesterday, I figured you spent that time really thinking about it."

"I was just visiting someone, that's all."

"A friend?"

"Not... necessarily."

"In any case, you are missing an opportunity, Lucy. Do you know how many children wish they had parents who were as successful as me? You could have the world on your hands with the family company."

"The world?"

"Not literally, but at the same time, a person in my position has much more power than the average person."

"Are you serious about me not going to school anymore?"

"Education comes from various places, not just school. You're just wasting your time continuing to go to an inadequate institution. Work for me and when you grow up, you'll be beyond your peers. You won't have money, that's not what I mean, but you'll have something better than money: knowledge."

"Sir, I don't care about business, especially right now."

"What could be more important than business?"

"What about love?"

He scoffed as he got up. "That again? Lucy, forget about 'love'. You're just going through puberty. Everything feels like it's love when you are young but in reality, you're just confused."

"What makes you say that?"

"Experience."

"How so?"

From the wine rack, he grabbed a bottle and two glasses from a cupboard. He looks at Lucy but after she shook her head, he put one of the glasses back on the shelf. "I'm not going to share what I know, but I was a teenager once. I know what it feels like to have the same feelings you are going through. Trust me when I say they do not matter." He popped the cork and poured himself a glass. "When you become older, you'll soon realize what I mean. It's just difficult to explain because you are going through it for the first time."

"I don't believe that is the case. I mean, what if I have been feeling like this like... all my life?"

"Early bloomer."

"What do you mean by that?"

"See, you don't even know yourself."

As he lowered the bottle and took a sip from his glass, Lucy walked up to him and looked him straight in the eye. "In that case, can you tell me what you felt when you met mom?"

Resisting the urge to spit out his drink, he put his glass down, "What?"

"I'm curious. Why did you marry mom?"

"That's none of yours or anyone's concern."

"Sir, I feel like I'm being torn apart. I can't figure out these feelings I'm having."

"That's normal, Lucy. Everyone goes through this at your age."

"But no one in my school seems to feel this way. One of my acquaintances has a crush on a boy but she doesn't act in the same manner about it."

"Is that what you want? A boyfriend?"

"Perhaps, but I am not certain myself."

"Then keep observing your friend. I promise you that they won't be together. You need maturity for such a thing to happen, and that takes time."

"But she seems so happy and I feel so miserable."

"And she's going to be even more miserable once he turns out to be nothing but a rambunctious boy. That's how they are at your age. That's how girls are as well. It's just how it is. There's nothing to this other than hormones."

"Dad... Sir. If I can speak my mind, why are you so cold? Why do you act this way? Why is there no love in your heart?"

"What do you mean? Of course there's love in me. I love money, I love women, I love exotic cars. There's plenty of love within me."

"Don't you think there's one thing missing from that list?"

"Well... exotic foods... restaurants... the latest gentleman's suits... parties... some nice shoes every and again... this apartment isn't so bad, but I have my eyes set on a higher floor..."

As her father continued to list his love of material things, Lucy simply walked out of the apartment.