It had probably been after a month that I was going to work. It was already 10 am and I was running late. I grabbed my office bag and my coat and rushed to get my door knob when a sound from my phone caught my attention. It was from an unknown number that said,

"hewlo , is it Melissa>?

My heart gasped as I stared at the text. The writing style, the word "hewlo" and the angular bracket reminded me of my past. I quicky got myself together and thought that many people might have the same writing style. I answered the text as ,

"hi, this is Melissa Mali , how can I help you?"

My anxiety struck whether to send the message or not but remembering that I was getting late , I decided to send the message. I departed from my house and rushed to catch the subway to my office. It was Autumn and I could feel the cool breeze through the windows. The sun looked pale as the clouds had covered it and the little birds that chirped along the buildings, laughing and playing. My phone again notified me of an incoming message. I opened it and it was from that unknown no. that said,

"hope you didn't forget me, this is Aron Edward".

I could feel my heart beating a thousand times in a second. I quickly caught my breath and decided to leave the message unanswered. My subway made its stop and I caught a cab on the roadside to reach my office. "THE FUTURE WITH US" , the company whom I work for. Being an astrophysicist, I do well for a living but my utmost desire to make my own coffee shop is still a dream. It was my parents dream to be something precious in life and that's where my interest in physics came from. I like my job, inventing , searching and experimenting with new things but it is always a person's habit to try something new, even though you aren't good at that thing. My desire to create an "old money" themed coffee shop comes from my passion of reading romantic books.

As I enter to the gate of my office, I was greeted by my staffs and my fellow work partner, Fritz. We exchanged small greetings and headed to our work space. Fritz and I are the most hardworking members of our project and that is why we are always made together. He is a tall , green eyed , brunette hair guy with a manly look and muscular body. He is everyone's idol in the office. Although we spend most of the time together , I never had any deeper feelings for him. Maybe because of something that I don't want to remember. Saying of my past , I suddenly remembered the unanswered message and reached for my phone. There was another notification from him.

"I know that you are ignoring me, but sadly I am in the same city as you are in, wanted to talk with you , can we meet>?"

I was left in shock and my eyes widened at that text. I was just going to answer him when Fritz called for me. I left it unanswered again and decided to work first. It was until lunch time that I got time to text him. I wrote,

"Aron, nice to meet you again . I hope you are doing well. After so many years I am hearing from you. Had listened that you got married? Congrats. BTW, Why do you wanna meet me?"

The message was sent and I saw that he had seen it the next moment. My hand held the phone tight, getting tensed for what he is going to write next. The three dots danced and I held my breath tight. After a moment, there was another text. Just as I was going to read it, Fritz came and asked for some help. I had to go and my phone was untouched. While I was working with him, my mind was still on the phone, suspicious for the next message. After a long day, at 5 pm , I went back to my cabin to take rest. I was praised for my good work after a long time and was informed of a new project head that had been appointed to our team. Fritz gave me a quick hug for my excellent presentation. I searched for my phone and there were 3 unread messages. The first one was from Fritz. He rarely messages me so I opened it.

"Hey, excellent work , want to grab dinner together after work?"

Fritz and I never went for dinner except coffees, so I became a little too awkward but agreed to it. The second message was from my mother who is asking me about my health and whether I am drinking lots of water or not. My mother is a little too cautious and as far as I know, she is very worried for me working overseas here in UK. My father whereas is very supportive of mine and always supports me to focus on my career.

The last message got my breathe to stop. It was from Aron.

"It's false , I wasn't married. I just had a girlfriend which you knew, Mary Gates. I just wanted to meet you. Moreover, you are one of my oldest friends whose contact I got from online. Friday 7pm in Thai Tonic, hope you'll come./"

Friday? / , it's tomorrow and I had some movie plans with my colleagues. I was confused at what to do. I didn't answer and after work, I went to dinner with Fritz.

He drove me to the restaurant, it was THAI TONIC. I glanced at it until the sound of his car brake made me snapped out of my dream. He opened my door and we both went inside. He ordered my favorite pasta and we talked and laughed while feasting on our foods. After we finished, he ordered my favorite chocolate ice-cream and my favorite cherry toppings to congratulate me on my success. I thanked him from the bottom of my heart and he smiled at me. After the dessert session finished, he holded my hand and I blushed at his swift move. In his charming green eyes, there came a sign of worry and with nervousness. He said, "Melissa , u are gorgeous , I really like you" I was startled for a moment. My hands became numb and a tear feel from my eye. He was confused at my reaction and without a thought, I just ran away through the door. As soon as I was going to cross the street, I stumbled upon a person and that collision made us two falls back to the ground. "Are u blind?", the person remarked. I apologized and as soon as I got up to help that person, I stood still. My mouth opened wide and those tears stopped falling from my eyes. "Aron?" my mouth said and he looked through my eyes. "Melissa, is that you? It's been almost a decade, you still recognize me?", his stumbled voice spoke up.

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I was left numb. Those brown eyes, the black long hair , the same style for clothes , those muscled arms , those veins that popped out of his hands and a cold look with a manly voice was hard to forget. That unique attitude of calmness and to keep a control over one's state of mind was one of those characters that define a man. He was a MAN.

Aron and I had been studying in Junior high since grade 6 but we hardly knew each other much until in grade 10 we got into the same class. He was a fun seeking, mischievous boy who always found things to do which kept him entertained. From inside, he was a kind, trustworthy and responsible man. He never expressed himself much but he knew exactly how to help others. When we first started talking online, it was because for an arrangement of a programme that needed my help. From that day onwards, we used to talk regularly. It was the month of November or the season of Autumn and on a fine day, I expressed my feelings towards him. He brushed it off saying that I will get a better man than him. But I found my deepest comfort in his words, in his arms whenever he used to hug me when I cried or felt low. He was the man of my dreams. But as he told me, it was fortune and I will not get everything I wanted, he stomped on my heart and pierced it through. He was not rude but his calm rejection killed me inside. Later on I had discovered that one of my friends, Mary, was a very good friend of his, I would see them together often but never had the courage to ask him. After school, we went different ways and never talked or kept contact. He always used to believe that school friends were temporary. I never knew his feelings for me or whether there was any/ He remained my friend and those feelings remained in me, crushing me till now and possibly , that's the reason that I never found my dream person , when he existed.

Aron snapped his fingers in front of my eyes and asked me whether I was alright. I came out of my dream and told him that I was fine. Fritz came running behind me and stopped when he saw Aron. He exclaimed at Aron, "Sir, after such a long time! What brings you here?" "Sir!?," I said in confusion. Fritz then explained that he was the new project head of our team that had been appointed recently and, in my absence, he carried out most of my work. I was left in utter shock. I exclaimed, "Aron? You? Our project head? How? When?" Fritz looked at me in confusion and asked me how did I knew him. Aron handled the situation well. He said, "Melissa and I just had a collision here while she was rushing out and we apologized and introduced each other. She is probably in shock." He looked at me and said, "Hi , this is Aron Edwards, the new project head of THE FUTURE WITH US, nice to meet you". I acted neutral and introduced myself by addressing him as sir. We three went for a little walk, discussing our projects and when Fritz went to get some drinks, Aron looked at me and said, "Tell , you probably have a million questions about me". I indeed had and decided to confront him. "How did you get so serious about studies? you were literally mischievous and a fun-loving person!" He smirked at my words and said to me, "Well. I was lucky enough to get myself together, but still, I am a fun-loving person." I attacked him with another set of questions. "What happened with Mary? You guys are not together now?". He looked serious and looked at me with pleasing eyes as if I knew the answer. I knew what happened between them but wanted him to say. "Mary wasn't for me, I deserved better as well as she do. It was best to leave her. Moreover, she is happy with Erik now," Aron said with a hard voice. Erik was my first ever crush in standard 3 but he got transferred to another school the next year and I was disheartened about it. "Sorry", I said. He smiled and meanwhile Fritz came up with the drinks. We three enjoyed the hot coffee in the windy night and then Fritz decided to leave me off at home. Aron spoke up and told that he was going in my direction and that he can drop me off. Fritz looked a bit confused but he still agreed. He gave me a quick hug and bade goodnight. The hug somehow affected Aron as he was quite for a while. I asked him, "what happened?" and he simply ignored my question and directed me to walk with him.

The distance was just 10 minutes but it seemed to take forever while we were walking. After an awkward silence of a minute, he spoke up, "so, is Fritz your...?" I cut down his sentence and told him that we were simply work partners and good friends. For some reason he seemed a little relief. He asked me, "what's up with your life? have you stopped doing shitty things?" I stopped walking and stood there numb. I was in the hospital for about a month for attempting suicide and that is the reason I could not attend work. Everyone knew I was just sick. I hesitantly told him, "Yeah, all fine! how about you?" I walked towards him, joining in the conversation. He looked at me sharp eyed and said, "you cannot lie to me, I can say that by your eyes". I was taken aback and said, "don't . I wanna forget everything. please." He smirked at my reply. "You were at the hospital for a month and told everyone that you were sick?". I gasped at him. "You know you cannot keep any secrets from me, right?" I understood that he understands everything. Moreover, he was the only one who could read and understand me back then in school. I said, "why have you come here?". He said casually, "you were not doing well in your life, just came here to look after you". I looked at him with angered eyes and said, "what do you think of me? am I a kid?" . "You are to me". He said. Aron was my comfort zone back then , to whom I used to tell each and everything . He still knows me well. But now , I don't wanna express my feelings. NOTHING LASTS FOREVER. I kept quiet and soon reached my house. I told him thanks and left. He watched me go and told me aloud , " tomorrow 7pm , be on time". When I reached my staircase. I saw him taking a cab to go to the opposite direction. I knew at some point that his house was not here , he just wanted to have a chat with me and I got carried away. At night my phone notified me of 2 unread messages.

"Sorry for that awkward moment Melissa , but think it over. Good night." It was from Fritz.

I just wrote "good night" and moved to the next message. I somehow expected it.

"was lucky enough to meet you, loved spending time after so many years. Hope you feel the same>>" It was from Aron.

I just replied with a smile Emogi and turned my lights off to sleep.

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