Silence

I fell in love with silence from a really young age. Maybe silence was all I had. Being born in an orphanage, I felt left out from everything my entire life. I had no one to look up to, no friends. Well, since then, silence became my best friend. I fell in love with her calmness, the peacefulness of her slow melodies, and how she talked to me without even saying a word.

Being alone was not a great deal for me; I was born that way. So I stayed alone. Life felt peaceful. 

For some people, not having anyone around you, no one to talk to, might feel lonely or depressing. But as for me, it was a blessing in disguise. 

While I was busy thinking silence was my only companion, I found another. Her. She walked into my life in the most strangest way. 

That incident was the kind anyone would forget within a few days, but for me, it was different.

 "Did you make this?" She asked me with a smile, looking down at the coffee mug placed on the table. 

I walked back to the counter without giving her a reply.

"Excuse me!" She called out as she ran behind me. 

"Yeah...?" 

"Wow, you can talk?" She said, laughing. 

For the first time in my life, I felt this weird connection towards someone, a stranger. 

"I'm Sabrina." She said as she let out her hand. 

"I'm...Lucas." I replied as I shook my hand with hers. 

"How long have you been working here for?"

"It's just been a few weeks."

"What about the coffee? Did you make it?" 

"Yeah..." I lied, still confused, for it was the first time in my life that I felt the need to look good in someone's eyes. 

"Ohh, the coffee was amazing," She replied, laughing. Her laughter showed that she knew I was lying. 

I smiled back. 

"Anyways, I have to go now. See you...around." "

"Bye." 

I spent the entire night rewinding the same incident again and again. It was the first time I felt needed, special. 

From that day onwards, we met every day. Every moment I spent with her made me feel alive, like never before. 

The way her eyes sparkled when she talked, the way her hair blew with the wind, her smile. I fell in love with everything about her.

 "Hey, can I tell you something?" She said one day. 

"Sure," I replied, looking down, feeling the cool beach waves as they tingled on my feet. 

"I know it's weird, but I think I'm falling for you." She said, laughing as she looked at the surprised expression on my face. 

"What?" I asked, laughing.

"Never mind. Anyways I'm getting a call from work, let's meet tomorrow. At your house?" 

"No-I-" Before I could finish, she waved at me and rushed towards her car. 

This was the last dice. I couldn't let her come to my house. I didn't want her to see the hidden part of me, the real me who resided in the dark corners of my house. 

I had to stop her from coming to my house, even if it meant being away from her; I left my job at the cafe, and life went slow for a few days...until one day. 

I returned to my house one evening to see Sabrina standing right in front of my door. 

"Sabrina-I-can explain.."

"You forgot to lock your storehouse." She said as a shiver went through my spine.

Did she..? 

"So, this is why.." 

"This is why you didn't want me to come to your house. Because I get to know that you..." 

"That I am, what? A monster? Say it out, Sabrina!" 

"You—h—have a man tied up in your storehouse. Why?!"

“So...this is what you do?! You hurt people?" 

"See...I'll let him free...if you want. Just...don't tell anyone. He's unconscious...we can fix this." I said as I walked towards her.

"Don't you dare! Not a step closer to me! I'm taking him to the hospital right the hell now." 

"I thought I knew you...Lucas." She said with tears in her eyes, as she left me...maybe forever.

That was the last time I ever saw her. But memories of her never seemed to leave me. She lived in me and my thoughts strange way.

Life was back to normal again. Nothing to look forward to. 

I joined back to the cafe and waited for her to come every day. But she never came. 

Days changed into months,months changed into years. By now, I had completely let go of the old me. The monster in me seemed just to vanish off when since the day she left me.

The thought of ever being able to see Sabrina had been erased from my mind until one evening. 

It was a usual day at work; I walked around taking orders when suddenly I stopped still. I couldn't believe my eyes. I saw her...sitting in a booth at a distance. 

I wanted to go to her and apologize to her for everything, but I couldn't muster up the courage to do so.

How could I talk to her after everything that happened? I turned back and began walking towards the counter.

"Excuse me!" A voice called out from behind me. 

I turned back to see Sabrina looking at me with the same smile which made me fall in love with her two years back.

"Don't you people take orders here?" She called out again, and I walked towards her.

"I want my usual coffee please, it's been two years, but I hope you still remember." She asked me with a smile.

"Yeah...I do," I said as I walked back to the counter in surprise to get the coffee. I returned with the coffee mug, only to see that the booth empty.

 "Sabrina...!" I screamed as I rushed outside. 

I returned and looked around the cafe in anticipation.

 "Who are you looking for?" One of my colleagues asked me. 

“S—Sabrina—she—I saw her today, there in that booth." 

"Sabrina? Whose that?"

"How can you not remember her? Don't you remember a girl who used to come to meet me every day a few years back?" 

"Lucas...what's wrong with you? What are you even talking about?" 

"Luke, how can you not...wait...I have a picture of her on my phone." 

"See-right-here-" I was shocked at the sight in front of my eyes; all of the pictures me and Sabrina clicked on had disappeared. 

I stood there in silence. 

Till this day...I don't know if Sabrina existed or if the moments we spent together were true or no. But what I like to believe, she was an angel sent by God to make me a better person, to make me understand my true purpose.She was a star in my world filled with darkness. 

I thought as I walked past my orphanage, which was still in its building process. 

"Sir." A voice called, which interrupted my thoughts. 

“You still haven't told us what you would like to name this orphanage that you're constructing?" 

"Sabrina..." I replied with a smile.