The One

“Have you ever heard the story of Zeus and the early humans who had literally the double of everything that we have now??”, I looked around at everyone, seated with me in a circle, as my eyes settled on Paul, I saw him shake his head, his green eyes curious,“.......if you have not.....then here it is.....”, I said with a flourish, animating every word I say with emphasis, “ long long ago, when the king of Gods......Zeus...created the humans.....he made them with four legs, four hands, as I told, double of everything that we have now. One day, Zeus got a doubt.....he thought to himself”, I said, changing my voice to a deeper one and walking over to the middle of the circle, ‘ what if these humans overthrow me, what if they become more powerful than me’”, I said scratching my jaw thoughtfully....deep into the character,“ ‘yes! I have the perfect idea!’, with that, he executed his plan....”, I looked around at the curious silent faces staring at me to continue the story,“ he divided each human into two.....that is each human after the division had only two hands, two legs, just like how we are now. With this division not only did the bodies get divided into halves but even their souls, however”, with another swirl, letting my frock twirl around me, “ he is a God and he is a good guy. the humans were divided on such a way that they were of the opposite genders. And when they find each other they will feel like they found the missing piece of their life.......”, I looked around, “ you get where I am going???......the other half of your soul is what we call as our soul mate....and this is the story behind soul mates....”, I broke into a dramatic curtsy in the middle of the circle as everyone grinned, some wondering where their soulmate might be, some grinning because they just find the whole thing funny.....however, people believing this, is their own personal choice......but with the happiness that I was the reason for my writers' club members to have a smile on their face today, I waved them all bye and walked out with my bag slouched over my shoulder just as the clock struck six.

I walked as I looked into my assignment sheet. Each month, each of us is given a particular prompt and are asked to submit a story based on the given prompt and my prompt for this month is ....second chances....."Hey!", Paul came running to me, his brown hair flopping into his green eyes with each step he took. He broke into a grin just as he stood in front of me. Ok, let me be shamelessly honest for a moment, Paul, well, he literally stole my heart right on the day he walked into our writer's club classroom. And I did not fall for him just for his cute smile, messy brown hair and bright and clear green eyes, but for his beautiful character and the way he tells his stories. He is a natural! hmm....but recently though, he has been silent since he lost his grandparents a few weeks ago. He was a mess for the whole week, but he seems to be regaining himself. However, the most surprising thing is, this is the first time Paul has talked to me. Even though I really like him a lot, I never dared to speak to him. But today, I saw him notice me for the first time and now he is talking to me..... it is a great thing right?!

"Hi!", I breathed wondering what could be the reason for him to talk to me of all the people in the club. " I heard your story, and I should say....it was a really beautiful story! Was that a story that you read somewhere or was it yours?", even with all the crush, Paul definitely did not strike me as a person with a belief in soulmates, but the curiosity in his eyes when he asked me the question proved that I was wrong. " Nah...I just came across that story in Pinterest once, it just stuck to my head after that.", I said walking, I glanced at him and he smiled, I could not help it, but gave a goofy grin. " I really liked it.....do you believe it?", he glanced at me with his head tilted. " Of course I believe in it, why else will it get stuck in my head!....of course soulmates are real.....and I am eager to meet mine....what about you?...do you believe in it?", I asked him back mirroring the way he tilted his head when he asked me the question. He noticed the mirroring and chuckled," I did not.......", he said with a wink at me. Very cleverly, I just stood gaping at him as he walked away chuckling and shaking his head.

"Dude!.....Bella!", I turned to Rachel who had been shaking me awake by my shoulder. " Did Paul just talk to you?", she asked, her brown eyes wide and followed my gaze to Paul who was now boarding a bus with the last look at my direction. I turned to Rachel as soon as he disappeared onto the bus," yeah right?.......he just wanted to talk about the story, nothing else", I began walking the away from the bus stop along with Rachel who has been my neighbour and BFF. "Hmm......having a long time crush talk to us by themselves is definitely a dream come true.....and.....", she turned towards me and walked backwards in front of me shaking her head, her black curls bouncing around her shoulders," it does not look like he just wanted to talk about your story", she giggled.....," dude no... I am just not his type.....so...don't bother.....", I said looking down at the road. Rachel stood abruptly and tilted my face up with a finger. She stooped a little to look into my eyes, squinted hers and looked at me, pretending to scrutinize," well.....nice mahogany thick mane, pretty jet black eyes, a good olive complexion, short, just the way a guy loves, and a very very beautiful soul is what I see here.......do you really think that you are not his type.......??.....sorry, I don't think so my dear.....don't bother denying.....", she stood back up straight and began walking beside me as I just sighed, understanding that it is of no use in arguing with her. Let her just understand by herself.

I sat up startled from my bed around ten and it was not because of the sudden message tone of my mobile, but by the name that appeared along with the beep on my screen. It was Paul. " Hey, would be really happy if you could help me with your awesome storytelling skills, meet me at the café by our club tomorrow evening? - Paul", it said. Ummmmm....ok......we have writers club only on Wednesdays and Saturdays, tomorrow is Thursday and he is willing to come to the club all the way from the other side of the town?......hmm...maybe he is going to meet some friends or has some other workaround here.....that must be it.....or else why else would he come all across the town just to see me and to get help with his story......that too.....from me?......he is a way better story writer. Even though I had been convincing myself that it was all not a big deal...I eventually forwarded the text to Rachel, and all that she replied was......"told ya!"

Luckily, it was a hot evening, if it has been cold then I would not have had an excuse to explain my sweating to Paul who is now sitting right in front of me, sipping a cup of coffee, glancing at me occasionally while I was trying all I can to avoid blushing. Just as I picked up my cup after wiping away all the sweat from my hands with the tissue that I secretly took from the table when he turned away," So, you will help me?", he tilted his head just like he did yesterday. "Ummmm.......", " what are you thinking?", he asked smiling, "am just thinking how I could possibly help you....", I said smiling back. He set his empty cup down and gulped.....ok....why is he gulping like he is nervous......" I will tell you how you can help me.....", he held his hands in front and looked at me intently......" Bella.....help me clear my head......", I tilted my head in confusion....he took a deep breath," You are all that I can think about Bella, I think holding it all in is the whole reason for the overwhelming feel.....let me share it with you......I love you Bella", and so gracefully, I choked on my coffee just as the last words he said reached my ears.

"What???!!!", I must have looked really goofy with my expression because Paul just chuckled and replied back still smiling," yes, I have always felt a connection with you...like I was attracted to you, like you are the magnet.....and with your story yesterday...I understood that you are my missing piece, you complete me, let me feel completed and let me be your other half Bella.....", I must have still been gaping at him when he reached out and held my hand that I had on the table and his nervous smile slipped just as I pulled my hand away. " I am sorry....", I said and got up immediately and walked out of the café wishing that he won't come after me. Luckily he did not. I maintained the same velocity right from the café to the destination and stopped only at Rachel's room.

"Dude!..... I told ya!", " seriously just be serious and help me, dude...I am really confused....,"," confused over what exactly?..... You have always liked him.....now you got to know that even he likes you...it is mutual.....do you care to explain what the issue is?.....because I don't see any.....". I took a deep breath.....thinking.....," you know that I am into the soul mate belief right? I want to fall in love only with my other half.....yes...I accept that I did like him, but at the moment when he confessed, the first thought that raised in me was, what if he is not the one.....what if he is not my type....what if he is not really that serious about the relationship than me.....how do you think that I will be able to think with all of this running in my mind?", "Okay....okay.....I get it......dude listen...answer all the questions in your head one by one.....don't look at it as a bunch of questions whereas seeing it as one...look at the next question only after you are clear with one.....okay?....let's answer it together.....start.....", and just like that half of my confusions were dissolved after around a half an hour of discussion.

"You told that you feel a connection with him...don't you think he deserves a chance?", I sighed....." I hate that you always sound right....."," that's why you love me.....", she said with a wink at me. I grinned shaking my head.....and took a deep breath...." so...affirmative that is".

"Actually I always liked you and felt a connection with you and am sorry for the way I reacted yesterday, I was just surprised.....", and that brought back the familiar grin on his face back again. Smiling back," I love you too....", and with that.....I felt like I just connected us both back again.

"Hey......what happened to you...you did not come to the writer's club today....what happened.....do you have the story ready??....we got to submit our stories in a week.....you have it almost ready right? ", I said into the phone," it is nothing"," you okay?"," yeah...I am good....just..."," just?", he sighed....," I was just worried about my grandparents.....it is my grand dad's birthday.....today", "you want to talk about it?"....he was just silent," no....you know what?....just talk about it......please....", I heard him sigh...." ok....", he said at last....." I don't have a dad Bella.....my grandad was more of a dad than a grandad....", he paused and sighed again....ok.....it must be hard....." listen.....your grandad loved you, did not he?", " he did", " imagine this, your granddad is in heaven along with his friends at heaven and he is always looking after you from up there.....do you think he will be happy to see you worrying and not living your day?", I asked....."no.....he won't be happy....he would never let me worry......", he told, his voice choking....." see...so don't let him worry there...cry out if you want to...but don't put your life on hold....ok....talk to me when you feel like......just remember that I am there for you...ok?",.....silence...."Ummm...I am sorry...I got to go....bye...", he said hurriedly....." okay...b-..", he hung up before I could finish talking...

"I don't understand..... I like him, I feel the connection really...but.....I also feel like he is not that into me....", I said sighing as I was sprawled on Rachel's bed." Like sometimes he is like this totally romantic guy and sometimes he is running away from me....like. I just tell him something really nice and he just runs away.....today though he did not..."," he did not run away?", Rachel asked brightened....."Yeah......don't get brightened up....you don't have to run away from the phone to end a conversation...all you have to do is just hang up and he did that just right". Hearing that, Rachel slouched back again into the chair she was seated on. " I just don't understand what is going on in his head....wish I knew....", I sighed into the pillow that I had pressed onto my face. But even without looking, I could feel the worried glances of Rachel on me.

I was frozen after what Rachel told me. It has been three days since I told Rachel about my issue with Paul that she vowed to fix and she did find the solution. Rachel kept talking....but my tear-filled eyes were scanning the room for the brown-haired bastard. He smiled at me as soon as he saw me and I lost all my anger and only felt more pathetic. I stood in a distance and he understood that I wanted to talk to him and he walked over. As soon as he reached me, I said in the most controlled voice possible," were you having a writer's block? After your grandad died? Is that why you failed to submit your last month's story?", his smile faded slowly as I asked and that was affirmative enough. I raised my hand gesturing him to stop when he tried to talk," Is your prompt 'betrayal'?", he looked down, affirmative. " did you just talk to me and acted like you loved me just because you needed to clear your writer's block?", silence....affirmative. I looked down at my shoes and controlled the tears choking me. Failing to control my own tears I looked up and asked......." you never loved me", his head snapped up......" Bella!...I...", I raised my hand....." please don't talk.....you have already broken me enough.....your story...that was why you asked me all those scenarios right?......let me give you the perfect ending for your story........I trusted you.....I thought you were my one.....but you threw my heart down and broke it into a million pieces.....please don't step on it again.....don't ever enter my life.....ever .......ever again.

It has been around a week and a half......a week and half of me avoiding all of Paul's calls and visits. Of course, I won't give up on my passion for him. Today by the end of the class...the monthly submissions will be ranked and will be put up on the board and our peers' stories will be available for us to read. Of course, I was anticipating Paul's story to be on the top as I walked near the board....but it was not...ok.....the second maybe......ummm....no......was the way I got betrayed not worth even for the top ten?...... but only after I scanned the whole board did I notice that Paul was not on the list at all. My story was however there in the fifth place. When I looked around, I found Paul at the corner slouched over in a chair. I walked over to him and he looked up, just as I reached him. His ever clear and bright eyes were now dull. "Umm...I did not see your story up there...", I said pointing towards the board. " I did not submit", he looked at me with a worried smile. "umm....", I said blinking, without knowing what to say...." I fake confessed to you because you believed in soulmates. But of course...I fell for you without my own knowledge. I ran away from you whenever you let me into your world unguarded because I felt guilty, I did not understand that I actually liked you.....the day you told me that you will be there with me.....I felt overwhelmed....and understood that you are indeed true about the connection, because I felt it too, at that moment. I dropped the idea of submitting the story then and decided to tell you about it eventually, but.....", he looked at me, his eyes glazed, " I know that I don't deserve to be forgiven right away. I read your story, about second chances, Give me a second chance Bella....you don't have to love me back until you feel like I am worthy and genuine, but just let me start over this time, I am terribly sorry for everything that I did.......Let's start from being friends, but just know that I will always love you...no matter what".