An Angry Meeting

Trigger Warning: This story contains a scene of a graphic death. Please procede with caution.

“An Angry Meeting”

The Before

Cold brisk wind whistles through the stark buildings. Tall and gray skyscrapers  that scream ‘barren’ tower above the population. There, in a sea of people, a young woman walks alone, shivering against the unforgiving elements. Her cheap clothes, thin because of the quality of the fabric, do nothing to hide her from the wind. 

Her bright red hair shines against the drab fabric draped around her body. Her clothes represent her place in life; Unattached.

 She has not yet found her soul bonded, so gray is the only thing available to her. Separated in shops, the only things available to the Unattached are gray things, not that they could tell the difference anyway. Grey is all that they can see. 

She meanders through the crowds of people. Her demeanor is warm despite her cold environment, giving gentle smiles and soft mummers of apologies as she brushes against them. 

Her only day off in two months, and she has decided to spend it at the pet shelter down the street. 

On the other side of town, a man hurriedly forces his way through the crowd of people. A sea of gray faces and bodies stops him from his destination. 

A cup of coffee is balanced precariously in his hand, a “gift” for the boss he needs to impress to get his yearly bonus. No matter how hard he works, his boss has passed him up for promotion after promotion, and this coffee is the man's last ditch attempt to make himself Chairman. The title CEO no longer pleases him, and he is ready to make a  name for himself again. 

He scowls angrily to himself as he has to once again stand behind a crowd of people moving too slowly for his liking. 

His dislike for people is strong,regardless of his affinity for kissing shoes and playing court inside the tall buildings around him. All he wishes is to be out and away from people. 

His nice clothes, while gray as his love life, might as well be ruined, with all of the dirty people pushing past them. 

See this man is from high society, and his dislike for his lower class neighbors or as he likes to call them, ‘lazy people’ is strong. 

Finally, he escapes past the slow herd of people, turning the corner sharply. 

Now, I must have you, dear reader, understand that not everyone who is destined to be together enjoys each other's company, and while rare, there are soul mates that do not in fact enjoy each other's company. That being said, people are complex and colorful creatures, ever changing like the tides.

 So, as I continue, keep in mind that not everything is set into stone. And not everyone knows the ending from the beginning. 

The Female 

When I left my tiny apartment building this morning I never thought that my day would turn out this way. 

When I turned twenty one I made peace with the fact that I would never be granted the happiness of a soulmate. 

When I was younger I hoped and prayed and dreamed that I would be able to see the world as the Attached did. I had heard the rumors of the things called “colors”' but since I was alone I was never granted the ability. 

I turned the corner, hugging the wall and trying not to bump into the people that were around me. I wouldn’t want them to think I was mean, of all things. 

Instead of hitting open air, a man, crashed into me. 

A moment of pain as my nose hit his chest, and another flash of pain as the scalding hot coffee hit my body. My face, chest and arms were soaked in the substance, and the warmth became shivering cold within seconds. 

I look up, attempting to apologize to the man who was currently screaming at me. The man, who was full of bright bold colors. His eyes were a shade I had never seen before. His hair an extremely dark shade of gray, I thought the word was black? 

Words escape me as he continues to try to blot out the enormously large coffee stain on his shirt. 

“Are you serious right now?” He questions me, obviously angry. “Why are you creeping around the corner like some-” His eyes finally rise to mine, and the words escape him.” 

The Male 

My soulmate. I was looking at my soul mate. Her bright vivid hair was colorful.  She was absolutely gorgeous, in a simplified sort of way. Her clothes were shabby. As if she was one of the people who lived on the lower side of the city, I tried not to think to hard on that, her beauty already dimming as I look at her cheap clothes. 

“I’m sorry!” She says, snapping out of her reverie. “It-it was an accident!” 

My anger reappears as I take in my soiled clothing. “What am I supposed to do now?” I question her. “I’m going to be late to my meeting now!” 

“I-I’m sorry!” She whispers, clearly upset as her eyes well up with tears. “It truly was an accident! I know you're worried about your meeting but I am sure if you explain what happened they will understand!” 

“No!” I snap, aggravated with her games. “You people don’t understand how this works!  I can’t just be late to a meeting because my soulmate spilled coffee all over me!” 

A crinkle appears in between the space in her eyebrows right before she speaks, showing she is no longer upset, but angry. 

“You spilled coffee on me too!” She raises her voice, not quite a yell, as she crosses her arms over her coffee stained chest. 

“Yes well, my clothes are more expensive than yours. I can’t just run into Walmart and get some cheap clothes.”  I scoff, trying to mentally calculate how I am supposed to travel all the way back to my penthouse and grab a new set of clothes. 

The tears she had been holding back had finally escaped, running down her freckled cheeks. 

She shoves past me, yelling at me over her shoulder. 

“You are a bully! I am disgusted to have a soulmate like you!” Anger fills my belly, and before I can speak further I scream back, “Well I am disgusted to have a lazy bum as a soulmate! Work harder and buy some better clothes!” 

I pant, truly disgusted at my own actions. I run my hands through my hair, trying to understand what exactly I had just done. 

The Female 

I race through the crowds of people, not even looking at where I was going as tears burn through my eyes. 

He hates me. My soulmate hates me. Colors burst through my vision, pounding through my head, making the tears worse. 

Suddenly seeing color was overwhelming enough, but now with the thought that my soulmate is a terrible person, my emotions are simply too much to bear. 

A sob wracks itself up through my chest, and I race across the street, not wanting to look both ways as I run from my problems—from him. 

I only look up in time to see the bright colored car, the color of which I do not even know the name of, racing towards me. 

The blare of the horn blends with the screeching sound of tearing metal—

The Male 

All at once, the colors I had just become acquaintanced with flickers, and dread pools in my stomach. 

Agony races through my bones as I dart in the direction my soulmate, whos name I did not even bother to ask. 

The world goes dark, the muted color gray seeming disgusting now that I know the real world. 

I don’t wish to believe, refuse to believe, that she is gone. 

Yet, I know already I will be too late.  

The After

Cold brisk wind whistles through the stark buildings. Tall and gray skyscrapers that scream ‘barren’ tower above the population. There, in a sea of people, a young woman lays on the sidewalk, blood seeping out from underneath her. Her cheap clothes, thin because of the quality of the fabric, do nothing to hide the wound gaping in her side, nor the gash on the side of her head. 

Her bright red hair looks dull compared to the bright red blood surrounding her. Her clothes represent her place in life; Unattached.

 She had found her soul bonded, and he has rejected her feminine sensibilities. Grey would not have been the only thing available to her, after today, but she will never be able to enjoy that quality of life, as her life is now over.  

She lays still, her body already growing cold from the ground, as paramedics and policemen surround her.

On the other side of town, a man hurriedly forces his way through the crowd of people. A sea of gray faces and bodies stops him from his destination. 

He knows he will be too late, yet panic forces him to try. He has lost her. His soulmate.

He scowls angrily to himself as a way to fight the tears and screaming that wishes to rise out of him.  

His dislike for people is strong, regardless of his affinity for kissing shoes and playing court inside the tall buildings around him. All he wished for was to be out and away from people. Now all he wishes is to go back, and fix what he has destroyed.

His nice clothes, while gray as his love life, might as well be ruined, with the coffee stain spreading down his suit. 

But he will never wash, nor wear, the clothing again. He will torment himself, late at night, knowing he had something precious, and squandered it.