"The encounter"

Ariel

I got home few minutes later and sneaked into my room in fear of bumping into Jasmine whom I believed must still be mad at me about yesterday's ticket. Once I got into my room, I took my time in dressing up for work. I work as a waitress at Milly's restaurant. I wore a white shirt which had my name printed on it and a check skirt to match. I repacked my hair in a neat ponytail and applied pink lips gloss on my lips. I put on a white sneakers and left my room in search of what to eat.

Jasmine was awake when I entered the living room, I ducked behind the door, I'm not ready to face her this morning as that might make me late to work . She sat on the couch and crossed her legs with a bag of cheese balls in between her legs. She was still on her night wear but that didn't bother her because her attention was on the TV. I sneaked out and closed the door making sure not to make any sound. I picked out my bowl and spoon and poured enough quantity of cereal in them, I added milk, then sat on the kitchen stool and began eating. I noticed Jasmine have not moved from her sitting position ever since I entered the kitchen and it got me wondering what interesting show she was watching that made her unaware of my presence. I finished eating and washed my bowl and spoon. I picked my hand bag which I kept on the counter and walked into the living room where Jasmine sat watching TV.

It was one of JN's show and she was watching with starry eyed eyes, That's how much she loves him. I was about to walk out of the house when something caught my eyes. JN's eyes were teary and looked pained as he sang. This is actually the first time I'm listening to his song and I must confess, he doesn't sound so bad. I wondered what might make such a handsome dude look so down and in pains, scratch that, he is not as handsome as Phil from the gym. "What are saying girl?" My subconscience screamed at me and I slapped my head. "But why is he wearing a mask? Is his face disfigured or something? What's beneath that mask? What's the story behind it?" I wondered. Somehow it feels weird thinking about him, I smiled as I watched him move his body to the beating of the music he was singing a while ago, "he's a great dancer too" I commented. Why am I being like this all of a sudden? I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and looked down at Jasmine whose mouth was hanging open and I smirked.

Minutes later, I ran out of the house in a haste and went straight for my bike with Jasmine cursing behind. I picked my bike and sped away laughing out loud. I recalled Jasmine terrified face when I shoved those carrots into her mouth that she left open while watching JN. I knew she never liked carrots one bit and thankfully I used that as a means to get her back to planet Earth. I was still trying to catch my breath from laughing so much when I bumped into a black car with well tinted glasses. I fell down because of the impact of the collision, I stared at my bike which was disfigured as the front wheel was squeezed beyond repair, this car must be very strong. I sighed and stood up, I was about to apologize to whomever I bumped into when he raised his voice at me "Are you blind miss?" He yelled.

I looked ahead to see JN coming out of his car, "for real? What is he even doing in my neighborhood" I thought to myself. I stood rooted to the ground and watched him come closer to me in awe. "Are you blind, miss?" He asked again and I snapped out of my trance. I scoffed "I think you are the blind one mister" I retorted, he seemed taken aback by my reply but that serves him right, even if he's rich, famous and all that, he should at least have good manner of approach. " What did you just say?" He asked surprised. I took a stride and stood before him face to face, "Mister, you probably didn't see well or you are too dumb to notice that this Lane is for cyclists and pedestrians only, yet you parked your car here, maybe expecting anyone to fall into your trap so that you can comfortably unleash your anger on and I ended up being a victim of your stupid anger. Did you see what your car did to my bike!" I yelled.

He laughed in mockery at me "oh, you are most concerned about your bike huh?, Look what your rickety bike did to mine blind bat" he yelled back at me that was when I noticed the scratch his car got from my bike, by now people gathered to watch us as his fans kept on taking pictures of us. "I'm sorry" I apologized for the scratch " please keep it your self" he snapped, this young man here is unbelievable . "Can you afford to buy one?" He gritted, I looked at him wide eyed, and this arrogant arrogant jerk just crossed the line and pissed me off, without looking back, I gave him a resounding slap not without jumping because he was way taller than me, he held his cheek and at the same placing the mask very well because it was almost falling out of his face due to the impulse of the slap I gave him, his Driver was now charging towards me in anger and JN raised his hand and that made him to stop abruptly, not without glaring hard at me which I returned. "What did you do?, How dare you raise your hand on me?" He spoke calmly now. I glared hard at him, this man right here has successfully been added to my hate list. He sighted the paparazzi, he quickly brought out some money from his pocket and threw them at me "go fix your dumb bike" he said arrogantly and began to walk back to his car, in a swift motion, I caught his wrist and threw the money back at him " I don't need your money, don't you think an apology will do?" I asked with gritted teeth, he began to laugh, the paparazzi were close now and have started taking pictures, his Driver tried his best to keep them off but they were not ready to listen.

JN bent his head so that his mouth was just behind my ear, he brushed his lips against my ear and strangely, I felt a tingling feeling in the pit of my stomach " An apology you want from me, an apology you will never get" he whispered getting off my ear, he entered his car and zoomed off afterwards. The paparazzi rushed towards me, probably asking for details but I just picked up my bike and left for the maintenance shop, I will get a new on if this one is not repaired. After dropping my bike, I trekked to my workplace. I know Milly would be very mad at me for my late coming, so I braced myself up for her query.