It was 5 am and Griffith was still wide awake. Lady Sleep had failed to tempt him and Sandman failed to do his work on his eyes.
Was he dreaming? It felt more hallucinated and haunted than real and living, as he never thought that he would bump into someone who's so similar to him yet different,.
Irene Dalacruz, the only one who stole his sleep,
Griffith just stumbled upon her blog, "This Morning of Fate" and he was taken aback by the storm of words and ideas she penned down, So graceful in every point and so ferocious in the advancing lines, he exclaimed.
Thought of criticising on a rather controversial statement, he commented on it. Bam! A reply a minute later, he was intrigued by the swiftness in her chat, what was supposed to happen or what he expected to happen was a heated argument, but he was flattered by the professionalism she showed and was awestruck in the end with her banter.
Next morning, the stern Griffith woke up with a smile, he smiled even more when he thought of the fact that he's smiling. He felt amused but the conversation was as fresh as spring morning. He wanted to get back into routine but whatever he did, whenever he did for the whole day, he smiled, blushed rather, and he almost fell down from the treadmill while reading her blog.
Of course it wasn't stalking, just going through someone's work is called reviewing not stalking. Now he shifted to meditation to make his mind move towards himself rather than meddling around the maniacal day that he was going through. Atlast it was soothing, until her face popped out of nowhere. He opened his eyes and exclaimed,"why am I dreaming about her face?", soon to express his emotion out as he walked out 'stalking' her instagram account and requested to follow her. Just casual use of social media he told himself, and the accepted notification left him blushing cheek to cheek in the middle of the lecture.
They chatted on instagram, for the sake of it, and what started as a greeting session turned into a discussions on dislikes. He personally loved it as he knew mutual dislikes makes a bonding far stronger than someone with mutual likes. He, the usual introvert typed large paragraphs at lightspeed like he's working on a dream essay.
But, after a while, he noted something. There wasn't much excitement from her side, rather some crisp and curt responses which made him feel uneasy. Was he too annoying while he thought he was anxious or was he getting desperate? Maybe he was overthinking about it and thought over the same thing for 15 more times before she responded with, "I'm a more of a call person? Care to call?"
Before he could even respond she called him, and they started talking till 3 am yet both weren't tired at all, rather intrigued and engrossed into the conversation. Her voice had a strange charm which led him to open his closed chapters. And she out of everyone else, made an effort to understand his issues, provided an insight to every thing he faced, and that's why he still stayed up even an hour later after hanging up.
These things never ends well, he knew. But he couldn't stop himself either. It became a routine over time. Those slimy innuendos in between those
silent expressions while adding some dark humour. It was effortless and so natural that no one would believe that they hadn't met.
Out of nowhere, he asked where she studies, she scoffed as if to say 'dont you know' it's St.Teresa. "She's just on the other side of the city." He thought to himself. Yet he could tell that the thought of seeing her felt foreign. He knew he'll feel at home when they meet and at the same time he wanted to hold her close at the same moment. All these looked like a dream to him and every single moment that unrolled, he knew he'll cherish till eternity
And it took him days to gather that courage when he invited her for the book fare that he wanted to go for so long. It was going to be held at Gotham Central, a middle location for both of them. They both would have to travel to there.
This was the day, the day when he will see her. The day he will meet her. The day he will know that she's real and it's not a dream. He just couldn't keep the excitement down. It was 6 now and he still couldn't sleep. They were supposed to meet there at 11. The time of their first 'date' ?
