everlasting curse ; hereafter [ ❥ ]

Encounter - [Josiah] POV: Ch 2

I look at her, she seemed rather interesting. Reminds me of my own mother. My mother , well she's jobless but as for my father, he has a stable job nonetheless. He works at our local supermarket as the cashier. We came from a remote town in Illnois, USA. Moving here to New York wasn't that easy as you may think, it took us almost our entire savings.

My mother and Ailea seemed similar in many ways, one of it was in looks. They both have brown medium and wavy hair, really spectacular. Another was in their way of speaking, just from this few interaction, I could tell she is a person who isn't comfortable around guys or is just awkward in general.

In this case, she seemed like other girls but I sense something within her that I shouldn't have, rather a bad vibe. But, I shouldn't be so quick to judge a random stranger I just met, that would be impolite of me.

From the looks on her face, I could tell how anxious Ailea was trying to interact with me, so I popped another question to spark the conversation.

"So, what do you think of New York? Do you originally come from here perhaps?" I questioned.

She didn't get the question, she was distracted on something else. I wonder what it was, maybe something was bothering her mind so I repeated it again.

"So, what do you think of New York? Do you originally come from here perhaps?" I repeated.

She finally answered but somewhat in a rush, "Yeah, I do come from New York. The skies seem magnificent today. I love today, or should I say you?" She tried to flirt with me, I could tell how drunk she was.

Interestingly, she's not bad at all. I would want a chance to date her if I knew her more but it was way too early as I just met her on this rooftop. I never knew girls like her would be in a fancy bar as this one, they would usually go to the downtown ones or more isolated bars. Maybe, her and I could get along well.

"That's great to know, well, I have something on my mind I want to say," a slight pause before I continued, "It's nothing much, just a random story that I would like your answer of."

"Have u ever wondered if a frontline worker messed up their job? Once, this worker was meant to treat this patient's health condition but they accidentally gave the patient the wrong medicine and it turned to something worse. Fascinating isn't it? How one wrong move could make something go horribly wrong," I implied, wanting to know what she has to say about this.

Ailea, with her eyes suddenly wide open, "How could they? How could that person messed up by giving the wrong medicine? The patient couldve ended up in a fatal injury or a permenant one. That sucks of them."

Deep down inside, that's what happened to me just a few days back and it's been haunting me. I could never turn back time and even if I could, maybe things couldve gone better. Everyone at the hospital looks at me differently now, although they forgiven me but I think that my actions will forever be remembered. I hesitate to tell her the truth that story - was about me after all. I didn't wanna make a stranger think of me as someone so horrible.

"Well, what if I told you that the frontline worker was me? The nurse who fucked up a patient health, temporarily when they couldve recovered faster. I feel so guilty deep down inside but all I know is whatever happened, I have to accept the outcome of it. I haven't been to get it off my mind ever since," I spoke in a miserable tone, hoping whatever she thinks of me doesn't change.

I got so anxious that I almost started to shiver, I just wanted to hear her thoughts on what I've did. It may not have a fatal outcome but it did impact the patient health even worse and I'm the one at fault. Nothing can turn back what I've done to that patient, I love this job but that wrongdoing of mine probably messed up what people thinks of me now. Or maybe, I was just overthinking all of this and everything will continue to be normal. I sighed in agony knowing what she has to say next.

"Really? Well, that doesn't matter much does it? It's not permenantly so don't worry much about it. I'm pretty sure they'll recover soon enough, It's just a mistake so it's alright. Humans aren't perfect, everyone makes mistakes. Nobody is." she assured me with a pat on my head.

That, that was so cute of her. I'm not sure but honestly, she's so sweet. It makes me think that I'm falling for her now but I can't right? It's way too fast to gain any feelings for someone whom you just met. I really love this moment where you just talk to someone with a calming view about your life and getting to know them, it's honestly a therapeutic way of letting go of things that's bothering you in your mind.

I can't recollect the last time I ever tried to get my mind of things, I've always kept everything to myself. My friends - they were way too busy with their own lives too so theoretically, I had nobody that I can share my thoughts with. But with a stranger on a rooftop? This was my first time I've ever encountered someone and actually interacted with them. Other times, I never find them interesting enough to bother to have a conversation with them or approach them. In other words, they were boring in my eyes.

The vibes she gives off, is really mixed but I love the fact that I actually feel comfortable around her for entirely no reason at all, she feels safe to be around with. I wanna be her friend, but, I'm way too pussy. But, it's either now or never so I'll have to ask her right?

"So, Ailea, wanna be friends? You seem really interesting to me, I never shared someone my thoughts in a really really long time and you - listening to me, made my whole day better so will you be my friend?" I spoke as I scratched my head, hoping for a yes.

"Sure, why not? It's always better to make new friends right? Especially when you have work and barely have any time," she giggled.

Damn, that. That took me by my own heart, her giggle is something else. I really want her now, but I have to take things slowly. Who knows I might reconsider if I really got to know her more? I don't know her enough to know her true self, this is just an act people have when they meet new people. Either ways, first impressions of her is that she's really caring and sweet even to strangers maybe.

"May I get your number?" I asked shyly, this was my first move. I had to get closer to her somehow.

"Sure, why not honestly, give me your phone. I'll write it down for you if you don't mind, eh?" she teased me, she knew.

I handed her my phone and she quickly writes down her phone number in my contact. Never knew making a friend could be this easy. Shit, something came to mind, I forgot about the time. It's already 2:50 a.m now, that's really quick. Good thing that I don't have any curfew so I'll hang around here longer hoping I could know more about her perhaps.