Chasing the Storm

The day the Storm hit

"I drove here."

"Oh, come on. Have a sip."

Before she could get uncomfortable, the other boy spoke up.

"Don't do that. You'll get told off."

Beam looked alarmed.

"What? I wouldn't -"

"Not you. That cocky guy."

A girl from the table behind me joined the conversation.

"You call him cocky, but didn't you guys try to recruit him?"

"Everyone knows how good he is, but I heard he rejected every offer. I don't understand why. He was offered high salaries. I would've jumped at the chance."

The guy next to him smirked and leaned in as if he were whispering a secret.

"I heard that he didn't want to rely on connections."

The girl behind Beam stood behind her and pointed at the two boys.

"If he's got connections it's because of his talent, but I won't disagree that he's a confident guy. You guys still love him just as much as the rest of us though."

Beam was beyond confused. They were talking as if it was obvious who they were talking about, but no one had mentioned a name.

"Um, who are you talking about?"

The guy opposite looked at her in disbelief.

"What? You don't know the handsome guy? Oh, I guess he already graduated when you started, didn't he?"

Another girl from the table behind joined them.

"He often joins us though. Everyone loves him, even outside of the department. They call him 'Faculty of Architecture's Hottie', but the school council members call him something else because he helped them out once."

"What do they call him?

"'The Messiah'."

"Really?"

They all laughed until a clap of thunder startled them.

"Wow. It's really coming down out there."

"Yeah, that's one heavy storm. Guess the sky's paving the way for the latecomer."

As if summoned, the door opened and a guy carrying a motorcycle helmet walked in.

"Ah, there he is! P'Payu!"

Beam turned around to finally see what this guy everyone had been telling her about looked like. What she didn't expect was to see the guy who had changed her tire on the side of the road. The light had been poor then, but there was no way she wouldn't recognise that handsome face.

Now that she had a better look, Beam could see that he had long dark hair which was tied back. She didn't know many, if any, guys with long hair, but seeing it on Payu it was her new favourite look. Dressed in the same motorcycle jacket as before, it covered up his physic, but she wondered if there was padding in the shoulders or if they just really were that wide.

The seniors around her greeted him and he headed over to say hello. He smiled at everyone as he greeted them and her heart fluttered at the sight. When he stopped by the table she was sitting at, Beam stood up to greet her knight in shining armour from the other night.

"You're P'Payu?"

"Yes, I'm Payu. Who are you?"

Beam tried not to feel disappointed that the handsome stranger didn't recognise her.