000d, 00h, 27m, 36s
000d, 00h, 27m, 35s
000d, 00h, 27m, 34s
"—Hey!" Aiden's consistent snapping, combined with the sound of his voice, had my head quite literally snap up to look at him. "You're still with us, right?" He asked in a mocking manner, biting his tongue as a grin spread across his face.
Without thought, my eyes flickered to the gradually decreasing countdown on my wrist one last time before they fell back on him, eyes rolling at the same time.
Though, Olivia managed to get a word in before I had the chance to.
"Jesus, you know what day it is— I know you weren't any better the day your countdown ran out," The blonde huffed in annoyance, her tight curls framing her face as she shook it frantically.
"Actually, I was doing just fine; thank you very much." One hand ruffling through his naturally red hair, he crinkled his nose at the words, only making the girl break out into a smile.
"Lies! Eniola told me—"
Knowing the events she was referencing, I chuckled lightly at the thought as I watched the two bicker on and on.
"—We're not even going to get into that, Olivia!"
"What? Why not? I'm sure it would help Amidelle immensely to hear that story—"
This time, it wasn't his own protesting that cut her off but rather his flat hand on her face, pushing it away with a proud smirk playing on his lips. Perplexed, she leaned back into her seat, brows knitted together in confusion as her eyes flickered back and forth between Aiden and me.
With a humorous snort, my gaze fell on my wrist again, and the careless smile on my lips faded slowly.
000d, 00h, 25m, 20s
They both noticed.
Olivia quickly broke the silence that fell over our table. "How much longer?"
"25 minutes," I shrugged, lips twitching into a forced smile— I wasn't sure why I was forcing it. I shouldn't be.
After all, there was no need to be worried. The System always worked.
"You think it'll be someone from work? 22 minutes; that's right before your break is over?"
I nodded, a little impressed by Aiden's observation.
"What?" He scoffed. "I can be a good friend when I want to be." Olivia rolled her eyes, head falling to the side as she did so, not being able to hide the smile creeping onto her features.
"Well, I'd assume so, right? Maybe someone new—?" My voice was filled with uncertainty, and I shrugged carelessly in hopes that would cover it up. Though, I don't think it did.
"I sure hope so; just imagine how frustrating it would be if you found out you've been working at the same place for months, or even years— oh god."
A singular, dry laugh escaped my mouth at her words, mostly because it would, indeed, be frustrating beyond belief.
Aiden's head was resting on the white table in front of him, eyes peering up at me lazily. A small smirk found itself on his lips.
"Eniola told me you weren't nervous?" He asked, eyes diverting and now roaming the large hall we were sat in, head still resting on the oval table.
"I'm not," I sighed, my eyes wandering down to my wrist once again.
000d, 00h, 21m, 01s
"I don't buy it—"
All it seemed the two were doing today was constantly interrupt each other. Olivia did, this time around.
"I wasn't," She quickly said, eyes narrowed slightly as she sent the man next to her a sharp glare in hopes it would make him shut up. "You know; nervous."
She wasn't?
"Yeah, me neither," Aiden shrugged.
"Stop with the lying; it's useless. You were a complete mess," Olivia laughed.
"—Was not!"
"Oh no, you definitely were," I chimed in with a snicker.
As they went on, I was distracted by the soft buzz the phone in my back pocket made. The only reason I took it out was the fact we weren't allowed to take our personal devices into The System. Meaning, this was definitely something work-related.
»No need to stay in for the rest of the day, Miss Gray. The System does not require your presence today; all work has been completed.«
I couldn't suppress the initial sigh leaving my mouth, sounding frustrated as well as just slightly overwhelmed by the new piece of information.
For weeks now — maybe even months — I prepared myself to meet my soulmate here. At The System. Where I was familiar with my surroundings and was able to predict at least a little bit of how things might go.
After all, soulmates have found each other here countless times before. It went down similarly every time, too, giving me a basis for how things would go when it was my turn.
Now that they had sent me home early, that wasn't the case anymore.
000d, 00h, 16m, 44s
"What's that frown?" Aiden furrowed his brows as he watched the way I slowly retreated the phone back into my pocket. "'They cut your break short?" His nose scrunched up at the thought alone.
"You could call it that; told me I can leave early— like, now," I huffed, hand ruffling through my brown hair in hopes the motion would release some of the stress.
A questioning look in his eyes, they dragged over to Olivia and back onto me. He opened his mouth to say something twice and decided against it both times before actual words left his mouth.
"Am I missing something? That's a good thing, no?" Blue eyes flickered back and forth between Olivia and me once more. "I'm lost."
The blonde girl next to him caught on quicker.
"I guess that means you're not meeting them here, huh?" She puzzled together, and Aiden opened his mouth to let go of a soundless "Ah!"
"That's a shame; I would've loved to sneak a peek," He joked.
He was right. It really was a shame.
000d, 00h, 07m, 31s
I decided to walk home.
It was a gut feeling I knew I would follow, but I still debated heavily on.
I didn't live too far, though it was always easier to take the train. No more than five minutes, and I'd be home that way.
Still, I decided against the easy way. Like I said; a gut-feeling.
000d, 00h, 05m, 45s
When my eyes weren't glued to the red ink against my wrist, they were looking up at the buildings around me; all similarly tall, white and designed to have as few sharp edges as possible.
000d, 00h, 05m, 00s
My breath picked up at the five-minute mark.
And it freaked me out more than the mark itself merely because I shouldn't be freaking out.
This was normal. This was fine. This was what I wanted.
It's what I've been looking forward to ever since I was a child.
A good thing; that's what it's always been— still is.
So, was it bad that I was dreading it, almost?
000d, 00h, 2m, 22s
I shook my head to rid myself of my thoughts.
I wasn't dreading it.
That's stupid. You can't dread something that's meant to be; something that's supposed to be perfect— is going to be perfect.
The System never had flaws.
The thought of that calmed me down. It didn't have flaws.
I took a deep breath.
000d, 00h, 1m, 43s
My legs carried me all on their own. If I stopped to take a look around, I couldn't guarantee I was even still on my way home. It could very well be that they had their own destination in mind.
It's not like I paid that any attention. I wasn't focused on where I was going; I was focused on who I'd meet along the way; how I'd meet them.
000d, 00h, 0m, 45s
My feet gradually carried me along the white sidewalk, passing a few shops and people I paid no mind to, my pulse thumping against my skin.
000d, 00h, 0m, 10s
I couldn't tear my gaze away from the numbers now. I knew I should.
000d, 00h, 0m, 05s
I wondered whether anyone else threw up on their soulmate before when they first met them. It sure felt like I would.
000d, 00h, 0m, 03s
000d, 00h, 0m, 02s
000d, 00h, 0m, 01s
Perhaps forcefully running straight into them was worse than throwing up on them. Perhaps it was equally as embarrassing.
000d, 00h, 0m, 00s
And when my head snapped up, a gasp escaping my mouth at the unexpected— well, expected encounter, I thought that, perhaps, it wasn't all that bad.
All on their own, my cheeks tinted a light shade of pink as my breath grew heavy, the countdown on my wrist resting for the first time in my life.
I watched dark, full brows furrow as eyes just as brown scanned every inch of my face intently. The light wrinkles forming on his forehead were framed by his brown hair lazily falling on each side of it.
It wasn't the way I imagined it at all. But with the way his brown hair swayed with the wind slightly, the way his pink lips twitched briefly — no doubt suppressing a smile — before his tongue poked the inside of his cheek, it was almost better.
And then, he opened his mouth.
Oh, how I wish he wouldn't have opened his mouth
Instead of the smile I expected, his face contorted into a grim scowl. "Watch it," He hissed. It became apparent quite quickly then, that his tongue poked the inside of his cheek in irritation rather than anything else.
Perplexed, the smile on my own lips faded, eyes quickly searching my surroundings to see if there was someone else it could've been.
There wasn't.
In horror, my eyes flickered down to my wrist; maybe I had read the numbers wrong. Maybe there were still a few seconds left.
000d, 00h, 0m, 00s
And without another word, another look, another anything, he brushed past me harshly and disappeared around the next round corner of the closest building.
-
hey where are u going sir
I'm so excited for EVERYTHING ELSE THAT FOLLOWS THIS
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What are your favourite tropes? What are your least favourite?