Your POV
Ever since I was born, my eyes were of two different colours. I never liked it, I was always being ostracized and bullied because of it, saying I was a monster, not a human. Friends were hard to come by, in fact, never at all. I spent my entire day studying in the library because that was the only thing I was good at, the only thing I could do alone.
I am a research analyst in SHIELD. Whatever finding they bring back will be sent to me for analysis and I will report the results back to Maria determining if it's safe for SHIELD to utilise the weapons they found or any information they brought back.
I heard the door open but I was on my knees trying to find my contact lens that dropped. Ever since I started living alone, I buy contact lenses to hide the difference in eye colour.
"Maria asked me- Y/N?" I stood up from where I was, but banging on my head under the table in the process.
"Ouch... Yes?" I said, rubbing my head as pain spread throughout.
"Maria asked me if the documents were ready for inspection."
"Oh yes." I nodded, still looking at the ground. "Let me get it for you." I went to my table and searched through the pile of files before passing it to Nat.
"Thanks." I heard her say before closing the door behind her.
I took out my phone and turned on the flashlight, hoping to be able to see more clearly but to no avail. Thankfully, no one else came into the office that day.
---
Quiet day comes by rarely in SHIELD, but in times like this, I like to clock off work early to immerse myself in the library. Taking off the contact lens because it irritates and dry my eyes and since hardly anyone comes to the library. In fact, SHIELD was thinking of demolishing this place to build something else that would be more useful for them.
I scanned through the section that I've yet to browse through and one caught my eye, The Art of Misdirection. Picking it up, I sat at one of the many empty tables and started flipping. Even in SHIELD, I don't have many friends, more of a colleague or maybe an acquaintance at most. I spent most of my time reading, either during lunch or here in the library.
I was so engrossed in reading that I didn't realise someone sat in front of me. I wanted to look up but I remembered that I took out my contact lens so I raised the book to cover my face.
"It's just me."
"H-hi Nat. W-what are you doing here?" I stuttered on my words. I was not mentally prepared to meet anyone.
"Why are you hiding your face?" Nat tried to push the book down.
"I-I need to go." I stood up with the book trying to leave but Nat flung the book out of my head. "What!"
"Why can't you look at me?"
"I- I can." I took a step back as Nat came closer to me. She turned my head to look at her but I pressed my eyes closed.
"Then open your eyes." I tried to open my eyes but somehow, my brain was stuck in defensive mode and I was unable to move a muscle.
While I was trying to convince my brain to open my eyes, her lips came crashing on mine. "I love you no matter what so open your eyes."
I slowly peeled open my eyes and looked at Natasha. "Why?"
"You have beautiful eyes, why do you hide them?"
"Nobody likes it."
"I like it. I love it. It's fascinating." I looked at Nat, not knowing how to reply. She didn't answer my question so I didn't ask any further, maybe this was a trick to get me to open my eyes. "I really like you. I'm not lying. Look."
She raised my hand that I didn't realise she was holding. I desperately tried to get out of her grasp in shock. "But I'm just..."
"You're unique, everyone's unique. I am not going to find another person like you. I know you're always reading during lunch, after work, and staying in the library which nobody else uses. That's why I always come to collect the files on behalf of Maria."
"I guess I can try..."
Written on 12 Nov 2021
Posted on 1 May 2022