The Path Untaken [Hiatus]

Many small beads of sweat lined her forehead, and streaks of damp, matte hair clung to her temples. Her round hazel eyes squint against the harsh sunlight seemingly wanted to blind her. Out of breath, she stopped the cart against the wall and plonked herself down on the ground, trying to air out her clothes that were drenched in her sweat. From the outline of her clothes sticking to her skin, one could see that she had a petite, toned figure. If you disregarded her poor choice of fashion, she could be one of those Instagram worthy models who seem to live the perfect life. She had a dainty face, perfectly in proportion to her body, yet slightly sharp. She stood around 5'11, and was what men would define as "cute".

But if you were to look closer, she isn't as perfect as she seems.

Her hair was coarse and tangled, her arms and hands littered with small scars. Those once-clear hazel eyes were red and bloodshot - seemingly from the lack of sleep. Her palms were coarse and her fingers were coated with calluses, all due to having to work manual labor from a very tender age. Her skin was tanned, to a golden brown. No lady would like such a dark color for their skin in Asia, and so she was usually looked down upon by many others. Due to her upbringing, she never learnt the womanly flair, and that contributed to the looks of disdain from the other women.

She never did mind the stares of others and the gossiping of those aunties on the side of the road who seemed to have nothing better to do. Always working and never resting, she did as much as she could before she collapses and calls it a day. Not only does she have to work whenever she has time, she also has to diligently study in order to maintain her grades and keep her scholarship. Any slip up with her grades and she loses it for a semester, and that itself will be a death sentence to her.

Living alone, she works more than 4 part-time jobs in order to pay her rent and other expenses. She has to live frugally, so most of her items were bought from second-hand shops, such as clothes and furniture. As long as something is still able to be used, she'll use it until it's very last breath.

'Sigh, not only is this cart massive, it's freakin' heavy too! Now, how far till the destination?'

She fished around in her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. As she unfolded it, a drop of sweat rolled off her nose and splattered right onto the ink. The ink bloomed like a little blue flower, making part of the map unintelligible. Unfortunately, that was part of the address that the cart was to be delivered to!

'Dammit! I can only remember the building, but I don't even know which floor it's supposed to be! Now what do I do?'

She sighed and stood up, and started pushing the cart again. She decided that she'll think about it when she arrives. Today doesn't seem like it's going to be her day.

***

Having finally reached the building, she gasped at the grandiose of it. It was a massive building lined with glass windows, that seemed to tower above every other building. Standing at over 40 floors high, one can only imagine how expensive this place was. She stood outside at the gates in front of the guardhouse, trying to remember which floor it was, until the security guard inside the guardhouse beckoned her to go over.

"Hello Miss, we do not allow peddlers to sell their ware here so could you kindly move your cart away before we are forced to move it ourselves?" said the guard as he glared at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to deliver this cart to Mr. Johnson, but I don't know which floor he resides on due to the address being smudged," she replied, seemingly unaffected by the guard's disdain.

When the guard heard the name of the recipient, he sighed, "What in the world did this boy order again? Now young missy, what is your name?"

"Hikari," she replied, "Just Hikari."

The guard noted the strong emphasis on the word "just", so he didn't bother to pry any further. He gestured for her to follow him to the guardhouse.

"Now, hand me your ID and fill out this visitor's logbook, then head on to the back of the building. Mr. Johnson is indeed expecting a delivery today, so park that cart in the area just in front of the service elevator. Then head on up to the 42nd floor, and finish your business."

Hikari completed all the procedures and went up to the 42nd floor. As she just finished knocking, the door suddenly flew open and a young man in his 20's with black disheveled hair stood in the doorway. His face was white and smooth, with a square jaw and European features that looked almost as if it was chiseled marble. Topless, his body was taut and lean, every muscle couple be compared to a high tension steel cable. Seemingly half-awake, his green pupils darted left and right, slightly confused that there was no one at the door.

"Mr. Johnson?" Hikari called out.

Surprised, the man looked down. He stood around 7', totally overlooking the shorter Hikari who stood around his chest height. When he finally saw her, he immediately shouted:

"IS MY CART FINALLY HERE?!"

Shocked, Hikari could only meekly nod her head in confirmation.

Johnson's eyes opened wide in joy, and sprinted into the elevator and immediately closed the door.

Hikari could only stand there in amazement.

...

... until she realized that Johnson hadn't signed the delivery slip yet.