4 Chapter 3

Under Estefani's bed sheets, she could hear the ringing of her house phone echoing throughout the corridor. Liam kept barking for her to answer the phone. Estefani didn't move.

"Please leave a message after the beep. I will return your call as soon as I can," said the voicemail.

"Hey, it's me. I wanted to know how you're doing. Since it's the first time you have called in sick. Don't know if you being sick has anything to do with meeting Eleanor. I hope she didn't offend you in any way. If that's not the case, then I hope you get better soon," said William leaving a voicemail.

Liam jumped on the bed and tried to take off the bed sheets off Estefani's face.

"Liam. Stop," she said angrily as the sheets uncovered her face.

Estefani's eyes were puffy. She had been crying ever since she got back from San Jose. She looked at Liam and said, "I'm sorry I was angry at you. It's not your fault."

She hugged him and stroked his hair. "To think when I got out of Eleanor Software that I would get a phone call from William."

She got up and started walking over to the kitchen to feed Liam. "I mean, I know what I have is a crush, but I'm still in shock. He never mentioned a fiancée or a girlfriend, so I always thought he was single. Guess I was wrong, huh, Liam?"

She looked over her shoulder at Liam but he just gave her a blank stare, and she couldn't help but smile. "I'm talking to a dog about my feelings. I really must be crazy. Oh, well. What can you do?"

After feeding Liam, she grabbed a bowl of cereal and poured milk in it and started to eat. "Miss Evans is William's fiancée; who would have known? Well, me wanting to date William is a no-go. I guess we'll just be friends. How unfortunate."

Estefani looked at the time on the microwave; she was having breakfast when it was already past lunchtime.

"Is it that late already? Wow, I really must have cried my eyes out."

She washed the dishes, and for the rest of the day, she drew. When it was time to sleep, Estefani was still awake in bed. For the first time, she was having trouble sleeping. She heard the toilet flushing and she shook. Suddenly, the bathroom door opened on its own accord and Estefani opened her eyes slightly to get a glimpse. All she could see was a tall dark figure and it was coming closer. Why was Liam not barking at this intruder? She thought.

"Isla, I wish I could take away your pain. Unfortunately, I can't do much for you since I'm not supposed to transform in front of you," said the figure as he started to stroke her hair.

Estefani opened her eyes to look at the stranger right in front of her. He had husky-colored eyes, pale skin, and his platinum blond hair was combed over.

"Who are y..." was all she could say before she fell asleep.

The next day, she remembered she had a weird dream but couldn't remember what exactly the dream was. Estefani woke up and did her usual routine, which started by going to the kitchen to give Liam his food. While he was eating she went to lay out her clothes for the day. The outfit she chose was a black short sleeve blouse with a Peter Pan collar and black slacks, then hopped into the shower.

She looked at herself in the mirror after her shower and sighed.

"I guess today will be a glasses kinda day," she said as she opened the door at the bottom of the sink and took out her nerdy crimson Wayfarer glasses. She had forgotten to order her contact lenses.

She looked at her long black hair and decided to straighten it. As she got ready, she turned on the speakers to listen to some Spanish music. Looking at her bedroom clock, it was already time for her to leave and she had yet to have breakfast. She quickly made a phone call to a Mexican café and ordered a champurrado.

Estefani grabbed her things and headed out with Liam. The Mexican café was located on the corner of the adjacent street. She always went there if she was running late and didn't have time to have breakfast.

"Hola, Estefani. No te e visto por un tiempo. ¿Duro al trabajo?" Hi, Estefani. Haven't seen you for some time. Hard at work? greeted the young lady. She had her black hair pulled back in a tight bun that showed her big hoop earrings.

"Sí," Yes, said Estefani in a strained laugh. "¿Y usted? ¿Cómo está el trabajo? ¿Mucho clientela?" And you? How is work? A lot of customers?

"Mas o menos. Cuando hay más frío es cuando más gente llega." More or less. When it starts getting cold is when more people come, said the young lady as she handed her a styrofoam cup of hot champurrado.

Estefani could smell the sweet aroma of cinnamon and chocolate. "Gracias." Thanks. She handed the cashier the money to pay for her drink, then quickly headed out to go to the bus stop.

When she got to work, everything was the same. The sound of the phone ringing echoed throughout the room. She knew she was only gone for a couple of days, but she felt that a lot had changed. As she passed through the desks to get to her office, she knew that it was all in her head.

She opened her office and felt a cold breeze. Within the time she was gone, the room became cold. Estefani dropped her things on a chair and unleashed Liam and started to sketch. No inspiration came. All she could see was a white sheet of paper with a sketch of what seemed to look like a person. No matter how many times she changed the music, she couldn't find the slightest inspiration. She started to get frustrated, and then she heard a knock on the door. William poked his head in.

"Hey...," he started, but when he saw her, he stopped and just stared.

"Hey, something wrong?" she asked, feeling her cheeks grow hot.

"Sorry, I just—You look different. Your hair's straight, and usually, you have wavy hair. Also, I didn't know you wore glasses."

"Um, yeah. I'm pretty much blind in one eye," she said adjusting her glasses. Her heart started to beat fast, she wondered if such a change in hairstyle looked weird on her.

"Anyway, how was your meeting with—?"

"Your fiancée," she interrupted. "Okay, I guess. She really wants me to work for her, and you're agreeing for the one month trial. You must really want me gone,' she said, trying to make it sound like a joke.

She remembered him asking her to accept the job offer and him agreeing to the one month trial. She had no right to be upset. She knew that much, and yet she felt a little hurt. What could she do? They were only friends, and he was her boss.

"Yes, I totally want you gone," he said, laughing. "Actually, I think going to a city would be a great opportunity for you. I'm your friend. I want you to branch out, even if it means you'll be successful elsewhere."

"Wow, that's deep. I didn't know you cared so much," she said sarcastically.

"Okay, even I didn't believe that" he sighed putting his hand through his blond hair, "Truthfully, Eleanor would be so angry with me. I would not hear the end of it."

"So you don't care?" she said pretending to be hurt.

"Of course I do. We're friends, right? " he responded.

She flinched. Is this what they call being stuck in the friend zone? It was better than nothing. She knew that this feeling for him could only just be a crush and nothing else. If she took the job, it would help her get rid of the feeling, but she didn't want to be far away from him. This was her first love, yet she couldn't remember if she ever had feelings for any guy before—more like she couldn't recall. She only remembered the past five years.

She remembered her interviews at companies and getting denied multiple times until she went to Jupiter Computer Hardware. Meeting William was love at first sight; he was kind and made her feel less nervous. She was surprised when she got hired.

At the company, William had many friends he talked to; he was a person that was easy to get along with. As hard as it was for Estefani to talk to his friends, she tried talking to them when they would all meet up. But since she barely knew them, it was hard. A couple of years later, she stopped trying to make conversation because they would talk about things she didn't know about.

She didn't understand why she didn't have the common knowledge that everyone else had. Over the years, she learned to use the Internet, but it was too late; she was already out of the group. William always tried to include her. When they would go out, he would ask her if she wanted to join. She always said no because she wanted to get invited by the others, not just by William.

As time passed, William got busier; he barely had time to talk during breaks, so every time they passed by one another, they would try to talk at least a little. If he wanted advice for a friend that didn't work at the company, they would always go out to the Jaded Toad. It never occurred to Estefani that when he said 'friend', he was actually referring to himself. Maybe that was the reason why he asked for her advice because she was slow in connecting things together.