THREAD NINE: KIDNAPPED

“WHAT are you carrying?” the girl asked the guy when they met in the canteen one morning.

“You mentioned to me yesterday that you don’t use to eat breakfast so I brought you some food,” he said while showing her what was inside the lunchbox he was carrying.

“But you don’t have to do this, you know?”

“You have to eat, okay?” he insisted.

The girl shook her head. “I still don’t want to!”

He pouted his lips. And the girl frowned when she saw what he cooked. “Is that an omelet?”

“Yes!”

“Then why do I see something orange inside of it?”

He smiled. “I put some tomatoes inside because it’s too boring if it’s just a plain egg.”

The girl grimace when the bottom burns, turning brown and dehydrated, while the top remains runny.

“What happened?” she commented after checking it using a fork.

He was slightly disappointed by what she said so he immediately covered it up and took it away from her. “W-well, I don’t really know how to cook. I just tried to cook it for you.”

The guy took another container and gave it to her. “Here, try this chocolate bread pudding. I helped my mom to cook it for you.”

The girl tasted it.

“How was it? Is it delicious?” he asked.

She nodded. “Mmm! It’s delicious! But, I also want to taste your omelet with tomatoes.”

He shook his head. “You can’t eat this because it tastes bitter. It might affect your taste buds.”

“It’s okay! It doesn’t matter if it can affect my taste buds. What’s important is the effort you put into it,” she said, taking back the omelet and eating it with a smile.

“Mmm! Yummy! Next time you will cook this again and make sure to cook it better, okay?”

The man smiled and joined her.

---------------------------------------------

RANDALL woke up smiling from his beautiful dream. He turned off the alarm on his phone and then got up but he wiped the tears that fell from his eyes, causing him to think in front of the mirror directly opposite his bed.

“Why like that? I had a good dream, but why am I crying? Who are you? When will I see you?” He asked, referring to the girl who ate the burned omelet.

Thinking that he would be late for his class, he quickly put it out of his mind and washed up.

When he arrived at the dining area, his breakfast was already on the table.

“Good morning, Sir Randall!” the maid greets him.

“Good morning! Where’s Grandpa?” he asked as he sat down in front of the dining table.

“He still asleep, Sir,” the maid replied and turned around to continue some of her duties.

His attention was immediately drawn to the omelet in front of him so he immediately took and tasted it. He was a bit disappointed that he didn’t see or taste any tomatoes.

He looked at his watch and saw that it was still early so he called the maid again.

“Yes, Sir? Do you need anything else?”

“Yes! I want you to cook another omelet. And this time, I want it with tomatoes,” he requested when he remembered his dream.

He really wanted to taste that food.

“Right away, Sir!”

The maid was about to turn back when he called her again.

“Wait! Make sure that the bottom part is a little bit burned.”

The maid frowned upon his request. However, she still followed it.

“HEY! Whose iPod is that?” Marylex asked Meredith when she arrived with Shanaia in their room.

“It’s Randalls.”

Her friends looked at the back where Randall was still slumped in his chair.

Shanaia narrowed her eyes at her. “And how did his iPod end up with you?”

She took a deep breath first before she tell what happened to her and Randall in the meeting room last night.

“Oh my gosh! Is that all that happened?!”

She put her index finger to her lips to silence her from shrieking. “Hey! Keep your voice down! I don’t want anyone else to know about what happened.”

Shanaia folded her arms. “Did you really just sleep there?”

She narrowed her eyes at Shanaia. “Of course! Nothing happened, okay?!”

Marylex raised her right eyebrow, not convinced by what she said. “Then, why are you so defensive?”

She shook her head at the naughtiness of the two. “How many times do I have to tell you that nothing really happened? My cousin even caught us, just sleeping soundly.”

They just nodded. Fortunately, their professor had arrived so the two finally stopped teasing her.

“GO! We’ll take care of your order while he was alone,” Shanaia said when they lined up at the canteen for their lunch break.

She nodded and approach him.

“Hi!” she greeted as she held out his iPod. “Thanks for allowing me to use your iPod. It really helped me a lot last night.”

He took it with a smile. “I’m glad that I helped you even in a small way.”

She nodded. “Oh, by the way, about your hoddie, it’s still at home. I’ll wash it first before I give it back to you.”

He waved his hand. “You don’t have to do that. It’s fine with me even if you don’t wash it.”

“But, it’s more embarrassing if I don’t wash it before I returned it.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, if that’s what you want,” he surrendered. “Have you eaten?” he added.

“Oh! Actually, my friends and I are about to eat, but I saw you here, so I approached you first.”

“Oh is that so?” She nodded.

“Ahm. . . I’m going back to our table,” she said when she saw that her friends were already sitting on the other side of the table and signaling her to join them.

“Okay! Eat well!”

“You too,” she said then turned to her friends.

She didn’t understand but as she walked away from him, her heart skipped a beat. It feels like she was short of breath while talking to him earlier and it’s just now that she can breathe freely.

“YOU know what, Meredith? While I was looking at you and Randall earlier in the canteen, I saw a spark,” Shanaia said out of the blue.

They are now under the Narra tree which has become their hangout place just behind their college building. The breeze is cold and clean, including the chirping of the birds which is nice to hear.

Meredith’s cheeks suddenly blushed. “S-spark? How did you say so?”

“Because the way you look at each other is different as if you’ve known each other for a long time.”

“Really?” she said in disbelief.

Marylex put her arms around him. “Do you like him?” she asked straightforwardly.

She looked down. “I-I don’t know.”

“But is it okay if I ship you two?”

“S-ship?”

“Hashtag, MereDall loveteam!” She even applauded in the air. “What do you think, Shan?”

Shanaia rolled her eyes at what Marylex said. “You’re so corny, you know?”

Marylex crossed her arms. “Me?! No way!” She narrowed her eyes at her. “Don’t tell me, you’re just jealous because you still admire Randall.”

“Shut up, Lex! Captain is still better than him, duh!”

“Tsk! Then why don’t you even support our friend?”

“The hashtag you came up with is really horrible. Hashtag RanDith sounds better!”

The latter winced. “Ew! It’s worse than I thought! Just replace the first letter with a ‘B’, it became a Bandit.”

“Hey—” they were about to start a fight when Meredith intervened.

“Enough!”

They both calmed down but Marylex didn’t give up. “But is there really no hope that you will like him?”

She sighed. It’s not that she’s picky. And she knew that no woman will not like him. He’s tall, smart, and talented. His good looks are just a bonus.

“I-I don’t know either.” Disappointment was evident on her face.

“But there’s hope, right?” Marylex insisted.

“Even if it’s 50:50, maybe there is hope,” Shanaia added.

She was speechless.

“Cat got your tongue?” Shanaia muttered.

Meredith took a deep breath. “Well, I have something to tell you guys. But promise me first that you won’t laugh at me.”

The two looked at each other for a moment then gave a serious answer. “Promise!”

“Since I was seven years old, I have always dreamed of two people. . .”

She stopped. Maybe it’s the right time to tell her friends what she’s been carrying for a long time. She hasn’t told anyone about her dreams even her mother.

“And then?” Shanaia asked impatiently.

“The man’s face is blurry, but I can see the woman’s face clearly. I have never seen her in person. I don’t even know if she’s still alive or not. I know I am not the woman in my dream but I feel the pain when I see her sad. I am also happy when she is happy. . .”

Her friends stayed silent but they had goosebumps upon hearing her story.

Meredith continued. “And that man, I feel like I’ve known him for a long time even though I don’t know what he looks like. I feel that I love him so much, that’s why I’m still confused about what’s going on. Until I saw Randall—”

“Oh my god! It’s him. It’s Randall, right? He’s the one. The man in your dream,” Marylex interrupted, excitedly.

“You’re right, Lex! He may be the one in your dream,” Shanaia added.

She looked down and played with his fingers. “I’m not sure yet. All I know is, when I saw him, my heart skipped a beat. It’s like it’s going to explode.”

“Why don’t you talk to Randall?”

“What will I tell him? What if he just laugh at me? I also don’t want him to think that I’m a liar.”

“Wait!” Marylex interrupted.

“Why?” Meredith and Shanaia asked in unison.

“Do you still remember what Randall said on our first day of class?”

Shanaia tried to remember that day and she was right. Randall mentioned that day in front of their class that he had been looking for a woman for a long time.

She snapped her fingers in the air and quickly grabbed both of Meredith’s hands. “It’s him, Mer. I’m hundred percent sure that the guy in your dream is no other than Randall.”

She frowned. “How can you be so sure?”

For her, it’s really impossible, if not, who is Randall in her life?

“He told the whole class that he was a year ahead of us because he was looking for a girl for a long time.”

She wondered. Remembering their first day of class, she doesn't remember him saying anything like that. Because his mind was occupied with his appearance and feelings when she first saw him, so she didn’t hear what he said apart from his name.

“It’s really impossible! If he really is the man in my dream, why is the man’s face still blurry? Besides, if I’m the girl he’s looking for, he should have talked to me about that before.”

The two did not answer. They just looked at each other. “Well, you have a point.”

“Name! Right! What is the name of the man in your dream?” Shanaia asked.

She never heard them mentioning their names in her dream. “I-I don’t know. I don’t remember them calling each other’s names.”

“What?!”

“Seriously?!”

Marylex and Shanaia grimaced.

That’s her problem. How can she find them if she doesn’t know their names? That can be her lead to find them.

She feels that until she can’t find the true identity of the lovers in her dream, she will not be at peace.

She put her arms around them. “Don’t be sad! You guys will be the first to know once I find him, okay?”

“Promise?” the two said in chorus.

They sealed their promise using their pinky swear. “Of course!”

“But is there really no hope for you and Randall to be together?” Marylex teased again.

“Lex!” she whined that Marylex only gave her a peace sign.

SATURDAY morning, Meredith woke up early to go to the market to buy one week’s worth of stocks for their cake shop. She looked at the list she was holding and when everything was settled, she decided to go home. She was about to cross the other road to wait for the bus when suddenly a black van stopped in front of her. Two men got down from there and simply dragged her into the car with her purchases.