Chapter 2_ Tragic ending, new beginning

Perhaps it was the arrogance brought by her sinful beauty or she had her own problems when it came to socialising, nobody knew... but what Sam knew for sure was that Tessa always kept herself in a secluded corner in Mr Sanders' cafeteria every morning on her way to work.

Because Mr Sanders' cafeteria was the most popular place in the whole of Bridgetown you would find scores of people streaming in and out every time you passed by the small establishment, and that made it the heart of the town. Coincidentally enough, it was located at the central part of town and that further complemented it's title as the heart of Bridgetown.

Despite the swarms of people that populated Mr Sanders' place there was one corner they never dared to go near, Tessa's corner. It was so ironic that she was a striking beauty yet people kept their distance from her. Your average male was not even able to hold her gaze for more than two seconds, it was so piercing that those blue cat eyes of hers would send chills down one's back upon eye contact. She did not radiate any dangerous aura of any sort, but she had an air of a snow queen around her...cold yet alluring.

"How much do those red flowers with vibrant petals cost?" Asked Sam with a deep anticipation in his restless brown eyes.

"That bouquet would be fifteen credits, my good sir". Replied the flower girl with a calm soothing voice that would make you want to buy more than you needed.

Noticing the uncertainty plastered on the lean gentleman's face, who was standing by her flower stall she quickly added...

"Those flowers which caught your eye are roses, the common type. You have an eye for beauty it seems, and they are perfect for gifting to your loved ones on any occasion.

"Might I know if my good sir is looking for any specific kind?"

"I'm nervous" Sam replied with a weak smile.

"I don't recall selling selling any flowers called nervouses my good sir", joked the sales girl attempting to to ease the restlessness on the customer's face.

It was past seven in the morning yet the man standing before her was already sweating buckets, a living testament to the war which was raging in his heart. So if she did not take action there was a chance that the man would collapse on her watch.

After a few minutes of going back and forth between the cheery sales girl and the uncertain customer, the deal was finally sealed. Even though she did not sell the flowers at the original price, she still managed to sell the bouquet for fourteen credits and Sam got what he'd come for so both parties were satisfied.

'That is one down'. He lamented in his heart, as he knew the trouble that he had successfully created for himself. Tessa was a literal queen of beauty in every sense of the word and Sam was no different from a pawn in her eyes, and he knew this. How was that any different from actively seeking trouble and having a tea date with it?

'Oh well, what's the worst that could possibly happen to me? It's either I get her or not, it's not like I'll die or something if she shuts me out'.

"World...here I come". The words were said with conviction, contrary to the hesitation being advertised by his facial expressions.

Walking from the florist to Mr Sanders' was a full forty-five minutes walk yet it seemed the distance was reduced to a

meagre five minutes, creating the illusion that the [1]theory of relativity was working against him.

This was because Sam did not notice the passing of time as he weaved through the morning crowd and he just found himself already at his destination. He was now literally facing the door and with each step he took forward, his heart rate spiked a bit...like a person on death row marching to his execution. It would not come as a surprise hearing that the man died of a heart attack.

'It is now or never'. Pushing open the light aluminum and glass door seemed like a trying task. The door was so light that even a four year old child could open it easily yet Sam failed to make it even budge a little.

'Ah crap, I've been opening it the wrong way'. Sighed Sam as he felt awkward of his own clumsiness.

'Breathe Sam, breathe... she's only a girl and she's not even worth getting so worked up for'. Amidst the awkwardness the man kept on lying to himself to try and settle his uneasiness, but alas, he still failed with flying colours.

After barely managing to compose himself gaining a little confidence, Sam lifted his head and his eyes swept over the crowd and locked onto a particular place... Tessa's corner.

It was not that the corner had Tessa's name on it but it was almost as if there was an unwritten rule which subconsciously deterred people from using that table.

'She's looking at me...right at me!'.

Thanks to the commotion he created when he was fighting the door, he successfully managed to grab the goddess's attention...but it was just not how he had hoped to get noticed by her.

The moment his eyes met with hers, Sam lost all the little confidence he had managed to piece together and that weakened his legs like wet noodles, giving him the gait of a drunk person. It was as if the saying 'drunk in love' was created for him.

He was walking on a flat tiled surface yet he felt as if he was trekking Mount Everest without hiking boots. So since he was 'climbing a mountain', naturally he had to trip, so tripping he did and fortunately the 'mountain terrain' was kind to him and he didn't fall.

'Ding it, more clumsiness!'.At that moment Sam felt like making a U-turn and flee but

It was too late because he was inching closer to his destination. With flowers in hand and a step that made him look like a newborn zombie, the man finally made it.

"H-hie...i-is the seat o-occupied?". Stuttered Sam, with his voice packed with nervousness. Tessa just lifted her head giving him a once over from top to bottom and proceeded on munching through her juicy cheeseburger and didn't even spare a thought to the lean sack of awkwardness holding flowers that was standing on one end of the table as if saying, 'this burger is worth much more than you'.

"Hahaha Nick do you see what I'm seeing?" Said an onlooker.

"Little guy must be tired of living. Oh well, why don't we relax and just enjoy the show... it's not everyday that one gets a free ticket to the movies". Replied a robust man wearing an expensive looking fancy suit, and he added "Hey waiter, I need popcorn for two, enough for me and my buddy here...this place is about to turn into a movie theatre".

After spending an entire minute without receiving any reply, Sam finally helped himself to one of the empty chairs and sat down... while sneaking glances at the girl opposite him as he did so.

"Is this not supposed to be a cafe?".Tessa finally spoke, with a voice so serene that even the most savage person would immediately relax upon hearing it.

"Excuse me?". Sam was literally confused. While pointing to the flowers in the man's hand she replied "The flowers, are you going to a funeral or something?".

Then realization hit him "N-no, these a-are for you".

Tessa almost choked on her burger. "Give me a second, do I know you? Whoever told you I wanted flowers...and from a random stranger no less?"

She quickly added "Do you think I'm a garbage collecting truck and where did you pick those...the slums?"

"You know what, I'll be leaving".

The girl felt as if she had been humiliated and hurriedly picked up her bag and left, without even giving Sam a chance to talk to her. First the man came to invade her privacy, then he gifts her some flowers he picked up by the roadside...how could she not feel disrespected?.

Sam felt as if a fire poker had been plunged straight into his heart. After sacrificing his hard earned credits to buy her flowers she called them garbage material. He felt like his head was spinning and the pain felt so real as if the blood pumping organ itself had received an actual wound from her piercing words.

A lot of thoughts were going through Samuel's head and if human faces could change colour according to the emotions they were experiencing, his face would've become disco lights at that moment.

With a heavy heart he finally stood up, left the flowers by the table and just started walking towards the door. He could not see where he was going and was seeing things in twos. Before he realized it he was already out of the cafeteria and when he woke up from his daze, Sam found himself already in the middle of the road.

Bam!

Before the man full grasped the situation he was in, his body was sent flying and he landed on his back then his vision started to blur. Whether it was a small vehicle or a truck, Sam was unsure but all he remembered was the red thing which had sent him flying.

As he laid in a red puddle of his own blood, he started seeing everything that had happened to him his entire life. Good and bad, he saw it all vividly as if he was reliving the moments again.

"So this is it huh" and with that, his vision went black.

*[1]The theory of relativity is a physics law by Albert Einstein which states that a fast-moving person measures time passing more slowly than a relatively stationary one.