22

It had been a long and exhausting day. The wind blew across my face as I walked home in the evening, and I wrapped my arms around myself. The clouds formed in the sky above, prepared to pour. As I continued to walk, I reflected on yet another July shower. Looking around, I saw folks walking into their homes, hushing their children into safety. As I returned my attention to the trail, I noticed my phone buzzing in a continuous motion.

"Hello?" I answered my phone without hesitation.

"Nyx." Angel responded.

"It's what they call me, you know." I cracked a joke and smiled. But he couldn't find the funny in it. I couldn't blame him because I wasn't the best at making jokes. Most of the time, I was the punchline. He remained silent, and I felt a pit of worry churn within me.

"Angel, say something." I almost begged him to say something. I couldn't concentrate on my path as I turned into streets. As I slipped on a rock, his quiet fueled the pit in my stomach. In the literal sense, I regained my balance; nonetheless, the fear of falling into the abyss arose in my head.

"Nyx I-" He struggled to complete the task. What was it that was taking so long for him to spit out?

"You what?" I inquired.

"AriaIwanttomeetyou." He shouted out one continuous phrase with no breaks in between. Unease was now coupled by perplexity within me.

"Say that again?" Even though he couldn't see me, I lifted my brows in bemusement.

"Nyx I..I want to meet you." He said it again, this time more clearly. It took some time for me to process what he had said. I stopped walking and glanced at the ground, thinking about what he had just said.

It was his turn to pleading with me to say anything, "Nyx, please say something. Anything."

But I remained silent.

"I'd like you to know who I am." I'd like for you to meet me. I want you to know the person you have been telling everything. I'll be leaving shortly, and I cannot leave you. You don't deserve it. I don't want you to think of me as someone who abandoned you like others. That is not something I can do to you. I won't Nyx, you deserve to know about me just as much as I do about you."

As I let his words sink in, I detected a tinge of shame in his voice.

"Angel, why do you feel so guilty?"

"How do I even begin to answer that?" He responded with a question.

"Don't answer a question with a question," I sharply warned.

"That is correct. I'm at a loss for words to respond to your question. That is why, before I leave, I need you to know who I am. I don't have a choice, believe me." He appeared to be reassuring himself rather than me. He appeared to be attempting to persuade himself that now was the ideal moment for us to meet.

"I'm not sure...I'm not sure if I'm prepared."

I said, my concerns hushed. There was so much to think about before I met him. I have to think about the person he could be in reality.

"Please Nyx. I won't be able to go anywhere without answering all of your questions. Every question you've never asked but deserve to know the answer to. Please, Nyx, let me." The decency in his words, the simplicity of his voice, pleading me to let him meet me, astounded me. The desperation in his remarks had no negative effect on me; it just permitted me to say yes.

"All right..All right? Is that it?" He questioned.

"Yeah, if that's what you think is best." A man stumbled by me, causing me to realise I was in the middle of the path.

"Meet me tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the cafe where you work."

"Alright. 10 am." I mentioned this before he hung up the phone and I continued walking. I couldn't get the thought out of my head that I was finally going to meet him. My gut churned with excitement and fear.

I walked home, feeling as if an unsettling silence had descended over me.

As I opened the door to my flat, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen the next day. How would I respond when I eventually met him? What would his reaction be when he finally met me? What would be an appropriate outfit? Fancy? Casual? Formal? What would I tell him? We communicate on the phone all the time, but how would I hold a face-to-face conversation with him? What would he say about me? I was about to meet him for the first time, and I had no idea what I was going to do or how I felt about it.

One thing was certain, and it overshadowed all of my fear and nervousness: I was finally going to meet my rescuer, my Angel