Four Years Ago

II : Sweet Coincidence

Wednesday, 13th February 2019

Christine jolted awake and looked at the time from the clock on her bedside cupboard. 4:47. Oh no! She was late again. Her boss had already given her several warnings and she didn't need another one.

   Hurriedly, she got down from her bed and reached for her bag which she had hung on the chair by her reading table. Her purse containing her ID was already in it, so she just added her sketch pad and pencil in it. Next, she hurried into her adjoining bathroom to wash the sleep from her face. After that, she changed into a pair of black shorts, a white tank top and black boots. She then tied up her braided hair using a black ribbon. Deciding against makeup since time was against her, she took her phone from its charging spot along with her bag, and rushed out of her room.

   "Hi dad," she casually greeted her father as she passed the kitchen. He was seated at the kitchen table, trying to tune the radio to a good station.

   "Another evening shift?" he asked as she zoomed passed.

   "Sadly," she had to shout her reply since she was already out the door by then.

   As she unchained her bicycle from its usual spot, her phone rang. Cursing whoever was calling her at the moment, she took out her phone from her pocket. She was greeted by the sight of Ruby's freckled face as her name flashed on the screen. With a sigh, she picked up the call.

   "Ruby, could you please call later? I'm kind of in a hurry. I'm late for work. Again." She hurriedly spoke so Ruby wouldn't interrupt her. Not that she hadn't tried.

   "But you promised me we'd go to the Valentine festival tonight together. Don't tell me you forgot again." Christine could imagine the pout on her best friend's face on the other line.

   "I didn't forget." Lie. "I'm the one taking the evening shift today at the restaurant and there's no way I could get out of it. It's a wonder I'm still under Sam's employment with how late I have been turning up for the past week."

   "But Christine-" Ruby continued to complain like a petulant child. "I can't miss this. My favourite band will be performing."

   By favourite band, she meant a group of four not so talented rock artists whose leader happened to be Ruby's crush. They went to the same school as them, and Tye (the said crush) had happened to notice Ruby a few weeks ago and had invited she and Christine to this festival he said he and his band had been invited to perform at. Rock music wasn't Christine's type of thing, and neither was festivals or gatherings of any sort.

   "Then you can go alone," Christine curtly said to her. "Bye, gotta go." She ended the call just as Ruby was about to begin speaking again, threw her phone into her bag, and mounted her bike.

   This was one of the things that always brightened her mood. Riding through the city always made her feel at ease. There was just something relieving about it. She didn't know if it was the hustle and bustle of passerbys trying to get through their day, or the various colours that passed through her vision as she rode by, but she always looked forward to it. Now though, she was in a hurry and concentrated more on pedaling as fast as she could than on the beauty of her surroundings. It was moments like this that made her wish she could afford a car. Her father supported them off odd jobs, and she didn't want to stress him up with such a trivial desire.

   Avoiding potential accidents more than once, Christine made it to the back of Sam's Kitchen, the restaurant she worked for, a little after 5:30. Thank God she had applied deodorant, else she would have been sweaty by now, she thought. She chained her bike and hurried in through the back door, hoping that she wouldn't rush into her boss.