CHAPTER SEVEN: ELICIA

                                    

                                          
After he leaves the café, work goes as slow as it can get.
Soon my shift is over and l head straight to Lydia's office.
"You look rather cheerful today, how about we unfold today's events?" she asks.
"I spoke to Rooftop!" I say more like yell in excitement.
"Someone is excited." She smiles and l smile as well.
"This is progress, huh?" she adds.
"I know right." I say smiling to myself.
"As much as l am glad seeing you happy I should not encourage this. It is good that you are speaking your mind now, being more open but investing your emotions into something or rather someone could bring you back to square one." She says and stares at me intensely as if waiting for my reaction before she says something else.
"Go on." I urge her.
"You seem to like this guy l can see that but it is not healthy. You don't even know him well enough to feel anything for him. What if he wants nothing to do with you?"
"Have you ever thought about that? This isn't about you being involved with someone, you are here to face your demons head on and fight through this phase you are in." she falters in her speech at the end.  
"Depression phase?" I ask her.
"A phase, yes. I don't want you to add some more troubles El."
Know that I think about it.
l have been in my own world l did not think about it.
My small imaginary world comes crumbling on my feet.
Michaela
What if my suspicions were right?
What if Michaela is his wife or girlfriend?
Am l ready to feel another heartbreak?
After a moment of me overthinking everything.  
Lydia breaks my line of thought.
"I do not want you to get hurt, now that we were making progress El." She says full of hope.
"I understand you and you are right, I should stop getting ahead of myself." I say.
After my session with Lydia l ponder upon what we talked about and l made a pact with myself not to involve myself with him anymore, it is not healthy for me and I will never progress, if l kept doing it.
No more entries about him.
I felt like drowning my sorrows with a chocolate cake and ice-cream, so on my way home I stop by a grocery store.
As l am scanning through the bakery section I spot a chocolate fudge cake a few meters away from me and l make a beeline for the sweet delicacy never taking my eyes off of it I end up bumping into someone.
"Watch it." A masculine raspy harsh voice speaks before I could squeak an apology.
I lift my head to see to whom did the voice belong to.
Rooftop
His eyes bore into mine looking pissed.
"I am sorry; it's my fault l was not looking where l was going." I say and he just picks up his energy drinks and leaves.
This is exactly what Lydia was talking about, l did not even know him enough.
I mutter another apology before walking to the ice-cream section to get vanilla ice-cream. After getting the ice-cream l head to the till to pay.  
I reach the till and see Rooftop quarreling with the cashier.
"Sir, your money is not enough you need to add 80 cents more or you can leave the drink." The cashier says
"I said give me a second, let me check." He says a little too loud.
He empties his pockets and only get two quarters amounting to 50 cents.  
Without hesitating l pull out my credit card and l pay for his things.
"I do not need your help." He says storming out of the shop.
I am left with the four energy drink bottles.  
I quickly purchase my things and l follow him outside as fast as my small feet could carry me.
As soon as l reach outside I see him getting in his car and I stop him before he starts the ignition.
"Hey, excuse me?" I call for him and he stops his action.
Shocker, he is so full of surprises.
"What?" he asks as l approach him.
"You forgot your energy drinks." I say trying my luck again.
"I said I do not need your help, pity or favor Miss." He repeats the same statement from before.
"It's not a favor." l say.  
"Then what is it if it's not a favor or pity?" He asks and wait on the excuse l was going give.  
"l don't know but think of it like this, one day I will be or someone else will be short of money and who knows you might pay for them as well." I say trying not to use the word help although him and l both know that I was trying to help him.
Instead of saying anything he takes the energy drinks and start his car.
"I am El, short for Elicia what's yours?" I ask shouting pushing my luck too far hoping he will tell me his name.
"If l tell you my name you will go to your car right?" he asks a bit annoyed and I nod grinning like a child.
"Treadway." He says and drives away.
Treadway  
It is a one in a million name, weird it's actually the first time I have heard such a name; Rooftop suits him better than Treadway or maybe l am just used to calling him Rooftop when in fact Treadway suits him perfectly.
Journal entry 167
Treadway
Your name is Treadway
It is beautiful  
You are beautiful
I thought I was starting to forget about you but you showed up in front of me, should l not forget about you?
Are you protesting unknowingly?
As I am writing on my usual spot, the table in my room near the window I lift my head in the direction of the rooftop and I see a figure approaching the edge of the same old building.  
After the person situates himself I realize it's Rooftop, 
No, 
Treadway.
He sits and drinks one of the energy drinks l bought for him.
I feel a sense of achievement and l pat myself on the back, as usual l sit on my windowsill looking at him.
I should be running away but I am not.
All my reasoning is thrown out the window as well as what we talked about with Lydia.
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