Beautiful and talented painter, Selma Halpern charismatic architect husband, Jamal Halpern bubbly baby boy, Rae Halpern. The stars had finally aligned in Selma's favor.
But by the strike of midnight on a fateful day in April, it seemed like the...
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02.
On August 22, 2011, Selma had met Jamal in the most embarrassing scenario to be imagined. At first, it had been nothing but a typical car gets faulty, cute boy comes to the rescue encounter. Before the car got faulty, Selma had been on her way back to the condo she shared with her best friend and her twin brother — Jocelyn and Sami. The whole ride from NYU Campus, the car's engine sounded like it was grinding metal cans, digging a dread hole in Selma's tummy. With that weather up there, Selma really couldn't afford walking especially considering her condition.
"Damn you," she slammed her hand on the steering wheel, at the same time maneuvering it to the side of the road successfully before the car let out something that sounded like a sigh.
She slipped her feet into her heels and pulled the release lever before getting out of the car. Still muttering under her breath, Selma unlatched the safety catch, but when she reached to pull the hood open, it didn't budge. She tried again, this time, forcing the tiny heel of her shoe into the small space she had created. As she pulled the heel upward, hoping the hood will lift, her heel snapped instead.
With a groan, Selma pushed her curls away from her face and glanced up at the sky that was darkening — like a heartbroken person whose expression darkens right before the tears come.
The rain was drizzling when she heard a car pull up behind her. She whirled around and came face to face with a black Mercedes. Her lips pulled up as she appreciated the sight before her, although she wasn't a car freak like her twin brother.
The car door opened but unlike the movies — where the girl or guy stepped out with the legs clad in either six inches high heels or sneakers first, then the rest of the body followed in slow motion — the guy was out in no time, staring at her with a small furrow between his brows.
He was wearing a hoodie that fit with his body; the two arms were up to his elbows, and his hands had disappeared into the pockets of his jeans as he sauntered to where she was standing like a moron.
Selma who was still staring at the fine specimen of a guy stuttered, "Uh h-hi."
The guy shot her a smile; one that revealed a shiny white set of teeth. "Hey. Um, are you having problems with your car?"
"No, I stayed under the rain, struggling with my hood because it's the perfect thing to do," she replied in one breath but immediately slapped one hand over her mouth and shook her head. "N-no, I didn't m-mean that. It's just ... ugh ... I always become this smartass blabber mouth around really cute guys, and I say things without thinking and—"
Selma cut herself off and placed her face into her hands, groaning to herself. Calmthefuckdown.
Breathing out a sigh, she took the risk of bringing her face back up, expecting the stranger to be gone by now but instead, there he was, staring at her with a smirk on those full, pink lips she couldn't seem to pull her eyes away from.
