United
States of America
The day began like any other. Nothing was out of the
ordinary. A young girl was sitting by herself in the lobby, inside one of the
most prestigious buildings in New York City, waiting for her father. Her name
was Lucy Grey. Mr. Grey had been working for a while now, and his teenage
daughter hadn’t much to do but watch the adults work and walk by as she sat
alone, tapping away on her phone, texting seven of her friends all at the same
time.
She was extremely bored. A 17-year old won’t really enjoy
here but her dad told her to wait, and Lucy was on obedient child. But still,
she needs some fun. Impatient child that she is, she checked her watch for the umpteenth
time. Eight in the morning.
“Great,” she muttered under her breath. What the hell am I supposed to do? she
thought.
She
didn’t receive the answer to her query until ten minutes later. A brooding boy
of nineteen was making his way to the bench next to her. Lucy immediately
became conscious of herself and sat much straighter, although she didn’t really
think that the boy was intentionally seeking out her company. The bench next to
her was the only empty seat, after all.
She
pretended to be busy with texting as the guy sat to her right, bringing out his
poison-green headphones. He didn’t say anything at all, didn’t even glance at
her with his electric-blue eyes to meet her chocolate browns or said good
morning. Lucy brushed her waist-long brown hair with disappointment. She came
to the conclusion that she was wasting her time with him and paid him no
attention of her own. She just found him cute and it’s a shame he doesn’t have
much of people skills.
In
the middle of texting her best friend a reply, her ears pricked up as she heard
the lyrics of her favorite song. She would sing it everywhere – their home, at
school with her friends, even to her parents. Discreet as much as possible, she
leaned slightly to her right to know if that was the boy was listening to.
It
is. Her favorite song. With renewed interest, she looked at him; he wasn’t
looking at her and he was scowling slightly. The contrast between his alabaster
white skin and dark hair was admirable but Lucy wondered more about his music
taste.
She
suddenly said, “I like them, too.”
He
turned to her, surprised, and put his headphones down. “What?” he asked. He
obviously didn’t hear her the first time. Lucy smiled, almost laughed and said,
“I like Maroon 5, too.”
Surprise
– warm, delighted surprise – instantly came upon the boy’s face. He smiled at
her and said, “Oh, right,” then he continued saying with a flush of embarrassment,
“I’m sorry I didn’t hear you. I’m Eric.” He offered his hand.
“Lucy.”
she replied, and they shook hands.
Lucy
and Eric talked and talked nonstop. They smiled, laughed and told each other
completely different things. Needless to say, they had a lot of chemistry
together, even if they are unaware of it themselves. Lucy couldn’t believe her
luck and Eric Harrison thought she was an angel. They were a perfect fit, by
all counts. Their conversation came to the point where he said, “So, err, you
know I was thinking. Maybe we could…go out sometime?” He bit his lip, worried
about her giving a negative answer, but Lucy chuckled and said, “Sure, I’d love
that.”
But
they’ll never do that. They won’t be given a single chance. All the things they
would’ve had shared together will turn to ashes. Lucy won’t even see her father
forever and this is the first and last time she and Eric would meet. By 8:46
am, reality would be shattered.
It
was September 11, 2001.
