The One

03

SUNDAY WAS the only day I didn't have to work and usually I would just lay down on bed without eating. I would sleep, play with my phone, scroll through social media, or watch movies.

I was in the middle of watching a movie when the food I ordered came, the delivery man knocking on the door. I scrambled to stand up from the bed and looked for the other pair of my sleepers. The delivery man knocked impatiently so I was screw wearing slippers and ran to the door and opened it.

The delivery man's face showed no emotion as he handed me the food I ordered. I hurriedly paid him and the man left without saying anything, he didn't even let me finish thanking him when he turned and walked away.

I didn't mind it at all.

I placed the food on the table and swatted down on the floor to look under the bed and saw the other pair of slippers. I reached for it and pulled it out under the bed then I heard the sound of something clicking like metals sliding on each other. I was surprised to see a silver necklace and two thin dog tags as its pendants. I knew by heart the words written there. I slowly run my fingers on the letters, feeling the bump on each letter since the letters were stamped to make the letters protrude at the front side.

It was a customized dog tag.

Written there was his full name. His blood type. His email address. The other one was just empty.

I looked for that thing everywhere before. I didn't know how it got under the bed. It was already covered with dust and I couldn't help but recall who gave it to me making me feel a bitter feeling in my heart.

I wanted to throw it away but I couldn't.

I could still recall the reasons why he gave it to me, it used to be significant to me before.

I sighed and threw the necklace back under the bed to be forgotten again and stood up to eat because I didn't want my food to cool down.

IT WAS a cold morning and the dark clouds were covering the sun when I went to the diner and after half an hour, the rain was pouring like crazy.

It suddenly got busy in the middle of the day. D was cooking non-stop and Hailey was also busy with the bar since the diner was packed with customers who rode their bikes and made a stop over to take shelter from the rain and ordered something hot to drink or eat.

I was taking the orders for a couple when the door chime opened and I randomly glanced at the new customer. The diner was a mess, aside from the pitter-patter of the rain, the customers were noisy but all of those noises seemed to vanish and all I could hear was a sharp ringing sound persisting in my ear for a few seconds but disappeared immediately after seeing who the man that entered at the front door.

Wearing a grey suit under a black cloak, standing so tall that his head almost reached the door jamb. It seems like magic but not in a romantic way, maybe just because that man was deeply rooted in both my heart and memory.

Our eyes met and I didn't want to interpret what his eyes were saying because it was too absurd how gently he was looking at me and at the same time as if I was his prey for him to haunt.

I blinked and breathed as I looked back to the customer I was taking an order.

"I'm sorry, could you please repeat your order?" I said and the man sighed in annoyance. The woman lapped her hand on the man that was on the table.

The woman mentioned their orders again and I wrote it down on the pad with my heart pounding so loud that I had to focus my hearing sense to hear the customers’ orders. I mentally wanted to beat myself for spacing out after seeing someone that I hoped I didn't want to meet again in this lifetime.

I ripped the paper and passed it to the kitchen after reading the orders to the window and then off to the next customer. My heart was pounding as I walked to where the man was.

He was sitting at a two-seater table and he didn't even hide his stares at me that I had goosebumps all over my arms. I breathed out and stopped in front of the table.

"May I take your order, Sir?" I politely asked with my eyes on the pad.

I could feel his deep stares at me making me feel uncomfortable. I finally looked at him when he didn't say anything and I almost groaned when he grinned. It made me remember those days when we were still together, he always gave those sunshine smiles.

It has been eight years and he physically changed but in a very good way. I had admired his muscular body before but compared to the present, he was a hundred way more sexier and hotter. I could see how the buttons on his undershirt were struggling in place because of how ripped he was.

"What do you have?" He asked and I blinked rapidly.

How could I space out while drilling over his body?

OMG!

OMG!

What the hell am I doing!!??

"Hamburgers, fries, alcohol, and coffee." I said as I struggled to breathe normally.

I did not mention the combo meals because it was already on the menu where every table has a copy. He did not even pay attention to it.

I bet he was going to order coffee, the darker the better. I thought.

He smiled. "I'll have americano then."

I nodded in satisfaction thinking I was right as I wrote on the pad. He never changed his taste.

"What else?" I asked.

"Hmm."

I glanced at him and I couldn't deny that he looked way much more handsome, a mature kind of handsome, and his body… I prayed for thunder to strike me dead.

"Your name." He added and I was taken aback that my heartbeat jumped but at the same time, I had this annoying feeling.

My name? Didn't he know?

Did he forget?

He did not recognize me?

My appearance did not change that much!

I fought myself not to punch a customer at that time. How dare he!? He forgot about me. About everything? What was I to him before?

"I'm sorry but my name's only available to our regular customers." I said.

"Lee." D called from the kitchen window as he pressed the bell.

My face heated up and the man smirked. I turned around and walked to the bar and handed Hailey the coffee order then picked up the food.

All the time, I had this uncomfortable feeling of someone watching my every move and I always caught him staring. Forget my ass. He must have gone crazy.

The customers were slowly getting fewer after the rain stopped and I was glad that he was finally gone but he showed up again early the next day and had his coffee. Though he wanted to start a conversation with me, I always excused myself that I had things to do in the kitchen and hid there.

That man named Zhenya, how dare he forget about me!?

xxxxx