Steemit Challenge s28wk3: When Hope Returns

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Ronny couldn't understand Nina's laughter because it stayed with him for so long even after she walked away from his desk that morning. Not that the laugh was loud, nor was it attention-seeking but it stir something in him, happiness, comfort and love. He tried to ignore it. After all, he promised himself that he was done with anything called love, he was done with vulnerability, and all the things that could take him unawares.

But as the saying goes life always has its own script.

At work, Nina was getting along so well and easily with other workers, she was easygoing and her conversations feels lighter. She would just ask simple questions like "Did you have breakfast?" Or "why do you like taking the long staircase instead of using a lift?" And you know, somehow those little questions began stitching holes that had been opened wide in Ronny's heart without him knowing.

Still, Ronny was keeping his distance because he didn't want any drama or heartbreak that would send him into waves of pains again. Especially as he was just beginning to breathe.

One afternoon, while Ronny was having lunch alone on the rooftop, Nina joined him. She gently said "You like sitting here alone, though It looks peaceful, but it's lonely."

Ronny shrugged, "Well I like quiet places."

Nina replied, "oh I see and that's good, but you know too much quiet can swallow you up."

Hmm her word resonated with him, it reminds him of the Gardener's voice; This tree will bloom again when the season comes back.

Ronny wanted to believe that it wasn't just about trees.

Days have turned into weeks, weeks into months, and the spring air has softened so many things, even the memory of Ronny's ex-girlfriend Sameera. Well, the pain was still there, but Ronny was no longer controlled by it. One morning, as he walked through the park again he saw the tree that had taught him hope. It was blossoming, its branches were filled with green leaves and beautiful pink flowers 🌺 that announces its renewal. Wow surely life has returned to what was once thought dead.

Roony stood there, admiring the tree, and something shifted inside him, he began to think that maybe his heart had a season too.

That evening, Nina asked him if they would go home together since they lived on the same street, and he accepted. They were cracking jokes and exchanging stories as they strolled through the streets. Nina told him why she moved from her city, and how she was learning how to start over. Ronny was a bit reserved, he was cautious when telling his side of story, but it was enough for Nina to realized that there's something behind his silences.

Then, as they neared where they would be parted, Nina stopped. "Ronny can I ask you something?"

He nooded

"You look like someone who's been deeply hurt. But you also hope you won't be hurted again. So tell me which is stronger, the fear or the hope?"

He took a deep breath. The question touches a part of him that has been locked for some time now.

"Hmmm I don't know," he answered honestly. "But I'm trying hard to let hope win."

She smiled gently and said, "Good hope should win, because it makes us bloom, but fear makes us stand still."

Ronny did not respond. He just looked at her and he felt something warm spreading through him, and it was real.

The days that follow this day unfolded gently and slowly. They shared many things together; morning coffee, exchanging jokes over Whatsapp, and sometimes they will walked home together after work. Somehow Ronny became attached, he began to anticipate Nina's presence, not out of desperation, but with peaceful curiosity.

Goodness when Ronny was thinking that life was giving him a new beginning, the twist arrived.

Yes, one morning, Nina didn't show up at work. At first, everyone thought she was sick. But by the third day, Ronny grows uneasy. He texted her, she didn't respond, and her phone was switched off. Something inside Ronny tightened, it was an unexpected feeling, the one he didn't want to revisit.

Nina appeared at work on the fourth day, but she was quiet and distant. Ronny was the first person to rushed to her desk, and asking "Nina, are you okay? I've been worried sick."

Nina looked up, her eyes were slightly red and calm. She responded, "I'm fine, Ronny, it's just that I needed time."

Ronny replied, "Time for what?"

She answered, "Time to decide if I should tell you something."

Ronny's heart was pounding, while waiting.

Nina said, "I didn't come here just for a new job, I came here because I was trying to heal from someone I trusted, who suddenly left me. I didn't want to open up so easily again. But then you came along the way, and you made it harder for me to keep to my promise."

Ronny was caught by his breath. What an irony! the two of them are wounded souls who were hopeful.

He now sat beside her, and quietly said "We do not have to rush anything, okay. Let's just grow at our own pace, slowly. Yes just like that tree I showed you in the park. No pressure. Just in due process and time."

Nina's look down and said. "Slow is better."

That was the moment, Ronny came to realized what the twist was, it wasn't a return of heartbreak, but healing finding its way to him through someone who understood the pain of heartbreak.

Hope came gently to them, just like spring, one soft bloom at a time, no rush.

And this time, Ronny didn't run. He follows the due process and bloom with it.

I'm inviting my friends @senehasa, @wilmer1998 and @cruzamilcar63 to join this contest.