The feeling said all.

“Why am I here?” Zyena thought to herself while scratching her index nail to her thumb- it

was a habit that she had when she felt uneasy or nervous. She was sitting in a bar at a

corner table sipping on a glass of ice water. She ordered the ice water on purpose so that

she had something to do as she waited. Sitting in the corner made her feel less in the

limelight of all the people there. She wore a black turtleneck top with black jeans and boots

and had a khaki long blazer on top. She loved black, one reason was because it works well

with every colour and other was that she was a bit inexperienced in fashion. ‘When you

don't know what to wear, black always works’ as she used to say.

8:25 pm. The date was in 5 mins but she came quite early- yet another habit she had gotten

from her parents, always be a bit early. This is a date though! You’ll look easy! Her mind

went. She brushed the thought away and sipped on her water.

Ding! A few seconds later the door to the bar opened. Gage walked in and looked around.

Their eyes met and he smiled. As he started walking towards Zyena, she panicked inside.

Maybe it was a bad idea... she thought to herself. It wasn’t because Gage wasn’t good

looking, (well... he was... phew, too good of a looker), or that Zyena was not a confident girl

(she was a beautiful girl herself), it was just that for Zyena, when it came to men, she just

didn’t know what to do. That’s why whenever she was in a relationship before, it never

lasted long because of lack of communication. That’s why she gave up the expectation to

finding a boyfriend, until Gage came.

“Hi. You’re here early. Did I make you wait?” Gage asked and sat down across from her.

“No, no. I am always an early arriver to any place that’s why. How are you?” Zyena said and

sipped on her glass of water.

“I’m great! Well, a new place for a change.” Gage said looking around and then back to her

with a smirk and Zyena chucked.

They had met before. Many times, just didn’t say anything to each other. Zyena went to the

collage library every evening during finals and Gage would be there too, right across the

room, sitting on the corner table facing her. For the first few times they didn’t notice each

other. But then a week later, Zyena looked up from her book to stretch her neck and

suddenly saw Gage looking at her. Their eyes met for a second and then Gage looked away.

Zyena still looked at him for a second more and then went back to her book. They didn’t

look at each other again but were aware of each other’s presence that day. For the next few

days they went to the library, both of them would sit on the same spot and steal glances at

each other in between the small breaks they took from studying. They had a feeling on

what’s going on but didn’t do anything about it, until one time, when Zyena walked iStart writing...what n library to her usual spot, she saw Gage sitting on the same table on the opposite side. For

some reason Zyena paused on her feet and her heart gave out a funny feeling. Nervous?

Excited? Shocked? She didn’t know. She resumed walking and sat on her seat. The boy

who was several feet away before was now just a hands length away. He didn’t look up but

he knew she was there. For the rest of the time they were studying, none of them looked up.

They didn’t have to. They could feel it when the other person moved their fingers to write

something, or when her hand went to rub her forehead when she was deep in thought, or

when he rubbed the back of his neck while figuring out the answer. They were studying but

had each other in mind at the same time.

On that day, when they were done with their study, they nodded at each other before going

their separate ways. The progression was too slow but the details in their movements were

too intense.

The next day Gage was sitting at the same table as Zyena but she didnt come. Nor did she

the day after. Gage felt strange and wanted to know why but he knew nothing about her. So

all he could do was still come to the library at her usual time to see if she comes again.

On the third day, Gage again sat at the same spot and started with he is study. A few

minutes later he felt the chair in front of him move. He smiled because he knew it was her.

She sat done as quietly as she could and unpacked her materials. Gage thought for a

moment and then picked up his sticky note and started writing. Zyena opened her book and

continued from where she had left her chapter. A few seconds later she saw Gage pressing

the sticky note to the page she was reading from.

You weren’t here for 2 days. It said.

Zyena didn’t dare look up cause she knew he watch watching.

I wasn’t well, but all better now. She wrote and pasted it on his notebook. He read it and

pasted it on the back of his notebook. No one said anything after that. Did I just ended the

conversation? Zyena thought. She got a bit awkward after that but couldn’t say anything. 2

hours later, she finished her task for the day and looked up. Gage was watching her. She

looked and him and her eyes wavered around for a second.

He signed to her, ‘You done?’ She nodded. He pointed towards outside and waited for her

to pack her things up. Once she was done they walked out of the library.

“I’m Gage.” Gage said and held out his hand.

Zyena shook his hand and said, “I’m Zyena.”

“Um... i know this is sudden but would you want to go somewhere and have a drink?” Gage

asked trying to be brave.

“Um... I have a test tomorrow...” Zyena said. She saw Gage’s expression dying down even

though he tried hard not to show it and instantly regretted turning him down.“Well, we could meet tomorrow. I mean after the test, like in the evening somewhere...” she

trailed off and immediately saw Gage’s expression come back to life.

“No problem. Give me your number.” Gage held out his phone. Zyena took it and typed her

number in and then gave it back.

“See you tomorrow then.” Gage said and went to the parking lot.

The next time she saw Gage was now, in the bar. From the library to the bar. Nice progress

Zyena! Her mind went as soon as she had entered the vicinity, but the only reason she liked

the place was because this meeting was way too much for her to go through sober.

“What would you like to have?” Gage asked.

“Probably Yarden Merlot. You?” Zyena asked back.

“I’ll have the same then.” Gage replied and gave the order of the drinks with grilled chicken

salad.

“So, what are you studying?” Gage asked.

“I’m majoring in theology. I want to be a archivist.” Zyena replied.

“Ohhh, that’s interesting! What made you choose this line?” Gage leaned in, getting

interested.

“Well, I always had interest in different religions and wanted to learn more about it. I mean,

most of the friends that I have are from different religious backgrounds which got me curious

about their beliefs and values and how everyone still respects each other even though they

don’t agree sometimes... I’m boring you, aren’t I?” Zyena zoned back in after blabbering

unconsciously.

“No, no. It’s interesting. I saw how focused you are when you study in the library. It shows

how much you like the subject.” Gage chucked.

“What about you? What are you studying?” Zyena asked curiously.

“I’m doing interior design. I love designing and building furniture and I’m probably going to

do that after graduation.” Gage said.

“That’s new. I haven’t heard anyone do what you want to. I mean I’ve heard designing but

building furniture from scratch? Interesting.” Zyena said.

They were both unconsciously leaning in towards each other now and talking about what

they wanted to do when their order arrived. They paused their conversation and sipped on

their wine.

“Tell me, why did you agree to meet?” Gage asked jokingly.

“You tell me, why did you ask?” Zyena asked back with a smirk.“I guess its the same reason then, right?” Gage couldn’t hood back his smile.

“This could go wrong too. We just started talking yesterday.” Zyena said. That sentence had

all her insecurities and worries behind it and she was expecting Gage to agree. After all, it

was true. They did just start talking and what did they know about each other? Nothing.

“No it wont.” Gage said before eating the salad.

“What?” Zyena asked, thinking she heard wrong.

“It won’t go wrong. I have a feeling we’ll have this merlot again.” He said without looking at

her.

It was a start. They talked about all sorts on things, from family to habits to who can eat

more spicy food. After they finished their drinks, Gage gave Zyena a ride back home and

asked her if he can come pick her up tomorrow to go to the library together.

She said yes.