Like brain cells.
Sakura continued to eat her eggs. She sighed. Today was not going well. All she’d wanted was a little quiet time to herself. Then she had run into this guy at the coffee shop. Now here at Flappy Jack’s. She didn’t really understand why he had piqued her interest. Although, upon further reflection, she had realized that he probably did save her life last night. She should probably thank him. Instead, she crammed another tiny bite of eggs into her mouth.
Hobi was watching her. “Are you actually going to eat those today?”
She speared him with her eyes. “What?”
“Your eggs. You keep moving them around your plate. Then you take the tiniest bite I’ve ever seen anyone eat. It’s a wonder you haven’t starved to death.”
Her eyes had fallen to her plate, but as he spoke those unthinking words, she glanced sharply up at him. Then she pushed her plate away. She would never be fat again. She had sworn it. To herself. No one would ever make fun of her. Not ever again. She sniffed and stood up.
Hobi didn’t want her to leave. He said the first thing that came to him. “You’re beautiful.”
She froze. For a moment, she stared unseeing off into space as echoes from an earlier time surrounded her. They didn’t agree with him.
“Fatso!”
“Ugly girl!”
“You should just end yourself!”
“If I were that ugly, I’d just put an end to it all.”
It had occurred to her. More than once.
Tears flooded her eyes. No one – not a single soul – had ever told her she was beautiful. Not even after she’d lost the weight. Slowly, her eyes lifted off the ground to meet his.
Hobi had been smiling at her, but as her gaze connected with his, he winced. He saw so much pain in those stunning eyes that he gasped.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered. His pancakes were now forgotten.
Instead of answering his question, she responded by clearing her throat. “Um, thank you for helping me last night. I…I apologize if I was rude. I should have thanked you then for defending me. And for protecting me from the traffic. Have…have a good concert.” She turned to hurry out of the restaurant.
“Wait!” Hobi jumped up and reached out to wrap his long, slender fingers around her wrist.
She spun towards him. “Let go of me!” she snapped, clearly alarmed.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he instantly dropped her arm. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to get your name.”
“Why? We’re never going to see each other again. And five minutes from now, you’ll forget I ever existed. Ten girls will surely take my place. Or maybe a thousand tonight.”
“No.” It was all Hobi could think to say. She was going to leave him. But he didn’t want her to. He’d seen something in her eyes that had arrested him. He wanted to solve the mystery. “I won’t forget you. I’ll never forget your eyes.”
Her gaze met his. She frowned. “What?”
“It’s something one of my friends said. Tae once said that he wanted to look into everyone’s eyes because if he did, he’d never forget them. Well, I looked into your eyes. Now I can’t forget you. More than that, I want to know you now. I want to know why your eyes are so sad.”
She stepped back. Away from this threatening man. “No. You don’t want to know me. No one does. I’m not worth knowing.”
“That’s just not true. You are worth knowing. Please. Sit down with me. I have ten minutes till I have to leave.”
“I wouldn’t want to make you late,” she answered sarcastically.
Why was she so sharp? What had broken her heart?
