Chapter 6 – September [SUNNY]

Jason rubbed his tired eyes as the words on his screen began to blur.  Hours of working made his brown eyes water from strain.  He ran a hand through his hair and sighed with exhaustion.  A glance at his watch revealed the late hour and a look to his window showed nothing of the outside world.  Nothing, but rain. 

He stood and walked over to peer out onto the street, and he saw nothing.  Sheets upon sheets of rain came pouring down, he could barely make out the streetlamp across the road.  His glasses no more help than to discern a white, shimmery dot to signify the light from the lamp.

Maybe it was time to head home.  He walked back, shut down his computer and packed away his things.  The young man walked out of the office, down the hall and stood in the elevator.  He played with the keys in his coat pocket as he leaned back and watched the number on the screen tick steadily downwards.  He chuckled as he eyed his form in the mirrored walls of the elevator.  Messy brown hair from constantly running his hands through it, dark circles starting to show around his eyes and his frame slumped against the back wall.  Anyone from the office would probably have a heart attack at seeing him so uncharacteristically dishevelled. 

The main lobby was eerie.  Dark silence that was only interrupted by loud ding of the elevator’s arrival.  A far cry from the usual bright, hustle and bustle of the day.  It was, in truth, just a bit creepy.  Lightning that had begun to strike during his elevator ride was making shadows play strangely across the floor.  Office plants, couches and coffee tables looked far more sinister than should ever do. 

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Even the sound of his business shoes on the marble floor was strange as it echoed through the room with every step.  A shiver ran down his spine and he couldn’t help but cast furtive looks over his shoulder.

BOOM!

Jason jumped about a metre in the air.  His heart thudded wildly in his chest as the sound of thunder smashed through the eerie quiet.  He panted as reality kicked in where adrenaline had first shot through him.  Thunder, it was just thunder.  Jason had never been the type to fear thunder, lightning or rain.  He frowned in thought as his hand soothed the part of his chest, right above his heart, to calm it.

A few more steps toward the entrance.

Tap. Tap.

Whimper.

Jason whirled around. His dark eyes darted back and forth around the main lobby desk.  The sound had filtered just above the noise of the torrential rain.  He could make out nothing unusual from where he had come.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

BOOM!

Squeak! Whimper…

He turned around sharply. Still nothing.  But he knew had heard it.  A sound of distress straight after the clap of thunder had come through.  Jason spun around and scanned the room.  Paranoia and the dark heightened his sense of hearing. 

Sniffle.

His head jerked towards the couches surrounding a coffee table.  Over there. Definitely.  He walked cautiously towards the large seats, “Hello? Is somebody there?”

No answer.  Fear and the late hour made him hesitant. Slowly, ever so slowly he edged towards the massive couch.  He took a breath to steady himself and peered over the furniture. There was a woman.  Probably no older than him, possibly younger.  She was curled up on the couch, with her face pressed up against the cushions.  Her small frame shook as another CLAP of thunder broke through the steady downpour. 

Jason walked around to the front of the couch. He set his bag down and crouched to be at eye level with her.

“What’s wrong, miss?” He whispered gently.

There was no answer again, just another heartbreaking sniffle as she curled in on herself more. He reached out a hand and gently placed on her shoulder. She jumped! Her long brown hair almost whipped him across the face as she spun to face him.  She looked at him with wide frightened eyes.  Her whole body trembled as she pushed herself as far into the couch as she could go.

“It’s okay, miss. I’m not going to hurt you,” Jason reassured her gently.

Slowly, to avoid startling her, he held out his hand, “My name is Jason . What’s yours?”

She eyed the outstretched hand and, seemingly deeming it safe, gently took it in her own, “S-Sunny.”

A soft smile played on Jason's lips and he said, “That’s a very nice name, Sunny.”

The young woman blushed prettily, before offering a timid smile, “Thank you.”

Jason lightly took hold of her other hand and used his thumbs to rub slow, soothing circles on the back of her hands, “Now, it’s super late to still be in the building, Sunny.  Is there anything I can help with?”

The tension in her shoulders slowly drained away as she focused on the well-dressed man before her. She shook her head, “No. I was working, but then it was raining so I called my manager to pick me up. I’m just waiting for him.”

“Okay,” Jason searched her face for anything that could mean she was lying, “Are you hurt anywhere? I thought I heard crying.”

Sunny looked away in embarrassment.  She felt her face heat up as she avoided his gaze, “I’m not hurt. It’s just… Loud noises scare me. S-so, when the thu-”

BOOM!

She screamed in fear.  Sunny threw herself into Jason's arms as another clap of thunder crashed through the sound of rain.  She gripped his work shirt with tight hands and buried her face in his chest. Jason fell back on his as he was suddenly tackled to the ground.  His arms wrapped automatically around the tearful girl.  He held her tightly as she trembled in his arms.

“When thunder started you got frightened,” he finished for her.

She could do no more than whimper and nod fearfully.  Her eyes were screwed shut and Jason felt his heart go out to her.  Sunny held on tightly to the nice young man who felt safe and gentle to her in her panicked state of mind.

“Sunny,” he murmured, “Do you know when your manager will get here?”

“A-around t-ten minutes. He s-said t-there was t-t-traffic because of the r-rain.”

“Okay. It’s okay.”

Jason carefully manoeuvred the frightened woman so that his legs were stretched out in front of him and she was seated sideways across his lap.  He didn’t want her legs or knees aching from the awkward position she had fallen in.  He gently rubbed her back in an effort to calm her. His right hand reached over and pulled his duffel bag towards him.

“What’s your favourite song, Sunny?”

 “Huh?”

Jason smiled softly and asked again, “What’s your favourite song?”

“Oh,” Sunny quietly in thought, “I like Kissing You by SNSD.”

At the words ‘Kissing You’, Jason blushed slightly, but made no comment. Choosing instead to fish out his noise-cancelling headphones from his bag, “Do you have that song on your phone?”

She nodded cutely and reached for her phone. It had fallen on the floor some time during the night.  Jason averted his eyes as she typed in the passcode and unlocked her phone.  Sunny giggled a little at his motion, her cheerful personality starting to shine through in the safety offered by his company.  Sunny showed her song queued up in her music player. 

Jason just smiled slightly and tapped the button to put the song on loop, then he plugged in his headphones.  He slipped the device over her ears and made sure they were secure.  Sunny’s smile widened a fraction as the noise around her became muffled.  Jason took Sunny’s phone in hand and pressed play.

Sunny could hear nothing but the sound of Kissing You in her ears.  Her eyes fluttered close as she shut out everything except for the song and Jason's warmth.  Jason gazed at her for a moment, a bit surprised that she could be so comfortable with a stranger.  Then again, fear could do that to you.  It can make you cling to the feelings of safety, wherever they may come from.  He leaned back against the coffee table and resigned himself to waiting for at least another ten minutes.

Just like before, all he could hear was rain.  Jason couldn’t see anything out of the glass windows or doors, but a few obscured streetlamps.  But now he had company.  Just above the noise of nature was the humming of a young woman.  And, weirdly enough, that was all it took to make the lobby seem less eerie.

Eventually Sunny’s phone beeped with an incoming message.  Jason once again averted his gaze to protect her privacy as she read it.  The thunder had gone now, but the torrential rain showed no signs of stopping.

“Manager-oppa says he’s here now,” Sunny carefully unplugged the headphones and handed the back with a grateful, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Jason smiled and placed them back in his bag.

The two of them stood at some unseen signal and dusted themselves off in an effort to look more presentable.  Without another word they exited together.

Rain pelted down from the skies all around them.  The sound previously loud inside the building was now almost deafening outside.

“Where’s your manager?” Jason shouted above the noise.  He could see no sign of a car in front of them, but maybe the rain was merely blocking his view of it.

“Oppa says the street is too flooded in front of the entrance! He parked a little bit down the road!”

She pointed vaguely to their left and he could just make out the outline of a van with tail-lights on not too far ahead.

Sunny looked at the handsome young stranger who had held her and kept her company without even knowing who she was, “Thank you for everything!”

“You’re welcome!” He grinned at her.

Sunny beamed at him and prepared to make a dash for the vehicle. She didn’t want to stay outside in this rain any longer. Jason grabbed her arm just before she could make a run for it, “What are you doing? You’re going to get soaked!”

“It’s fine! I’m sure oppa has an umbrella and I’ll only be in the rain for a few seconds!”

Jason shook his head and refused to let go, “You could get sick!”

With his other hand pulled out a small umbrella and held it out to her, “Here! Borrow mine!”

This time Sunny shook her head and pushed the umbrella back towards him, “No, you’ve done a lot for me already! You use it!”

“There’s no point! I’m already wet!”

Sunny stared at him confusion, he was very obviously dry.  The two of them had yet to move from the shelter of the foyer roof. Jason grinned, jumped out of the shelter and stood in the downpour.  He was soaked instantly.  Rain water drenched every part of him till his clothes stuck to him like a second skin and his hair was plastered to his head.

“What are you doing?” Sunny shouted. She grabbed the crazy fool and pulled him back under shelter. 

Jason pushed his hair back so that it was slicked away from his and wiped as much water off his face as he could. The white business shirt was practically see through under his midnight blue blazer. Despite all that, he gave Sunny a broad grin and handed her his umbrella once more, “See? I’m already wet! Take it!”

Before she could protest, he shoved the umbrella into her stunned hands.  Sunny held it disbelievingly as Jason stood there with a satisfied grin on his face.

“You’re crazy!” She shouted, but she didn’t even try to fight off the huge beam that had spread across her face at the sweet gesture.

“I know!”

Jason called out one last time before he ran out from under the shelter.  Sunny watched him leave, but it wasn’t long before she could see nothing of him, not even an outline.  She turned walked to her manager’s car using the umbrella. 

Jason ran without really seeing.  He ran full pelt towards the direction of the staff carpark.  Rain lashed at him with every step.  His face stung as each little drop pelted him from every direction.  He was absolutely soaked.  His shirt was see through, his blazer as water logged and his shoes squelched with every step he took. 

Jason grimaced as he slid into his car, water dripped everywhere and soaked into his seat.  But at least he knew the young woman wasn’t going to share his fate.

How do people like the story so far? Should Jason end up with one of the girls or just be friends with all of them?

If he ends up with one of the girls, who do you think he should end up with???