Nick parked his car behind Ro-Ena’s high-rise condominium and without words; he walked out of his car and on to Ro-Ena’s side and opened her door for her while he helped her out.

“You don’t have to walk me up,” she said solemnly

“No, I want to be sure you’re safe,” he replied monotonously as the two of them began to head to the front door of the building.

In silence, the two of them reached Ro-Ena’s front door. Ro-Ena reached inside the pocket of her jacket taking out her keys as she began to open her door. “Would you like to come in?” she offered as she pushed open her front door, revealing a dark room. “I can get you something to drink, perhaps?”

“Who was that guy?” he suddenly asked, not bothering to answer Ro-Ena’s questions.

“An ex-boyfriend of mine,” she replied while walking inside of her room and headed for a part of her place and flicked on the light switch to kill off the darkness.

Nick followed her in and stood by the doorway as his hands were placed inside the pockets of his thin autumn jacket. The information his friend Reese had mentioned to him was in fact truthful. He looked at her with a serious expression on his face, no sight of a smile whatsoever. They had just met that day but he felt scared for her. A part of him wanted to walk out of there and never speak to her again. He didn’t want to be involved in that kind of trouble. Another part of him forced him to stay. He felt like he couldn’t just walk away, even if he wanted to. He knew he couldn’t, and he wouldn’t. Somehow, deep down, he knew was already involved. “What does he want?”

Ro-Ena hesitated. “You sure you want to know?” Her own curiosity had managed to overtake her entirety. It surprised her that someone whom she had just met hours ago could give this much interest in her life. He showed so much care; a type of care that was seen in the expression of his eyes, and his mouth, and his every movement. Who was he? Why was he there? Who sent him? She had an array of questions but somehow she didn’t care much of finding out the answers. All that seemed to have mattered to her wasn’t attaining the knowledge of his purpose. It didn’t matter what prompted him to approach her at the coffee house in the first place and sit in front of her, despite all the other empty chairs that had surrounded them. It didn’t matter that he persisted on dropping her off. It didn’t matter that despite the unfortunate bump with Jay, he still gave her that ride, walked her up to her place and stepped inside her home to secure her safety. All that matter was that he was there with her. That was enough for her.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t!”

“If that’s the case, I suggest you take off your shoes and get comfortable, this could get a tad long!” she chuckled lightly as she headed towards her corner couch and flopped herself down.

Nick began to take his shoes off followed by his jacket, then headed over to where Ro-Ena was seated and sat right beside her as the two of them faced each other, looking deep into one another’s eyes.

“Why do you care so much?” Ro-Ena suddenly blurted out without thinking or reasoning. She didn’t know where those words had come from or what prompted her to just casually uttering it out like that.

Nick looked down as he fidgeted with his fingers. “I don’t know,” he said in a hushed tone. “All I know is that I just do!” he gazed back up at her, looking deep into her eyes. In that moment, he felt a sudden strike of electricity inside of him as if connecting him directly to her. It was as if someone had literally showed him Ro-Ena’s soul. He looked deep into her eyes and he saw something that was so dark and so mysterious. It however did not scare him away; instead, it gave him a sense of comfort. He wanted explanations for the sudden obscurity of the sensation he was feeling at that moment, but deep inside, he knew he didn’t need explanations. His answer was sitting right there in front of him. His answers laid in her eyes, in her touch, in her soul. Words were no longer relevant to him. He was satisfied with what he can see through her. Right there, in front of him, sat a mysterious woman with a mysterious past and he knew that was where their connection laid: soul-to-soul.