"I'm sorry."
Those two words struck me with an unimaginable force. Certainly not for the first time in my short life, I felt my throat tighten in a vain attempt to silence the oncoming sobs. The man placed a piece of paper into my numb hands. I watched through my eyelashes as his shiny military shoes turned and stiffly walked away.
My knees wobbled as I leaned against the brick wall with something that resembled a strangled sigh. Hands trembling, I ran my freezing fingers through my (h/c) hair.
Even though I knew that he was already gone, I kept the tears that were threatening to overflow from spilling over. I slid to the ground, wincing as my arm scraped against the wall. Tiny sprinkles of rain dusted me as I curled up in a tight ball, as if in an attempt to pull myself out of this world.
The pain was unbearable. My chest tightened and tears streamed down my face like a hot river. Silent sobs racked my body as I clutched the wrinkled slip of paper in my iron grasp. It felt like someone had shot me in the heart, leaving an empty void where a vacuum remained, consuming my entire mind. All I could do was to shiver in the increasing rainstorm.
I must have sat like that for a few hours, consumed in my own grief and tears until I dozed off, unfazed by the steady downpour clashing relentlessly on my body.
"Excuse me."
A voice called out to me. I tiled my head up to find a man standing over me with a black umbrella held over my head. I hadn't even noticed his presence until he spoke.
"Excuse me, miss," he said again, leaning down so he could observe me closer. I blinked, my (e/c) eyes dull and red from crying.
"Are you alright?" I watched the man silently. His messy mop of blonde hair stuck to his face as the rain splattered against him. Bright emerald eyes stared at me with a worried intensity from underneath outrageously bushy eyebrows that somehow fitted his sharply dressed image.
Another minute passed before he stuck out his free gloved hand.
"I can't just leave a lady out here in this storm. Would you care for a cup of tea to warm you up?" His heavily accented voice pulled me out of the daze I had been indulging in. I remained silent, however, but accepted his hand and allowed him to help me to my feet. I stumbled at first, my legs like noodles after sitting on them for who knows how long, but he caught me before I fell.
The British man led me down the street to a small café. He opened the door for me and again led me to a small table towards the back of the café. I took my seat and stared numbly at the simple wooden table covered with a clean bleached tablecloth. The blonde ordered something, but my ears never registered his words.
"You've been awfully quiet, love."
I continued to stare at the threads interwoven into the cloth.
"My name is Arthur Kirkland, by the way. May I ask what you were doing alone in that rain? It looks like you were there for a while before I stopped to check on you." His concerned voice still gained no response from me. A warm hand suddenly reached over and tiled my chin up so I was eye to eye with him. His green eyes darted to the piece of paper in my grasp.
"May I take a look at that?"
"No!" I suddenly shouted hoarsely, pulling back sharply.
"Oh, so you can talk." Arthur leaned back once again, seemingly unfazed by my sudden outburst. "What's your name, love?"
I sucked in a shaky breath and exhaled.
"_ _. My name is _ _."
"What a lovely name for a lovely lady. Can I ask what you were doing?" he asked softly, watching me with concerned eyes.
"I-" I paused, clutching the slip of paper to my chest. "-would rather not s-say," I hiccupped, tears threatening to spill once again.
Arthur's eyes widened momentarily.
"Oh," he murmured. "Well, how about you tell me about yourself?" Quickly changing the subject, he nodded as the waiter placed two teacups on the table.
"Well…" I watched him as he picked up his cup and sipped from it.
***(~A while later~)***
"Well, _, I believe you should go home. It was a pleasure meeting you. Whatever happened to put you out in the rain like that, you can tell me about." He handed me a strip of his napkin with his number on it. I managed a small smile and stood up.
"Thanks, Mr. Kirkland-"
"Call me Arthur," he interjected with a brilliant smile.
"Arthur. Thank you for the tea and the chat. I'm feeling better." I gave the handsome man a smile and turned to leave, but right as my hand grasped the handle of the door, his voice called out again.
"Be careful, _. You were out there for quite a while. You might have caught a cold."
I turned and saw him collecting his gloves and his umbrella. He walked over and held out his black umbrella.
"It's still raining out there. Here." He was completely serious. I stared at him for a short while before cocking my head slightly to the side and frowning.
"Arthur, you don't have to-" I protested, but he cut me off by flashing his straight white teeth once again in a warm smile.
"No. Take it. My home isn't far from here and I'm sure you need it." With that, he thrust the thing into my hands and pushed the door open. "After you."
"But-" I began as I walked out the door with the umbrella in my hands.
"No buts, just take it, love. I'm sure we'll meet again. You can return it then." Arthur followed me out and closed the door behind us. "Well. Until then, _."
I watched, stunned as the gentleman hurried down the street, pausing only to wave goodbye. I raised a hand and hesitantly waved as well, frowning at the black umbrella in my hand.
"Might as well use it," I mumbled, opening it up and lifting it above my head to shield me from the steady drizzle.
My lips curled up slightly into a small smile as I pulled the napkin piece out of my pants pocket. I gazed at the list of numbers warmly.
I paused and turned my head to look the way the blonde had taken, the piercing ache in my chest now reduced to a dull throbbing as it was pushed to the back of my mind.
"Yeah. I think we'll meet again, Arthur."
A/N: I apologize for the short and crappy first chapter. I'm still new to these reader insert things. This isn't a major story, just a side project.