Here I am, updating after how long...5 months? Anyways, please reveiw. This was written 5 months ago...i just never posted if for some reason...
I think i intended for this chapter to be much better.perhaps that's why i never posted it?..and i haven't had time to look everything over...sorrys for mistakes. This chap was rushed interms of plot..oh well...like i said, i was supposed to rewrite this, but i didn't and abondoned the story. Sorrys.
Serena heard someone call her name and scanned the restaurant. A young man a few years older than her was walking towards her and smiling. Something about him was familiar to Serena yet she couldn't remember who he was.
"Hi, I didn't know you lived in this area. I mean, the hospital is so far from here." The man said.
It was then that she remembered—
"Doctor...doctor Shields?"
The young man's smile was wider now. "So you remember? I'm flattered, really."
Serena returned the man's smile numbly. She wondered why a doctor would be so kind to her. Then she remembered his question.
"I live pretty far from here, actually...I just work here."
He looked surprised for a second, his jaw hanging and eyes fixed on Serena, then laughed stupidly. "Ohh...so...are you still in school or...?"
"Actually, I'm not in school. I started working the minute I graduated from highschool." She replied and looked away to show that she didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Oh..." he simply said and looked at his watch. Suddenly his face lit up. "Hey...what do you say that we find a little place and talk more? Can I buy you a cup of coffee?" He said in a way that made Serena not worry about his intentions for a second. Plenty of guys had said that to her before, and the little "talk" had always ended up with " come to my place..."
She didn't answer for a second. Dr. Shields must've seen the expression on her face that she tried to hide, because he even gave her an excuse to leave while he pretended to take a swift glance at his watch: "Well...actually, it's pretty late. We all have to go to work tomorrow—"
"It's quiet alright. I have the time. It's not that late." She smiled and decided that there was nothing to do at home anyways. A day of work had made her yearn for someone to talk to. She was surprised at herself for already talking much more than usual today.
"Alright." He said. Just then, Janice, one of the waitresses at the restaurant walked by them and gave Dr. Shields a weird look. Then her gaze shifted to Serena and frowned, her eyes directing Serena to the man she was talking to.
Dr. Shields noticed Serena's confused expression, then looked at Janice, then back at Serena. He sighed, and suddenly, he seemed a little nervous.
"You...know her?" She asked.
"Well...no, not really. She's upset because I yelled across the room a little too loudly...don't ask."
Serena couldn't help but smile at his sheepish expression. "Yeah...she has a thing with "disturbing other customers". She looked at the waitress and probably after hearing what Darien and Serena said, she nodded.
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"Your father is very healthy for a person in his position...you needn't to worry about his condition. It's very stable."
Serena looked up and saw the young doctor sipping his coffee. She did not know what to say at this moment. People always thought that she must be worried sick about her father—always going to the hospital everyday and see him, always wearing that expression on her face as if something troubles her, how she solemnly spoke to others...they all thought it was about her father. No one knew why she was really that way. It had never crossed their mind that she had turned that way because of her own past, her own lonely life, the memories that always hunted her, the scars that would never be healed...
"I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have brought him up at this time...see? I just made you more worried." Dr. Shield's voice interrupted Serena's thoughts.
She sat up a bit and readjusted herself in the seat while playing with her coffee cup. But did nothing other than gazing at the man sitting infront of her.
"So...let's change the topic then." He suggested and took another sip of his coffee. "So what exactly do you do at the restaurant?"
"Actually...I just wash the dishes. I work part-time there."
"Ohhhh..." Once again, Dr. Shields looked surprised. "Don't take this the wrong way, but...when I first met you, I thought you were one of those collage freshmen, I don't know why...you look...well, smart."
Serena couldn't help but laugh at that, she was flattered, plenty of people had been surprised that she hasn't gone to collage, but none of them really said it out loud, nevertheless TELL her that she looked smart. His honesty made her feel more comfortable to tell him more.
"Well...thank you, Dr. Shields, but—"
"Call me Darien."
"Okay. Thanks, Darien. But I chose not to go to collage. It was my personal choice."
"Oh...? Mind telling me why you made that choice?"
CRACK BOOM! Suddenly lightening struck outside. Serena was shaken by the fast change of the weather. She took a fast sip of coffee to calm herself, while trying to come up with a polite answer that won't give Dr. Shields too much information.
"I just...well, there was alot of reasons." Serena said and left it at that. She then turned her head to the window to see the rain starting to pour down. Dr. Shields didn't say anything. It had been understood that she didn't want to say too much to him.
He watched as Serena's mind drifted to elsewhere. Her elbow on the table and her hand on her chin, silently, eyes fixed on the falling rain outside. Her sea-blue eyes not hiding the emotions going through her, whatever they were.
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"So, Serena, which university are you applying to?"
The highschool senior looked up and saw Mrs. Toco standing infront of her desk. She eyed the 'Which Post-secondary Education is Best For You?' pamphlet and shrugged. "I haven't decided yet." She answered. "But I'm thinking of Tokyo University...although I might be aiming a little too high..."
Mrs. Toko smiled, "You're being too modest, really, Serena. You always said that you want to be a doctor, didn't you?"
"Well...yeah...I want to be a doctor."
"Tokyo University well suit you fine then. I heard they rank in the top 3 every year in the area of medical studies, out of so many schools in Japan!" the middle-aged teacher encouraged excitedly.
Serena pressed her lips together and thought hard, still unsure of her decision.
"Oh dear, look at me blabbing like that, I haven't asked you what you want to study yet!" Mrs. Toco apologized embarrassingly.
Serena Smiled. " You were right, I AM planning to be a medical student."
"Well, good luck. Although there is not a single doubt in my mind that you'll do great." After giving Serena the words of encouragement, she walked away to talk to other students.
The young blonde sat at her desk and continued to read the pamphlet. She could not wait to go to university.
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It was at dinnertime when Serena told her parents what she wanted to become for the first time.
Father disliked her idea of having a career. "You don't need all that fancy schooling." He said. " What's the point of going when you may get married soon and have a family?"
"What family? What marriage? I don't even have a boyfriend!" this completely took Serena by surprise.
"There are a couple of young lads at my company who gave you the eye. I'm sure one of them would be a good provider for you." Father replied matter-of-factly.
Serena couldn't believe this. All these years and father had never said a WORD about marrying her off. She was shocked and angry at his attitude towards this matter.
"Well I don't want them to provide for me! I've always wanted to be a doctor!"
"Stop this non-sense. What's the use of a woman having a career? They're never going to be on the top anyways. Just look at the people in my company. Non of the high-ranked positions are filled by women."
Serena tried hard to fight back her tears. Her heart had been stabbed by her father. How could he say this?
"And anyways," Father continued. " Women don't need their careers to live well in this world. All they need is a pretty face and marry someone decent. The other stuff should be left to the men to handle. Look at your mother, she never went to school and she's living the kind of life those other women would die for."
Serena did look at her mother. She did not see the kind of life father was talking about. She didn't see the her mother's happiness...
Maybe she never will...