A/N: Thank your for your responses. Enjoy the next chapter and don't forget to tell me what you think about it so far.

~WHAT IT TAKES TO STAND~

Chapter 2: There He was Again

The crowd was watching me: their eyes a mixture of disgust, pity and taciturn. I tried – desperately – to escape them but the spotlight was trained on me. My breathing started to be jagged. My palms become sweaty. I tentatively fidget while biting my lip, drained of color. I tried once again to escape. Laughter ensued when I failed. Everyone was laughing. Tears brimmed in my eyes.

I woke up with a loud gasp.

Calming my erratic heart, I stroked my face, trying to dispel my nightmare. A few minutes followed before I finally was a bit stable. The cold sweat on my hairlines and my back drenches me. Through the darkness of my room, I scanned my surroundings in search of my bedside clock. The neon light revealed three-fifteen in the morning. It was still too early to rise. I decided to get a glass of water instead and to try after at least fifteen minutes to come back to bed.

My workplace was still the same when I arrived early in the morning. The quiet rumble of employees coming-in in our department screams of another day of monotony. I took my usual place and booted my computer. Taking a sip of my freshly bought Starbucks coffee, I organize my things. I'm always thankful of drive-thrus.

The bleached-blond hair of Jessica standing in front my cubicle made me turn to her.

"Hi Swan."

"Hi," I greeted back, perplexed why she was talking to me.

"Do you know that someone new will come here in our department next week?" She had a thin voice which sounded like a teenage girl.

"Yes. Mike did tell me that in passing last week. Why?"

"I heard he was sort of the son of our CEO and wanted to gain experience on all their floors before rising to the top."

"That's good then." I was still confounded why she was relaying me this.

"You know I'm sure the guy would probably be a rich bastard pampered by his daddy who looks like a jackass mixed with stupid goofy look."

"We can't say that for sure. We hadn't seen him yet."

She pursed her lips; eyeing me like saying I was no fun.

"Well, I was just saying. Anyway, nice blouse."

I looked down at my dark blue camisole and blushed. Why is this girl being all nice to me?

And then I looked back at her and saw on her eyes those emotions again – pity, yes, she was eyeing me with pity. I winced.

"I'll have a small celebration on my moving in to another apartment tonight. Would you like to come?"

I gulped – nervousness consuming me again at the thought of mingling with people. In a small voice, I whispered "I'm sorry. I'll be busy later. M-my dad will be coming this night." It was a lie that even I could hear the falseness.

Again, those eyes revered me.

"Okay. I hope you'll have a goodnight." We both smiled small. She let me be and had a chat with Eric who was just coming then.

My computer was fully booted now. I opened my work e-mail to read the news sent to all employees for the day. There was congratulation on last week's meet goal, a few reminders in using the company properties, etc, etc. At the fifth e-mail, there was one designated by Mike only to our Information System Department, detailing the arrival of our new employee. None of it contained all the information Jessica was saying about him being the son of the "big boss", however Mike did say that we should act normal around him AT ALL COST and give him the same treatment we do to our co-workers. It doesn't need a genius to infer that Jessica's claims were indeed true.

I glanced towards my favorite spot – the window revealing the streets outside – to look for my next subject of musings.

There. It was at that time, when I was about to observe the world outside yet again, that my eyes landed to someone. Suddenly, a pair of emerald eyes was boring unto me.

It was him. Again. From yesterday. Looking intently at me.

My eyes opened wider.

He was standing directly across from me outside, looking fresh and clean-shaven in the morning, with his office suit. A look of deep melting emeralds regards me.

As a knee-jerk reaction, I snapped my head away from him. My heart started to drum. Again.

A few scattered breaths later, I carefully eyed him again. He was still there – still observing me. I could only stare wide-eyed. Fractionally, his lips lifted into a small smile. His eyes were alight with humor. He was laughing at me!

What best to do now? I was not just imagining it. He did, indeed, notice me yesterday, and today, he was proving my suspicions correct. I wasn't invisible. I was caught looking at the world where all I only wanted was to be a casual observer.

Still with his amused smile, he slowly lifted his right hand for a small wave.

What do I do now? Do I wave back? It seems like all I could do was to stare.

He angled his head to the side, as if encouraging me to acknowledge him. Tentatively, I lifted my right hand. And of course, I hit my coffee.

The cup flew in front of me and landed to a pool at the floor. A clattering sound echoed as the collision transpired. Instantly, my co-workers were alerted to my clumsiness. Deeply blushing, I leaned forward to retrieve the spilled cup of coffee. Through all these, I knew that my co-workers were eyeing me. And I knew that they knew that they shouldn't react anything. It was a bit depressing to know how much I am not normal.

When I was able to get the cup, I looked back to the handsome passer-by. He was still there. He saw the whole scene. He was now trying hard to contain his laugh.

That was the most normal reaction out of the situation, unlike the quiet reaction of my co-workers. For the first time in a long time, I felt like smiling a genuine one. And so I did, to the amusement of the man outside. I rolled my eyes at him. His smile grew.

"Miss Swan."

I flinched. Again, I did not notice Mike's arrival. And again, he was perplexed at my reaction.

"Yes, Mike?"

"Are you finished with the report on the perception of the media people on our company?"

"I'm working on it," I mumbled.

"Good. I need it before the day ends." And by that, he headed away without all his usual shenanigans whenever he would come to my cubicle. I breathed a relief.

The moment Mike was out of my sight, I looked back to the man outside. Only, he was gone. I looked for him across the street but he wasn't anywhere there. I couldn't understand the disappointment that soon followed.