Chapter 16 Tiny Scratch, Giant Transfer
I’ve always known I have a thing for handsome men. Not to have something romantic with them, but just to admire them.
He was cute, clean, and reserved. He looked like the man who would never raise his voice even when he is angry. His shirt sleeves were rolled neatly to his elbows, his hair slightly messy like he didn’t try too hard to look good.
“I’m so sorry,” he said immediately.
“Pull yourself together, Joan,” I scolded myself.
“It’s fine,” I said quickly, forcing my eyes away from his to inspect my car.
It was nothing serious; just a small scratch on the side.
“I wasn’t paying enough attention. I’m so sorry once again,” he said calmly.
“It’s just a scratch. It’s really not a big deal,” I replied, examining the scratch.
“Still… I caused it. I should take full responsibility,” he shook his head and said.
Then he paused, took a closer look at the scratch, and sighed.
“I will pay for the repair,” he added.
“Honestly… you don’t have to,” I laughed softly.
“I have to,” he said, his tone polite but firm.
“Okay,” I nodded.
“But I don’t know how much it would cost… it shouldn’t cost much though,” I continued as I stole glances at him.
“Give me a few seconds, please,” he said, walked over to his car, and returned with his phone.
“Can I get your account number?” he asked, stretching his hand out to give me his phone.
I hesitated for a second, then inserted my account number into his phone.
“I will wire the money when I get home… is that fine by you?” he asked.
“No problem,” I said, not expecting anything more than a small transfer.
“I’m sorry once again,” he muttered with a soft smile.
With that, he walked to his car. I watched him drive off then shook my head.
“Get a grip, Joan.”
When I got home, I had barely dropped my bag when my phone buzzed.
I dropped my bag and took out my phone.
The first thing I saw was a credit alert.
I clicked on the notification and my breath seized.
“What?!” I screamed.
The amount staring back at me was way more than what it would cost to fix a tiny scratch.
“LENA!” I screamed again.
“What? Fire? Ghost?” she said, running out of her room.
Theo also rushed out.
“LOOK AT THIS!” I said, shoving my phone in her face.
“Wait… is that real?” she asked, her eyes wide open and fixed on my phone’s screen.
“It is!”
“Did you kill for someone?” she asked, still staring at the numbers.
“Why are we shouting like we won the lottery?” Theo said, poking his head out through Lena’s shoulder.
“Looks like we won a lottery,” I laughed, turning the phone to him.
“This is huge,” he gasped.
“Spill the tea… what happened? Where did you get this from?” Joan said, anxiously waiting to hear the gist.
“So… I was coming home after a bad day and this man scratched my car. I wanted to lash out at him, but I calmed myself down because of how cute he looked,” I smiled.
“Then he collected my account number and said he would send the money to me when he gets home,” I added, still smiling.
“Trust me it was just a small scratch.”
Lena burst out laughing.
“Who would give you that amount of money just because they scratched your car?” she said, trying to control her laughter now.
“Don’t you think it was a mistake?”
“He might be rich enough to spare that much,” Theo muttered, running his fingers through his hair.
“We will appreciate him by spending it wisely though,” Lena said, winking playfully at me.
“Who are the… we?” I replied.
And we all laughed.
“Let’s go get some stuff,” I said and danced happily to my room.
I dropped my bag, changed my clothes and the three of us went grocery shopping.
That night, Alex sent me a text.
“What happened today was my fault… I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
I stared blankly at the ceiling after reading the text.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have cared about what they were saying… he didn’t deserve that.”
“He defended me and I shouldn’t have acted like he did something wrong.”
“Should I apologize?” I thought to myself as I tapped slightly and continuously at my phone’s screen.
I typed and erased my texts multiple times, unsure whether to send them or not.
“What am I doing?” I whispered to myself.
Then I remembered what Theo said earlier that morning.
“If he gets even a whiff of my recent involvement with Alex, he would be so furious,” I thought to myself.
“Geez!” I said and tossed my phone to the side.
I stared blankly for a while before I fell asleep.
The next day was a Saturday. Theo walked out of his room with sneakers in his hand, while Joan and I sat on the couch, each of us scrolling through our phones.
“Where are you going?” I asked, looking up.
“To take a walk,” he answered, dusting the sneakers with a dust cloth.
“Oh, sounds good… can I join?” Lena asked, her face lighting up.
“Sure… do you want to join too?” he asked, looking at me hesitantly.
“I think I will,” I replied and stood up.
Lena and I dressed appropriately for a morning walk and we all stepped out.
After some minutes, we came back, exhausted.
Then we all freshened up and gathered in the living room.
We laughed and talked as we munched on snacks over gists that had no business being funny.
Theo sat on the floor with his legs crossed as he dramatically re-narrated the story of the ridiculous alert I got as if he had witnessed it himself, while Lena laughed so hard that she had to hold her stomach.
“That man didn’t scratch your car, he scratched your destiny… I’m telling you,” Theo laughed, pointing at me.
“Oh please,” I laughed, rolling my eyes.
“I should write a story on Tiny Scratch, Giant Transfer,” Lena added.
We were still laughing when we heard a knock on the door.
I stood up because I was the closest to the door.
“I will get it,” I said, smiling as I walked toward the door.
My hand reached for the handle and I pulled the door open.
In front of me was Alex.
“Joan,” he said softly.
My heart jumped, and my smile vanished instantly.
“Geez! Theo must not see him.”