Prologue

Prologue



“Can I help you?” Callie heard a deep male voice floating from the other direction, trying to place whether the male was on her right or left. She had been so engrossed in what she was doing that she had failed to hear him approached, although his footsteps had been distinctly loud, she could hear it now as he walk a few feet towards her. “I ah…I am just looking around.” She said and grimace at the irony of her words.

“Sure,” He answered shortly and turned around, leaving her clutching a quilt she had been feeling. She liked the soft and comforting nature of quilts, and hugged it to herself once more before setting it down. “Callie,” She heard her sister calling her, “I am almost done; you can wait outside for me.” She nodded in the direction of Becky’s voice and started to feel her way out. She was holding on to the steel railing of those giant cages holding the quilts and was just a few steps away from the door when her foot caught on the cages legs and she fell forward. But instead of landing on the hard floor, her head slammed into a mound of solid flesh and strong hands caught and steady her flailing arms. Momentarily unfocused, she stood frozen until she heard her Becky rushing and calling out to her. Callie quickly straighten and turned as her sister began apologizing profusely to the stranger she had knocked into. She was stammering out her own apologies when she heard a familiar deep voice asking,”Are you alright?” It was the same male from before. She blushed from embarrassment and nodded slightly. “She’s blind.” Becky stated simply as if that explains everything and Callie suddenly felt as if everyone in the store was staring at her and she just wanted to get as far away from this place as possible. 

***

Henri nodded in understanding when he heard the little detail he had not missed. He had watched her as she came into the store with her sister guiding her in and asking her to stay near the entrance. He had noted how her deep brown eyes seems to stare pass him when he had talked to her. Well, it wasn’t exactly a conversation, given his lack of response of a curt answer. He wasn’t the conversational type, and he hardly ever starts a topic with a stranger if it wasn’t needed. This time however, he had felt drawn to her the moment her lay eyes on her, and thus, as unlike him as it was, he had crossed over to her and asked her if she needed assistance. Despite her limitations, she was more beautiful up close than at the distance when he first saw her, and anyone at first glance would not have noticed her lack of vision, given her soulful huge golden brown eyes. He hadn’t had much experience with woman although he had recently turned twenty-eight, and marriage was far from his mind. Yet, he thought of the woman he had just met and felt as though she could give him all that he’d wanted. Henri shook his head and wondered whether he was insane, he had only just met her for all of the few minutes. 

He walked to his car, dropping all his bags in the backseat and turned the ignition key, ready to head home. He was about to drive out of the parking lot when he saw her again, she who was occupying his thoughts right that moment. She was walking with her sister, both of them heading towards the bus stop. He drove over, and pressed his horn to get their attention. “Hey, where do you live? I can give both of you a ride.” He shouted out the window. Her sister looked at him and whispers something to the blind girl. She nodded, and her sister turned back, smiling her acceptation. “Thank you, that’s really kind of you. I am Becky and this is Callie.” She opened the back door and helped Callie get in the car. He nodded once in her direction and drifted his gaze to Callie. “It’s my pleasure. Call me Henri.” Callie. So that was her name, he like the sound of it.

“Normally we don’t accept rides from strangers, not when it just us girls, but Callie here is a good judge of character. She can sense that you are a good guy.”

“Blind people often see more than us who have our eyesight.”

“I agree. She’s very keen and perceptive…”

“Erm…excuse me, but can you stop talking as though I am not here.” Callie interrupted her sister. Henri chuckled, his laugh coming from deep within, and he started, because he had not laugh like that in a long time. Her voice was soft yet clear, and had a nice ring that ended her sentence. He felt goose bumps on his arms and wanted her to keep talking.

“So where do you stay?” He asked, as he reached the junction. “Just turn the corner and go all the way down that road.” Becky answered as rows of single-storeyed houses came into view. “It’s the last house, the blue one.”

“Just the two of you staying here?” He asked, wanting to know much more about Callie, but time was too short, and the house came into view too soon.

“Our parents died while we were very young, so yes, it’s just the two of us.” Becky smiled and looked back at Callie. “You took care of Callie all by yourself?” Henri was more than surprised; their life story wasn’t what he expected.

“Believe it or not, it’s Callie who took care of me. She took up all the responsibility after we were too old to stay at the orphanage.”

“That’s because I am the older of the two. It’s just natural for me to take up the big sister role.” He heard Callie said softly.

“I am impressed.” Henri glanced at the rearview mirror to look at Callie and could swear that Callie looked up and smile at him. His heart did a crazy little fluttering and he was truly amazed by this woman by the second, even though he hardly knows her.

As he reached the modest but cozy-looking house, he stopped and got out of the car to help Callie out as Becky handled the parcels. He put his arm around her shoulder as she stood up but she shrugged it away. “I am blind, but I can still walk on my own feet.” He stood there not knowing what to do, just looking at her as she makes her way past him to the front gate. Suddenly she turned towards him and smiled brightly. “Thank you, Mister Henri. Now get back inside your car and stop staring.” He gaped at her, feeling heat flooding his face and nodded, then feeling stupid as she could not see him and said to her, “Yes, ma’am,” before nodding goodbye to Becky.

For the next few weeks, Henri couldn’t stop thinking about Callie and how he might get to see her again. He wondered how often the sisters go to the store for goods. He hung around the area, waiting to bump into her somehow. All his attempts were unsuccessful and so he went so far as to check on the place they lived. He was in for the disappointment of his lifetime when they weren’t in sight, and further probing of information told him that they had moved out just few days ago. All this time he had been a fool who believe in love at first sight, when in reality, it was just another stupid notion.