On a dark rainy day, a girl was crying her heart out on a corner of the main street. Strangely, no one realized it except for Daisy.
Daisy was an ordinary girl with an ordinary life. On that day, she was headed to her home in a hurry because of the heavy rain as she never liked rainy days. But as murphy law worked always, her umbrella was accidentally broken by her colleague just before she clocked out. Hence, she was heading home in a haste whilst covering her head with her bag. Then she heard the hick and heavy breathing that pierced her ear. The voice contained such agony that Daisy felt to urge to find the source. Looked around carefully and saw the girl on the corner of the main street. Squatted on the corner, a red-dressed girl was soaked in the rain, crying heavily. Daisy looked around and found it strange that no one showed any interest in her. Everyone was just passing by, without even glaring at her. Daisy felt sorry for her for a moment and wanted to approach her. Took a few steps toward her, then realized her own condition. The rain drops were strong enough to hurt one's head and she was already drenched in the rain since she has no umbrella, so she thought to herself "None of my business. Who knows what kind of mess she is in, and what can I do? I can't even help myself or my family," murmured slowly.
Hearing her own words she was momentarily ashamed, someone was in need of help yet she was hesitating.
Yet, she could not move forward, she stood still while fixed on the woman's crying noise. "Damned it," she thought, "Why can't I just focus on my problems. I know I will regret this" Then slowly approached the crying girl wishing not to regret it later on.
"Hi, sorry I could not help but notice your crying, is there something I can help with?"
The woman continued to cry as she did not realize someone talking to her. Daisy attempted again: "I know I am a stranger and it is none of my business but I just could not ignore you. You seem very upset. Do you need anything, is there something I could help with? I may not be of help directly but I may call for help if you would like me to, too."
The girl did not even rose her head to see who was talking. Continued to cry heavily.
"Maybe she cannot hear me because of the rain and her crying," Daisy thought to herself and tried again. Squatted in front of her, and said, "Umm, do you need anything, really I just want to help. You seem really upset. I can call the police or doctor if you need it."
At that moment crying girl rose her head and looked directly into Daisy's eyes. Daisy felt shaken for a moment yet continued, "Sometimes in hard situations like this getting help from a complete stranger might be more freeing really. Since we won't see each other ever again it might be better for you to tell me. I don't know if I will be of help, but still... Should I call the police or a relative, a friend? Would you like to go to a cafe or a restaurant maybe? Please just tell me something. The weather is bad, it is not good for your health to sit still under such heavy rain. It is cats and dogs, really"
As moments passed without any word from the girl, Daisy started to worry more and more. She looked around but everyone was just in a hurry and nobody seemed to care about the woman. She seemed as if she was in her mid-thirties. She had a slim body and brown hair. She was beautiful. "Problem with the boyfriend or husband may be" daisy thought. Her clothes seemed expensive and her hand was manicured. With her expensive shoes and accessories, there is no possibility of money problems being an issue for her. Health problems may be, maybe a relative or a close family member died. Ohh, God, I hope that is not the case for her. I do not know how to console someone mourning.
While this train of thought crossed Daisy's mind, she realized there is no point to stay in front of someone who does not want any help. Still, what if she is in a bad condition and there is no one close to her that would help her. Be that as it may, she decided to try one more time to help her using a different way. She just hoped that won't be offensive, yet it was better not to get any help because of pride. "I could bear her anger, but I cannot sleep tonight if I do nothing."
"Okay, sorry to bother you. I am truly sorry but, you are not saying anything and I cannot leave you without doing anything. You can think of me as someone nosey or rude. But, just take this
20 dollars bill
in case you need it." Daisy placed the money in her palm. Opened the broken umbrella she was carrying with her and placed the stairs next to her, "Better than nothing, don't you think? take care, hope you feel better"
Daisy walked away from the red-dressed woman. The commute felt shorter than usual after what she witnessed. Not that her home was far away from the street the woman was crying, still, it was 10 minutes walk and it just felt one minute long to get home.
As soon as entering the house she stipped all her wet clothes at the door and rushed to the bathroom for a warm bath. "I cannot afford to be sick," she said. Living alone, without anyone to rely on, made her more cautious about her health over the years. Thus, she had to take care of herself, and avoid any illness, even a simple cold.
After the hot and refreshing bath, she fixed herself something to eat. As she was eating the crying woman came to her mind.
"What a saddening site that was," told herself. "Hope she would be okay,"
After quickly eating, she prepared a hot cup of lemon tea. She was genuinely afraid that she would catch a cold after staying in the rain that long, then prepared to retire to bed.
As soon as she lay down on the bed, the door rang. She looked at her phone first, "Did I miss a call from a colleague or a neighbor, who would come at this hour?"
Since she was living alone and there was no boyfriend in the picture, and there was no friend, relative, or close family nearby, it was impossible that someone should have come to her doorstep, unannounced at night.
She looked but there were no missed calls. Daisy felt uneasy and started to calm herself "I am sure it is nothing, maybe a drill that I forgot about it"
Without making a noise, she slowly approached the door and looked through the peephole first, but could not see anyone.
"Someone must have pressed the wrong bell" she murmured.
But the door rang again, twice this time.
She ready her phone to call the police, and "Who is it?" she said while trying to calm her voice as much as possible.
Noone replied.
"Some dumb kids playing games at night, I guess" "Not funny," she said and decided to go to bed. As she reached her bedroom, the door rang again, three times this time.
"Hello, who it is at this hour? It is not funny to play with the doorbells at night, you know. I am going to call the police if you do this again" she raised her voice towards the door.
Silence... No one replied. Not even a food step was heard.
Slowly come to the door and looked through the peephole again. And saw nothing, again.
Placed her ear on the door this time but it was no use, she heard nothing. "What the heck. Don't people have better things to do? God..." she whispered.
She was pissed, "I need some tea to calm my nerves" She made herself a camomile tea. After half an hour, she went to bed.
...
In the morning, she missed the alarm and had to hurry to work. Quickly took an apple from the fridge since she had to skip breakfast, and hastily wore her shoes. When she opened the door she was shocked and could not see what she was seeing at the moment. She pinched her cheek to be sure the has woken up already, and it is not a dream. It was not a dream, the red-dressed woman, who was crying her heart out was at her door. She was smiling and seemed in better condition, though she was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday.
"Thank you for yesterday. And sorry I did not want to spook you at night" the red-dress woman said.
Dais flabbergasted "What!!, It was you who rang my doorbell at night, how? How did you know where I live? Did you follow me? Do you know this is a crime, right?"
"I am sorry, truly. I know it is a crime, that is why I did not enter your apartment yesterday. I know I need your permission first. And here it is your money and umbrella"
Trying to collect her thoughts, Daisy looked at the money and the umbrella. It was a hundred bill and the umbrella was fixed. "I did not give you 100 dollars, it was 20. and it is fine. You do not have to give me back. And how did you fix the umbrella? I did not know there was a place nearby that fixes the umbrellas. Did you come to give me these? Look I appreciated it but I am in a hurry, I am late for work. You can keep the money and the umbrella. It is fine. Now, please excuse me, because I cannot afford to be late for work today"
The red-dressed girl looked at Daisy intensely, she was proud somehow. Daisy was confused by her behavior. Then she realized, "Did you sleep in the corridor last night, it was 1 am last night when you were at my door and it is 6 am now. or Do you live nearby?"
"No, I did not sleep in the corridor do not worry. Good luck with your presentation Daisy, I know you will succeed"
The red-dressed girl looked at Daisy intensely, she was proud somehow. Daisy was confused by her behavior. Then she realized, "Did you sleep in the corridor last night, it was 1 am last night when you were at my door and it is 6 am now. Do you live nearby?"
"No, I did not sleep in the corridor do not worry. And please take these, I will be happy if you do"
Daisy took the money and the umbrella involuntarily.
"Thank you, but I really need to go now, sorry really, I must go, bye," said Daisy and closed her door and locked it.
It is okay Daisy, I understand. And good luck with your presentation today, I know you will succeed"
As she was running to catch the bus, she saw by the corner where the red-dressed woman crying yesterday. Then after, she realized that she called her name and even knew she had an important presentation today. "But I never told my name or why I need to hurry to work to the woman." The thought sent shivers down her spine. "What the hell, who was she?"
The voice coming from the green light brought her back to her current reality, "I will investigate this matter later, now I need to rush to work for now"
She ran across the crossroad and caught the bus. Thanks to heavens she was not going to be late for work.
