I was surprise to see her today; it’s been so long since I last saw her. She looked different though, something in her eyes told me so gone was the flame that used to glow from them, it used to be full of life and excitement, now they look empty and tired…But still, they never changed… her eyes always gives away how she truly feels…
“How are you?” I asked her “It’s been so long? I heard you’re doing quite good, a well paid job, your own house, brand new car?, Wow! Can’t imagine how happy you must be?!”
She stared at me and was quite for a while, then she looked away…I can see tears forming in her eyes… She looks back at me, and what I saw in her eyes hit me like a wave…I can feel the pain she was feeling inside, “I never thought my life would be like this…” she began “Remember when were young? I was always the playful one, I was always full of new tricks…I was never afraid to try new things, experiment new ideas. I was full of life! I was never afraid to get hurt, I remember people telling me that I’m stubborn and strong headed, that I’m the toughest among my peers…I was never afraid to fight for what I believe in, and even swore that I would never trade away my principles in life” she was crying harder now… “Remember how I used to say I would be successful someday, and help my family as long as I can?” I nod. “I never thought that the strong person in me would get this tired…” She sobs ” I swore to myself I would never ever let them see me cry, I would never let them know how tired I am, that there are times that I just wanted to give up and rest for a while…I would never let them know how sad my life is…” she looked away ” They should never see me like this…” she said quietly…
“Don’t cry…” I told her.
“Pain is good… it makes you stronger…you learn from it, then you’ll get used to it…Remember, the world has bigger problems than you have!” I joked, hoping to see a smile on her face… ”
” It’s okay to feel tired sometimes ,it’s normal to feel sad…that makes you human, but you shouldn’t let that stop you from reaching your goals…”I said trying to soothe her pains… I’m not used to seeing her like this; I can hardly remember seeing her cry…
«I’ve always been seen as the strong one, the “bad” one, strong-headed and too ambitious…” she said “I think they even think of me as a b*tch!” she shook her head… ” I think they even believe that I’m so hard that I don’t even know what pain is…they probably bet that they will never even see me cry…” she looked down with a bitter laugh tears filling her eyes again…
She was right…that’s exactly how most people think of her…
«But you know what? I don’t care…«She said, looking straight at me. » Cause no matter how they see me or think about me…they’ll never realize that inside,” she paused, and looked away… “I’ll always be just a girl… fragile, soft, weak? » she looks down at her hands. » I maybe tough outside, but this girl inside still needs someone to take care of her… someone who would hold her hand every morning and say, don’t worry, I’m here…everything’s going to be ok…”
She look back at me, shrugged and gave me a small smile… then just like that the girl inside her, hide behind her hard and tough exterior…
We just stared at each other for a while…
Then smiled and said…
«Oh my god! You spent too much time in front of the mirror! You’re already late for work!!”