Stay By My Side - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Day after day, she either rode her motorbike to work or caught a bus, depending on what the job required. As a reporter who made a living chasing stories, she knew that the more interesting a story was—and especially the more sensational it became—the more valuable it could be to the newspaper. She made that pursuit the compass that guided her career, throwing herself into it so completely that being constantly busy left her with no time to think about anything else.

She knew every corner of the city, even its narrowest alleys and forgotten backstreets. Sometimes, strangely enough, she would spend her days off not at home but on a bus, riding aimlessly around the city, searching for new places and little corners of the world she had yet to discover.

Life never seemed to slow down. Her feet never seemed to tire, and her spirit was always alive with enthusiasm.

That was how people knew her. That was how they described her.

That morning, she arrived at the office and was assigned to interview a company and write an article about it. The moment she stepped inside, she had no idea which way to go. She was still standing there, looking around in confusion, when she accidentally bumped into a stranger.

The bag in her hand dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Really. Excuse me, could you tell me where the press conference room is?”

“Go up to the second floor, then turn right.”

“Thank you. Are you one of the security guards here?”

“Me? Uh… yeah. I work here. Why do you ask?”

“Well…” She looked him up and down. “You have such a baby-faced look. You must be new here, right? At least, that’s what I’m guessing. Anyway, thank you.”

She gave him a quick smile, said goodbye, and continued on her way in search of the press conference room.

The man remained standing there, completely dumbfounded. He had no idea where this strange woman had come from, or how she could be so casually blunt.

He lowered his eyes and looked at the clothes he was wearing.

“Do I really look like a security guard?”

The press conference was over surprisingly quickly.

But what surprised her even more was discovering that the person there to receive her was the very same man she had bumped into that morning.