HIS NAME WAS BRUCE.....PART 1

It was not her fault that she believed in the good of people. To her, human beings were inherently good until they were not. First impressions did matter to her. She liked Bruce. The first time she saw him, she thought he stood out from the rest. She was absentmindedly listening to the speaker going on about the topic of the day when he walked in. His confidence defied the fact that he had come in later than everyone else as he took the seat opposite her. Everything seemed to stop as the speaker acknowledged his presence. She felt his aura radiate across the floor to where she was. Suddenly, she became too conscious and aware of herself.  It made her uncomfortable. Her personality was one that made her stay on the periphery. She hated attention. So, it bothered her that she felt seen by him. His gaze on her cut right through the air and reached her.

Becky tried keeping herself occupied by doodling particularly nothing on her notebook. She had since lost the train of deliberations that were taking place on the floor. She picked words and phrases here and there as participants engaged in discussions.

‘Becky. Becky? What is your opinion on this issue?”

“Hmmmm…?” Becky muttered as she raised her head to look at the speaker.

“What do you think about the matter?”

“What matter?” she was totally out of sync with everything that was going on around her.

She blankly looked at him as he waited for her response.

“Uhhmm…I do not have anything to say.”

There was quiet laughter from her colleagues when the speaker chidingly told her to ‘please grace us with your whole presence, your highness.’ Becky felt embarrassment rise from her toes right to her face. She could feel the piercing eyes of everyone in the room. If only the ground could swallow her!

Her eyes immediately flew towards Bruce. She caught him smiling at her. There was an amused twinkle in his eyes. She did not know what to make of the smile. Was it disapproving? Was it comforting? Whatever was going through his mind at that particular time was not her concern. All she wanted was for everyone to go back to the meeting and stop looking at her. Thankfully, it took a few more minutes before everyone moved on to other matters. She heaved a sigh of relief as she quickly closed her doodling notebook and looked at the speaker. She had decided to concentrate on the proceedings rather than go through the embarrassment she had just gone through.

 

“Was the meeting so boring?” she heard a voice ask.

She spun around the seat to find Bruce standing behind her. They had taken a fifteen minutes break before going back to another session. Becky was still finishing her cup of coffee when he joined her. She instantly knew what he was referring to.

“Not really. I was just momentarily carried away by something else.”

“It happens. I find my mind wandering away many times. I have to literally will myself to remain alert.”

“Ooh…that is comforting. So, I am not alone.”

“No, you are not. Shall we go back to the hall?”

“Yes, we should.”

Bruce stepped aside and allowed her to walk before him. He then joined in step with her as they walked together to the meeting room.

Becky felt a certain calmness within her when Bruce spoke. The few words they had exchanged instantly made her feel better about herself and the little mishap during the meeting.

She got to listen to the calming voice for another hour and a half as Bruce took to the floor to make the next presentation. Bruce was the proverbial tall, dark and handsome man. His physique was all the more accentuated by his deep voice and confidence in handling himself. Becky thought she could look at and listen to him all day. She found his mastery and delivery of the topic he was handling quite attractive. She cut short the train of her thoughts as she willed herself back to the moment. She did not want to embarrass herself again, especially with Bruce.