Chapter Eleven: Call Me By My Name

Sara stared at the running water with a disinterested gaze as she sat by the riverside, a basket of cranberries next to her. She couldn’t stop herself from coming to this particular spot in every given opportunity, not knowing exactly why. There was no guarantee that the young man who saved her might show up again in that place but her desire to see him again was too strong to resist.

What a strange situation the one she was in, she remembered returning to the shack after that day, overwhelmed by the strange mixture of embarrassment and happiness, and even though she knew no one was following her, she couldn’t help but walk fast, almost running. Once she was inside, she closed her door and placed her hand on her chest, sensing her erratic heart beats that refused to calm down, incontrollable smiles showed on her face like spasms. She was hot, as if placed on a boiling pan, she fanned her face while walking to her mirror, only to be met with a shocking sight.

Her hair, as if possessed by an evil spirit, looked like a burr with pointed thorns, it was not a bit less tangled and messy than a bird nest with some tiny river pebbles sticking in it, as if that wasn’t bad enough, her face was covered in dirt, her eyes were swollen, her nose was red, her dress was creased, and her cape was overturned.

Staring at her reflection with terrified eyes, Sara had a desire to smack her head with the nearest wall, she couldn’t believe that was the sight the handsome savior saw, all while he looked like he just walked out of the God’s hands. However, that made her question things more, the man didn’t look at her in the way she was looking at herself, nothing in his words and behavior showed any sign of dislike and odium. He looked at her in an enigmatic way with those beautiful honey colored eyes of his, a way no one looked at her before, and the things it made her feel, unstable as if she was standing on a floating board barely keeping her balance, but still, she loved the sensation, the weird tingling under her skin and the heat all over her body. The whole thing was surreal, like a dream or a scene from one of the love stories she liked to read.

Sara never admitted it to anyone but she was so thirsty for love, that magical feeling and unique connection that would tie her heart and soul with someone else’s for the rest of her life, it was something she witnessed with her own eyes but only read about in books and in every time she did, it gave her a weird twitch in her lower abdomen, a faint delicious pain, but because of her life style and the fact that she spent her entire life confined and deprived of human interactions didn’t allow her to learn about the matter, nor to express her natural desires and attraction to the opposite sex even though she lived most of her life surrounded by men. Perhaps the fact that they were all ascetic priests who did nothing but avoid her and treat her like an invisible nuisance had something to do with it.

That wasn’t it, Sara thought, not entirely at least, for the feelings she was having had something to do with the handsome savior himself. The priests in the tower were not all bad and some were good looking but none of them could be compared to Eren, for he was the best looking man she ever laid eyes on, the contrast between his inky hair and fair skin was indeed breathtaking, and his eyes only added to the charm, they were not brown like her father’s but lighter, a unique golden brown, his straight nose and smiley lips and the way they moved to form the smoothest voices and the tenderest words, all combined with his perfect body that resembled the status in the holy tower. sensing her heated cheeks, she breathed heavily while fanning her face. It wasn’t just his looks, it was his actions, his honest magnanimity and true nobility. Sara thought back at her days at the tower where no one bothered to help her with anything, not even handing her a book from a shelf she couldn’t reach, this young man showed no hesitation in helping her, no ill will nor hidden agendas, he helped her out of the kindness in his heart as she was sure he had no idea of who she was, and the fact that he didn’t soil his kind and heroic deeds with anything disrespectful only magnified her deep admiration for the man she only met once and had no idea if she was going to meet again.

And so, for the last three days, Sara visited the river on daily basis, not sure if what she is doing was right or wrong, she just did what her heart wanted her to do, otherwise, her mind would have exploded from the futile unstoppable thinking about her handsome savior.

However, she was never lucky enough to see him again, in those last three days the place was completely deserted, her father didn’t visit either but it was understandable since he only visited her once a week, giving her more time to think about the handsome man, she didn’t plan to tell her father about it, she knew she should but she didn’t want to, a little dark voice inside her head told her that it was her own secret, something that is only hers and under her control while her entire life was controlled by her father, her little secret was hers, her little adventure and her weird exciting feelings.

Lost in her thoughts and disappointment, Sara failed to notice eyes that stared, she was way too focused on pitying herself for expecting anything but the thing she had all her life, loneliness.

“I see you have been following my advice, my fair lady”, Sara almost jumped in surprise after hearing the unexpected voice, she turned quickly, her silky hair which she made sure to brush carefully swayed with the motion, at first, she thought it was but her mere imagination but once she turned, she saw the handsome young man standing few steps away from her with his enigmatic smile, and Hell, he even looked better than she remembered, he was dressed in a fancy black attire that hugged his fit body intimately, adding a bit of sharpness to his heavenly handsomeness.

Feeling the blood rush to her cheeks, Sara instantly looked away to hide it only to regret it the second after. How rude, she taunted herself internally, before looking back at the young man who was looking at her with a confused expression.

“Is everything okay, my lady?” he asked while walking toward her until he was one step away, bending down on one knee, he observed her carefully with a slight frown, “You look red, I hope you didn’t catch a cold from last time”. Did he have to point it out? Sara asked in her mind while her cheeks burned brighter, seeing that he was still waiting for her reply she tried to say something but nothing came out of her mouth. Just perfect...

What was happening to her? Sara asked as she shyly shook her head to answer the young man’s question, why was she feeling so unsettled to the point where she couldn’t say a simple ‘No’, she had been waiting eagerly to see her savior whom she couldn’t stop thinking about, and when she did, she only made a fool of herself.

“Do you mind if I joined you, my lady? I promise not to interrupt your brooding.”, at her shy nod, Eren sat down at the riverside, not too far but not too close, a satisfied smile on his face.

“I know I promised not to interrupt, but I must say how happy I am to see you again.”

“Thank you”, was Sara’s shy reply, her voice smeller than ever.

“That is not exactly the answer I craved to hear but I am satisfied for I at least got to hear your voice.” The man said with a little chuckle, allowing his dimples to show, “So how are you today, Sara?”

“I am fine, thank you.” Sara said, her voice still small and awkward but at least she was able to say a full meaningful sentence. “What about you, good sir?”, smiling back at him, she asked finally finding her voice after saying her first words.

“Oh, please call be by my name, otherwise it would be inappropriate for me to call you by yours, and I really like the sound of yours.”

 “But you have just called me, my…Ahum”, Sara again almost slapped herself, what was wrong with her, why couldn’t she just say the words normally? And why couldn’t she say something descent? And why was her mind blank? Completely abandoning her now that she needed it the most.

“My fair lady, you mean? Well it does suit you, but still, I would like it better if you called me by my name, I don’t see any needs for formalities” 

“Okay...” Sara blushed, the pink color evident on her porcelain skin, “How are you, Eren?”, his name rolled over her tongue like the sweetest candy, the sound of it smoother now that she had said it out loud.

“Never better, for real.” He smiled at her tenderly as he saw the effect of his words on her face and actions, she was probably the most spontaneous and transparent person he ever met, not to mention the most beautiful.

“I see you have cranberries with you.” His eyes trailed from the her to the basket then back to her with an amused expression, “I wish I knew this earlier; I would have looked for you near the mulberries instead of the river.”

“You…looked for me?” Sara asked, uncertain while trying to tame the weird excitement in her heart.

“For the three days yes, although I wasn’t able to stay for long but I did come here every single day and waited for you to reappear, and in every single time I was met with a disappointment, I even started to wonder if you were real and not just a creation of my imagination to bright up my dreams.”

“But I came here every single day and never met you...”, Sara said, her lips pouting but her eyes were dancing with happiness, sparkles erupted in her stomach at his words.

“Do I dare to presume that you came looking for me as well, my fair lady?”, Eren said, a mischievous yet harmless dancing on his amused handsome face.

“Ah…No, I came for water and fish...”, Eren laughed at the diffident girl who looked away from him, staring at her eyes, “God bless the water and fish then.”

Unable to hide her smile, Sara looked back at him, their eyes locked with his as they stared at each other silently, each admiring the other, there was something about him that she felt…attracted to, as he was maybe the opposite of her, with his dark features and his enigmatic personality, his confidence that he carried up his sleeve and the way he talked openly, there was also that feeling of adventure, or doing something she wasn’t supposed to do, and she liked it.

“I would like to ask for the honor to get to know you, If it is okay with you, My fair lady…”, Seeing her reluctance, he quickly continued, “My full name is Eren Salvatore by the way.”.