There were a lot of people in the corridor. I began looking from the entrance, and when I reached the deepest end, I saw Colin spacing out with his head lowered. He was in front of closed doors.
Colin was covered in mud. There were even straws in his hair. His tall frame hunched forward, making him look defeated and despondent like something heavy was crushing his back.
I didn't know what was on his mind. I stood there for five minutes and he never moved. He didn't even notice that I was there.
"Colin," I called out several feet away from him.
He quickly looked around. When he saw me, his body briefly tensed up. Something appeared in his eyes, but I didn't catch it. Perhaps he was too worried about the victim, so he failed to notice my appearance earlier.
"What are you doing here?" Colin walked toward me and flashed a tired smile. He wanted to hug me, but when he saw his dirty hands, he decided against it. He pointed at the bench next to the wall and said, "Let's sit there."
Colin sat down. He and I were separated by an empty seat. "Sorry, I'm just too dirty."
For the first time in forever, there was a distance between us. I wasn't overthinking it. It wasn't something that I made up upon seeing him with another woman. It was a physical, measurable distance.
We were inches away from each other, but it felt greater than that.
I wanted to ask him what happened. Where had the lights in his eyes gone? I traveled all the way here for him because I was worried that something bad might've happened to him.
Perhaps he wasn't moved by it, and he could reproach me for being reckless. But why was he reacting so indifferently?
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