WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Morning sunlight filtered softly through the curtains, casting golden stripes across the wooden floor of her childhood room. Lunara stretched, yawned, and blinked at the ceiling, still half-lost in the fading echoes of her dream. She had woken with a smile that same dream again. The red velvet box still sat tucked beneath her pillow, warm from the night’s secrets.

She sat up slowly, brushing her hair back, and padded out into the living room, where the comforting clatter of breakfast was wrapped around her like a hug. Her mother looked up with knowing eyes and a soft smile. Her father folded the newspaper, glancing toward her with quiet curiosity. Lyra, her younger sister, raised a brow mid-sip from her coffee mug.

"I'm going to meet him," Lunara said, the words shy but certain.

Her mother lit up with joy. “Today?”

Lunara nodded. “I’ve made up my mind. I want to see him... and talk to him.”

Her dad chuckled warmly. “About time.”

Lyra grinned, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. “Go get your guy, sis. And wear that pale blue outfit that brings out your sparkle.”

They fussed over her gently, packing snacks for the trip, slipping her lucky hairpin into her palm, wishing her the kind of courage.She already had burning quietly inside her. That evening, as the sun dipped low, Lunara boarded the overnight bus that would take her to another province another chapter.

She curled by the window, head resting against the glass, and let the road’s rhythm lull her. Outside, towns blurred into shadows and light. Inside, her thoughts drifted back, pulling her into the beginning of it all.

The day she met Elias.

Back then, she had just completed her bachelor’s degree. Hungry for experience before flying abroad, she joined a Research centre as a full time worker. She was excited... and terrified. After studying six straight years in all-girls schools and colleges, boys were almost mythic beings to her especially tall, intimidating, broad-shouldered ones who looked like they belonged in dramas, not labs.

She wasn’t there on the first day. A small issue had delayed her arrival. But her juniors, giddy with gossip, greeted her the next morning with wide eyes and whispered tones. “You missed it,” one girl giggled. “The senior interns were Tall, serious, mysterious. And totally mischievous.”

Lunara laughed nervously, brushing off her own anxiety. But it returned tenfold when she walked into the lab and saw them particularly one of them. Elias.

He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t unkind. He looked focused, self-assured, and completely at ease in his skin. And she, in contrast, had tripped over a stool and nearly knocked over a pipette rack in the first five minutes.

Things didn’t get easier. The director had a habit of pointing out her smallest mistakes while ignoring her efforts. And the senior assistant who worked closely with Lunara often slacked off yet when things went wrong, Lunara bore the blame. No one stood up for her. No one... except him.

The next morning, Lunara was asked to lead the interns through the day’s techniques. It was the first time she had to stand in front of the entire group, including the senior boys whose presence still felt intimidating. Her fingers trembled slightly as she connected the projector, and her voice wavered just a little at the start. Inside, a storm of questions spun in her head What if I mess up? What if they think I’m too young? Too unfit to lead? But she swallowed the doubt and began. She showed them step-by-step demonstration videos, patiently pausing to point out each movement.

“This is what we’re doing today,” she explained, her tone finding rhythm, “These are the observations you should make, and by the end, these are the results we expect.” Her hands still felt clammy, and she avoided prolonged eye contact, but as she kept going, something in her settled. The room grew quiet with attention, not mockery. Despite the playful energy the boys carried, they didn’t interrupt her. She was still nervous, yes but she was also proud. Even if she was younger, even if she had doubts she was doing it. She was holding her ground.

On the third day, something shifted.

The director scolded her in front of the whole team: “Why aren’t you in the group yet? We share all the updates there!”

“I… I don’t have anyone’s number,” she admitted, feeling small.

That evening, gathering all her nerve, she approached Elias. He was sorting through samples, looking too important to disturb. But she needed to ask.

“Um… hi,” she began softly. “Could I have your number? I need to join the lab group.”

He looked up, surprised, then nodded with a slight smile. “Sure. Give me yours too.I’ll add you.”

“Lunara. Lunara Vale,” she added, when he asked her name.

“Come again?”

She repeated it, clearer this time.

“Oh Lunara,” he said, as if testing how it tasted. “Nice name.”

Her heart did a little somersault. It was nothing big. Just a name exchange. But that day, she felt seen. Not scolded, not blamed but seen.

And that was how it all began.

Back in the present, as the bus cruised along the highway under a sky full of stars, Lunara smiled at herself. That memory is ordinary, how extraordinary. The velvet box weighed gently in her lap. Her fingers brushed against it with a reverence usually reserved for sacred things.

Tomorrow, she will see him again.

Tomorrow, she’d decide if her imagined lines would ever find their voice.

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