Shera stared at him, a little too intently, because she had never seen him so awkward before.

Eventually, she let out a cheerful laugh, in a vain attempt to lighten the mood of the conversation.

“You really don’t have a name? How did you get by all these years?”

Shera’s lips quirked itself into a smile. The aloof young man before her seemed so innocent all of a sudden.

“I don’t know.” He stared at the floor, refusing to release his gaze from it. It was obvious that he was taking this matter seriously.

“People don’t really call out to me. I’ve been called ‘you’  sometimes, so I’ve wondered if that was my name. But I’ve noticed that everyone gets called ‘you’ in some context or another.”

He continued to avoid his gaze from Shera’s direction. Shera let out another playful laugh.

“I don’t get it. It seems kinda unbelievable.”

His face remained still, his stare fixated on the rooftop floor. Gradually, Shera noticed the coldness in his features growing more and more prominent.

Shera decided to stop there before the teasing gets too insistent.

“Alright, I’ll name you. I can’t just call you ‘you’ all the time after all.”

Shera leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm. She gazed into the distance, deep in thought.

“What’s a good one….”

“A meaningful one” He turned in her direction, full of anticipation. “I’d like a meaningful name.”

Shera glanced at him curiously. He shrugged away, awkward, returning his gaze to his feet.

He was taking this way too seriously.

Shera kept her eyes at the clouds in the distance. “Hmm….. Nah, names should be spontaneous. Let me think. What name do you look like….”

“You- You can do that?” He sounded surprised, but Shera wasn’t distracted enough to turn towards him.

Maybe an uncommon name would work for him, Shera pondered to herself. She didn’t want to let slip that it was because she found him initially strange.

“I have a rock band that I like called Memphis. The lead singer’s really cool and you kinda remind me of him. So you can be a Memphis too.”

“It also sounds rather musical. Memphis.”

Shera spared a glimpse in his direction. He looked inquisitive, as if pondering some sort of new discovery.

“Mem…Phis….” He muttered, bringing his knuckles to his lips. He didn’t look at her, or say anything, not even a thank-you. He just seemed absorbed into his own world.

Shera turned and stared at him. It’s surprising that only moments ago she was the one who was flustered and on edge. And now, she is peculiarly calm and the roles are reversed. How strange.

‘What am I doing….?’  Shera mumbled, trying to shake away the tranquillity. She was meant to be feeling a lot worse than she is now, but things feel more manageable somehow.

In the back of her mind a thought of a few simple words lingered.

Things will be ok.