Page 4 of See You Soon
I want to reply but I physically can’t. Not when I’m still grieving my brother’s death. Not when I’m buzzed with alcohol and getting choked up for a lot of reasons, around a stranger. A stranger that read me like a book. A stranger that had the most beautiful shade of blue eyes I had ever seen.
Saved by the bell, Danny's phone starts to ring and he reaches into his pocket and pulls it out quickly. He looks at the Caller ID and a heavy sigh escapes him as he reads it.
"Fuck." He mutters, stressed out.
"Oh... everything okay?" I ask. I was glad something interrupted us so I wouldn't have to say that I was still damaged by an abusive ex-boyfriend. Or stressed out from an impactful decision I had made last week that I had yet to tell anyone.
"Work." He sighs again, looking down at his phone, typing.
"It was nice meeting you, but I've got to go... I'll see you soon." Danny stands up, looks at me from his phone, with a small smile, and walks away. I stare at Danny's back as he walks out of the exit to the bar. With every step he takes, my heart sinks lower.
His last sentence raises questions and doubts.
See you soon?
I truly appreciated these short moments I just shared with a stranger, knowing I wouldn't see him again.
I was disappointed. For the first time in a while, I felt alive. A flicker of thrill and undeniable steam radiates inside of me.
Danny noticed me.
Truly noticed me. Someone I connected with so fast just by a glance at first sight. So cliche, but I was intrigued and enchanted by this man I had just met.
* * *
"Dude, this hangover is killing me. Why did I drink so much last night?" I ask Meredith while opening a bottled water and taking Tylenol. Nausea and vomiting were taking over me like a virus.
"We're dumb sometimes." Meredith groans over the phone. I'm in my bedroom the morning after. It's nine in the morning and I had woken up with a headache from hell. I called Meredith on the phone as soon as I woke up to check if she was dying just like me. Turns out she was suffering too but not as badly as me.
I get that familiar feeling of something coming up and I started throwing up in the toilet again. I forget to mute myself on my phone and Meredith’s hearing everything but it's too late to fix it.
"Oh God, you're not pregnant right?" Meredith's tone is laced with disgust.
I flush the toilet and clean myself up before responding sarcastically.
"Oh yes, a twenty-two-year-old that hasn't had a dick inside of her, makes sense." I retort.
"You never know. Go to your gynecologist recently? Maybe they pulled a Jane The Virgin on you."
Suddenly my phone buzzes. I check it and a text appears from an unknown number.
Unknown:
Hello Ari, this is Danny.
Wait, what? Like Danny? Like Danny the Sailor, I met last night and mysteriously had to leave mid-conversation?
"Wait, what the fu—. I don't remember giving my number out. Meredith! Danny, the hot stranger guy, just texted me. Was I that drunk I didn't remember a detai—" I rant, freaking out, nervously. Meredith cuts me off.
"Oh yeah about that... I kind of like... gave him your number as he was walking out of the bar to his truck last night." Meredith giggles over the phone.
My eyes widened in embarrassment.
"Meredith! You didn't! And you failed to tell me?" I scold.
"What? I stepped out to smoke, and I saw that he was leaving. Then I'mguessinghe remembered you were with me and asked me for your number, so I gladly played Cupid and gave it to him. It's fine. You're welcome!" Meredith's condescending tone irritates me.
"I don't know what to say... you know this isn't exactly my year..." This past year has been the most tragic for me. A break-up from a toxic boyfriend, my brother dying, and stepping into a role of responsibility for my mother and myself.
