Page 12 of Dear One Night Stand
“Yes, well maybe, I don’t know.” I sputter, unsure how to answer it. “I really need to speak to him. Do you happen to have his phone number?”
“You don’t have his number?”
I shake my head. “No, but I’d really appreciate it if you gave it to me.”
“Sorry, I don’t give out people’s personal information to strangers.”
"I'm not a stranger. You said it yourself. I'm Chris's girl."
"Any girl that Chris is seeing would have his number, and seeing as you don't, well, there you go.”
He leaves me standing there. The wind blows, and a flyer from some deli blows right into me. I grab it, and I'm about to toss it when I get an idea. I search my pockets and find an old pen with a bank logo printed on the side.
I need to get out what I want to say. So I sit down on one of the steps and pour my heart out on the back of the flyer.
When the bartender appears again around the corner, I hold up the folded flyer and ask him if he’d be willing to give it to Chris the next time he came in to play. He’s reluctant at first until I tell him that the fate of my love life is in his hands. He’s a softy romantic at heart, or he was just trying to get rid of me. Either way, it doesn’t matter. He took the letter and now I have to wait.
CHRIS
I stop by the club later that day to pick up my guitar. Phil will likely start charging me a storage fee if I waited until my next show. I head inside, and the place is packed. I push my way to the bar and give Phil a nod hello before heading to the office. I grab my guitar case and turn around, but Phil is standing behind me with his arms crossed.
“I have something for you,” he says and pulls out a folded neon pick flyer for Joe’s Deli down the street.
"Thanks, but I'm not in the market for a two for one coupon from Joe's," I tell him and try to sidestep him.
“Your girl stopped by this morning.”
I freeze, my heart clenching in my chest at just the thought of Annie. I did everything I could to keep her out of my mind all day.
“Yeah?” I ask, not turning around.
“She wrote you this note.”
I turn around and pluck it from his fingers. “Did you read it?”
“Do you think I really care about the sad state of your love life?” He asks but doesn’t wait for a response but stops just at the door. “Give her another chance. Whatever happened, she looked pretty wrecked about it. Almost as bad as you do.”
I wait until I hear the door shut behind him and open the folded note.
Dear Chris,
I’m not sure if you want to hear from me. I understand if you don’t want to speak to me again, but I hope that isn’t the case. I don’t have a perfect explanation for walking out on you as I did, other than the truth. I needed to close that part of my life to fully open myself up to you. You are the one I want. The only one I want. I should have been honest and told you how I felt. I still don’t know if you feel for me even a fraction of what I feel for you, but I missed my chance to tell you this face to face, so I’m saying it here. I’m falling in love with you. If you think that you may feel the same way about me, or you might want to see where this connection between us leads, meet me at the fountain. I’ll wait for you as long as it takes. I hope to see you soon.
Sincerely Yours,
Annie
P.S. I know I said I wished for the chance to get on stage again at the fountain, but since I’m being totally honest here—I wished for a chance between us.
All at once, the dark cloud that had been hovering over my head dissipates. I thought that our time together last night made her realize how much she wanted her ex back, but she wants me—she loves me.
I drop the case and run out of the office. Phil doesn't even bother calling after me about leaving my guitar again because he knows that I wouldn't listen. I don't bother with trying to find a cab. I run in the direction of the fountain and hope that she is still there waiting for me.
I get to the edge of the park and look around. It's still early enough in the night for people to be still standing around. I look frantically for Annie, but I don't see her.
“Chris?” A familiar voice asks behind me.
I turn and see the woman of my dreams standing in front of me. Her cheeks damp from tears. I close the distance between us and cut her face in my hands. I use my thumbs to wipe away the sadness in her expression.
