“Yeah, you don’t seem the lawyerly type,” I tease. “I would’ve put my money on acting.”
“You wouldn’t be totally off base. I could get behind the whole production of movies and television thing. My uncle directed a sitcom back in the 90s. It only ran one season before it was canceled and didn’t pay the best, but he loved his job. I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of reporting to the same place every single day.
I guess I need to look into something that has a bit more flexibility.”
“You never know until you try, right?” A moment of silence follows. I shift around in my seat. “How about I give you my number, you know, just in case you ever decide you want more help on that list of yours.”
His beautiful eyes glow in the dashboard light. “Is that the only reason I can call you?”
“No, unless you’re secretly some kind of stalker.”
With a deep chuckle, he pulls his iPhone from his pocket and hits the screen a few times before handing it to me. “Good. I was hoping we could hang out some time.”
Our fingers are electrified when they touch. There’s something happening between us whether I want to admit it or not. My throat pinches. “I—”
“Enough with the seeing someone thing,” he huffs, looking both pained and annoyed. “I just want to hang out. Guys and girls can be friends.”
“I was going to say I have to work tomorrow until five, and I have a few assignments I need to work on.” I giggle, typing my number in before handing his phone back. Our eyes catch. “But I’d love to hang out for a little bit after work if that’s cool with you.”
I don’t know where this offer to meet up came from. It’s like there’s a pull between us, and I can’t pretend it doesn’t exist. Since I don’t really believe in all that soulmate crap, especially with Levi , there can’t be any harm in exploring my options.
A grin slowly makes its way across his face. “In that case, can I take you out for pizza? Say around five? I’ll pick you up here.”
“Hmmm. Sounds suspiciously like a date.”
“It’s pizza, Jewels.” He glances at my number before tossing his phone on the dashboard. “I had fun tonight.”
“Me too,” I say, reaching for the door handle. “Thanks for the ride.”
His warm smile makes me flush. “I’ll see you soon.”
From the sidewalk I watch his car take off down the road. I’m completely blindsided by this stranger who just waltzed into my life. Everything about him will stick with me for a long time: his deep voice, his steel gray eyes and the way they seem to bore right through me, the way I felt exhilarated just sitting next to him. For longer than I care to admit, I’ve been bored by my mundane existence, numbing it with alcohol or drowning it out with movies on the couch in a ratty t-shirt and yoga pants. Maybe it’s just another sign that I shouldn’t be with Levi. If he was good for me, wouldn’t that void have been filled?
Tonight it was like I woke up long enough to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. I finally feel alive again.
After a restless night, I wake to the sound of voices shouting in the hallway. The sun shines brightly through the window overlooking Kelly’s empty bed. Our room is small, like the other doubles in the hall, but always orderly. Pictures of our adventures the past two years line a metal wire strung on the wall running along our two miniature sized desks that are hardly ever used for anything other than folded laundry. When we’re working on homework, we either take our laptops to our twin cots, or huddle on the couch at the end of my bed.
The white brick walls make for a sterile atmosphere, so we counter it with my collection of concert posters hung in cheap plastic frames of assorted colors. Kelly always has some kind of scent burning in the electric candle warmer, this week’s a combination of coconut and spring in anticipation of the upcoming summer break.
Freshman year was a different story. I was on a different floor where I roomed with one of the strangest people I had ever met. Sarah had shifty eyes and showed very little emotion. I’m pretty sure she didn’t have any friends as she was always around when not in classes. She wouldn’t let me put anything on the walls, or play music while she was studying. Kelly and I made it our mission to find ways to irritate Sarah so that she would retreat to the library, giving us free range to crank our favorite tunes and become the place where all our hall-mates wanted to hang out. After I hit the wall of depression, however, Sarah eventually resumed studying in our silent room. Kelly still came around, but it wasn’t the same.