Glow

by Molly Bryant

I clicked the unlock button and hopped inside. The smell of Dior was filling my nose. It was all in my head, I know, but I couldn't help but smell him every time I got into this car.

  I swallowed hard feeling as though I was going to start crying. My moment of truth; I missed him, I missed him so much.

  I placed the keys in the ignition and closed my eyes taking a deep breath in through my nose.

  “I love you,” I whispered.

  God, love sucks!

  Ben

  I was in my room packing my clothes as I decided it would be best to just go back to my dad's in Chicago. I had done nothing but cause grief and hell for everyone around me. Hurting Vanessa was the worst. All I wanted to do was be around her and I fucked up. Why did I have to call my Aunt? Why didn't I just move back with the hope of connecting with her? Because I am a dumb-ass.

  I tossed the last pair of jeans into my suitcase and looked over at my alarm, it was two-fifteen in the afternoon. I was supposed to meet Ethan for lunch at three. I checked in my pockets for my phone to text him to let him know I would be on time. I patted my pockets down, then spun in circles looking around the room. My phone was gone. I looked in the bathroom, under my bed, under the night stands, gone.

  “Where the hell is my phone?” I said aloud to myself as I walked into the living room. I dug between the cushions, on the floor, under the couch... no phone.

  “What the hell?” I had it this morning.

  I stood up straight placing my hands on my hips as I sighed. I looked around, trying to think of the last place I had used it. It was in my car. I quickly walked outside to check in my Beamer, then it hit me as I see an empty driveway.

  Going back to Chicago, I didn't need my car anymore as I had two at my dad's house. I sold my car this morning to a guy who owns a rental place in lower Manhattan. He needed a luxury car for a customer this morning.

  “Shit,” I dropped my chin to my chest.

  I rushed inside and grabbed my home phone. I decided that even though my phone is on vibrate, maybe someone would hear it?

  Vanessa

  Swallowing the lump in my throat did no good as I had been crying the entire way home.

  Buzz...buzz.

  The sound of a vibration interrupted my sob. I stopped the car on my street and looked around the front seat.

  Buzz...buzz.

  “What is that?” I picked up my purse, nothing was under it.

  Buzz... buzz.

  I grabbed my phone out of my purse... it wasn't my phone.

  Buzz...buzz.

  “Ah! What is that?!” I said annoyed. I opened the car door and got out. I knelt down reaching my hands under the seat.

  Buzz...buzz. I felt something vibrate my fingertips. I reached farther gripping something hard under my fingers. I pulled it towards me.

  “Got it,” I grunted as I stood up. It was someones phone.

  It buzzed in my hand with a local number flashing across the screen.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  The phone reeks of Dior. There's the smell, I knew I wasn't going crazy.

  “Thank, God you have my phone!” he sighed and I could hear the relief in this man's voice.

  “Uh-I guess so,” I got back into the car.

  “Can we meet up later? Are you in Manhattan?” he asked sounding like he was in a hurry.

  “Yeah, I am...I could meet you now, I know you want your phone.” I shrugged.

  “I have lunch plans and I am running a little behind. Can I call you when I'm done? We can meet up then?” he suggested.

  “Sure,” I nodded.

  “I seriously appreciate it, thank you,” he said politely.

  “No problem,” I hung up sighing as I put the car back into drive and headed home.

  Ben

  I heard the woman hang up. I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it.

  “How rude was that?” I said aloud as I put the phone back on the base.

  I heard a honk out front, my cab was here. I quickly grabbed my sweater and ran out the door to meet Ethan for lunch.

  The drive to Manhattan seemed to take awhile as traffic was awful. I just stared out the window thinking about that chic on the phone earlier.

  Something about her voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

  “Here we are,” the older man in a golf hat says as he pulled to the curbside. I saw Ethan standing there waiting for me.

  I hopped out of the cab. “Sup, bro?” I smiled at him as I got my wallet out to pay the cab driver.

  “Hey,” he nodded.

  “Thanks a lot,” I handed him the money.

  “No problem,” the driver then rolled the window up and took off.

  I looked over at Ethan who is staring at me.

  “What?” I shrugged.

  “What the hell happened with, Nessy?” he eyed me.

  “Let's just go in and sit down, I'll explain it all,” I pat his back.

  “You seriously had a naked model in your house?” he asked as we walked in the door of the diner.

  “Half naked, and no she wasn't a model,” I laughed.

  The waiter sat our food in front of us.

  “Seriously, what happened?” Ethan asked again as he dumped ketchup on his fries.

  “It's over. It doesn't matter,” I shrugged throwing a fry into my mouth.

  “Apparently it does,” he set the ketchup down and looked at me. “It's enough for you to take off again back to Chicago. And my sister... oh my God, dude,” he shook his head in such a manner that I was a little nervous.

  “What about her? Is she okay?” I asked trying to keep calm.

  “Oh, yeah, yeah...she's fine, bro. She's been sleeping at the office,” he laughed.

  “What? Why?” I asked. Why would she do that?

  “Something about not wanting to go home because all she can do is think about you... blah, blah,” he waved his hands. “She came by my apartment the night before last looking like the exorcist; hair sticking up, black under her eyes, and in sweats.” he opened his eyes wide. “You don't look that great either, Ben.”

  I sighed. “The other night nothing happened between Belinda and I.” I took a bite of my burger. “Long story short, we were hanging out. I wanted her out of my house and she wouldn't leave. I went and got Vanessa from Swingers, took her home, confessed my undying love for her which we both know went horribly bad. I got home and the chic was laying on my couch half naked.” I shrugged. “So, I led her out the door at the same time Vanessa was coming up my walkway and bam... just like that, I am going back to Chicago.” I took another bite.

  “Vanessa was at Swingers? Holy shit!” he laughed hysterically.

  “Right? I could have killed that bastard for taking her there,” I laughed.

  “You seriously threw that chic out naked?” Ethan stared at me.

  “No, she had a bra and underwear on,”

  “So, she was naked,” he argued.

  “Dude, shut the hell up,” I laughed throwing a fry at him.

  “Basically my sister listened to nothing I said to her and she is being stubborn,” Ethan was absolutely right.

  “It looked so bad, dude. Honestly, I don't blame her.” I said truthfully. It was all Karma biting me in the ass for the shitty choices I had made since I have moved back to New York.

  He dropped his burger onto his plate, leaned forward and stared at me. He finished chewing.

  “Do you love her? Like, seriously love my sister?”

  I looked him in the eyes. “Yes, Ethan, I love Vanessa,”

  “Why are you sitting here then? Do something about it,” he sat back in his chair.

  “I have! What else can I do?” I threw my arms up. “Besides, she said to forget about the other night, and we are friends.” I shrugged. “I'm not going to push it,”

  “Bullshit,” he said blatantly.

  “You tell me what you think I should do then, Ethan. I have hurt her-not intentionally- and have literally
messed everything up,”

  “No, it's all been bad timing, and Brenda or whatever her name is messed things up, you didn't.” True.

  “Her name was Belinda, and I tried to tell her but she won't listen to me,” I was frustrated over this whole thing. I just want to be with Vanessa, but I know after the other night that that will never happen.

  “You'll figure it out, bro. I know you will,” he smirked. “Let's go play some pool,”

  I nodded tossing the cash on the table for our lunch. My phone could wait until later.

  Vanessa

  I stood out in front of Vincenzo's waiting for Chase to show up. I kept checking this guys phone, but shockingly he must not need his phone as bad as I would have thought. It was two minutes until seven and I see a cab pulling up to the curb with a smiling Chase in the back passenger side.

  I smiled and waved at him. He paid the driver and hopped out of the cab in a pair of faded blue jeans, and a black button up shirt. His black hair was perfect and messy.

  “Hi,” I said as he turned toward me.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” he lightly kissed me on the cheek. “You look amazing,”

  “Thank you,” I smiled. “Ready?”

  “I've been ready since I met you,” he winked.

  I laughed feeling the blush creep up onto my cheeks. This isn't so bad.

  “So, tell me, how old were you when you knew you wanted to write?” Chase asked before wiping his mouth with a napkin.

  “I was about ten,” I smiled at the memory. “I was supposed to do a report on Matilda. Well, I ended up pretty much writing the entire story in my own words. My teacher- Mrs. Birch- entered it into a contest. I won and it felt so great,”

  “Wow, your kidding,” he looked interested. It's a start, I guess.

  “Seriously, and ever since then I spent most of my weekends, and vacations just writing away,” I laughed.

  Buzz...buzz. I continued to eat.

  “Your phone,” he pointed to my purse on the back of my chair.

  “Oh, I had to rent a car and apparently someone left their phone in it,” I dug it out of my purse and saw it's another local number. “It'll just take me a second. I'm sorry,”

  “You're fine,” he assured me with a smile.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Good it's not dead yet,” he sighed.

  I laughed. “Nope, it's still alive and buzzing,”

  “I thought I might have taken too long. Lunch turned into a few games of pool,”

  “It's fine,” I shrugged. “So do you want your phone?”

  “Yeah, where are you?” he asked.

  “I'm at Vincenzo's restaurant off of Main in Manhattan. Do you know where that is?”

  “Oh... yeah, yeah,” he said quickly. “Be right there. Meet me in ten out front,”

  “Got it,” I hung up.

  “He will be here in ten minutes, it'll only take a second,”

  “I'm not worried about it,” he smiled at me again.

  After about eight minutes of small talk I went outside and waited for this guy to come get his phone.

  As if right on cue I saw a yellow cab pull up on the other side of the corner with two guys in the back seat. The first guy to get out is none other than my brother; Ethan.

  “Ethan?” I said aloud.

  “Nessy,” he furrowed his brows. “What are you doing here?”

  “I'm on a date, and I have this guys phone from my rental car,” I held the phone up for him to see it.

  “Oh, shit,” he sighed, closing his eyes tightly.

  “What's the matter with you?” I asked as I took a few steps closer to the cab.

  He just nodded with his lips pursed as he took a step out of the way. I watched the door and felt my breath catch in my throat as Ben got out of the cab.

  Oh, my God... I have had Ben's car for the last few days. I had been missing him so much and I had a piece of him with me the entire time.

  Ben looked over at Ethan before looking at me. “Is she here dude?” He asked.

  Ethan nodded again. “Yup, she sure is,” my brother grabbed Ben by the shoulders and turned him around.

  Ben's eyes went wide as he stared at me. “Vanessa?”

  “Surprise... I guess,” I said smirking nervously as I held his phone up.

  Chapter Twelve: Leave Him Hangin'

  Ben

  Surprise? You have got to be shitting me. Vanessa is the one who ended up with my car and my cell phone?

  “You?” I managed to say in utter disbelief as I stood there staring at the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. She looked immaculate in a light pink strapless dress and heels with her hair up. I could see the diamonds in her ears glistening under the lights of the Vincenzo's sign.

  “Do you believe in fate, you sappy bastard?” Ethan whispered from next to me.

  I nodded utterly stunned. “I do now,”

  “Yeah, me.” Vanessa answered so quietly it was almost a whisper. She then smiled sheepishly.

  “Well, I have to get going home,” Ethan pat me on the back squeezing behind me to get into the cab.

  “Love you, Nessy,” he smiled at Vanessa.

  “Love you,” she smiled back at Ethan making my heart melt. God, I miss her smile.

  I could hear Ethan shut the cabs door behind me, then the cab took off; it's muffler's grumble becoming distant.

  “Here's your phone,” she held her hand out without taking any steps closer. I walked to her still giving us some space and took my phone from her hands.

  “Thanks,” I stuck it in my pocket not taking my eyes off of her.

  “You're welcome,” she said sweetly. I could see she was starting to blush.

  “I'm glad you were the one with my phone,” I stared into her eyes. “Because in about two hours I leave for Chicago, and to be honest with you I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye,”

  “What?” her eyes were so sad. More than anything I wanted to pull her to me and make her sadness go away. But I couldn't.

  “Why, Ben?”

  “Vanessa, I have ruined so many things here in New York and I never meant to hurt you, princess,” I took two steps filling the space that was between us.

  She nodded. “I know. You don't have to go,” she smiled.

  “Yes, I do. I will never forget the fun times I had with you this last week and I will never forgive myself for hurting you the way that I have.”

  I leaned forward. “I love you,” I whispered against her forehead before placing a soft kiss.

  “I-uh,” she paused, her voice shaky. She was about to cry. I didn't say anything to her as I wanted to give her time to get control of herself.

  Her eyes then filled with tears. “I miss you, Ben, so much,” she cried.

  I grabbed her in my arms and hugged her tightly against my chest. I felt as though I could cry, but I didn't.

  “Please, don't go,” she sobbed. “I know I said things that I shouldn't have and I should have stayed and let you explain yourself the other night,”

  “Vanessa?” I heard a man's voice from behind me.

  I turned around to come face to face with none other than Dr. Love. Are you serious?

  “Are you on a date, Vanessa?” My heart was crushed. I looked back at her.

  “Are you?” I swallowed hard.

  “Y-yeah,” she stuttered. “Please don't be mad. I'm trying, Ben. I am trying so hard to forget about you but I can't,”

  “Vanessa, are you coming?” I could hear the impatience in his voice.

  I turned around quickly. “Just give her a minute,” I said sternly holding my hand up as a warning. He nodded then took a few steps back.

  “Do you like him?” I whispered. I had a feeling that I didn't want to know the answer to my question. I was now finding it harder to hold back the tears.

  She shook her head. “No,” she laughed.

  I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Let's go,” I nodded down the street.