by Cherry Kay
She was comfortably seated on a couch, her feet curled up and she had one arm resting on the side. Her phone beeped once and she ignored it for a few moments until she had finished reading a paragraph. The library was deserted, and it was just the way she liked it.
She finally decided to see who messaged her. It was an unknown number.
“Hey, it’s Shaun. Hope you remember me. Ordered Tim Tam coffee a few days ago.”
She scowled. Really? Where in god’s name did he get her number? Unless… it could have been anyone at the coffee shop. It could have been Janine. Gullible Janine Walters. She wondered how he had asked for her number in the first place. She ignored the text and put the phone down, concentrating once more on her book.
An hour later, another text came. Still from him.
“So what are you doing tomorrow night? If you aren’t busy we can have dinner or something.”
She rolled her eyes. Or something? Dude, you don’t have game, she thought. How in the hell did this guy even pass college? The first time she had spoken to him, she felt he couldn’t differentiate from ‘their’, they’re’ and ‘there’. Or something? Was that coffee or some romp in a sleazy motel?
She had never allowed herself to get too close to people, especially to men who could rarely control their impulses. The only people Alexis liked were children. She huffed and put the phone away.
The day had gone on pleasantly enough and she had found possible loopholes with what she had written. The loose ends had to be tied. No thesis was perfect but if she could make it to 99.99% then that would definitely make her happy.
What were her end goals in life? She had none. She took life as it was, without the need for attachments. She’d thought about this as a child. What did she want to be when she grew up? Someone famous? No. Someone popular in college? No. Hundreds of magazine covers?No. She wanted to do things behind the scenes. She would make economies run. She would be the grand vizier to corporations.
As a ten-year old, she had thought of that already. She had sort of mapped out her life, carefully including her parents in it. She had a comfortable childhood and she told herself she would never allow her parents to be stuck in nursing homes as soon as they hit their senior years.
As soon as Alexis got home that day, she saw another message she had completely ignored and had gone unnoticed since two hours ago.
You could respond nicely if you don’t want to have dinner.
She sighed and shook her head, punching in letters. The nicest and yet meanest way to put an end to the nuisance.
Sorry busy.
She sent the message and smiled, knowing full well he would no longer reply. She enjoyed her shower and light dinner and had even squeezed in some time to watch a documentary about the Egyptian pharaohs. Alexis checked her phone again, a little disconcerted that he didn’t reply at all. Not even an acknowledgement… wait, what? She shook her head slightly. What was she thinking? She was thinking like any other girl playing hard to get.
She almost laughed aloud.
***
As soon as he had gotten the text, he shook his head, unable to believe that it was the end of his efforts. Now he had two dates to fulfill, one for himself and one for Janine. And he hadn’t even asked Dennis yet if he could date the ditzy looking brunette. Was Dennis even single? He didn’t plan that one out. Oops.
Sorry busy.
Seriously? No one had ever declined a date from him before. Maybe it came with the whole varsity thing. She was apparently the first and it struck his ego. Oh, man. That kinda stung. He cursed under his breath and turned up the volume on his TV, not even bothering to check what was showing.
He was busy making dinner, until he noticed growls come from the screen. He looked up to see a documentary about lions and lionesses mating in the savannah. His eyes widened. What the hell was he listening to? But the visual show of animals having a go made him think about other things, things that weren’t related to dinner…
He shook his head and noticed he had partially burned his chicken breast fillet. He cursed again and quickly took it out of the pan. He ate his dinner crankily, taking care to transfer the channel to a sports show. Basketball was okay, it was still a ball. He was a lousy basketball player in his early teens. Besides, it meant he couldn’t hit anyone just because.
The thought of Alexis telling him she was busy resurfaced and he scowled as he finished the last of his meal. Even his last girlfriend had been crazy for him. Too crazy. She had to know here he was almost every hour. She was the kind of girl his mother would like for surface value and the kind of girl his grandfather would totally hate. Now why wasn’t Alexis like this? Would have made things easier. He didn’t have the patience for this, but he knew he had to cultivate some for the situation.
Yeah, she was just another pretty girl who happened to be the coach’s daughter. Pretty incidental. He had been contemplating to cut it all off. Twice he had been rejected upfront. The third time she wasn’t even there. It was as if fate had intervened and knew of his plan. It wasn’t going to hurt anyone. It was just going to be a few dates. Getting to know the cute Matthews and seeing if it would lead to something else, like a one way ticket to major league (and finally).
Chapter Five
It was an ordinary evening for Alexis. She had the closing shift since she had a day off from work tomorrow. For reasons unknown, even if she had planned it already, she just couldn’t resign from the café. Her letter was tucked safely inside her bag, but she waited a few minutes until the closed sign was placed. She saw the manager go in the office. Yet she stayed where she was, closing the register. She took another breath and heard her manager typing on a keyboard. She wasn’t going to resign today; she knew it.
She did put her uncle’s words to heart. She had saved enough and was going to concentrate on her studies by then. Four more months meant a lot of time to think about her thesis defense. Alexis did get excited sometimes. There was a thrill about the whole defense against a panel. She might have been an introvert but it was a chance to become extroverted and still be smart about it.
“Lex,” Melody called out, “I’ll be going on ahead. Need to finish a paper.”
“Sure.”
“You sure you’re okay finishing up alone?”
“Yeah, no prob,” Alexis replied with a wave. Melody slipped out of the front door. The manager got out of the office a few moments later.
“You’re still here,” she remarked.
“Just finishing this.”
“Want me to drop you home?” the manager asked.
“Nah, I’m good, thanks.”
“Alright, let’s close this joint,” she said with a tired smile. Alexis grabbed her purse and they both walked out of the café.
The manager then bolted the doors securely with four locks, two on top and two at the bottom.
“Alright, I’ll see you in two days,” she told Alexis.
Alexis said her goodbyes and started walking down the opposite street, hoping to catch the last bus heading home. It was almost ten-thirty in the evening. It was a chilly night, and she wrapped her coat around her tighter. The bus would be almost here, she thought, her fingers playing on a pendant she wore. The bus sped down the small hill, she could see its lights. It was an exhausting day, overall and she couldn’t wait to get home.
Suddenly, the chain snapped, causing the pendant to roll on the road. She gasped, staring at the shiny ring that kept rolling on the asphalt. I can still make it, she thought, eyeing how far the bus was. She ran to grab it before it rolled further. She thought wrong. The bus careened down, not noticing her until it was too late. She heard the brakes screech and she stood in horror as the lights shone on her figure.
Her last thought was how bright the headlights were… Oomph! She thudded to the ground with her arms over her head. She knew she was shaking. That had been a close call. The closest since… she found it difficult to breathe. Her eyes were staring at the pavement and she felt the pendant
in her palm. She clutched it tightly. She was alive, wasn’t she?
“Are you okay?” a male voice asked beside her. She didn’t move. Then she felt a touch on her shoulder. “Hey,” he repeated again,” are you okay?”
“Oh my god,” the bus driver exclaimed as he got out, “did I hit her? She just ran in the middle of the road!”
“Will someone call 911?” another person said.
A few more passengers got out of the bus to check on the two. She didn’t want to get up for fear that she would pass out if she did.
“Is she bleeding?” someone else asked.
“Hey, you can relax now,” the man who shoved her out of the way said. She slowly opened her eyes and knew there were tears forming. She looked at the man and blinked.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked her firmly, holding her shoulders as she slowly sat up. “Hey, look at me.”
She looked up and saw calm and collected eyes. She struggled to find something to say. She couldn’t say anything. But she was shaking uncontrollably.
“Paramedics are on their way,” a passenger said.
He held her wrist gently to check if anything was broken. She didn’t say anything. People surrounded her, commenting on how lucky she was that a bystander happened to have the guts to save her from a bus.
He held her face with both hands. “You’re not bleeding,” he said with a smile, “which is a good thing ‘cause you’ve got a pretty face.”
Did he just say that aloud? Alexis blinked again, trying to come to terms with what had happened. Was she brain damaged by now? An ambulance had arrived after a few minutes. She didn’t want to be touched. She didn’t want an ambulance.
“I’m fine,” she repeated again and again as emergency staff began to check on her. “Please, don’t touch me. I don’t need to go to a hospital.”
He listened to her. It was as if she was begging to be left alone. Was she afraid of hospitals?
“Ma’am, you look really pale,” a medic told her.
In a matter of seconds she was hoisted onto a stretcher with a neck brace for good measure. Her pupils were beginning to dilate. She was starting to panic. She recalled her mom’s screams. She recalled the glass shattering. She heard tires screech and the world turning upside down.
“Please,” she began to breathe out with difficulty, trying to get off the stretcher.
“Ma’am, please calm down, everything is going to be alright,” the medic assured her again and again. She saw the man who had saved her and her eyes were screaming to be helped, to be taken away from the ambulance.
He nodded, not moving from where he stood. A few of the passengers from the bus began to surround him, applauding him for his bravery. She felt something slip over her head and the last thing she saw before she fainted was Shaun’s face.
***
“Hello,” a voice greeted her as she came to.
The world was fuzzy and being awake suddenly hurt. A lot. She was still lying down. She was alive. Only this kind of pain could be unmistakably earth-bound.
“They said you’re okay. Nothing broken, no internal bleeding,” he told her as she tried to focus on him.
“What time is it?”
“You were just knocked out and that’s the first question you ask?”
“Got a paper to check.”
“For class, you mean? I think you need time off from class.”
She shook her head, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “Does- does anyone from my family know?” she asked in an inaudible voice.
He shook his head. A nurse came up and asked him to sign a few papers for her release. He came back after five minutes. “Now where were we? Do you want your parents to know?” he queried, looking at her intently. The doctors had said she was going to end up with a few large bruises but that she would be alright.
She shook her head again. “No, don’t.”
“You don’t have any problems with medical insurance, that’s for sure,” he told her.
She eyed him suspiciously. Why was he being so chummy? They had barely spoken twenty sentences to each other.
“Look,” he said, with a heavy sigh, “I don’t want to come off as a creep, but someone had to push you away from that bus. No one wanted pancakes for a midnight snack earlier.”
Well, here she was, alive and well. Her hand trailed to her neck and she realized the pendant was no longer with her. She wildly looked around for it. “Where is it?”
“Where’s what?”
“The necklace. I had a necklace.”
“Oh you mean the thing that you almost killed yourself for?”
“Yes!” she said, flustered.
His brow rose and he took it out of his pocket. “It’s here,” he said, slipping the pendant onto her palm.
She stared at it, just to make sure it was the pendant. And then she breathed a sigh of relief. It was with her and that was all that mattered.
“You’re going to have to tell me about this later, why this bling is so important.”
“It’s not bling,” she snapped, regaining some of her strength.
“Well, I’d like to hear about this pendant later.”
“I have to get home,” she said.
“Who’s bringing you home?” he asked.
“I’m taking—"
“A bus? A cab?” he interrupted, “look, I went through the effort to save you. I definitely don’t want you dead on the way home. So let me bring you to where you live, safely. Besides, if something happens to you, the hospital has my ID records too.”
She still eyed him with contempt. Then she decided it was for the best, for now.
“Is that a yes?” he said, as she slowly stood up.
She nodded. A nurse came in and smiled at her. “Good, you can change here,” she said, bringing in her clothes, “you can wait outside, sir,” she told the good-looking hero of the night.
Her muscles felt sore as she slowly changed her clothes. Heck, even her bones felt sore. As soon as she was dressed, the nurse approached her once more, giving her prescriptions for pain and instructions in case she felt a headache or some sudden stabbing pain. She saw her bag and grabbed it, clutching the pendant in her palm tightly, never letting go of it. She saw Shaun leaning against a wall beside the exit door of the hospital.
“You good to go? Got all your prescriptions and stuff?” he asked her.
She nodded.
“Alright, tell me where you live.”
She said the address as they headed out from the parking lot. He opened the door for her and she was unsure if she should slip in. He sighed, waiting for her to get in the car. With a little hesitation, she got in the passenger’s seat. He closed the door and headed for the driver’s seat.
The drive was a quiet one, with Shaun concentrating on the road, and Alexis lost in her thoughts. She had almost died, but it wouldn’t be the first time. She had gone through worse, anyway. She knew it was something she would never admit, but she would have gladly died before the pendant would be taken away from her. It was all she had left of her parents…
“Are we close by?” he suddenly asked, breaking her reverie.
She nodded. “Turn left and you’ll see a brick building with a park beside it.”
“Is that a promise ring or something?” he asked her.
She looked surprised that he asked. “Not really,” she replied.
“Something your boyfriend gave you?” he pried as he took a left.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, dismissing his query.
He stepped on the brake slowly and saw a quaint three story apartment building. “Is this it?”
She nodded again. There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. “I- I really appreciate you jumping in like that.”
“What’s with the rings, anyway?”
“I’ll talk about it some other time,” she said, uneasy about the idea of letting a stranger into her private life.
“With lunch sometime this week?”
he suggested, looking at her carefully. She didn’t respond. “It’s just a lunch date. If we don’t hit it off, I won’t bother you anymore, okay?”
“I don’t even know your name.”
“Shaun, Shaun Bradford.”
“Well, I know your coffee shop name.”
“It’s not an alias,” he grinned, “it’s my real name. I’m an alumni from UM. Batch 2010. What about you, Alexis Matthews?”
“Economics, senior.”
“Yeah? Well congratulations ahead.”
“I haven’t even passed yet.”
“You look like a smart one,” he told her, “So… are you sure you can go up the stairs?”
She smiled, the first genuine smile she gave today. “I live on the first floor.”
“Well, I would like you to answer just once to any of my texts, even if you plan to ignore me in the end. It’s just so I’ll know you’re okay.”
She was quiet for a moment. Then she took a breath. “Thanks again…” Alexis then opened the passenger door and ambled out a bit clumsily. She fumbled for her keys and opened the main door to the complex, not bothering to turn back for one last goodbye or another expression of gratitude.
Shaun saw her go in the building and a few moments later, saw lights turning on at the third window on the left. He sighed and wondered if that was enough to get her to agree to a date with him.
***
She took a breath, unable to believe she had been coerced into having a brunch date with him. He had suggested the small, newly opened shawarma place just a block from where she worked. She had an hour’s worth of conversing with him. Alexis felt nervous all of a sudden. She had purposefully gone a few minutes late, twenty minutes late to be exact- just to make him feel she wasn’t really interested. Yet, there he was, waiting with a smile.
“Hey,” he greeted. Jesus, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she did this on purpose.
“Hi,” she said, “sorry I’m late.” I didn’t really want to come, but I had to.