The Sound of You **on hold**

Chapter 4

Dawson

I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling. It's been a long ass night but I can't seem to will my eyes to shut. I can't stop thinking about her. Adelaide. The way her hazel eyes lit up as she watched the northern lights dance in the sky. The way her long hair flowed over her shoulders, her once tight curls loosening into soft waves. The way her foot would shift towards me, touch my leg, and then pull back quickly as if she was worried I'd notice. The short time I spent sharing a blanket with her was the warmest I had felt all night. I watched her in the firelight, glancing to the north to glimpse the lights until they faded, talking animatedly, and recounting stories of her and Pauline's frequent karaoke nights.

Sitting outside Adelaide's house in my SUV, I wondered if she changed her mind, or if she was inside brain storming ideas on how to get out of going to breakfast with me. But she had the option to say no. And it would have made sense, even if she did want to. So I decided to just go to the door to check - twenty-five minutes later. I was tired of waiting and wasn't going to sit here forever. I was starting to feel like an idiot. When Pauline told me she fell asleep, I actually laughed. Of course she did. She looked exhausted. So I headed home.

I let my eyes shut, but they replay seeing her for the first time back at O'Brien's. When I walked back to my table from the bathroom, I saw a flash of a bright screen on the other side of the wall to my right, in the sunken dining area around the stage. My eyes automatically gravitated to her phone and I happened to see my own face staring at her from Tinder. I stopped to watch her reaction, wishing I could see her face instead of just the back of her head. When she swipes left, I can't help but laugh. I put my hand over my comically wounded heart and said my first words to her. Her face went beet red when she realized I was the one she just not so anonymously rejected.

It was adorable. She was beautiful. She wasn't wearing a short dress with her breasts spilling out like the eighteen and nineteen year olds at the bar. She had on a simple white t-shirt with a dark coloured scarf around her neck. Her then tight dark brown curls bounced around her shoulders. When I saw her rapping to an Eminem song, the lights shone on her, illuminating the dark red hue in her hair. Her energy was contagious. I knew I liked this girl. I sang along to the chorus with the crowd and decided I had to talk to her some more. I silently thank my abandoned Tinder profile. I haven't opened it in weeks, and couldn't be bothered to delete my account.

I huff and stare at my ceiling again. I'm not falling asleep anytime soon. I just feel like I'm not done for the night. Even though it's, like, seven thirty in the morning. I get up and grab my jacket and my keys. My SUV warms up quickly and I rip out of my back lane headed for Leo's.

When I enter the café, Leo looks up at me and holds up his index finger to me. He finishes speaking to an elderly woman who's enjoying her breakfast and waves me over to her table.

"This is Dawson, who I was telling you about yesterday!" He says, placing his scarred hands on my shoulders.

"Oh how lovely! Very nice to meet you." She says. I smile awkwardly. Leo motions for me to follow him to the service counter.

"Delores eats here a couple times a week." He tells me. "I didn't think I'd see you this morning. Thought you said there was a light show last night."

"I didn't think I'd be in either. But I'm not staying. Just here to grab some croissants. Two plain, two chocolate, please."

Leo places his hand into a plastic glove to handle my food and pack up my order. He places the box inside a brown paper bag and puts it on the counter for me. He discards the glove and reaches to rub his eyes and forehead, sweeping the hair out of his eyes. "I'm getting too old for this." He grunts.