ADaaD(A Dollar and a Dream)

Chapter 3: I Feel Something

I've been unemployed for 5 days now, Quinn has been a godsend, she's come over every night after work to keep me company and keep me sane. I had a breakdown on Wednesday night as I was opening my mail and was bombarded with bills. Quinn sat and held me as I cried, which was super embarrassing. I'm pretty sure I drank a bottle of wine that night by myself. I woke up the next morning tucked in bed with a note from Quinn, saying that she would call me on her lunch to check on me.

She bought me like $200 worth of food, which she was claiming was to help me teach her to cook, but I know she bought it so I wouldn't have to worry about groceries. So, after we unloaded all the groceries and put everything up, I hugged her tightly as a silent thank you. Q and I aren't big on talking about feelings and stuff like that, so I didn't want to make the situation awkward. During our cooking lessons, we would sip wine and bash my coworkers, well former coworkers. It was actually pretty therapeutic.

Sam is coming back to town this weekend, so I won't have Quinn to keep me entertained and keep my mind from wandering to the pits. Which kind of worries me, but I'm a pretty centralized and balanced person, Ima Libra, so I should be ok. It's in our zodiac description that we are balanced people.

So here it is Friday morning and I'm wide awake, my internal alarm clock still thinks I work, and I wake up at 6am faithfully. Which is crazy, because when I did work, waking up at 6am was a struggle. I've been checking my phone like crazy, but I still haven't heard from Lauren. Maybe it was a dream. No, she was definitely real; the way I feel around her is more than real. My cheek still faintly tingles from where she kissed me. I mean she is kind of ditzy, so maybe she forgot to call me, or thought she did.

The past couple days I went to the park around the same time I first met her, but she hasn't been there. I don't know why I expected her to be there, but it was worth a shot, right? I would sit in the park for an hour hoping to catch a glimpse of her, before walking by the diner she pointed at, the one she said she worked at. I would peep in the window to see if she was in there, but I started to feel like a creep, so I stopped doing that.

Today I'm not going to think about Lauren, it's decided. I actually have a full day ahead of me. I plan on watching trashy daytime TV, meeting Quinn for lunch at 1pm, and then having a candlelit dinner while watching a bunch of sappy rom com movies. Yes, I'm taking myself on a date. I close my eyes to try to go back to sleep but all I see is Lauren's face, her cute freckles, and I hear that adorable giggle resonate through my ears. Fuck this, I'm going for a run.

I hop in the shower and throw on some leggings, a thermal undershirt, and a t-shirt over it. I wrap a scarf around my neck and lace up my sneakers. I slip my credit card in my iPod armband and zip my phone up in my t-shirt pocket and head out the door.

As soon as I walk outside, I realize it's a little colder than I thought, and decided maybe I don't feel like running after all. I start walking to the convenience store at the corner to grab a granola bar, and shit there's Lauren. She's sitting on the steps holding her cat. Oh my God, is she homeless?! No, she can't be using a credit card to buy my books.

I take my ear buds out and walk over to her. "Hey stranger." I tease with a smile and a small wave.

She looks up and smiles brightly. "Camila!" She then looks down at the cat. "Say hello to Camila, Lord Tubbington, don't be rude."

I laugh at her for scolding her cat and sit down next to her on the step. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while or talked to you." I ask carefully.

"Oh yeah, I changed my password on my phone for your birthday, but then I forgot the password so now I can't use my phone." She replies with a confused look on her face. She reaches in her pocket and hands me her phone. "Can you type your birthday in to unlock it?"