[It's not better telling this story in the third person. It's equally hard. I'm just going to tell it like it happened, from my perspective. So here's the true story, from my brain to yours]
"Obviously, the bed is an added bonus." I lean against the door frame looking at the grown man giggle over the size of the mattress. I shake my head after a few moments and I turn around, giving him his privacy.
"Oh my god, this bed is the coziest shit ever!" He exclaims, followed by a disgruntled sigh as he got up from the bed.
"You know, the next time you're selling this apartment show people the bedroom first." He ran a hand through his hair, fixing it or unfixing it- I couldn't tell. Some of it fell onto his forehead, the other stuck up.
"Noted. I really don't mean to hurry you, but I do have more apartments if you want to see." I fumbled with the notepad in my hand. The edges of the paper were beginning to fold as I twiddled with them.
"This place is the bomb. I think I'm going to settle for this one." I smiled. I knew he would like this place. Firstly, he was wearing a blazer so I knew he had a certain class about him. This meant that he wouldn't even like two of the apartments I had planned because they were in the 'bad' section of the town. He knew what he wanted, and he'd said views of the lake or near the sea front and this was the only apartment which qualified both. I did an inner victory dance, showing only a smile on my face.
"Whatever suits you, Flynn," I say, averting my eyes from his slanted, curious ones. I quickly glance at my phone to see if my Mother had contacted me, she hadn't. This probably meant she was going to have a bad day: she wouldn't even get out of bed.
"So, how do we celebrate me renting my first apartment?" He asks, raising his two hands in question. I look at him, confused. It took me half a minute to realize he was inviting me.
"We could go for waffles?" I suggest, quite unsure of whether he would approve or not. He smirks, turns towards the window and says, "In the middle of the day?"
I open my mouth, to tell him that my idea was supremely stupid and we shouldn't be following it but I see him break into a smile and say,"I love it. So where'd you get the best waffles here?"
I let out a relieved smile.
-
We went to The Factory, a queer café in the middle of the town. It wasn't quaint but it wouldn't have much activity at this hour.
I was wrong.
Apparently, twenty other people also had the idea of going for waffles at this odd hour. I complained as we walked back to the car. Regardless of the time, o was now craving waffles, and I mean hardcore craving.
"Let it go, we'll go eat waffle some other time." I looked at him as we stood on opposite sides of the car. His already small eyes scrunched further in the sunlight.
I unlocked the car and got in.
"It's not about the waffle it's about the fact that I am now craving waffles." I put the keys in the ignition and strapped myself in.
"I have to agree with you. Maybe we can go eat something else, like..." He looked blankly at the roof of the car as he sat down. I assumed he had run out of ideas of things to eat.
"Or maybe we can just go drown our sorrows away," I said. I didn't drink during the day, don't get me wrong. But I was pretty worked up about the waffles.
"I'm down for drowning in despair, any time of the day." He said with a straight face but I knew he was mocking me. I scoffed and turned on the radio. An Adele album began playing and I petted the car again: this time for playing appropriate music.
"Hey, I just realized that your name is Leia." I scrunched my eyebrows at him. Why was he saying that as if it was a good day?
"You're named after Leia Skywalker, right?" I drove out of the parking lot and rolled my eyes at him.
"Took you long enough, Sherlock." That's the first thing people point out to me when they first meet me. They say it with so much distinguished awe as if I wasn't aware of the origins of my own name. And obviously, being the preachy, well-mannered woman, I always laugh it off. Even though my brain has conjured up eighty different insults.
"No, it's just one of those things you know but just never notice in particular." I aimlessly loop around the town center as I try to find a good enough spot to cry about waffles.
"Well, to answer your question, yes, I am named after Princess Leia. If I had been born a boy I was going to be named Anakin." I say, humming along to When We Were Young as I finish my sentence.
"Who's the fan in your family?" He asks, perching his elbow on the window sill of the car, leaning against it and looking at me.
"My mom, Anakin was her first crush." I laughed at that thought. I recalled how I had come to know that. My dad had gifted her an Anakin Skywalker Mug and she still drank coffee from that.
"Well, Leia was my first crush. Whoa, she looked stunning in that gold bikini." He remarks and turns up the volume on the song as it changes.
"Carrie Fisher is so gorgeous!" I exclaim. I turn the corner and see a local bar that seemed about right. It was open spaced so it would be light and breezy, and not completely claustrophobic.
"Do you want to go in this one?" I ask, coming to a halt in front of it.
"I think we're doing pretty well with the drowning in sadness for now. I mean, I'm all for day drinking, but I'd prefer seeing Tahoe." Okay...I slumped back into my seat and looked at him.
"What do you want to see?" Kate was going to kill me, I had about an hour to get back home and if I didn't my mom would be killing me too, but then there was Flynn and his satisfied smile. There was also the fact that this was the longest time any guy had talked to me. And the fact that he was looking at me oh-so intently. I'd very, very foolishly planned my own funeral.
