ʜɪꜱ ꜱᴀᴠɪᴏʀ ━ Bucky Barnes/Avengers

03: one condition

1940s

On the day of the fair, I was still working. It was a good thing that it took place during the nighttime, otherwise, I would have never been able to go. It was almost time to leave work, but I was still finishing up on what I was writing or trying to write. Lately, I haven't been able to find anything to write about. Or if I did find something, I'd find out that other journalists had raced me to it. A hard field it is, but I haven't given up yet. Even though behind my mask, I'm nothing like a journalist, my job kept me happy, calm and controlled for years. I know I belong here.

In the corner of my eye, I see my friend/coworker, Nancy, take her coat off from the rack and put it on. She sees me sitting down and still writing and rolls her eyes. I notice her so I drop my pencil and book on my lap and look at her.

"What?" I ask.

She's fixing her collar on her coat, "Are you going to work overtime again?"

I chuckle, "No, Nancy. Not today." Usually, I always stay in the office as much as I could because I would never want to go home. As much as I love my family, I rarely do anything with them and it gets boring. My workplace keeps me occupied and not boring. "I have plans tonight, so you don't have to worry about me."

"What plans? You never have plans except hanging out with that friend of yours."

She was right and I couldn't deny it. I was about to open my mouth, but she cut me off.

"Is it another date? Oh please tell me it's another date with that Harry you talked about."

I remember that I haven't told her what happened yet. I shake my head, "Thankfully, no. It's not a date with that jerk."

"What?" she gasps, "What happened with him, I thought you liked him?"

"I was wrong about him. I thought he liked me too, but he wanted something else." I gave her a look for her to understand.

She thinks then realizes what I mean, "Ohh..."

"But I'm fine, honestly. I was about to leave at that time, but Steve and his friend were there. His friend helped me. Took me home too. Now-"

"-Now he's taken you out on a date, right?" she gushes. She squeals and jumps around the room like she won a prize. "You hopeless romantic girl."

"It's not a date!" I deny, "He invited me to the fair, but there are also other people coming with us. So, I'm just adding on to their group of friends that's all."

"Yeah, right." She opens the door to leave, but before she does, she looks at me. "Conclusion, he invited you because he's interested in you and if you don't get together in the end, I'll make you single forever. Goodbye."

I roll my eyes at her as she shuts the door behind her. I should follow her out too. I check the time to see if I had extra time to see Steve before I leave for the fair. I went over to Steve's to tell him that I'd be going with him to the event, but I wasn't sure if Bucky had invited him yet. Since that night he invited me, I hadn't seen him or Steve at all. It was fine for Bucky, but it was unusual for Steve. I'd always see him almost every day. Now I'm in front of Steve's place, knocking on the door, but he doesn't respond. I wait for a couple more minutes longer to see if he would open it or show up behind me. Having nothing else to do before the fair, I just sit in front of his porch and wait until he shows up.

After a while, seeing that Steve never came, he was probably with him already. I go out on the streets to catch a cab to take me there. When I got to the fair, the sun had already set, but the sea of lights made everything brighter. So many people are here, how am I supposed to find at least one?