I Hear You

20- Cupcakes and Laughter

<Lewis Davis>

Today is two days after Matthew and I went to Poughkipsey, meaning it's Saturday.

What does that mean?

It's the day of my company's annual Christmas Party. It's also my first one. With extra luck, I have a date. His name is Matthew Erwin, he's the love of my life. Literally.

I'm anxious for today because this is technically Matthew and I's first date. I know we've pretty much gone on more, but now we're officially dating. How great is that?

It's like a new piece of paper to work with. No sketch lines. No fingerprints made of charcoal. It's a clean slate.

Just with more knowledge about each other than others on their first date.

I tied my tie around my dress shirt collar. It had Santa Claus on it, there was a small text in bright red letters, 'Ho Ho!". I think it's nice-looking. I want to decent to my first Christmas party.

I strapped on my watch, checking the time, anxiously waiting for Matthew to arrive. It was 5:43 pm. I told him to meet me at 5:45. He has two minutes before he's late.

I frantically keep checking the time. It's still 5:43.

5:43.

5:43.

5:43.

5:44. One minute. He has one minute left. Come on Matthew, hurry up. Please don't be late. Please don't be late.

I crossed my arms, staring into the mirror. It was completely silent in my apartment. All I could hear was the clock ticking. It was tormenting me.

5:44.

5:44.

5:44.

5:44.

Three seconds until 5:45.

5:44.

5:44.

5:44.

5:45. He's late.

Why am I so obsessed with time? The party starts at 6 pm. It's not like we have to be right on time. It does take about fifteen minutes to get there by train. It would only take me like ten if my car wasn't in the shop, getting fixed. 

Oh, about that, it's been nearly two weeks since my car broke down. It's been down there for almost fourteen days. Why the hell are they taking so long? If I knew how to do it and had the right equipment, I could do it five hours or more.

5:47.

He's two minutes late. Maybe he doesn't want to go. I did pressure him to do all these things. I feel so guilty. He could be sick of me, I mean, he did just come out to his parents.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Why is time so slow? I feel like I'm in a maths class. The instructor talks slowly in a boring, monotone voice and explains equations that I won't even use. Hell, I have art as a job and I haven't used any math yet except a ruler. Only a ruler to measure distance, not the stupid protractor with angles and degrees.

I glance back at my watch, it was 5:49. He's almost five minutes late. We're going to be late to the Christmas party! Everyone is going to be there except me and Matthew. Everyone will look at us as we rush through the door and try catching our breath from running.

Knock! Knock!

I hastily swing my head towards the door, I turn the knob and it revealed Matthew holding a bouquet.

"I'm sorry I was late, I was getting these," he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Thanks for the gift, but I'm not a woman," I blinked at him, still thanking him for the gesture.

"It's not for you, silly," he giggled, "it's for your boss." He patted me on the back as he pulled me out of my house.

I swung the door open, I didn't care if we caused a commotion, at least we got there in time.

There was a couple of workers there; they were setting up the food tables. 

One of my good friends that worked with binding the books, sat down a spinning cupcake stand on a table that had a sign "DESSERTS" on it.

"Sorry, we're late, Samantha!" I gasped for breath, waving over to her. She was one of the people that organized 

Samantha was one of the first people I met when I moved to this company. She was a friendly female friend that I could go to when Belka wasn't around. She's only a year older than me, but she's childish-sounding, it seems like she's eleven, not twenty.

What I liked about Samantha is she's a much softer kind of woman. She's very gentle and isn't impulsive like Belka can be. The only way I can describe perfectly is to say that she is extremely feminine. She wears bows in her hair, likes to wear bright pink lipstick, and dresses. I've never seen her with pants on.

Samantha wore red bows in her ginger-colored hair (shocking). A big bright red bow (another one?) was tied around her slim waist and a poofy green dress that went down to her knees was what she wore.

She blinked at me when I called out to her, confused, "What do you mean you're late?"

Matthew wiped sweat from his brow, "the party started at six, right?"

"No, seven," she walked past us to the copy room, searching for the box of cupcakes.

"But they said it was at six?" I stared at her, bewildered.

She exited the copy room, holding the boxes cupcakes, she was struggling. Matthew generously offers to carry them to the desserts' table.

"The people that volunteered to set up the party had to meet here at six in the morning," she placed her hands on her hips, smirking at me, "if you volunteered for that, then you're SUPER LATE. But if you're just going to the party, you're about..." she glanced at the clock behind her, "forty-nine minutes early."

Matthew sat the boxes next to the cupcake spinner, then cackled.

I watched Matthew laugh from exhaustion, "why're you laughing?"

He covered his mouth, trying to control his laughter, "next time you want me to be on time, make sure we're getting to the party on time," he smiled at me. He was teasing me.

I'm supposed to be teasing him! I'm the sexually-aggressive one in the relationship, after all.

***A/N***

WOW, SO MUCH FOR POSTING CONSISTENT. 

Alright, my pals, we're drawing close to the end of I Hear You! I'm making an estimated guess, about four more chapters to go. It might be five. 

If anyone is confused, this is set towards the end of 2018. So they're both nineteen years old. I hope I solved some bafflement. If you guys are having any questions, feel free to message me privately or comment during the chapter. I like hearing your thoughts.

See you next post (which I hope is either next Thursday or Sunday).

-MissyKZV