Still Holding On

Could this be a fresh start ?

A month has passed since our 'first date' and things only took a turn for the worse. I thought that after sending Tami for our first date he was going to explain himself and ask me if I wanted to plan something for both of us. I was right when I thought that it was too good to be true because nothing of that sort happened. He never spoke about what was the emergency he had, and he never mentioned any dates either.

The argument about his big emergency, the one he stood me up for was never explained, no apology was ever given, not a hint or a clue of what happened that day. Even though every effort from my side was done, so we could plan a second date, he always found excuses like; 'I am busy, I have to study, I have school early, I have a family dinner etcetera.' I started to get annoyed of all these lies and that is when my dear cousin Scarlet came in.

After I filled her in with all the details of this mystery guy and explained the whole story, she decided that I needed a break, something to take my mind off all of this. And what best to take your mind off of things? Yep... a night out. She decided that we should go to one of the local bars close by.

To tell you the truth I was not really in the mood to go out, especially in a bar but Scarlet insisted, and I somehow oblige, because no one can ever resist her puppy eyes. Scarlet planned the whole night and two minutes after I was being kicked out of her house, so I have plenty of time to get ready she said, for what she had called it A one hell of a night at the Tavern!!

Scarlet lives minutes away from my house so I made it home in no time. Once at home I went straight to my room, got everything I needed and headed to the bathroom. While I was showering all I could think about was Theo, and I realized that lately my thoughts were consumed by him and no one else's. To be honest I was not happy about it, it scared me, but for some reason I could not stop myself. I knew that my thoughts were destroying me, and I tried not to think but silence is a killer and tears started to fall. Once again, I found myself sitting naked on the shower tray. Trust me, for whoever experienced sadness, I know exactly how it feels. I know exactly how it feels to cry in the shower so no one can hear you.

While showering for a whole hour I heard the bell I wrapped a towel over my body and headed downstairs.

"Who's there" I asked.

"It's me idiot, open up already" Scarlet said laughing.

"Okay!! what are you doing here and an hour early?" I asked in curiosity.

"Duh, it's me Hun, you know me, you know how excited I get. I got ready in no time and decided to come here and give you a hand" she said all cheery.

I rolled my eyes, and went back to my room and as always, she barged in. Within seconds she was in my wardrobe going through all my clothes... one by one.

After spending a whole hour staring at my cousin while going through all my clothes, I was ready to go. Scarlet was wearing a mini black dress with blue stilettos and a flowery purse, while I was wearing a black ripped jeans with a black top and a green kimono, a white Converse, and a black backpack.

By the look on my cousin's face, I could tell how excited she was. On the contrary, as soon as I stepped out of my house, I felt nothing but sadness and all I wanted to do is to go back inside and stay in my bed all night watching series until I fall asleep.

The bar was only about 2km away from my house so we both decided to walk. "A walk can help me relax a bit." I thought. Scarlet knew exactly what was going through my mind, she knew that I was not feeling it, so she took my hand in hers, looked at me and gave me a reassuring smile.

It took us 20 minutes to get to the bar, it usually takes me about 10 minutes but since she decided to wear a stiletto we had to walk slow paced. We both said nothing during our walk so when we were close, I could hear the loud music coming at the end of the street.

"We're here" my cousin said clapping her hands.

My frown turned into a half smile as soon as I noticed that the bar was not busy at all and only two tables were occupied. I sighed in relief and rested my head on scarlet's shoulder, trying not to let her see me smile. However, that did not last long as she grabbed my hand once again but this time, she dragged me in.

The Tavern is where I have spent most of my teenage years, especially when I needed to vent and escape from reality. Probably because here you can just sit by the bar all by yourself without being disturbed by others. It is as if people understood the need of others to be alone. However, today it was different.

One of the tables was occupied by two guys and from the moment we stepped foot into the bar they did not stop eyeing us. Looking at them I could see that one of them was tall, he had deep short brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. While the other one was shorter with brown curly hair, brown eyes, and pale skin.

"Scar, do you see those two guys over there?" 

"Yes, do you know them?"

"Nah, but they didn't stop looking at our direction, ever since we got here." I said uncomfortably.

"Yeah, I know but I also know that you were doing just the same." she said looking as if she was enjoying herself while saying it.

I bit my lower lip and went to the bar to get drinks for both of us.

On my second drink I decided to go out for a cigarette and since my cousin does not smoke, I left her inside. Outside the Tavern there is a small porch with wooden benches all around. I sat on one of the benches and lit up my cigarette. I glanced at our table and saw that the one who had curly hair was approaching my cousin and minutes late the other guy was walking towards me.

"Hi, I am Daniel, would you mind if I join you?"

"I am Anna, nice to meet you." I said, making space for him on the bench.

He smiled and lit up a cigarette and we both continued smoking in silence. I took a quick look and found him glancing at me. We looked like we had a lot to say but for some reason we both decided to keep our mouth shut until we both were ready to go back inside.

Before heading back in Daniel grabbed my arm "Would you like to join us when we go back in?" He said with a hint of pinkish cheeks.

"Yeah, why not, I don't think my cousin will object."

"Well as far as I can see she already agreed and enjoying herself with Aaron." he replied, and we both laughed.

Back inside we headed over to where me and Scarlet were sitting and introduced ourselves to one another.

"Guys do you want to go somewhere quieter." Aaron suggested.

Scarlet and I looked at each other and agreed "But only if we go for a walk by the beach" Scarlet said.

Daniel went by the bar and paid for all our drinks, and we all headed out. We had to walk for about half an hour to arrive and since Scarlet was wearing stilettos she asked if we could pass by her house to change her shoes.

"This is my house guys; it will only take a minute. Keep quite as my parents must be sleeping by now."

Me and the guys remained outside on her porch, chatting on stupid stuff.

"Butt up everyone." Scarlet said ready to leave.

The first thing I did when we arrived, was looking up to the sky. The air was breezy, and I lost myself admiring the sky full of stars. Dogs barking from faraway brought me back to reality and I saw my cousin and the guys looking at me smiling but Daniel's smile was all I could look at. From that moment I got addicted to Daniel's smile.

Daniel approached me when I was once again lost in my thoughts.

"Would you like to go somewhere just us two?" I smiled at him and agreed.

Daniel grabbed my hand, and we walked hand in hand until we found a beautiful spot on the sand. From where we were we could see my cousin and Aaron fooling around, running after each other, both me and Daniel laughed at what we saw.

Silence took over once again and I started playing with the sand between my fingers. Daniel put his hands over my shoulder and brought me closer to him.

"Why do I sense that there is something troubling you?" He asked worriedly.

I do not know why but I felt like I could trust this guy.... and so, I did!

"It's because something is wrong Dan, I don't know why but I feel like I can trust you." I said with a sad tone.

With tears in my eyes, I filled Daniel with all the details about Theo. He was very understanding and comforted me throughout the conversation.

"Anna, from what I can see, he doesn't deserve you, and I am not telling you this because I like you but because it's the truth." And with that he got closer and kissed me softly. I am not going to lie he got me by surprise, but I felt butterflies instantly.

I grabbed his hand and walked towards my cousin and Aaron. When we got there both Daniel and I burst laughing at what we saw. Aaron a guy we have just met with make up on his face.... yep, it was my cousin's doing. Me and Daniel could not stop laughing.

It was time to say our goodbyes, we exchanged numbers and our social media pages. Daniel panted a small kiss on my cheeks and left with Aaron.

This guy popped out of nowhere and changed every perspective I had. 'Could this be a fresh start?' I thought.