Now That You Are Here

Traditional Track

I look at the two of them confused, but I'm hurt to see that Grady has a picnic basket in his empty hand, the other one holding the girl's hand. They smile at one another, disappearing into the crowd of people. All of a sudden, this coffee shop doesn't seem so comfortable anymore. 

I feel like everyone's looking at me as I watched my date walk away with another girl. I walk up to the counter, ordering a hot chocolate. I feel my heart start to ache as I sit back down on the back chair. An overwhelming feeling of rejection and sadness fill me while I sit there all alone.

I don't let the tears fall or the sadness get to me as I finish my hot chocolate. I stand up, my legs slightly shaky. I walk out the coffee shop door, and I start walking back to my apartment. The usually comforting warm air does nothing to calm the raging emotions that I'm feeling. I clench my fists, not really understanding why Grady would do something like that to me. 

I'm not sure why he would ditch me, and then show me that he's going out with someone else. That doesn't make sense to me. If he didn't want to go out with me, he didn't have to fucking ask in the first place. I shake my head. I don't want to go back to my apartment. I'm going to work on my car. I catch the public bus, getting off two blocks from Danny's shop.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was ditched by my date, so I'm going to work on my car."

"Damn. I'm sorry."

"It feels predictable though. I'm gonna go forget about this whole thing."

"Is that a smart way to handle this?"

"Yes, because if I don't I might punch a hole in my apartment wall."

"You better get to work. Your car is in the back garage."

"Thank you. Is Dominico here? I need him for the paint."

"He did it this afternoon after you left. All you have to do is put in the new engine wire harness."

"Oh, awesome! Tell him I said thank you."

"He knows, sweet girl."

"Is it burgundy?"

"Took him three hours to match it."

"I'm going to write him a card."

"I think he would appreciate it. Now, get to work."

I smile at Danny, moving into the locker room to put on my smock. I walk into the back garage and squeal in delight. It looks brand new. It looks beautiful. Shiny and gorgeous. I wave my hands in front of my eyes to stop myself from crying. I can't have mascara running down my face. I chew on my bottom lip to try to get it to stop quivering. 

I don't know what I would've done if the neon pink 'slut' couldn't have been covered up. I take a deep breath, opening the box in the corner to replace the wire harness. It takes sweat, grease, and grim, but I get it done in about an hour. That's only because I added some details to my car.

"Damn, sweet girl. You have the hottest ass ride."

"Thank you, Danny. I do what I can."

I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand, thinking it was clean, but when I look in my car mirror, I see that I have a line of grease on my head. I roll my eyes and shake my head at the sight. I hear pounding footsteps.

"Reign! Are you here?"

Brixton? What's he doing here?

"Yeah, I am. In the back. What do you need?"