13 February, 12040.
Darren was not sure how long he stood there, at the street corner, but it felt like forever as he readied myself to enter the small cafe. His hands trembled slightly as he held the gift, wrapped in beautiful paper decorated with star constellations. He held the gift tighter to keep from shaking.
Although they talked over the phone, they had not seen each other face to face in a long time.
But what should he say? What should he do? There would be a lot of people there. People he did not know. Tora's new friends and coworkers would be there. What if Tora spent all her time with them and left him alone? Or worse, what if she introduced him? What would he do? What would he say to her friends?
His thoughts thrashed around in his mind, coming one after the other. He closed his eyes tightly and put the brakes on the oncoming attack. Darren paced around the block as he calmed his heavy breathing. His anxiety surfaced, but he pushed everything back down.
It's going to be okay.
Tora was his best and oldest friend, but they were separated for a very long time until they reunited several years back. They reconnected two years ago and stayed in touch. Still, they had not seen much of each other as Tora lived here in Los Angeles while Darren resided in Houston. They talk on the phone every now and then, but it was nothing compared to when they were children.
Darren was finally able to get a break from work and traveled to LA for her birthday, but things were not as they were before.
Darren looked down at the gift once more before he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to come in and wish me a happy birthday?"
Darren stopped with his back facing her. Even in a million years, he would still remember her silky voice.
His eyes remained on the ground before he slowly looked up at her. He lingered on the long flowing skirt of her flower dress as much as he could as he still had not the courage to see her face. She stood like an amazon, with one hand on her hip with a glass of wine in her other hand. He stopped at her neck, his eyes looking at the four parts of the star necklace resting on her chest around the v-neck of her dress.
Inhaling deeply, Darren took the last stride, lifting his head to meet her eyes.
"Hi, Darren," she says, a smile spreading across her lips. He staggered to keep his balance as she wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug. He returned the hug, awkwardly wrapping his arms around her.
"Hi, Tora. How did you know I was here?"
"I saw you from the window and decided to take the back door in the alley to surprise you." Tora finally released him and said, "Come on, let's go in."
Darren followed behind her into the cafe, which had a few people sitting there doing a mix of drinking and eating while conversing or working on their computers. He kept his eyes forward, making sure not to look at anyone even though he could feel some eyes on him. He followed her to the back end of the floor, where they climb a black metal staircase to the upper level.
"Don't worry. There aren't a lot of people," Tora says before stopping at the top of the stairs to turn to look at him. "Most of my friends aren't here."
They entered the second-floor lounge above the cafe. Darren quickly counted ten people scattered around the floor in small groups. There was a large dining table in the middle of the room, with many different assortments of food and drinks. There was a woman there serving herself as she spoke to the man beside her. On the far side of the room were large sets of windows with several stools that seated a group of three conversing at the window seats. It was an excellent addition to the lounge that allowed people to sit and enjoy the view of the bustling street below.
But someone was missing from the crowd. "Miriam isn't here," Darren commented.
"She had to work. We're meeting later tonight." Tora led him to a couch at the other end of the lounge, where there was a coffee table where her birthday gifts were set. He breathed a great sigh of relief when he saw no one in that corner.
Tora placed the glasses on the table before taking a seat. Darren did the same, taking a seat beside her. They sat silently, face to face after such a long time that Tora could not help but reach out her hand to touch his face. Darren's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then dawned. Neither of them moved or said anything.
"You look well." Tora decided to make the first move, but that did not alleviate the awkward air in the room.
You look well? You look well?! she scolded herself internally. That was absolutely not something to say to your best friend whom you haven't seen face to face for a long time.
Tora removed her hand from Darren's cheek and pushed a tall glass in front of him. A frown formed on Darren's brow as he looks at the bubbles rising in the glass. He looked at Tora, then back at the glass, and back at Tora once more.
"Take it. It's only seltzer water," she said. "I remember. No alcohol."
"Thank you," he replied as he took the glass off the table. Darren sipped from the glass, letting the bubbles wash in his mouth for a second before gulping it down. He turned to see her looking at him while her head rested in her palm, letting her mass of curls to fall to the side. Her unnaturally brown eyes stared at him, examining him as she said nothing.
Darren smiled sadly at her. "I didn't think you'd throw a party." Tora did not like to celebrate her birthday. When she was young, as an orphan, she did not know when it was her birthday. Even though she found her birth certificate as an adult, she still did not celebrate it.
"I didn't want to. But, my coworkers found out about it and wanted to come to a party. I decided it would also be good to see you again, so I sent you an invitation."
"Tora, I want to see them." When he said that, the smile on her face slowly retracted. She looked at him, her eyes trembling slightly. "Please," he added.
She gulped loudly before she replies, "Okay."
She turned her back to him and lowered her head as she looked at her reflection on her cell's camera. As she touched the cornea, her eyelid batted in response as she used the belly of her finger to remove the contact lense. She placed the lens in the solution before doing the same with the other eye.
Tora slowly turned before lifting her head up, revealing a pair of beautiful silver-grey eyes. Her silver eyes seemed to have wanted to pop out of their sockets and shine, make themselves known. Her eyes contrasted brilliantly against her milk chocolate complexion.
"You look beautiful," Darren said.
The smile slowly crawled back on Tora's face, but she was still wary. She kept her head low while occasionally looking in the corner of her eyes every time she sensed someone approaching.
"Why did you want to see them?" She asked.
"I wanted to see you naturally to see if what I was going to give you would look good with them."
She looked at him with her brow quirked as she waited.
"Happy birthday, Etora." He placed the gift on the sofa in front of her.
She looked at the gift, then she looked at Darren before slowly taking the box from his hands. Placing the box on her lap, Tora began unwrapping the present. After peeling the bow, she neatly untapped every corner of the wrapping paper.
Right. Darren had almost forgotten about that habit. Every time she received a gift, she would always carefully remove the wrapping paper and fold it neatly. She would keep anything decorated with astronomical bodies like stars, planets or constellations. That was the reason Darren always got her presents wrapped in paper with astronomic decorations.
Darren chuckled softly, hiding his mouth behind his hand.
"What?"
"I didn't say anything." He feigned ignorance.
"Don't laugh. I'm not going to let such beautiful paper go to waste."
It took a while, but she finally got the wrapping paper off and folded it neatly before putting it aside.
Darren's eyes remained glued on her face, carefully observing her reaction as she lifted the lid off the box.
Her eyes trembled, and her hands shook as she picked up her present out of the box. She raised it up to get a closer look at the red sweater that was in the box. She looked at the shirt, fully splayed on her lap as she lightly passed her fingers along the seams of the fabric.
She looked up at him again. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She gulped and tried again. "This is…"
"Your sweater. I lost it a long time ago, but it turns out it was at Isabella's house. I know how much it means to you."
Her eyes glimmered as tears began to run down her cheeks. She pulled Darren to her in a tight hug, holding him as she let her tears fall onto his shoulder. Darren wrapped an arm behind her back and used his other hand to pat her head until she calmed down.
For the first time in a long time, the gap between them disappeared in just a moment. It was like they were back to being kids when they only had each other to rely on. Whenever Tora would cry about her father and brother, he held her close, letting her cry her heart out.
She did the same for Darren. Whenever he would have nightmares about losing his father and mother, he would wake up in a start. He often had panic attacks, and it was Tora who would hold him until he calmed down.
Darren and Tora had lost their parents around the same time when they were children, and they bonded over that. Although they did not have their parents, they had each other since they first met. They were together at the group homes they went to, doing their very best to stay together at all times.
But, as time passes, things will inevitably change. As they grew up, the gap between them grew as they each had their own goals in life. The different paths they wanted to take naturally pulled them apart.
Tora finally stopped crying and released Darren.
"Thank you," she whispered. She wiped away the last of her tears. She looked at the red sweater, passing her hands over the small circular grooves. "The sweater was my father's. I remember our last night together. It was cold, but I was sick. My father wrapped my brother and me in the sweater while he worked." She paused, looked at Darren, and back at the sweater. "My father was so tall, his clothes were like a blanket on me."
She stood up and unfolded the sweater watching at it fall to the floor. She placed one arm through the left sleeve, then the other through the right. The sweater draped over her body like a long robe with large sleeves and a hood that held her full head of wild curls.
She laughed as she sniffled. It was still the same, the feeling she feels when she sniffed the sweater. She could remember being held in her father's arms, burying her head in his shoulder whenever he carried her. She sensed a warmth around her like when he squeezed her small body in his arms. She had lost that feeling and yearned for it all her life, and now, she felt it again. She felt close to her father for the first time in a long time.
"Thank you," she said to Darren again.
"You're welcome, Tora," Darren said. "I'm glad you like your present. You look good in it."
"It's been almost thirty years and it's still so big."
"Well, you were like a foot taller than me when we first met. You were eight years old, and I was seven, so I guess tall genes run in the family."
Tora laughed again.
When was the last time she laughed so much her tummy ached? When was the last time she smiled so widely her jaws hurt? When was the last time she felt so emotional, so open?
"The last thing I remember about my dad was when he put me on the-"
The room suddenly became louder as the ground began to shake that Tora fell back onto the couch. There was a massive explosion outside before a giant ball of lightning passed outside their window. As they looked out, they saw a man hovering in front of the window with lightning crackling around him like a storm. He wore a white suit with metallic accents all over and a white mask on his face that was more so accentuated against his dark skin.
"Hey, look, it's Electro," someone cried out in the lounge. Everyone rushed to the window to get a close look right before he seemingly turned into a bolt of lightning and flew away.