CHAPTER - 4
He reached out, touching the trees entrapping him.
They pulled away and he grasped further, reaching nothing. He yelled, calling out, but there was no one.
The world was silent.
But then, he heard a song. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it at first.
He listened closely and realized the song: 'Fix You' by
Coldplay.
Prerna's ringtone.
Wednesday, July 25th - 04:29 am
Joseph's hand landed on the nearby nightstand with a loud thud as he blindly searched for the source of the noise. Once his fingertips located it, he grabbed the phone and viewed the screen. Prerna's picture smiled at him as the green and red icons shone beneath her
face.
He swiped the green button on the umpteenth ring "Prerna, it's 3:45 in the morning. Please tell me you're not on fire and I'll be able to go back to sleep soon?"
"Hey, Joseph. I'm fine." She sounded tired on the other end, but even through her drowsy voice, he could hear the faintest smile. "However, my birthday plans have changed. Can you come to Jenn's place here in town
tomorrow?"
"I mean, I..." he paused and could imagine the expression on her face as he faltered. "Yeah, I can.
Can you send me the address again?" He yawned and laid against his pillow and shook his head into it. "And
Prerna... are you sure you're okay? Was this the only reason you called?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I know it could have waited. I just wanted to talk to you."
He grinned.
"It is good to hear your voice." He found it hard to go days, especially weeks, without seeing her. He'd seen her almost every day while they'd worked at
One Stop Shop together. He'd left many months ago for better-paying work at the local precision parts manufacturing company. "It's okay. Sorry if I sound grumpy. It's just late. Or early, whatever."
She laughed her sweet, light laugh. "I know. I'm sorry.
I'll see you tomorrow."
Joseph hated to end the conversation already, but they both needed sleep. "Do you think I could come over in the morning so we can talk?"
"Well, I'm staying at Jenn's tonight." She paused and he could hear her breathing slow as she spoke. "It's a long story. But I would love to talk to you, so please do come by early."
"You sure you're okay?"
"For novW, yes."
"For noW?"
"I'm fine, trust me. I promise I'm fine. What time will you be here?"
She yawned and Joseph let out a bigger one. They said their goodbyes after they agreed on 9:00 A.M.
Joseph hung up the phone and felt relief wash over him before he slipped back into the darkness.
Joseph rolled over and woke from his latest nightmare, slowly stretching out his overworked, severely sore muscles. Glancing at the clock, he shot up. It was past 8:30 am. Shit! He'd be late. Once again. He was late for everything these days. He worked more than sixty hours a week as a manager and when he wasn't working. he was either in his gArage or his bed. It didn't leave him much time for socialization or dating.
He jumped to his feet and hurried to the bathroom where he used the toilet quickly, then washed his hands. As he brushed his teeth, he noticed his eyes seemed permanently dark with exhaustion. After his teeth felt good and clean, he rubbed his thumb along his dark blond stubble covering his square jaw and debated fussing with it but it would take too much time. He ran his fingers through his short, shaggy blond hair to make sure it wasn't a complete mess.
He'd never hear the end of it from Prerna if it were.
He returned to his bedroom and threw on fresh
boxers, a Flaming Lips t-shirt, and khaki cargo shorts.
He rushed through the living room, grabbing the keys off the small table next to the doorway while slipping on sandals. He exited his shabby little rental house. Locking the door behind him he followed the little stone path in front of his gArage. He slid the key
into the door handle to unlock his 68' red Pontiac
Firebird. Of all the things he'd done for himself, he was proudest of this. He'd bought the car as a P.O.S.
and worked hard to fix it up. Nowadays, it purred like
a kitten and was the smoothest ride in town.
He got in, buckled up, and started the car, or Tina, as he called her. The radio boomed Pink Floyd through the car's top-notch sound system. He put the address
Prerna texted him into his phone's GPS, set up the phone
on the dash, and took off.
He had a twenty-five-minute drive ahead of him.
Saturday, March 3rd, 2018 -08:30 am EST
Joseph sliced through the tape then pocketed the pocketknife. He unpacked the blood-red vases from within while glancing over to the frozen food along the back wall. A girl with long, dark orange hair held back in a ponytail walked aimlessly with a similar case in her arms. She wore tan khakis that hugged her hips in all the right ways and a plain white collared shirt that accentuated the rest of her hourglass figure.
A nametag was pinned above her right breast and he couldn't quite make it out. Ana, maybe?
"Hey, can I help you?" he asked, setting the last of his vases on the shelf. One slipped off the edge and hit the linoleum breaking the early morning stillness of
One-Stop-Shop.
Startled, the girl jumped and nearly dropped the box she was carrying. After she recovered, she joined
Joseph, who swore while bending over to throw the large chunks of glass into the same empty box.
She set hers on the floor beside him.
"Well, you kind of helped," she said. "NowIat least know where the vases go. The lady in the back sent me
out here with this without much direction."
"Oh, yeah, that's Mecca. She, uh, doesn't have the best people skills." Her head bobbed in understanding.
"And I'm glad I could help," he said, trying not to purse his lips like a douche. He stood up, towering over her by nearly a foot and a half.