Rick Ronan.
I felt half of my ego had slipped away and crashed before my eyes. Getting scowled at by the waiter was not the real blow to my ego, but the fact that it all happened right in the presence of two ladies, and eventually one of them had to save my ass.
"Gosh!" I screamed, and ruffled my hair with my hand as I walked back home. My credit card must have been taken by Jordan; my roommate, without my consent. He had continuously done this and none of my warnings seemed to slip into his ears. Goddess saved him today that I hadn't gotten my wolf yet, if not I would have ripped out his two ears.
Reaching the doorstep of my room, I pushed the door so hard that it crashed against the wall. "You asshole!" I said in full rage, but my throat instantly choked from the smoke that had filled the room. Jordan was at it again—smoking. Such a dragon!
"Calm down, guy!" His voice stretched out. "What is it?"
"My credit card isn't yours!" I paused, taking control of my palm that was already turning into a fist. "Stop taking my card without my consent."
Jordan watched me pour out my rage without uttering any word further, and soon my rage began to fade out.
"It's fine, guy!" He finally said. "It won't happen again."
I opened the window and let the smoke ease out. "Guess who saved my ass when I got stuck at the Café?"
His eyes' brows gathered as he anticipated what I would say next.
"A charming young lady with the most beautiful eyes I ever come across."
Jordan scooted to the edge of the bed, fixing a concentrated gaze on me. "Goodness!" He blurted, a chunck of smoke snaking out of his mouth. "Bless her kind heart."
I turned the screen of my phone to Jordan, revealing Eva's contact. "Her name is Eva, I got her contact afterwards." At the mention of her name, I felt my heart racing. I was feeling a flush of excitement that was not there before.
I excused myself to restroom, and afterwards I hurried to get ready to catch up with a fixed lecture that was scheduled at 2:PM.
"See ya later," Jordan said as he watched me step out of the room.
Inside the lecture hall, I could barely take my mind off Eva's thoughts. The kind gesture she had extended to me earlier had me feeling warm on the inside, so much that I couldn't put myself in place. It was a two-hour lecture, but just a few minutes after the lecture began, I started to feel uneasy. I couldn't wait to get home and text Eva or maybe call her.
I wanted to sneak my phone from my pocket and send her a text right away, but I knew I needed Jordan's help to write a catchy message that would please Eva. I needed to pour my gratitude to her as much as I was feeling it. I had never had a close female friend before, let alone being in talking terms with a girl, so getting started now felt a bit hard. But, I trusted Jordan to be a big help.
The lecture went on like forever until it was finally over. Walking out of the lecture hall now, distracted and inattentive to my other coursemates, felt like finding an escape route from a confined space.
It was half past 4 when I got back home. I met Jordan knocked off on the bed, sleeping and snoring. I ignored the lunch he placed on the kitchen table for me and opted for water. What food mattered when the whole of my head was filled with Ava's thoughts—a girl I barely knew?
I shrugged Jordan awake, and at best he struggled to open his eyes, before tilting his head toward my direction.
"Yo! You are back." He said in a voice barely above whisper.
I let him have himself collected and gain full consciousness before I told him what he needed to help me do.
"I couldn't take my mind off her thoughts during the lecture hours." I said, stretching my mobile phone to him. "Please, write a catchy gratitude message for her."
I watched Jordan's fingers touch the screen of my phone in places and I couldn't wait to see what magic he was writing.
"Here," He said, handing over the phone to me. "Read it and see if it makes sense to you."
"Wow! I love this," I said, and instantly hit the send option on my phone.
Within a few minutes, Eva's response came. It read: "I'M GLAD I COULD HELP, RICK. I HOPE YOU ARE GOOD? DO ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR EVENING."
Her response warmed my heart and sank it at the same time. I didn't like the finality in her response. Telling me to enjoy the rest of my evening sounded as though she was wrapping up the conversation already.
I passed Jordan a knowing look and managed to gather another courage to text her again. But, this time, I was going to write the message myself.
"EVA, DO YOU MIND I HAVE A SIT OUT WITH YOU, WE COULD DO IT OVER A DINNER OR LUNCH?"
I kept my eyes glued to my phone screen, waiting to get her response. In the minutes that followed, I started to realize I had pushed beyond my boundary by asking her for a date barely after 12 hours of meeting her. My shoulders draped as I flipped my phone over in my hand.
"What is it?" Jordan's gaze caught mine.
"Enmmm…." My voice was cut at the buzz of my phone, and with the speed of light I flipped my phone over. Ava had responded. What could be her response?
THAT WILL BE FINE, RICK. I SHALL COMMUNICATE MY SCHEDULES FOR THE WEEK AND LET YOU PICK A DATE ACCORDINGLY.
I reread her response a couple of times until I told myself I could be moving mad for being overly happy and invested in the thoughts of a girl I barely met. Well, whatever was the case with me, I brimmed with confidence that my spending time with Eva would be worth it because of her beauty and big heart.