It was hot, sweaty, and cramped. Not to mention the flashing lights were blinding, and the music was deafening.
Crinkling her nose at the stench of body odor, Lucy wondered to herself why she even let her friends drag her to the club. She made her way to the edge of the night club and sighed when she finally untangled herself from the mass of dancing bodies. She could pick out her friends in the crowd, dancing with some cute guys. Lucy sighed, blowing her long, blonde hair out of the way.
Of course she wanted to meet a guy. That was the entire reason she’d come to the night club; to get out and meet people. It was a natural thing, to search for a significant other.
“I guess this just isn’t the place for that,” Lucy said, leaning against the wall, knowing very well that she probably wasn’t going to find anyone here in the first place, much less talk to a guy. She probably had more of a chance at work.
The heavy bass in the dance music pounded in her ears, despite the fact that she stood a good ten yards from the speakers. Frowning, she decided to move farther away from them, making sure she kept an eye on her friends (because it’d be tragic if they suddenly went to those guys’ houses and left her without any notice). She slowed down, craning her neck to try to see above the moving heads. Eventually she ended up sighing and moving on, being sure to keep track of their general location.
The neon lights flashed about, creating an array of colors. Lucy’s eyes traced their way to the light posts and watched as they moved just in small degrees, whereas the light coming out of it seemed to pan wildly.
“Nice lights,” a voice commented approvingly.
Lucy turned. A tall, handsome, dark-haired man sighed, leaning against the wall. He turned and smiled at her—a charming, gentlemanly smile. His dark brown eyes twinkled in the dancing lights.
“I guess so,” she said, returning the expression.
The two stood awkwardly, watching the lights flash across the compressed crowd. Lucy sneaked a glance at the man—dark brown eyes, dark brown hair. He had a handsome face indeed, and seemed to be nice.
“So…” she murmured softly, not even sure if he could hear her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him lean forward attentively. “What are you here for?”
The man chuckled. “You make it sound as if we’re in a prison cell or something,” he said. “Well, then, I’m in for being single and proud.”
“Me, too,” Lucy grinned, letting a small giggle slip. “But I turned myself in.”
“Ah, me too. The single life is great… to a point.” He looked at Lucy and smiled softly. She felt the heat rise to her face. “But it’s so hard to find someone, isn’t it, Lucy?” he asked, looking away as if he didn’t make her feel embarrassed.
“Y-yeah, it is.” She looked at him, realizing what he’d said. “How do you know my name…?”
He grinned at her. She felt her heart melt. “Call it a lucky guess,” he said sweetly.
The awkward silence returned. Desperate to break it, Lucy stuttered, “D-did y-you know? For every awkward silence, a gay baby is born.” The man looked at her and burst into laughter. Thinking she’d done something wrong, Lucy flushed. “Ah… s-sorry…”
“No, it’s nothing,” the man choked, wiping a tear from his eye. “You’re really funny,” he said, grinning at her.
Lucy could only stare at her feet and smile.
“Hey,” he said, grabbing her wrist. “Let’s go dance, yeah?”
-
“He was just so amazing!” Lucy sighed, melting on the counter of her bakery three days later. “He plays the trumpet, did you know? And he graduated high school as the valedictorian. He loves to play soccer and has such a nice muscle tone. I wonder if he works out a lot.” She let out another wistful sigh.
Her coworker Izzy smiled. “Well, someone’s impressed by what they see,” she said. “A musician, scholar, and athlete. I must say you’ve got some good taste there, Lucy. What’s his name?”
The bell tingled as the door opened and the man from the club walked in. “I’m Elijah,” he said, grinning. “But call me Eli. I couldn’t help but hear your conversation from outside, so I decided to join in. I hope you don’t mind.”
Lucy blushed a little bit.
“This is a nice bakery,” he said approvingly, looking at the food on display. “Let me have one of those turnovers, please,” he said, grinning at her.
She turned a deeper shade of red. “S-sure,” she stuttered, grabbing an apple turnover and putting it in a paper bag for him. “Here you go; that’ll be $2.50.”
He handed her the change and took a bite. “So this is where you work, huh?”
She nodded slowly. “How did you know…?”
“Wow, this is amazing!” he cried, avoiding the subject. “I should come here more often,” he said, grinning at her.
She smiled in turn, forgetting her question from his smile. “You should.”
Eli took another bite. “You know,” he said, “I’m going to a nice seafood restaurant tonight, and I thought it’d be a bit lonely. Do you want to come with me?”
Lucy couldn’t resist her grin. “Sure.”
“So I’ll call you?” he asked, wiping his hands with his napkins and reaching into his pocket. “Just double-checking, but this is your number, right?”
She glanced over at the screen. “Yeah,” she said meekly, realizing how close she was to his body. She could feel his warmth radiating from his body.
Suddenly aware of how close she was to him, Lucy backed up. Izzy gave her a sly grin as Eli slipped out the door. “You gave him your phone number already?” she asked, hardly concealing her excitement. “You must be serious!”
“Actually,” Lucy said thoughtfully, “I didn’t.”
-
“… and the doctor says, ‘I know what the problem is—you’re a little horse!’” Eli said, brandishing his fork at Lucy as she laughed.
“That’s so funny,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. “You should be a comedian.”
Eli chuckled, stabbing into his salad. “With my jokes? That was about as funny as it gets, hun,” he said, stuffing the contents of the fork into his mouth. Lucy smiled shyly at the nickname he’d casually slipped in earlier that evening.
“How did you know where I work? And my phone number?” she asked him as he wiped his mouth.
He looked at her and grinned. “That’s for me to know, and for you to find out,” he said. Lucy had a feeling that the single sentence was the extent of what he was going to tell her. She suppressed a heavy sigh, as well as gulped down a feeling of distrust.
The waiter came and collected the remnants of their salad plates and said that he’d be back with the entrees in a bit.
“You know, I’m a big fan of corny jokes,” Eli grinned in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. “A lot of my friends back in Rotterdam thought I was outright lame for using them, but I rather like them. Pick-up lines, as well.”
“Tell me a few,” she suggested, leaning forward.
“What kind? Cute, lame, cheesy, romantic… heck, I even have innuendos,” he said, leaning forward as well. A few inches lay between the two faces. Lucy willed herself to stay still, despite the anxiety that feeling his breath on her face gave her.
“Mmm… Tell me the first one that comes to mind.”
“Do you mind if it’s overused?” he said, gazing into her eyes.
She shook her head, smiling.
He leaned a little closer. “Do you have a map? Because I got lost in your eyes,” he murmured, his breath on her lips, not once breaking eye contact.
She could feel the heat rising to her face. Despite her will, Lucy averted her eyes and smiled shyly.
“Oh, my,” he murmured, placing his hand on hers from across the table. “Are you tired? You must be,” he said without waiting for a reply. “You’ve been running through my mind all day, after all. Sprinting, more like.”
Lucy’s mind went into overload, feeling his fingers tighten around her hand and his breath on her ear. She was thankful to say the least when the waiter arrived with their entrees. He withdrew his hand and smiled, as if nothing had just happened.
“That was a great night,” he said as he wiped his mouth after dessert. “Should we meet again tomorrow?”
She frowned. “I wish I could, but I can’t. Tomorrow is my late shift at the bakery. I won’t be done until 9 or so.”
“That’s a shame,” he said. “I’ll drop by, then.” She smiled unconsciously before berating herself—what was she, a lovestruck teen? Pull yourself together; you’re twenty-two years old! “What time does your shift start?”
“Huh? Oh, at noon.”
Eli smiled, and Lucy felt herself slip away into visual bliss. “All right, then, hun, I’ll be sure to drop by then.” He took her hand again and led her to his car. “Well, shall we go home? My house, or yours?”
Lucy flushed.
“Kidding, kidding,” Eli chuckled. “I’m taking you to your house.”
“I don’t want to leave,” she murmured in the car, just loud enough for Eli to hear.
He smiled at her in return as he started up the engine, leaving the vehicle in park. “Then would you really like to go to my house, hun? That could be arranged,” he said, giving her a seductive glance. She almost shuddered.
Drawing strength from courage she didn’t know she had, she pulled him toward her and kissed him deeply. “No, let’s go to my house,” she murmured.
“Of course, hun,” he whispered in her ear.
She held his arm and looked up at him. “I love you,” she whispered.
She knew it was rash; sudden; way out of line, but things like that were one of the main reasons she didn’t have a boyfriend in the first place. But she had a different feeling about Eli; something stronger. He wouldn’t refuse her.
“I know you do. I love you too,” he murmured.
Then he floored the gas pedal in an attempt to get home faster.
-
Lucy woke up the next morning to find Eli gone. There wasn’t a trace of him in her house; not a single thing token of his presence. She gave him a call, only to find that his number was disconnected. She frowned and tossed herself back on her bed angrily.
“That,” she grunted, “is what happens when you force something too hard.” She sighed again, staring above her. “Now he’s gone,” she said softly.
She sat for a few moments before thrashing around. “God damn it!” she muttered, turning over onto her side.
“He was so perfect, too.”
-
“Bye, Lucy,” Izzy called as she walked out the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Later,” she replied, wiping down the counter.
It was a late shift again. Last week, when she’d had her last one, Eli had disappeared. She grumbled to herself, imagining how her day would have been if he hadn’t vanished from her life. Lucy sighed as she mopped the floor.
She sat down in a chair, relaxing for a bit. An eerie chill went up her spine, as if someone was watching her. Suddenly alert, Lucy glanced around, trying to find the source of it, but as far as she could see, there was no one there.
“A rapist…?” she asked aloud warily. Shuddering to herself, she picked up the mop and finished quickly. She shrugged into her coat and grabbed a broom, promising to return it to the store the next day. She walked to the front of the store anxiously and locked the doors with a suspicious, 360-degree gaze. Then she raced to the back and, after locking that as well, slipped out of the store.
She sighed, relieved. Now she just had to get to her car.
Just another fifteen feet, and she’d be safe.
Someone grabbed her from behind, and the last thing she saw was her car fading from her sight.
When she opened her eyes next, Eli’s dark brown eyes gazed at her thoughtfully. She sat up in the bed she found herself in, feeling her heart race.
He wrapped his hand around her chin, lifting it so he could see her eyes. “Hello, Lucy,” he murmured, his voice as sweet as honey.
“Do you know what’s coming next, hun?” He didn’t wait for her reply.
“I’ve been waiting for this for quite a long time.”
Sora Ryuuzaki Community Member 
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