To Love You

4:{Friends}

Life is full of surprises. Who knew that doing her usual early morning jog on a Saturday would end up with her eating at a waffle house together with a very handsome man?

“Sorry for suddenly inviting you here for breakfast, it just so happened that I met you and I wanted to thank you properly for helping me that night.” She started.

The man who saved her from getting hit by a car was sitting across from her, he simply smiled and shook his head. “You didn’t have to do this, you already returned the favor by helping me call my sister.” The young man didn’t break eye contact, which made Vivian shift from her seat. “But this also isn’t bad. It’s an opportunity for me to get to know you.” Vivian looked at him in confusion because she couldn’t hear what his last sentence was because the door opened and a rowdy bunch of teenagers not older than fifteen years old entered the restaurant.

However, Vivian didn’t pry into it and continued eating. Then, she remembered something crucial. “We still don’t know each other’s names,” she stated. She felt so comfortable in his presence that she forgot they still didn’t know each other’s names.

Vivian thought that there wasn’t any need to act shy, so she extended her arms towards the man and introduced herself. “Vivian Leigh, by the way.”

The young man took her hands gently and shook them. “Nice to meet you, Vivian.” Vivian looked at him, waiting for him to continue, but he didn’t.

“And your name? Are you not telling me your name?” She questioned with a raised brow. Vivian glanced down at her hands, which were still in his gentle grip. She also noticed that her hands were gripping his, so she made a move to let go as she thought it wasn’t appropriate to continue holding each other’s hands.

Suddenly, the man firmly held hers and said, “It’s Alec.” Only then did he let go of their hands. Both gave each other a soft smile, but the soft atmosphere surrounding the two was suddenly disturbed by a commotion.

The group of teenagers were making their way to their table with their food when one person tripped and splashed orange juice all over Vivian’s shirt. Silence enveloped the restaurant and nobody was able to react except for one.

Alec stood up from his seat and draped his jacket over Vivian’s wet shirt, “Are you okay?” He asked. Vivian mustered up an awkward smile as she nodded in affirmation, “Yes, I’m good.”

“Apologize and clean up this mess.” Alec then turned to the group of teenagers. “I-I’m sorry.” The girl who spilled the glass of juice uttered and then cowered to the back of the group who were also intimidated by the young man standing in front of them.

“Tsk.” Alec did not say anything more. He then took Vivian’s hand and guided her to the exit. Vivian was confused about where they were going when Alec stopped in front of a car.

He opened the door to the passenger seat and ushered Vivian to go inside. Alec then proceeded to walk around the car and get inside the driver’s seat. “Is this your car?” She asked in order to break the silence in the car.

“Yes.” He answered curtly. “There is a paper bag in the backseat. I have an extra shirt inside it which you can change into,” he instructed.

Vivian shook her head and hurriedly said, “No, no, it’s okay. I can just change at home.” Alec did not even glance at her as he replied, “People can see through your shirt if you don’t change.” After hearing what he said, Vivian glanced down and saw the aftermath of the orange juice incident, the jacket Alec had put over her had slid down onto her lap.

‘No wonder...’ She could feel her ears burning from embarrassment. She uttered a small ‘thank you’ and took the shirt.

Vivian did not protest anymore as she could feel his radiating ‘not in a good mood’ energy. She followed his instructions and took the paper bag. Then, she sat stumped. ‘Am I supposed to change with him here?’

And as if reading her mind, Alec opened the car’s door and went out signaling her to her changed. “There are wipes in the compartment, wipe yourself with it.” Was all he said before shutting the door.

Vivian watched as Alec turned his back on her and leaned on the car, noticing that the car was tinted and the car was parked under the shade of a tree, she sighed in relief.

She quickly opened the compartment and saw wet and dry wipes which she hurriedly used to wipe herself. The orange juice left a sticky feeling on her which did not go away even as she wiped herself. ‘Maybe because of the wet undergarment.’

Vivian did not waste any more time and changed into the shirt Alec had let her borrow, she caught a whiff of his scent on the shirt, a scent which she found pleasing.

She rolled the windows down and signaled him in. Both of them buckled up and drove off.

…

Alec slowly pulled the car to a stop in front of her home. “You still remembered my address.” She said without much thought as she struggled to unbuckle her seat belt.

Seeing her struggle, Alec came close to giving her a hand. “Let me.” Vivian sucked in a breath, her heart beating abnormally. Their faces were so close, that she could see every detail of his face. The minute-long action of unbuckling her seatbelt felt unusually long.

Finally, the seatbelt unbuckled and Alec finally withdrew. He then glanced at her and offered her a small smile. “I’m glad I got to see you again. Would it be okay if we can hang out sometimes?” Alec said he held his breath waiting for Vivian’s response.

Vivian looked at Alec feeling a little bit conflicted as she thought they wouldn’t meet again after the help was reciprocated, after a few seconds of delay she finally opened her mouth to reply to the anxious-looking Alec.

“Of course we can. Isn’t that what friends do?” She said curtly.

Alec felt his heart skip a beat. “We are?” He asked bewildered. “We’re friends now?” Vivian looked at Alec who she imagined as a dog with tails wagging and a smile on his face after being told he was a ‘good boy’.

Vivian giggled and nodded. Then, Alec pulled out his phone and gave it to Vivian, “Can I ask for your number?”

“Sure, why didn’t you ask for my number from your sister? I remembered calling her using my number.” She said as she typed in her contact information to Alec’s phone.

Hearing her statement, Alec couldn’t help but scratched his head. “I did try asking her but she wouldn’t give it to me, saying things such as ‘You have to earn it bla bla.’.” He said as he kept his phone, being careful like it was a very rare treasure.

Silence filled the car, it was finally time to say goodbye. “Thank you for today, Alec,” Vivian paused for a while before continuing, “I’ll see you again.”

Alec watched as Vivian gave him a soft smile, although he didn’t want to say goodbye yet, he couldn’t act too clingy as they only had recently become friends. “Yes, I’ll see you again. Goodbye, Vivian.”

They exchanged one last smile before Alec got out of the car and helped Vivian open and exit the car.

Alec only drove off after confirming that Vivian was safe inside her home. He was giddy and he couldn’t hold his emotions anymore. He turned up the radio’s volume and sang a love song with all his heart.