They both snick at that last part as I roll my eyes, pulling my hat lower over my eyes when a gust of wind comes out of nowhere.
“He says he’s got a girl in the building across the street. He’s trying to win her back by waiting for her here.”
Darian’s lady eyes me like I’m slow. “That’s stupid. Is this a date?”
“That’s what I asked, too!” he hold his hand up for her to high five him, excited that they’re both on the same page. “And he said yes.”
“No flowers?” The disgust in her tone is obvious. And damn it, she’s right. Why didn’t I think of bringing her flowers? Did I ever even do that for her? I really don’t remember ever getting her flowers.
She notices my startled look and shakes her head at me. “Why did she break up with you?”
My mouth goes dry as panic sets in. “She didn’t. I broke up with her.”
“Does she even want you back?”
The way she asks the question implies that she thinks the answer is no. Unfortunately, I am leaning that way as well.
“Darian,” she snaps at her boyfriend. “Walk Lulu. Make sure she goes.”
I just notice the smallest dog in existence that she’s been holding. The beady eyes staring back at me look scary as shit. She passes the dog to Darian like it is the most precious thing, then turns around and goes back inside the building without another glance back.
“I can’t believe that’s a dog,” I tell Darian once it’s just the two of us.
His face stretches into the biggest grin, with his teeth looking incredibly white against the dark skin.
“She’s my baby.” He drops a kiss onto the dog’s head. “Good luck, man. I’m sure your balls are frozen and incapacitated, but make the best of it.”
As far as conversations with strangers goes, this was a weird one, but I’ve had weirder. Living in the city of New York is not for the faint of heart. At least my life was not in imminent danger that I could see.
I check the time surprised to see that it is now seven oh-five.
“Fuck,” I whisper to myself. Mona’s not coming. I’m sure she wouldn’t have left me hanging like this if she wanted to come with me. With that said, I did promise her that I would wait until seven fifteen, so that leaves me with another ten minutes of freezing my ass off on the sidewalk.
Sadness and despair invade my very soul as I start pacing again. I know that I should leave her alone, allow us both to move on. But there’s this nagging in my head that tells me I will regret it for the rest of my life if I give up now.
Taking my cell out of the pocket of my coat, I check the time. Six more minutes passed, bringing me closer to when time’s up.
“Hey, creepy dude!”
I turn around on instinct, only to come face to face with my new buddy Darian’s girlfriend. Energy exudes from every inch ofher short stature as she pushes something in my hand. When I look down, I find myself holding one red rose.
“You’re lucky that my man loves me and got me flowers. I broke my perfect dozen to give you one,” she points at the rose. “Now shoo,” she moves her hand back and forth. “Leave my sidewalk so I can walk my Lulu in peace.”
She doesn’t give me time to acknowledge her kind gesture or respond in any way. Instead, she spins on her heels and takes off after her man who’s quite a ways away by now.
Staring at the lone red rose in my hand, I remain standing on the edge of the sidewalk, facing the street. I raise my head when a hear a horn from a car driving by, and once it passes, I realize what’s waiting for me on the other side of the street.
Mona is in front of the door to her building, up on the tips of her high heeled boots, looking from side to side, a small frown scrunching her forehead.
I bring my phone back up to check the time. It flips to seven fifteen right as I do that. This is the time I told her I’d leave if she didn’t show, but I was honestly bracing myself for waiting much longer, just in case.
There’s a lump in my throat when she finally looks ahead and our eyes clash. First there’s confusion, followed by recognition, then confusion again.
Letting out a long breath of air, I look both ways before taking off in a light jog to cross the street. With each step I take, I am closer to her, and my heart feels like it’s about to jump out of my chest.
“Hey,” I say when I am close enough for her to hear me. “You came.” Steam from my breath floats in front of my mouth.
She watches me with wide eyes. “I thought you’d left already.”
