A Duet of the Soul

Chapter 4: Hot Shots

*Maria's POV*

After another night of tossing and turning, I finally awoke around nine o'clock. I shivered as I pulled my blankets off and made my way to the bathroom. The cold tile floors sent sharp needle-like pains up my feet. It was that time of year where the temperature drops drastically, and a chill is always in the air.

I had two hours to kill before I met with Greg and Justin, so I decided to take an extra-long, hot shower. The heat from the shower loosened my muscles and helped me relax after the draining nightmares from last night. The nightmares aren't as bad as when I thought the one man was in my apartment a little less than a month ago, but they're still hard to get through.

When the heat started fading from the water, I shut the shower off and grabbed my towel to dry off. I wiped the fog from the mirror and stared at my reflection. Over the past couple of weeks I had lost a decent amount of weight, to the point where most of my jeans no longer fit me. The dark circles under my eyes were prominent and my skin looked paler than usual. The heat from the shower helped to bring some pink back into my cheeks, but I know it's only temporary.

I blow dried my hair then quickly slip on a pair of black leggings and a forest green tunic. I let my dirty blonde curls fall over my shoulders as I pull my fingers through the strands. Part of me wanted to leave it at that, but the other part of me thought I should pull out my bag of makeup to try to cover up some of the dark bags under my eyes. I chewed on my lower lip in thought before deciding that I should try to make myself a bit more presentable, especially after thinking of Justin seeing me like this.

"Not that he would actually want me," I mumbled to myself. Just because he's single doesn't mean he's looking for someone, and even if he was, he surely wouldn't want the girl his music traumatized. I sighed and dug my makeup bag out from the cabinet under the bathroom sink.

It had been quite a while since I'd applied any make up, and I surprised myself with how much better my face looked with a little bit of coverup, eye shadow, eye liner, and lipstick. Maybe the doc was right and meeting with these guys would be good for me. Not that I was going to willingly admit that to her.

I still had almost an hour before I needed to meet Greg and Justin, so I chose to toast a bagel and look through their social media pages one more time. Even in this state, I still couldn't help but be nosey about other people. I didn't spend much time on Greg's page, but Justin's was another matter. His eyes were an amazing bright sea green, and while there weren't many photos, the ones he did have available to the public showcased his eyes and his smile. It looked like he was a fairly quiet guy online, rarely making posts or sharing photos, which seemed different from the person I spoke with on the phone last night.

Oh, shit.

Oh, no, no, no.

"Urg! Maria, you idiot!" I screamed at myself as I quickly unclicked the "like" button from the picture I just scrolled past. "God, please, please don't let his notifications show I just liked one of his photos. Ugh, he's going to know I was social media stalking him, and this is going to be so much more awkward."

I tried to calm my breathing. Maybe I unclicked it fast enough, maybe he wouldn't know I was checking his social media pages...

Ugh, this sucks.

I checked the time and realized I only had fifteen minutes to get to the coffee shop. Might as well get this over with, I thought as I slipped on my white sneakers and brown jacket.

There was no wind today, and the weather, while cold, was overall pleasant. Hot Shots Coffee Shop was located only a few blocks from my apartment, so I decided to walk instead of taking my car. The leaves had already changed their colors, and most trees I passed were bare. The grass had browned, and the flowers were gone. Halloween was only two weeks away, and most buildings had holiday decorations in their windows and yards. The small businesses I passed along my way had Halloween themed sale posters in their windows, and I wondered to myself if the coffee shop had any good seasonal drinks.