Somehow, all her rummaging and rooting through her car, a little bit of sand had fallen onto her eyelashes, and it distracted me from answering her when she asked what wrist she had to wrap up.
"Um, the right one," I told her, trying not to lead her on to the fact that I had been staring at her, again. Something she seemed oblivious of, thankfully.
She gave me a wry grin. "You sure? You don't sound sure."
Well, I hadn't expected that response. Laughing, I answered her. "Yes, I'm sure."
Luz takes my right hand delicately in hers, and she seems to zone in on carefully wrapping my wrist with the bandage. I watched her too, admiring how careful she was being, like she didn't want to potentially hurt me or make me uncomfortable. She had said earlier that she wasn't technically a physical therapist, but just from these last couple of minutes, I knew she would be a great one.
"How did you hurt your wrist, if you don't mind me asking?" Luz asked, her eyes never leaving her work.
I had been so caught up in watching her too, I had barely heard her question, which seemed to be a pattern for me in the last twenty minutes. Luz looked up when I didn't answer, and when her eyes met mine, I felt my cheeks heat up and I immediately looked away. I feel a little embarrassed, but I know she's still expecting some sort of response, so I swallow the embarrassment, and talk to her as if I hadn't been staring intently at her. "I, uh, I was messing around in the studio and sprained it. It's not a big deal, but the doctor told me to wear a brace for a few weeks until I'm feeling better."
I wasn't sure how much to tell Luz in terms of my personal life or what I did for a living. As far as I could tell, she didn't know anything about who I was, and I wasn't sure if that was appealing to me or not. What I did know was that I liked talking to her, so I gave her the truth without divulging too much.
Going back to wrapping my wrist up, she nods, the strands of hair around her face bouncing as she does so. "They were right. Though I will say, if you forgot the brace, you probably don't need it anymore, but you should probably get the green light from your doctor."
"What makes you say that?" I ask her, curious about her little diagnosis.
Luz takes the tape from my hands, her slender fingers warm to the touch. "Well, if it was hurting that bad, you wouldn't have forgotten to put your brace on in the first place, right? I would just tape it up for work so that you don't strain the muscles that are trying to heal while playing the guitar or whatever it is international pop sensations do."
Her last words make my ears perk up, and I smile a little. Earlier, I wasn't sure if I would've preferred that Luz know who I was, but when she hinted that she did, it didn't bother me the way I thought it would. She said it so casually, like it didn't really matter who I was. There was a laidback quality to her that felt reassuring, made me want to talk to her for hours. I had never felt so drawn to someone so quickly before, and... I kind of liked the initial feelings that stirred up inside me as I continued to talk to her. It had been a while since I had felt that way.
Still, I couldn't play all my cards at once, so I tried to stay just as calm and cool as Luz was right now. "Ah, so you're familiar with my work."
"I've been known to turn on the radio from time to time," she says, that wry little grin gracing her lips again. I laughed again, and her smile brightened. I really liked that smile. "Real talk, though? My sisters are big fans. They're gonna lose their shit when I tell them about this."
My face splits into a grin. Whatever reservations I had about Luz knowing or not knowing who I was, talking about my fans always brought a smile to my face. They were the reason I was where I was today, they meant the world to me. "Well, I'm glad to know they're fans."
"Fans? Dude, they love you. Like to the point where I think they love you more than me sometimes," Luz joked, and I couldn't help but grin at her use of the word "dude." I don't think anyone had called me dude seriously to my face before.
We fall back into comfortable silence as Luz finishes wrapping my wrist, and she explains how and what she did so that I can replicate it by myself. I examined my wrist, noting how precise her work was. I definitely was not going to be able to replicate her work this well, I thought to myself. I want to ask her another question about how she managed to make the wrapping tight but she checks her phone and suddenly she's fidgeting, looking back and forth between me and her phone. What changed?
"Look, it was really nice meeting you, but I gotta run. If your wrist starts bothering you at all, take some Advil and ice it." As she's saying all this, Luz takes my hand in hers and gives it a shake. She went back to her car, and I could only see her legs poking out of the passenger seat. Luz came back, her head bent as she wrote something down on what looked like a business card of some sort. "I know you said you have a doctor, but in case something's bothering you and you can't get a hold of them, here's this. It has the number of the office where I work, but if you can't reach me there, I put my cell number on the back."
I'm a little stunned by her bluntness, but it made me smile a little that she cared so much. I was a little shocked because she'd handed her number over so easily, but I didn't think she was trying to make a pass at me or be anything more than helpful. However, I was still confused as to why she was in a rush to leave all of a sudden. It made me wonder if I did something wrong.
My prolonged silence doesn't seem to sit well with Luz. She takes my left hand in hers and places the business card in it, closing my fingers with a gentleness I hadn't anticipated. Not a second later, Luz practically scurries away and gets behind the wheel of her car. I stared at the space where she just was, feeling dumbfounded, everything that had happened since she walked up to the diner table feeling somewhat like a dream. Unable to help myself, I watch as Luz pulls out of her parking spot, resigning myself to the fact that even though she'd given me her number, I would probably never see her again. The thought upset me more than I thought it would, but part of me was enticed by that idea too, like we were two ships passing in the night, or day in our case.
As her car passed by me, I heard faint music playing from inside, something loud and with lots of guitars. Once she was out of sight, I looked down at the phone number she'd written down. There were no hearts or loops in her handwriting, just clean lines and simplicity, which, in a weird way, made sense to me. My phone buzzed in my back pocket with a text notification.
Niall: We still on for tonight?
Walking back to my car, I typed out a response. I didn't get to hang out with my bandmates as much as I would've liked to nowadays, so when any of us were in close proximity to each other, we tried to get together when we could. I had to spend all day in the studio, but Niall and I were meant to hang out afterwards, and I was looking forward to seeing him for the first time in a few months.
Me: Of course. I'll see you later.
Sliding into my car, I found myself staring at the business card again. The rest of the day, my mind stayed on a flash of red, big brown eyes, and a kind smile. While I recorded, joked with Mitch and the rest of my team, and worked on one of the songs we'd written for the album, my mind drifted off to a small diner in Malibu and the kind stranger who walked up to my table, offering help when she didn't have to. I was okay with not seeing her again, but I would be lying if I said it wouldn't be a while before I forgot about her.
How they met from H's perspective
Start from the beginning
