At No Time || Bruno Mars

3

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Trystan couldn't believe she hadn't put two and two together. She'd wondered constantly who the mysterious "P. Dez," could be and nearly stumbled in realization that she'd known him almost her entire life.    

She wasn't too sure of who this Peter person was, or even P. Dez for that matter, but the Bruno she'd grown up with had been the mischievous child of her mother's best friend and co-worker. 

Yvonne, Trystan's mother, worked night-shifts as a bartender, and that was where she met a waitress named June. June, though a great worker and asset to the bar, didn't speak very good English having immigrated from the Philippines only two years before, which made her a prominent victim of teasing by customers. Yvonne made it a priority every night to toss out those who made fun of her and stuck up for her even when their own associates would whisper about the Filipina woman's foreignness. June, grateful for Yvonne's kindness, would return the favor by taking over Yvonne's shifts when she couldn't make it some nights.

Their acquaintanceship blossomed into a friendship. They would speak of their lives and New York and their families, and that was how they both figured out they both had children the same age and that they lived a block apart form each other.

Trystan could remember her mother telling her that Miss June had a son and that he, his parents, and older sister would be coming over for dinner on the coming Sunday. Trystan, then, had been excited to meet a new face, but that excitement dimmed to aggravation when she figured out that the shy boy who met her family as he hid behind his mother's legs, was only an impending indication of annoyance in their future.

Pulled hair, pranks, and once, a lifted skirt that left Bruno with a black eye he had to explain to his parents, made up most of their elementary and middle school life. During high school, however, the two drifted a part, only forced to be in the same region during summer cookouts. Bruno had gone off and made his own mark as the class clown, or Trystan's nickname for him, "The asshole in my seat," for he made an effort to sit in the same spot she proclaimed in Algebra class every day.

No one would ever have figure the two had known each other as well as they did, and as far as Trystan had been concerned, that was fine by her. She didn't want to be associated with someone as cocky as Bruno was.

After graduation, his father had mentioned to their family that Bruno would be moving to Los Angeles the year after. For what, Trystan hadn't remembered, but figured it had to be to get away from the New York scene. She was sure Bruno loved Brooklyn just as much as she did, but he was too spontaneous by nature to not want to explore different places.

Alas, too consumed with her own dreams of becoming a top lyricist and producer, Trystan hadn't been concerned of his future plans. The next year came and he soon became a faded memory.

"I mean can you believe it? He's the P. Dez. Never would have imagined he'd be the one to make it big." Trystan's cell phone was perched between her ear and shoulder as she spoke to Angelique on the other line. She sat with her thighs crammed to her chest on a wooden bench out on the back porch, a bottle of plum nail polish balancing on her knee as she painted her toenails. She glanced occasionally into the backyard  to keep an eye on Bella, who was having the time of her life running around chasing grasshoppers and nipping at dandelions .

"That is crazy. That class clown did pretty good for himself, huh?" Angelique chuckled to herself. "So, how was the first day with Mr. Big Shot?"

Trystan wished she hadn't cringed as hard as she did.

"That bastard's just as cocky as he was in high school."She shook her head as she twisted  the top closed on the nail polish.

Angelique gasped on the other line. "Really? Tell his ass to humble himself." Trystan could picture the screwed-up expression on Angelique's face and nearly snickered.