Synesthesia

three: Strings

Listen to: Strings by Shawn Mendes

It was early Friday morning, and Azalea was already awake. Her brown hair draped like a curtain around her as her pen danced across the page. It was a sketch of a small girl in a dress, holding a balloon just over her head. Azalea had decided the girl was her as a child. She'd loved balloons as a little girl. She'd been absolutely enthralled with them as a girl, and they still held a piece of her heart. She loved the way they could just float away, peaceful in the wind. Sometimes she felt lime she was floating away, and she didn't want to. But with nothing tying her down, how could she help herself? Maybe she could find a string, something to keep her tied to the world.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she looked at the clock, and in complete shock, realizing she was going for coffee with Josh in less than an hour!

"Shit!," she swore to the empty room. She'd have to hurry to get ready, and hope she could make it there on time. She quickly showered, refusing to bask in the steamy water any longer than she had to. Rushing to her closet she grabbed the first things she saw. A daisy printed pink top and her favorite pair of acid-wash jeans. It was actually one of her favorite things to wear, and she completed her look with a messy bun and her favorite black high top converse. Thank God the weather was nice and warm. She practically fell out of her door in a mad dash to the elevator. It couldn't move fast enough and she tapped her foot persistently as it slowly moved down the five floors from her tiny apartment. She checked her phone. 9:46 AM. She had just under 15 minutes to walk the half-mile to the coffee shop she and Josh had decided to go to. It was one she hadn't tried, but she'd heard it was good. She wasn't sure what it was called, as Josh had only told her where it was.

Azalea reached the coffee shop ten minutes later. She was four minutes early, but Josh was already there. She could see through the big windows that Josh had already gotten a table by the window. Azalea got to the front of the little coffee shop and had to hide a burst of laughter. The coffee shop was called Not A Morning Person. Inside, it was adorable. It had a high industrial style ceiling with pipes running all across it, and all kinds of photography covered the walls. All the drinks had creative names like "Finals Week" and "Late For Work." Still admiring the cute little coffee shop, she set her little purse on the table and hopped up on the high stool next to the table.

"Oh my God. This has to be the cutest coffee shop in the world," Azalea gushed, still staring around the room.

"Glad you like it," Josh chuckled with a smirk. "It's one of my favorite places."

"I can understand why."

"Yeah. Should we order?"

"Sure," Azalea responded as Josh easily hopped off his stool. She, on the other hand, was not so smooth, nearly fell off the seat, making Josh laugh some more.

"Don't you laugh at my shortness!"

"You're not that short," Josh insisted. "I'm just tall."

"Five foot five isn't tall, Josh."

"No, but six foot three is."

"Oh shut up, we can't all be giants," Azalea laughed. Josh shrugged and chuckled, smirking.

A few minutes later, they'd gotten back to their seats with their drinks. Josh had ordered a drink called 3 Hours of Sleep, which was a double-shot espresso with dark chocolate, and Azalea had ordered a coffee called Not Not Hungover, which was a light roasted coffee with just a hunt of sea salt and caramel.

"So, I take it you're a coffee fiend?," Azalea asked, sipping her drink.

"You could say that," Josh replied, laughing. He did a lot of that, Azalea thought. He had a good laugh. "So, what's your story?"

"My story?"

"Yeah. You know, your life story. Your birthday, where you grew up, what high school sport you spent way too time playing, the name of your cat. That kind of stuff."

"Oh. Well, let's see. I was born on November second, I'll be twenty three. I grew up in Reno, I played soccer for 10 years, and I don't have a cat," Azalea responded. "What about you?"

"My birthday's May ninth, I'll be twenty four and I grew up in Vegas. I played football and basketball and baseball, I have a cat, her name is Perry. Oh, and I have a degree in business and I want to own my own record label."

"Okay, so that made me look boring. I went to art school for a couple years. I don't know what I want to do, but I want to be rich," Azalea pondered.

"You're not boring. You couldn't be. Why did you only go to art school for a couple years?," Josh asked.

"Um...," Azalea began.

"It's fine; you don't have to tell me," Josh said, noticing that Azalea's eyes darkened when he mentioned it and her sigh of relief when he dropped the subject.

"So you said you have a cat?," Azalea questioned.

"Yeah! Her name is Perry. After Perry the Platypus. My little cousins named her."

"That's cute. I love cats. But I can't have one in my apartment."

"You'll have to come and meet her. She'd probably love you. She's really friendly," Josh said shyly.

"Oh, um, sure! I'd love to meet her!," Azalea said, slightly taken aback. It had been a long time since she'd been on a date. Well, on a date with someone who was actually nice to her.

By now, her and Josh were nearly done with their coffees.

"So, when are you gonna come see my cat?," Josh asked, chuckling.

"I don't know, when do you want me to?," Azalea responded with a smile.

"Well, I get off at three on Tuesday."

"Hmm. I get off at five."

"Then come over Tuesday night. You can come over at seven and we can have dinner and, of course, hang out with Perry," Josh said, eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Whoa, food and hanging out with a cat? How could I resist?," Azalea said, giggling.

"I knew it. I'm irresistible," Josh joked, evoking an eye roll from Azalea. "So Tuesday at seven?"

"Sounds good." And with that, Azalea walked out of the coffee shop with Josh's address on a napkin and a smile on her face.