Energizer

five

"Hey, do you think we could go out sometime?" He chewed on his inner lip, which seemed like a nervous habit. He continued, tilting his head just a bit to the side, "Tonight?"
My eyes widened as I nodded, thinking back to the paintings that still needed to be done. "Looks like you've got a date," I smiled and started to glance the other way out of nervous habit, stopping midway to look back up at Marcus, "Not a date date, I mea-"
Marcus laughed and shifted his feet around in the grass. "I know what you mean, Ari. I'll come down to your house at 6:30."

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With the help of Elana, my outfit and hair was "date" ready.

"I can't believe you're doing this, Ari. I'm also pretty excited to meet him," Elana clasped her hands together, a huge smile forming on her face. She looked happier and the eye bags I noticed the other night were almost completely gone. "You'll like him," I smiled while tweaking my hair, turning to face Elana with my arms extended to the side, "How do I look?"
Her face lit up once again, and she jumped in for a hug. "I'm so happy for you!" The words were muffled as her face pressed into my chest. She's about 5'4'', a good 6 inches shorter than I am. I always admired her height for some weird reason.
"Elana, we're just going out for food or something. Calm down," I hugged Her back, my arms a lot weaker around her body than hers were around mine. She was an extreme hugger.
The doorbell soon rang, and Elana jumped, quietly squealing as she backed away from me,"He's hereeeee!" She sang in a whisper voice.
I opened the door, Marcus standing on the other side. I smiled when I saw him, my words stuck in my throat before I finally pushed them out, "You look really good."
"You too, Ari," He grinned, and I stepped to the side to let him him. His answer followed my compliment so quickly it was like he knew I was going to say it.

"Oh my gosh, you two look so handsome!" Elana had her hands on her cheeks, her mouth open, "It's so nice to meet you, Marcus. I'm Elana."
She rushed over, shaking hands with Marcus. Again, her grip was rather tight and I had sympathy for Marcus, because she can be overbearing. "It's nice to meet you as well," Marcus shook her hand for about 20 seconds until Elana finally let go.
"Well then, I guess you two should get going," Elana was still smiling.

"Are you trying to kick us out of MY house?" I chuckled, grabbing my phone from the table.
"No, no. You two just look so nice so you might as well show it off to the world!" Elana extended her arms a bit, her smile fading slightly.
Marcus stood by the door, nodding towards it slightly, "Let's go, we can walk downtown for a bit. I heard it's nice."
He smiled, and I continued to the door. Elana looked around and stayed in the same spot, waving. "See you guys later! I'll clean up my stuff and then leave... don't worry, I'll lock all the doors," We both waved back to Elana, and I shut the front door behind us as we left.

"Your friend is cute," Marcus smirked, trailing his fingers through his hair.
"She's an amazing person," My hands slithered down into my front pockets as we walked down the road a few minutes.
"Hey, It's going to take an awful long time to get downtown. Do you want to stop in at this cafe instead?" I pointed down the road, and Marcus nodded in agreement.
"I'm glad we're doing this. You intrigued me from the moment I saw you. I guess it's just your red hair, your body, the way you acted with that other guy."
Listening to Marcus made me realize that maybe he was just as desperate as Dominic. I tried not to let that thought continue, because maybe Marcus was truly lonely and looking for a friend. I barely knew him, anyway.
"You're very sweet, and I'm glad you can be honest with me already," I said out of lack of other words. How do you answer a question like that?
Marcus chuckled, "I don't always ask my new neighbors out 24 hours after I meet them."

"Oh, really? Am I that special?" I smirked and looked up towards the sky, a few stars in view.
"Yes you are, actually," He responded, which brought my attention back down to earth.
"How so?" We approached the coffee shop, and I held the door open for Marcus while I asked my question. As he walked inside, he mumbled something barely audible, "I guess you're just the first person in a while to actually treat me like an adult -- like a person."
I stood at the door for a few seconds, digesting his words before realizing I was holding a door open for nobody.
"Ah, well, that's good.. I'm glad I didn't come off as annoying, or asshole-y, or stupid, or whoreish, or du-"
Marcus put his finger to my lips, which may have just shocked both of us. I glanced down to his finger as my eyebrows rose.
"Shush, I can tell you're none of those adjectives," Marcus spoke while pulling his wallet out with his free hand, dropping his finger from my lips. His body shifted to face the menu plastered on the wall.
"Get whatever you'd like, I'll pay," He smiled as we advanced closer in line. He had a pretty thick wad of cash in his wallet. I'd kill to have that amount of money on me. Didn't he say money was tight?
"Really, it's fine.. I can buy my own," I glanced once again at the wad, feeling my skinny wallet tucked away in my back pocket.
Marcus tilted his head and looked over at me, pulling out some bills from the wad.
"I got it," Marcus said with confidence.

After ordering, we waited for the waitress to bring our food and drinks to the table. I got a bowl of vegetable soup with a regular coffee, and Marcus got some sort of fancy loaded sandwich with a mango green tea drink. I could see the entrance from my side of our booth, and I noticed someone familiar walk in.
"She looks familiar," I studied the woman's face, nodding towards the door to grab Marcus's attention. Marcus gave a small nod of acknowledgment in return, turning around nonchalantly.
"I've never seen her," Marcus shrugged, watching each waitress with food stroll by until he was facing me again. I guess they weren't even waitresses, since they also worked behind the counter preparing meals. As the woman moved closer, I realized exactly who she was.

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Thank you for reading! Drop a comment or vote to show your support, it would mean a lot!

I recently changed my book cover, and I really wish I knew who the artist was but that particular photo has been saved on my laptop for a while, so all credits go to that artist... wherever you are!

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