modern life is rubbish | d.a

two: "there's one minute to midnight"

after that glorious encounter i had on christmas day, me and the man - who revealed that his name was damon - exchanged phone numbers for a later meeting. in all, he seemed like a charming man, and by days, i'd have surprisingly grown extremely fond of him, my mere thoughts seemingly being intoxicated by his entire physique. however, i had gathered the retaliation to not ring him; what if he was busy, i continuously thought, he's got better things to do rather than converse to a girl he met for 10 minutes in an alleyway. time flew by without either of us carrying the guts to dial, and before we knew it - it was new years eve.

once i had realised what day it was, my heart immediately jumped out of my chest. the first person that struck my mind was damon; i felt the sudden urge that if we don't talk today, talk tonight, the cherished time we spent together may have been our last. the reasonings behind these thoughts were uncertain; new beginnings, they say. and i was worried that damon had forgotten about me.

it was a usual, murky afternoon. rain had decorated the streets of london; trees danced in unison to the wind; as once again, barely anyone was in sight; kept enclosed into their homes for shelter from the agonising weather of this country. soft melodies from my cd player echoed throughout the flat, my hands rubbing both my arms as my body grabbed ahold of the cold that had seeped inside from the slightly opened window. my eyes wandered around the scenery outside, focusing my gaze at the occasional bird that had flown by in the clouds. how free a bird must feel in such climates, soaring into the skies whenever they please, travelling to anything and anywhere, no matter the day. what must they think, when they glance towards our earth, the life that is living beneath them? our world is fixated into our small houses, whereas theirs is everywhere. animals prey on such wondrous creatures because they're so captivated of how they're able to maneuver and endure their lives.

leisurely, the rain had passed by, leaving the empyrean in a metallic shade of white. i shut the window and decided to walk to my room, forcing myself to a halt after my eyes had grown contact with the black telephone box that had sat on the sofa table, reminding myself of damon, once again. it wouldn't hurt to give him a call, right?

exhaling sharply, i finally had mustered up the courage to sit down and dial his number which i had written after i got home from our unexpected encounter - neither of us had paper on us so he wrote his number on my arm, to which i'd write down somewhere safe later. slowly, i pressed the digits of his number and lifted the phone, listening to the repeated rings that echoed through.

i bit my nail in anxiousness, hoping he would answer faster.

"hello?" a recognizable voice answered. one you wouldn't ever be able to forget - it was damons.

"hey, damon, it's me, louise" i answered, a smile creeping onto my lips; it feels so plesant to finally hear his voice after days.

"louise! i was losing hope in you ringing! what took you so long?" he asked, a hint of sadness laced into the ending of his sentence. my heart sank - he was waiting for my call and i kept stopping myself.

"oh my gosh i'm so sorry, i just kept thinking you were busy and felt as if i shouldn't call," i replied, my smile falling from my face as my body filled itself with sadness.

"it's okay, love, don't worry. what a good time to call on new years eve though, huh?" he joked, trying to change the subject, forming my frown into a grin again.

"do you want to meet tonight? i have nothing to do sadly," i asked, hoping me and him could spend some more time than 10 minutes together.

"yes of course! where would you want to meet? you seem pretty nearby seeing as we both met in an alleyway,"