WEDNESDAY, April 3rd
"I didn't want to send him the wrong vibes, you know? It's kinda hard to control though, honestly."
Naia shakes her head, making the picture of herself on my phone a little blurry.
"But he's cute," she continues, smiling a little by herself. "Really cute.. I'm just not a relationship kinda girl."
I smirk into the camera of my phone, "Yeah, I've noticed."
"Stop!" she laughs.
I leave her to face my living room by walking towards my bed room. After finding a blanket which I hug myself with, I walk back to my phone just to see Naia's confused face across the screen.
"Did you sleep on the couch again?"
I sigh, understanding that the couch behind me must be in view for her.
"Like yeah, you're sick," she continues, tapping a little on the keyboard of her Mac. "but isn't your bed still a little comfier?"
I sip on my water to save myself some time, before meeting her eyes through our screens. "I just crashed there, that's all."
I can see her raise her eyebrows, though I haven't got the energy to continue the argument anymore.
"So the green man, have you met him yet?"
I can see a smile being put on her red lips after my question, making me smile a little too. "I have," she mumbles, looking down shyly. "And apparently, you have as well."
I furrow my brows at her statement, also shivering as the blanket isn't doing it's job in keeping me warm.
"It's Auston," she finally reveals, causing me to look at her in shock. "Yeah, I know. My reaction was the same, if not even worse."
I shake my head a little, still not fully convinced. "But how? I'm sure you've accidentally mentioned the 'green man' in front of him."
"Turns our I haven't," she says, shaking her head as her gaze doesn't leave the computer. "When he came to my office to have our first proper meeting, he was just as confused as I."
Naia keeps on talking about their first meeting as a notification pops up on my screen, covering parts of her face. Spotting the name 'William', I decide to grab the phone and click on the message.
I haven't really seen him since that pizza-night. I guess we've been both busy with our works. He's been texting me a little, asking me how I'm doing and things like that, though I've only been answering shortly. I've not been feeling good, not at all actually, and I tend to be kinda short worded at times like that.
_________________________
William >
Today, 11:15 AM
Hey, u free today?
Wait, this isn't Auston
Sorry
it's ok, have fun on your
date
Ew
Actually, Auston's kinda
boring
Are you up to smthn?
no, i'm sick though
Really?
really.
so text Aust, he'll prob
be suuper happy
Yeah
_________________________
"It just feels so awkward sometimes, you know?"
I stare at mine and William's chat for a few seconds, scrolling through all of our texts. They somehow make me glad inside.
"Did the fever kill you already?"
I smile at Naia's comment, clicking on our call to let us see each other again. "Not yet," I say.
She rolls her eyes as I shiver, noticing the cold air again. She looks at me for a moment, then shakes her head a little. "You should really get some rest or you'll never be back at work. It's so lonely here without you, Elle."
I smile at her sentence, sneezing soon thereafter. "I will," I mumble, looking towards my front door. "I just have to walk Buster."
She furrows her brows, glancing carelessly between me and her computer. "Really? You know it's pouring rain outside, right?"
"I do," I say, grabbing my phone and getting ready to end our call. "But I have to take him out, Esther's been feeling even worse lately. My cold is nothing."
Naia sighs, shrugging lightly. "Fine, do what you want. But don't say I didn't warn you."
"Have fun at work," I smile, standing up. "Bye."
"Bye."
Ending our call, I leave my blanket on nearest armchair before walking towards the hallway and preparing myself for the cold winds outdoors.
I put my white rain jacket on, doing the same with my boots. The whole dressing process takes a few extra seconds thanks to my spinning head, though I'm soon out of my apartment.
After knocking on my neighbors door and talking a little to Esther, I bring her little brown dog into the stairwell. Letting him walking beside me down the stairs, I can soon see his pace increase. It doesn't take long until he's out of sight, though I decide to let him walk by himself as he'll be stuck at the last floor anyway.
I find him a few steps earlier, though he's not alone, as I was expecting. William's kneeling down in front of the little dog and I smile at the sight of them reuniting. It actually looks pretty similar to the first time they met, it's just that Willy's hair wasn't soaking wet the previous time.
If it wasn't for my talent for sneezing, I'm sure they'd be there for much longer. Buster runs straight to my legs as William stands up, just simply looking at me.
"I thought you'd go on your and Auston's date," I say, picking the little dog up.
William's laugh echoes through the walls, placing a small smile on my lips. "I.." He begins, catching my gaze. "I changed my mind, I guess. Hope you don't mind."
I pass him while continuing my way down the last few stairs, hearing his steps behind me not long thereafter. "I don't mind. Auston will though."
I hear him laugh again, this time a little more quiet and brief. He comes up to my side but stops as soon as the door leading out of the house if visible in front of us. "Wait, you're not actually going out, are you?"
I turn around, patting Buster while looking at William. "We are. He loves rain."
He takes a few steps towards me, looking straight into my eyes. "You're sick, right? I'm not letting you out there."
I sigh a little, not really getting why he's so stubborn in this. "I'm fine, and it'll only take a minute."
I let Buster down, ignoring the hopeless sigh from the boy in front of us.
"Are you coming with us?" I ask, catching his blue eyes.
He's not pleased at all, I can tell. It's nice of him to care about me, but it's not his place to make decisions about whether I'm too sick or not.
"Yeah," he finally breathes out, pulling a hand through his soaking brown hair.
I open the door leading out, the three of us freezing in our places after hearing the very loud raining sound. You can barely see anything forward thanks to all of the raindrops, everything's just gray.
"Are you sure I can't walk him on my own?" William ask for one last time.
I open my mouth to answer, though the little dog suddenly starts running forward. He stops in one of many puddles, rolling around in the water like it would be the best thing he knew. It probably is.
I smile, glancing briefly at William before stepping out of our shelter and joining Buster in the rain. I laugh as the little dog tries to drag me down with him, looking back at William to see his smirking face.
"You should really care more about your health!" He screams to be heard through the loud teardrops hitting the asphalt.
I roll my eyes playfully, looking defiantly at him before laying down in the water beside the little puppy.