I stare deep into her beautiful, beautiful eyes and completely lose my train of thought. I uselessly open and close my mouth, but nothing seems to make its way out. My whole body has seemed to have turned to jelly. The hand that was once holding the slip of paper and flowers uselessly drops them onto the sidewalk, but I pay no mind to them.
"Alec? Is that...you?" She asks, looking up at me through her long eyelashes.
"I–uh–well–" Why can't I talk? What is happening to me?
"Answer me this, what is the name of the town in the movie Footloose, staring Kevin Bacon," Daisy asks slowly.
"Uhhhh, the name of the town...in the movie Footloose...Isn't that the name of the town? Footloose? Like, isn't that why the movie is called that?" I give her a confused look. What was the point of that question?
"Oh my god," she whispers, shaking her head.
Apparently she got what she was looking for because her face goes as white as a sheet.
"You–you're Alec," she states with shock written all over her face.
"And you're Daisy."
"And I'm, Daisy." She nods slowly.
I'm sure I look just as shocked as her. Not only because I found her, not only because I have now met her but because...
"You can't be Daisy," I snort.
"And why not?" she retorts, crossing her arms.
"Because...because you're too normal looking."
"What?" She scowls.
"Actually, you're beautiful. Stunningly, incredibly beautiful."
Her face softens as her mouth drops open slightly.
"But you only have one head," I state bluntly.
"As opposed to..."
"Three. And you're supposed to look like one of those witches from that movie, uh, Pocus Hocus. You know like with the buck teeth and those crazy eyes."
Daisy squints at me for a second then bursts out laughing.
"How in the hell do you get the movie Hocus Pocus wrong? It's two words!"
"Eh, I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right, I'd say I did pretty well," I smirk.
"You got it wrong!"
She lets out another long line of laughter. Her laugh...it sounds even better in person. Its sweet, smooth, soft, cute and melodious. It's perfect, along with her smile. I knew it was Hocus Pocus, but I'd do and say absolutely anything to see her smile.
She lets her laugh fall as she tucks a blonde curl behind her ear with a lopsided smile drawn on her face.
"You seem...different...in a good way," I quickly add. "It could be because I've never met you in person but..."
"Yeah, I feel different. I am different, actually. Well, at least since we last talked," Daisy sighs and looks at the ground.
"It's been a while, huh?"
"Yeah...It's felt like ages really..." She looks back up with her lopsided smile. "Listen I–"
"Hey so–"
We both start talking at the same time, making us pause and chuckle awkwardly.
"You talk–"
"You can go–"
We stop and chuckle again.
"I need to get this out," I burst out. "If you don't mind."
"No, go ahead," she smiles sweetly, leaning against the tree next to her.
"First I have to say how sorry I am. That was the stupidest thing I have ever said and done and I will regret that moment for the rest of my life. I was depressed, I was drunk, I was confused, not to give myself excuses but thats just kind of where I was at that time."
"Of course," she responds softly.
"And I didn't really think those things about you, really," I try to reassure her the best I can because I know what I said would've hurt anyone.
"Well, they were kind of true if you–"
"No, Daisy," I take a step closer to her. "None of that was true. Not a single word. Don't even think that for a second. Every moment I spent talking to you was amazing. You opened my eyes and made my world brighter. You'll never know how much you have taught me, just over the phone. You are a wonderful, beautiful person and I'm so lucky to have known you."
Her eyebrows raise in surprise.
"I know I messed up Dais, I messed up REALLY bad." My eyes trail to the tree above us as I run a nervous hand over my face. "And I know I hurt you and I know you're mad, you have every right to be mad but–"
"I'm not mad."
My eyes snap down to hers. She pushes off of the tree and stands up straighter.
"What?" I say, almost in a whisper, my voice suddenly not working.
"I'm not mad," she laughs. "Now don't get me wrong, I was pissed. Like, majorly pissed. And I was pissed for a while, but then I got over it. I know you and I knew whoever I heard that night, wasn't you. He just sounded a lot like you."
"Wait, let me get this right...you're not mad at me?"
"No, for the third time Alec, I'm not mad."
"Well then why didn't you pick up? Why–why didn't you call or–or text me or–"
"Alec. Alec! Take a breath."
I take a quick short breath and wave my hands for her to continue. Not satisfied, Daisy crosses her arms and gives me a bored look. Rolling my eyes I take an actual deep breath, surprisingly relaxing me a little. This time she's satisfied so she smirks and continues.
"Well, long story short, my phone broke. My parents said they'd help me out a little with the money but I have to get the rest so I still don't have a phone yet. I'm close, but it's been taking a while...Anyways, since you called me I never had your number written down so I don't know what it is...I've tried to remember, but to no avail."
I shake my head in disbelief, truly not believing what I'm hearing right now.
She lets out a nervous laugh as she moves another curl out of her face. "I know, it's ridiculous. But it's the truth."
"So, you don't hate me?" I ask slowly.
"No! Alec no, I told you, I could never hate you. Never," she puts extra emphasis on the last word, making my throat tighten.
We just stand there for a moment just staring at each other.
"Can you forgive me?" Daisy asks quietly.
"Only if you can forgive me," I respond slowly.
"Of course," she smiles.
I answer with a smile of my own. Then, before I know it, I jump forward and pick Daisy up in a tight hug. I close my eyes, burying my face in her neck. I can feel her arms wrapping tightly around my neck. I wait a few moments then set her back on the ground and pull back slightly, still keeping my arms wrapped around her. I need to see her face, her reaction to my sudden action.
When I look down at her beautiful face the first thing I see are her flushed, rosy cheeks. The second thing I see is her big, bright smile, one that warms me down to my core.
"Sorry," I mumble. "I couldn't help myself, I–"
Daisy's finger quickly comes to my lips, stoping my blabbering.
"My turn," she says through her smile.
In one, swift movement, Daisy stands on her toes, grabs my face and plants her lips on mine.
A tingling sensation erupts from my lips and moves it's way down the back of my neck. I immediately close my eyes and melt into the kiss. Our lips easily move in sync. It felt right. It felt so right. Everything about this situation, was right. My fingers move their way through her soft curls and hers lace around the back of my neck. My hand carefully moves down her face to allow my thumb to stroke her amazingly soft cheek. It's probably one of the softest things I've ever felt.
I know, I've never felt a connection so strong and so captivating. We melt further into each other with each passing second until, in unison, we pull back to look at each other.
"Wow," I utter, slightly out of breath.
"Wow," she repeats.