🎶We live in cities you'll never see on screen ~ Lorde
●Tara Afua Henrie●
Crunch, crunch, crunch. The footsteps drew closer and closer to the bench. My clammy hands tightened around my guitar. Crunch, crunch, crunch...
3...
2...
"Stay where you are!" Turning around, I shot out of my seat, gripping my guitar like Thor's hammer.
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, ok!" He yanked his hood off, exposing a mop of dark hair and the most attractive features I had ever seen on a guy. "I'm not a bad person, ok." He held his hands up in surrender.
"Then why are you dressed in black?" I asked, hoping he didn't sense the tremble in my voice.
"What? This?" He gestured at his clothes. "This was just a coincidence, ok? I just picked them out."
Still not convinced, I probed further. "What were you doing behind that tree?"
"Umm..." Along with hesitation, a wave of uneasiness hit his face. "You... you don't wanna know that."
"If I didn't want to know, I wouldn't ask, creep!" I attempted to swing the guitar, and he took a step back.
"Ok, I'll tell you." His Adam's apple bobbed up and down. "I, erm... I... couldn't find the bathrooms around here, so..." his eyes refused to meet mine.
I quirked up an eyebrow, wondering why he didn't finish the sentence. Then it hit me. "Eew!"
His cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Told you you didn't wanna know."
There was a slight pause.
"Look, I'm sorry if I scared you, but it wasn't intentional," Dark-haired boy apologized. "I just wanted to tell you how beautiful that song was. So... can you please put the guitar down?"
I shook my head. "No. I want proof that you're not some thug or robber."
The look he gave me read, 'Are you serious?' and when I attempted to swing the guitar again, he backed up.
"Ok, ok! As you can see, I'm completely unarmed." He pulled out all the lining in his hoodie and pants pockets, then lifted his hoodie, revealing a bit of his flat stomach and that V shape that led to his...
"Pull your shirt down!" I quickly yelled, face warming up to the heat of embarrassment.
"What? I thought you wanted to see if I was armed." His full lips made way for an irritating smirk.
"Shut up." Rolling my eyes, I brought the guitar down and settled on the bench.
For some reason, dark-haired boy wouldn't take that as a hint to go away. Instead, he toured around the bench and sat down, running his fingers through his thick mass of strands, which I would have found attractive if he hadn't creeped me out earlier.
Bending over to pick up my guitar case, I gently placed my damaged instrument in its housing, wondering where I could fix it, until dark-haired boy said, "You know, there's an instrument shop about five blocks from here. I bet you can get some help with that broken string over there."
My gaze flitted over to him, meeting nothing but metallic grey wrapped in genuine sincerity. They took me aback for a moment, making me wonder why I even thought he was a bad person. His eyes... they were the eyes of someone who had been through a lot these past few days, so much so that sleep wasn't enough to restore the energy he'd lost.
His eyebrows suddenly knitted, and then he snapped his fingers in my face. "Hey, earth to Ms. Guitar."
"My name isn't Ms. Guitar." I pushed his hand out of my face. "It's Tara, Tara Henrie."
"Well, nice to meet you, Tara. I'm Shaun." The smile he sent me this time set a cage of butterflies free in my stomach, and to prevent myself from blushing like a high school girl with a massive crush on Harry Styles, I busied my hands with the zipper of my guitar case.
"I want to say it's nice to meet you too," I admitted, "but after the heart attack you almost gave me a couple of minutes ago, I don't think it's appropriate."
Shaun laughed, and the flurry of butterflies in my stomach danced to the tune. What is wrong with me today?
"Yeah, I won't argue with you on that," he said. "But I'm still sorry, though."
"Don't worry about it. It's fine." I set my guitar in between my legs.
The trees rustled. Birds chirped above us. Ducks quack in the pond nearby. None of us spoke. Shaun sat quietly, hands tucked into his hoodie pockets.
I tried my best not to stare, but... who was I kidding? The guy looked like he'd fallen straight out of the cover of a GQ magazine with those extraordinary irises, thick eyebrows, thin lips, and honey-toned skin. How could I not stare at that?
His vision soon veered to me, and I quickly turned, counting how many duckies Mother Duck had brought out for a swim.
"Pardon my asking, but..." Shaun readjusted himself on his side of the bench. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"Why? Is it obvious?" I shot him a look.
"Yeah." His stunning grey eyes lingered on my face. "Very obvious."
"Well, it's my third day here."
"Really?" He was smiling now. "So what do you think of La Gran Capital de Mexico?"
I sighed. "It's an amazing place, but I wish my short stay didn't end on a crappy note."
"Oh, I'm sorry," he paused. "Mind telling me what happened?"
Stranger danger, my subconscious echoed, but I shoved the comment aside. I was just telling him how my day went; nothing terrible would happen. Sucking in a breath, the first words to leave my lips were, "I got fired for accidentally spilling soup on some asshole called Declan Perez."
Shaun's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Did you just call Declan Perez an asshole?"
"Yeah," I replied with indifference.
His mouth dropped open.
"What? It's true. The whole thing was clearly an accident, but the dude went bonkers on me like I'd just ruined the only Armani suit he had."
Shaun's rhythmic laughter filled the air, bringing a warm smile to my face. "That guy is a total asshole."
"Couldn't agree with you more." Shaun wiped away a stray tear of joy. "For the longest time, I thought I was the only person in Mexico who saw him as an arrogant dickhead. It's nice to finally meet someone who shares the same opinion."
To hide my smile, I twisted my lips, listening to the chirping birds and the quacks from the ducks.
"So! What will you do now that you've lost your job?"
"I'm leaving Mexico... for good."
"What?" He frowned. "Why? You could find another job here."
"Ha!" I couldn't help but scoff. "Who in their right mind is going to hire the clumsy waitress who spilt soup on the rich and fabulous Declan Perez? No one! And to top it off, my sister, the one I live with, was being a nuisance this morning, and I don't think I can continue staying under the same roof with her. Everything here is just... messed up."
Another cloud of ambience from nature settled in between us. Shaun stared intently at the blades of grass, and for a minute, I thought my words had offended him until he lifted himself off his elbows.
"You know what I think?" He pursed his lips. "I think you're looking at things from the wrong angle."
Confusion touched my features. "This has nothing to do with angles."
"Of course it does, Tara. You're looking at everything from the wrong perspective, and it's preventing you from seeing that you don't need an employer. You have your own profession, and it's right there, in that case."
My eyes followed his pointed finger to the instrument in between my legs.
"Don't tell me you haven't thought of turning your music into a profession."
The question rendered me speechless, and Shaun's eyebrows flew up. "Oh my God, you haven't?"
I slowly shook my head. Eleven years of playing guitar, and it had never occurred to me that I could actually sing professionally as a job.
"Holy crap." Shaun gaped at me. "You've got all that talent, and you're keeping it under wraps?"
"It's not intentional... I mean..." A soft shrug settled on my shoulders. "Music has always been a hobby in my eyes. It's something I enjoyed doing, not just for the fun of it, but it also provided me with the necessary drive I needed in life. It's like my backup life support."
"But it still doesn't mean you can't share it with the world," Shaun countered, a thousand gigabolts of honesty gleaming in his eyes. "I may not have heard you finish that song you were singing earlier, but from what I heard, that song deserves a Grammy."
"Ok," I chortled out. "Now you're just buttering me up."
"No, it's the truth, I swear. You're gifted, Tara, and you cannot keep that gift to yourself. You have to let others experience it too. Let your music change people's lives. Let it make a difference."
I opened my mouth to ask him a question, but my ringtone chose that exact moment to go off and I pulled out my phone.
'Big Bro' along with a picture of Nando flashed on the screen.
"Sorry. I have to take this," I said to Shaun, then tapped 'answer'. "Hello?"
"T!" Nando exclaimed from the other side of the line. "Thank goodness. Where are you?"
"At the park."
"Which park?"
"Umm..." My eyes scanned the environment for a clue. Shaun must've noticed because he tapped my shoulder and pointed at the signboard displaying the park's name.
"La Marquesa," I told Nando before mouthing a quick thank you to Shaun, who, in turn, gave me a thumbs up and a sweet smile.
"Great!" Nando yelled in my ear, drawing my attention back to him. "I'm being held up at the precinct, so I need you to pick Keke up from school. I've been trying to reach Pam all afternoon, but..." he sighed, "she's not answering any of my calls. I think she's still upset about the argument we had after you left."
"You guys argued after I left?" Guilt seeped into my heart. The last thing I wanted was to ruin their relationship.
"It was nothing serious, T. Just a little disagreement. " This time, Nando's voice came with the sound of papers shuffling in the background. "I'll clear things up with her the moment I get back home tonight. But right now, you need to pick Keke up. Thankfully, her school is not that far from your current location. All you gotta do is pick her up and take the bus home. Keke already knows where the bus station is, so finding it shouldn't be a problem."
"Ok." I nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see me.
"Great. I'll call the school to let them know I sent you to pick her up. Thanks, T."
"Don't mention it, bro. And please try to fix things with Pam. I don't want to be the reason why you two aren't talking to each other."
"Don't worry about it; I'll take care of everything when I get back, ok? I'll see you later."
"Yeah, sure, bye." I pulled the phone off my ear.
"You good?" The question came from Shaun's end.
"Yeah, everything is fine." I pushed myself onto my feet. "But I've got to leave. I'm picking my niece up from school."
"Oh ok. I should... probably be on my way too," he said, although his face was filled with nothing but complete reluctance. "Work and... stuff."
"Yeah," I chuckled, hooking my guitar and bag onto my shoulder.
"Ahem! Umm..." Shaun scratched the back of his head. "So... can I... have your number?"
"Of course." A grin touched my lips. In the next few minutes, I saved my number into his phone with a simple T and a guitar emoji.
"Ok," he smiled before taking a dramatic bow. "Thank you, Ms. Guitara."
"You're welcome," I laughed, staring at those grey gems in his eyes. Apart from being the most honest person I'd met since I got here, he was also, by far, the most attractive man I'd ever seen, and I totally wouldn't mind-
Don't you dare, Tara! my subconscious scolded.
"Right!" The word accidentally jumped out of my mouth, along with a wave of awkwardness. "I...I should, umm... I should get going." Without waiting for a response, I pivoted on my heel before remembering that I hadn't bid him a proper farewell.
I turned back again, finding intrigue and a warm smile on his face. My stomach felt like it was minutes away from exploding with butterflies.
"Bye, Tara." He waved.
"Bye." I made a quick gesture, then hightailed out of the park.
God, what is wrong with me today?
*****
Heyo! So what do you guys think about Shaun?
Lemme know in the comment section😊
Thank you🙏