Thursday, June 10th | Koreatown
“Uh, Jace? Jace?”
Andrew’s voice pulls me back to reality. It has a soothing, almost hypnotic quality to it. I stare at him, still dazed. It’s like my vision has one of those dream-like filters from Instagram where everything looks glittery and magical – or perhaps it’s my glasses that have fogged up from the heat from my cheeks. Either way, it doesn’t stop the fact that Andrew is still the most beautiful person I have ever laid my eyes on, maybe even more so now.
I open my mouth to say something, but stop myself. I feel like I’ve reverted to my nervous high school self, and I’m completely crippled with the fear of looking like a fool. My legs give out a little bit from how rigidly erect I am standing, and I stumble but catch myself quickly. Andrew holds me steady, our eyes still locked on each other.
“You, okay?” He asks, worried.
“Uh, yeah. I’m…” I answer, but unable to finish my sentence. Am I okay? I mean, I should be, right? It’s only been eight years. Eight years of wondering what Andrew has been up to all this time. Seven years of dating guys who remind me of him. Six years of driving by places that Andrew and I have visited. Five birthdays without a single birthday text. Yeah, I don’t think I’m okay.
“Sorry, yeah. I’m good,” I say, finally getting a hold of myself to muster up a response, “Just a little surprised. Oh my God, Andrew!”
We go in for a hug and the smell of his cologne tickles my nose. He pulls me in closer, his chest pushing up against mine. I want to bury my face in the crevice of his shoulders as he squeezes me, but the hug ends as fast as it started. I blush at the sight of Andrew’s smile. It’s annoying and I love it.
“How… how are you?” I ask, “I didn’t even know you were back in LA.”
He chuckles nervously, “Yeah, kind of disappeared for a bit, but I’ve been back for about a year now.”
A year. Andrew has been back for a year, and I had no idea. Granted, he doesn’t have any social media to announce his return, but perhaps a call or a text saying “Hey, I’m back! Let’s catch up!” or something. Maybe he lost my number or maybe he didn’t want to contact me. I try to shake myself from all the thoughts whizzing through my head.
“So, you’ve been here for almost a year and a half and didn’t bother to tell me. Uh, rude.” I tease, punching him in the arm.
“Hey!” He giggles, “I’m sorry, I’ve just… been busy trying to settle back in. I wanted to text everyone, but I didn’t know if any of you still had the same numbers.”
I notice the slight hesitation in his voice. Did he feel bad for not letting anyone know? Or maybe he didn’t want anyone to know. There I go overthinking again.
I study Andrew’s face closely. His hair is nicely trimmed and combed and he has a five o’clock shadow but other than that, not much has changed. His eyes look tired, but there is a glimmer of youthful joy and excitement in them. I’ve always had this image in my head about him that pops up every so often and seeing him in front of me after all these years have put me in a spell.
I clear my throat, “Anyway, what have you been up to since then?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Andrew answers, “Just working mostly.”
“What do you do?”
“I work for a marketing firm. Just social media management and marketing strategies for up-and-coming tech companies. It’s nothing special.”
“Are you kidding?!” I exclaim, “That’s so cool!”
He laughs, “I guess. But what about you? You’re still acting right?”
I blush and nervously fidget in place. Why do I keep doing that?
“Uh, yeah. Sort of. I mean…” I pause, wondering what I should say. Do I lie and say everything is great and I’m living my best life? Or do I let him know that things aren’t going well, and I’m stuck in the mother of all ruts; that this dream that I’ve worked so hard to achieve is slowly fading out of existence? Jesus, I’m so dramatic.
“I’m still trying. Working on it; haven’t hit it big yet but I’m working and that’s something right?” I finish with a weary smile.
Andrew smiles back, “Well, that’s good. I’m glad you’re still doing it. You’ve got to let me know when you have a new movie coming out, so I’ll be at the premiere cheering your name.”
I giggle, “Yeah you do that, and I’ll make sure security will have you thrown out on your ass!”
He laughs loudly, his eyes disappearing from how hard he’s smiling. How can a man be so sexy and adorable at the same time? Honestly, it should be a crime.
“You haven’t changed one bit, Jacey,” Andrew says to me warmly. And there it was again. That feeling of the whole world coming to an absolute halt; the dream-like fog which clouds my vision except for Andrew, who is as clear as the sun. I could feel my heart beating fast as my breathing began to shallow. I’ve missed him so much and now he’s standing in front of me. I want to ask him more questions, listen to his stories, laugh at his jokes, and just stare at his smile. That stupidly cute smile.
He clears his throat and shifts a little, waking me from my deep thoughtful trance.
“Well,” he begins, “I better get back to my co-workers.”
“Oh,” I reply, sighing, “Right. Yeah, of course.” I look down and see the bag of popcorn chicken in my hand, the paper snack bag had become soggy from the condensation of the steam from the food.
“I better go too. My best friend is also waiting for me.” I continue.
I open my mouth to say something, but Andrew beat me to it.
“Well, it was nice seeing you Jace,” he says as he reaches for a hug. I force a smile as we embrace, trying to cherish every second of it.
“Nice seeing you too,” I softly reply as I pull away from him. I make my way towards the exit of the shop, but not before turning my head and seeing Andrew’s smile as he waves goodbye. I smile back before sighing and leaving the shop.
“Damn it,” I mutter to myself as I walk to my car. I should’ve asked for his number. Why didn’t I ask for his number? What the hell is wrong with me? And where the hell is my damn mango smoothie?!
I woefully look down at my empty hand that once gripped that glorious frozen yellow drink. I can’t believe I left it in there. Now I have to walk back in there and pray someone didn’t throw my drink out or worse: I’ll bump into Andrew and embarrass myself somehow.
I turn back towards the shop while grappling with the thought of whether or not this damn mango smoothie was worth the effort.
“Just a quick grab and go,” I mutter to myself as I took a deep breath, threw open the shop’s door, and practically crash into none other than Andrew.
“Oh my God!” I exclaim trying to compose myself. “Andrew! Scared the shit out of me.”
Andrew giggles, “My bad. But I notice someone left they’re perfectly good mango smoothie and wanted to see if they wanted it.”
I blush embarrassingly as I grabbed my drink from his hands.
“Um, thanks. You know me; always forgetting something.” I say with a nervous chuckle.
“Yeah, I do.” Andrew replies. My eyes stay locked on his and I think to myself if whether or not I should ask for his number. I mean I should right?
“Well,” I start with a deep breath. This is it. Just go ahead and just ask for his number. Just his phone number. It’s not like I’m asking him to marry me or something. “I guess I’ll see you around, Andrew.”
I fucking hate myself. I begrudgingly turn to walk to my car when I feel a light tug on my arm.
“Wait.” Andrew calls out while pulling me in. The tone of his voice is different here. It’s assertive. Confident, like he knows what he wants. It’s… sexy.
I face Andrew, my cheeks now pumped full with blood as I gaze at Andrew’s gorgeous face. I could kiss him - I want to kiss him.
“Yeah?” I ask, doing my best to balance looking both alluring and innocent. I see Andrew’s cheeks flush red as he lets go of my arm.
“So…” Andrew starts as he tries to search for the right words to say. He clears his throat before he continues. He’s flustered and it’s cute. “So, one of my friend’s is opening his restaurant on Saturday and… I was wondering if you’d like to come with?”
Is… is he asking me on a date? Like actually asking me out on a date? I think I’m going to pass out.
“Um, Franklin and Kate are going to be there so it’ll be like a whole group reunion thing.” He continues, “You still talk to them right?”
“Kind of,” I replied, “It’s been a while.”
I haven’t talked to Franklin and Kate since I graduated high school. I mean, I messaged Kate on her birthday two years ago but that’s pretty much it. And I haven’t heard anything from Jacob since he joined the Navy.
“Well, the offer is there if you want to join us,” Andrew says thoughtfully, “No pressure, but I would really like for you to be there.”
I do want to go, but the thought of having to interact with people that I haven’t seen in years honestly scares me. Then again, what could go wrong? “I’ll have to see if I’m free, but I’m down!”
“Great!” Andrew gleefully exclaims, “I’ll message you the details later, same number right?”
“I guess you’ll have to text me to find out,” I reply with a laugh. Andrew smiles as we parted ways for a second time. My mind races as I walked back to my car, my cheeks still burning hot from all the blushing. Did I actually imagine this entire scenario or did Andrew and I finally reconnect after all these years?
As I step into my car, I can already hear Juliana groaning.
“Finally!” She exclaims as I shut my car door, “What the hell took you so long? I’m starving, Jace!”
I’m dead silent as I pass the soggy bag of popcorn chicken to her. She stares at me as she takes a piece out and munches on it. “You good? Jace, everything okay?”
I wake from my pensive daze. “Yeah I…”
My reply gets interrupted by a text notification. I pull out my phone to check who it is and sees that it’s from a random number. I push the notification and my heart drops as soon as I read the text: Jace? It’s Andrew 😊 It was great bumping into you again! Hope you can make it to the dinner this Saturday. I’ll send the details soon 😜
I smile widely as I stare at the text.
“Who is it? Who texted you?” Juliana asks as she takes another bite of her popcorn chicken.
I turn to her, still blushing and smiling. “You’re never going to guess who I bumped into.”
ns 15.158.61.54da2
