Story A Day Cafe: 2014-09-28

Catching Smoke: Ch. 14

Emmalee has no idea where she’s going.

She saw a chance for escape, and she took it. The windows had bars on them, but thankfully, she managed to escape by simply walking out the front door. The concierge hadn’t even looked up when she walked past.

Which worries her. It shouldn’t be so easy for her to escape. Did she really escape? Or is this part of their plan? They seemed to be a step ahead of her. She wouldn’t put it past them if they were only pretending to let her escape.

But maybe they weren’t. Maybe they are distracted now. Maybe this is her only chance.

Her only chance at what, though? What is she escaping from? She has no idea. She’s confused and lost as much mentally as physically.

And this isn’t good.

Navigating foreign countries isn’t the problem, though. She does that in her sleep, and often. It’s just…she usually has a plan first. She can count on one hand the times she has infiltrated a foreign world unprepared and none of those times worked out very well for her. She suspects it was only luck that managed to keep her alive. Luck and very quick thinking.

But her mind isn’t working very quickly tonight. She’s exhausted, and hungry. She can’t remember the last time she ate, and she doesn’t even want to think about the last time she had a good night’s sleep. All she wants is to collapse somewhere safe and wake up fully rested to a glorious feast without any effort.

But instead she’s stuck walking on the beach, avoiding the lights on the shoreline, occasionally swerving to dodge an oncoming wave. There aren’t any people on the beach at this hour, which baffles Emmalee. The moonlight on the water is so beautiful, and the stars have never looked brighter…

Exhaustion tends to bring out the idealism in Emmalee. It’s the only time her brain isn’t wrapped in a layer of fear. She’s finally able to let go and notice the beauty in the world, though not by choice. If she had a choice, she’d been making a plan right now.

Eventually, she stops walking and takes a seat on the sand, mesmerized by the openness of the water, the sound of the waves, the glitter of stars in the sky. What’s so dangerous about this? Why don’t I just stay here? She thinks.

She’s too tired to think of anything rational.

So she lays her head back on the sand and falls asleep.

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

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author: kayla mathys

Music Monday: Change Your Mind by Trey Songz

A fictional interpretation of a song by Trey Songz

She doesn’t go out much at night.

At least not to the places one would expect of a nightlife. She prefers the quiet comfort of the local coffee shop to the thumping, throbbing headache-inducing atmosphere of a club or bar.

But tonight she doesn’t have much of a choice. It’s her older sister, Bridget’s, bachelorette party, and she had the family responsibility of not only being one of the bridesmaids, but of also being the only one trusted to be responsible enough to make sure Bridget arrived at her hotel safely, preferably with all precautions taken to prevent a hangover.

“Make sure she drinks two full glasses of water before bed.” Her mother had told her. “And in the morning, give her another glass of water and two aspirin. Oh, and have some coffee ready as well! We’ll meet for breakfast so you don’t have to worry about that…”

Bridget’s wedding had become a babysitting job.

***

It wasn’t the loudness that bothered her the most about the club she found herself in.

It was the shameless pointlessness of it all. There was the dancefloor with it’s strobe lights and gyrating mass of people which seemed to serve no other purpose than to perpetuate sexual harassment between strangers. And then there was the bar with the long line of people ordering overpriced drinks, perhaps for the purpose of liquid courage. The bathroom had such a large gathering of girls wearing short dresses, high heels, and bright lipstick, all trying to squeeze themselves into the frame of the mirror, it might as well not have been a bathroom at all, but a room full of mirrors.

She took a seat on one of the stiff leather couches, strategically placed in front of the dancefloor so that anyone who dared to sit would be in the direct view of the laughing, drunk, dancing mess a few feet and one step away. She spotted Bridget with the rest of the bridal party standing in line at the bar, laughing about something. She’d join them, but as the designated driver, she wasn’t supposed to drink. Nor did she think she would have anything to contribute to their conversations.

Unfortunately, this made her a direct target for the scheming pick-up artists.

***

“What are you doing here, girl, sitting alone? You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen in the world.”

She rolled her eyes, and turned her head, hoping he would take the hint. He didn’t. Instead, he sat down beside her.

“Hey, you have a boyfriend?” He asked.

“I’m not interested.” She said.

“How do you know?”

She gave him a look that she hoped made her disinterest clear, but he only smiled. He wasn’t bad looking, but that only made it worse. She believed in the stereotype: guys who picked up girls in clubs were not the kind of guys willing to settle down. So she wasn’t interested.

“I said I’m not interested.” She repeated.

“I know what you said. But I don’t know how you can know you’re not interested when we haven’t even had a conversation.” He said. “Give me a good reason for not being interested, and I’ll leave you alone. Deal?”

“I’m not interested in having a conversation either.”

“How do you know? We haven’t had one, have we?”

“I don’t want to have one. Leave me alone.”

“How do you know you don’t want to have one if you haven’t had one? Come on. Give me a chance to change your mind. If I can’t change your mind, I’ll leave you alone, I promise. You gotta give me the chance, though.”

No, I don’t actually, she thought. But then she caught sight of Bridget and the rest of the bridal party paying for their drinks, and realized she kinda did. What else was she going to do? Where else did she have to go? She knew she wouldn’t change her mind, so what was the harm? A few minutes of conversation and he would leave her alone. That sounded fair.

So she gave him the chance.

***

“Why are you here tonight?” She asked him. “Is it just to prey on lonely intoxicated girls you want to take home with you?”

“I’m not a predator. And I prefer my girls sober.” He said with a wink.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“You’re a smart girl. I like that.” Another wink.

“Still doesn’t answer my question.”

“Okay, okay. You caught me. Maybe I’m here to talk to you.”

“Right. But I’m not going home with you, so if that’s part of your plan for the night, you can forget it.”

“Who said it was part of my plan?”

She shrugged, and looked toward the dancefloor. Bridget and her friends were dancing in a circle, a drink raised above their heads. They looked ridiculous.

“Isn’t it?” She asked him.

“It could be. Maybe I just want to talk to you.”

She snorted.

“Why are you here?” He asked.

“Sister’s bachelorette party. I’m the babysitter.”

“Oh yeah? Where’s the party?”

She pointed out the bridal party on the dancefloor and he nodded.

“Looks fun.” He said.

“Not my thing.” She said.

“You know, we could get out of here…”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Why not? Your sister’s a big girl, right? She doesn’t need a babysitter. She’s got all her friends with her too…”

“I’m not interested.”

“Why not?”

“Do I really have to answer that question?”

“You think I’m a bad guy because I’m trying to pick you up in a club on a Saturday night. You probably think I do this every weekend, a different girl each time because I have commitment issues. And you’re not entirely wrong. But why wouldn’t you be interested? It’s one night, one night I guarantee you won’t regret.”

She laughed. His forwardness was amusing.

“I’m not interested in one night or men with commitment issues. You’re ridiculous. I’m not interested.” She said.

“I bet if you gave me the chance I could change your mind.”

“Oh Jesus. That wasn’t part of the deal, and we’re not making it one. You can leave now.”

“I can, but I’d rather stay here and change your mind. Let me change it. You know you want to.”

“No, I really don’t. Please leave.”

Bridget waved at her from the dancefloor, and she waved back. Then, Bridget started walking toward her. She watched as Bridget and her friends pushed their way through the crowd until they were standing right in front of her. The guy next to her looked shocked, and then he grinned.

“Hello, ladies. I hear congratulations are in order.” He said.

“Do you know him? Is he bothering you?” Bridget asked her. Then she turned to the guy. “Are you bothering my baby sister? Get lost, dude. She’s not interested.”

“Next time.” He said as he stood up. “I’ll change your mind.”

“Thanks.” She told Bridget after he walked away.

“No problem, sis. Now let’s get out of here.”

There wouldn’t be a next time. Her mind didn’t need to be changed.

Monday, September 29, 2014

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Catching Smoke: Ch. 14

Music Monday: Change Your Mind by Trey Songz

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