12
Cole
My workday is long and busy, per usual. I’m bombarded with phone call after phone call and having to show more houses today than I care to. I check my phone all day to see if I get any messages from Danny. I’m disappointed every time there isn’t one. I head out of my office, pocketing my keys and phone before getting in my car to go home.
I take off my coat, realizing I still have it on, and my black mask falls to the floor. I pick it up and stare at it, thinking of the events that took place the night I wore it. I hadn’t thought of the guy again until now. The only person I thought about today was Danny. A notification pops up on my phone from Facebook, so I open up the app to see that Paul has loaded new photos to the party album.
I have nothing better to do before heading to bed, so I might as well look at some pictures and see if I was in any of them. I’m not expecting to see the picture of him, the man in the blue-and-gold masquerade mask. Paul had tagged him in the pictures as James Bishop. I know I shouldn’t, but I’m way too curious not to, so I click on his profile, which is private and only allows me to see the profile picture of him standing next to that same woman he entered the party with. My curiosity is really getting the best of me tonight; without thinking, my finger lands on the message button, followed by my fingers moving quickly against the letter keys.
I hit send before I can overthink it and back out of sending the message. I probably should have backed out, but I’m caught up in the moment when I see his picture and those alluring eyes and perfect lips. The way his clothing lies perfectly against his small, taut body that I was lucky enough to have my hands all over.
A noise comes from my phone as an incoming Facebook message comes through. A rush of nerves move through my body. My hands are shaky trying to open the message. I didn’t expect him to answer, at least not this quickly. It then occurs to me that he knows exactly what I look like now. He knows exactly who I am, and I still have no idea who he is. We don’t message each other for long. He ends the conversation before I do, leaving me left with the feeling of rejection. Not just from his absence, but also from his words.
He doesn’t want to meet me. Maybe he didn’t like what was beneath the mask? Or maybe he’s married or has a boyfriend or something. But why would he be alone on New Year’s Eve then? A million different scenarios run through my mind until it falls back to Danny. I’m supposed to be going out with Danny this week, so why do I even care that this guy I know nothing about doesn’t want to see me? Danny wants to see me, and I desperately want to see him, but a part of me is still stuck on that night, and I’m worried a part of me always will be.
I toss my work clothes into the hamper and pull on some sweatpants, making my way to the bed, where I will probably spend the night awake letting my thoughts get the best of me. After lying in the dark for ten minutes, my eyes wander back to my phone charging on the nightstand, and I reach over to grab it. It’s not like I’m sleeping anyway. I scroll through my contacts until I land on Danny’s name, and my lips curl into a smile. He doesn’t even have to be here to have that effect on me.
It’s official: I am crushing on my neighbor while also crushing on some stranger I met once at a party that I didn’t even have an actual conversation with. James Bishop was nothing more than a fantasy. Danny is the real deal. I send him a text and then set my phone back on the nightstand, hoping to wake up to a yes to the question I asked.
It’s been a few days, and I told Danny I would text him this week about getting together. I lay back into my pillows, and stare at the ceiling for a bit before turning on my TV in my bedroom. I normally don’t have issues coming home after work and crashing after I eat.
I barely pay attention to the movie I put on with my mind focusing on everything else. As much as I want to block out James completely, I’m still struggling to do so. Once I go out with Danny, I’m sure the stranger will be nothing more than just a distant memory, almost as if our encounter never happened.
I like Danny, and we shared more than I shared with James. I know what Danny sounds like when he laughs at something funny, that his cheeks turn an adorable shade of red when we accidentally touch, that he bites his bottom lip whenever he’s nervous, and that he affects every part of my body every time he smiles my way.
Most importantly, I know that I want him. I don’t know anything about the guy in the blue mask except for the way his bare skin felt beneath my fingers, the softness of his mouth against mine, the feel of his warm breath against my neck that quickened as I touched him in all the right ways. Also, the way he bit his bottom lip—the exact same way Danny did.
