Chapter 7: Number

I was halfway back to the rave room when a deep voice stopped me from going any further. "Hey!" The voice was so commanding that I automatically stopped walking at the sound of it. I slowly turned around to see his dark eyes staring at me intently from a distance. He then started to walk toward me which made my fear explode. I wanted to run but his eyes had me trapped. All I could do was shake in place until he stood in front of me. He suddenly grabbed my wrist and I gasped at his touch. What was he doing? What did he want from me?

My mind raced until he pulled up my sleeve and raised the pen to his lips. He popped it open with his mouth and held the cap in his teeth as he began to write something on my arm. I became very curious all of a sudden and my fear melted away. Once he was done, he let go of me and I looked at my arm with shock to see that he had written his phone number on my skin. He also had written a symbol that I didn't understand the meaning of right below it. I looked up at him with my eyes wide and he smirked down at me as he placed the cap back on the pen. 

His smirk sent butterflies through my stomach and his voice was as deep and smooth as dark chocolate. "A sweet little girl like you shouldn't be relying on a coat to protect her. Call me if you're ever in danger." Blush filled my entire face and he walked back to his room, nonchalantly. Once he closed the door behind him I ran back to the rave room. I pushed past all of the drunks and druggies and jogged back up the stairs. Once I reached my apartment, I threw myself on the couch and started entering his number in my phone. 

I couldn't believe it. I had his number. After all this time, he finally noticed me. I never thought I would be able to do it, but I did. The way he stopped me from chickening out sent fireballs through my blood and I felt so warm while remembering how he touched me. I wanted him to touch me more and more until I exploded with pleasure. As I created his contact I stopped to the realization that I didn't know his name. I didn't worry too much about that since I had a way of asking him now. However, I had to add him as something for the time being, or else my phone wouldn't add the number. 

I shrugged and decided to humor myself. I named his contact 'My Undying Love' with three heart emojis on either end. After the number was saved, I hugged my phone to my chest with excitement. The way he called me a sweet little girl brought me so much happiness. It confirmed that he did find out I was a woman and now he was going to treat me like one. I paused. I remembered that I still needed to thank him for keeping my secret. I also didn't know whether he just offered me protection as a courtesy. I wondered what he meant when he called me a little girl and hoped that he was referring to my height and not my age. 

A day passed, and I thought about starting a conversation with him. The only thing that stopped me from it was that he said to call when I was in danger. I didn't want to upset him by just talking to him randomly when he only expected a call for an emergency. I quickly stopped my mind from racing and decided that I would settle my worries by just asking him. I had the power of text now and I intended to use it. I technically wasn't calling him so it worked out on my end. I sat on my couch after a good day's work, wearing a set of clean clothes.

I finally pulled up messages for his contact and spent way too long on the text that I was going to send him. I finally settled on 'Hey, this is the girl you wrote your phone number on haha. I realized that yesterday I didn't catch your name.' I nervously pressed send and waited for a response. A few minutes passed, and I hadn't received a message back. I was dying with anticipation while waiting and worried that he wouldn't respond. After a few more moments of panicking, I was sent a wave of relief at the feeling of my phone buzzing. I expected a casual, if not slightly uninterested response, but what I got was completely different. 

In his message, he said 'I don't text. If you wish to speak with me, call me.' And that was it. I was so confused. What kind of person didn't text in today's day and age? And who talked like that? My undying love, that's who. I guess that was sort of sweet. Talking with someone was much more personal than texting. I was still unnerved by this. I wanted to text so that I couldn't humiliate myself with my words any longer around him. I decided to put a witty turn on the conversation in a last attempt to get him to text me. 'I thought this line was for emergencies only.' I put a silly emoji at the end of my message and pressed send. 

I waited but he didn't respond. An hour passed before I accepted that this guy meant business about not texting. I took a breath and began to think of every word that I would say to him when I worked up the courage to call him. I spent thirty minutes making sure that I wouldn't fumble or stutter when speaking with him. I didn't feel like I was ready by the end of it but I really wanted to talk to him. I pressed the call button and shakily raised my phone to my ear. I hoped that he would answer and after a few rings, he picked up. "Hello?" His voice sent fireworks through my body and for a moment I completely forgot what I had planned to say. 

"Um, hey. Well, I um, here I am. Calling you. So, can you tell me your name now?" I swooned to the sound of his faint chuckle. "Of course. It's Levy." I was intrigued to hear his name for the first time after going so long without knowing it. "Levy? Is that short for anything?" There was a short pause. "My full name is Leviathan Ozul." The strangeness of his name caught me off guard. "Is that Greek?" He responded softly. "Hebrew, actually."

I was surprised. He didn't look Jewish in the least. "Now tell me your name." His sudden demand interrupted my train of thought and I began to stutter. "My name? U-um, w-well, I normally just go by Nick." It had been so long since someone had asked me for my name I barely even remembered my real one. Levy wasn't satisfied with my answer. "I didn't ask what you go by. I asked for your name."