Sixteen

Do you ever feel like things are going so good for you and you feel like the other shoe would drop and things will go to shit?

It's just...

Was it suppose to feel this good?

Was i supposed to feel this content?

This happy?

The thing with struggling for money is, you're going to have a happy place, need one even, and mine happened to be in books. I used to pick out books from bins whenever I chanced one. Or I'd sit in the library, far away from people and just get lost in a really good book.

So yeah. I read a look of books.

Not geometry or the Guide to English language. Not How to Be A Billionaire at Twenty, not Forbes. I particularly hated Forbes. Looking through the young people who were billionaires, reading Kylin it whatever her name was named the first female billionaire at twenty one made me angry.

It just didn't feel fair, you know?

I had to gravel and do things to get to where I was and she was just giv-

Fuck that.

Reading books taught me that something's are never as they seem. Reading books taught me that relationships always have a bad part. To balance out the good.

There was nobody in the store besides me. Jimmy was nowhere to be found and Stanley had a meeting in his office with a smartly dressed woman with circle glasses.

So here I was, a copy of The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez opened up in front of me.

Before I was left alone, two customers had come in arguing. The woman had grabbed a bottle of wine and aggressively walked up to me while her boyfriend kept calling her name.

I felt a shiver run down my back as I recalled the slap he had gotten before she stormed out of the store, the wine still on the counter.

Would there be a time where Hal would do something so hurtful that I slap him that hard? Or just we'd break up?

It's just...

I'd never been this happy.

The last time I had been this happy was when I thought I found a cheap home with a roommate, only to find out said roommate liked to watch me through a hole in the wall, a little bit high up the wall.

Anytime I was this happy, shit usually hit the fan.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled it out and smiled when I see two messages. One from Hal, the other from Danny.

Hal: Hey Darling! How's work going?

I quickly typed out a reply.

To Hal: it's going slow. I miss your face.

I hit send before I let self doubt ruin it. I quickly move on to Danny's text.

Danny: Are you free for lunch?

I checku the small clock on the screen and see that it's almost time for lunch. Lordy, it felt like it was already three in the afternoon instead of twelve.

To Danny: I'd love to! Don't you have chef-ly duties?

The reply was instant.

Danny: Nah. My restaurant is closed for the rest of the day.

I frowned a bit as I look down at the phone. I hoped nothing was wrong. I wondered why he had shit it down for the day.

To Danny: my lunch starts at twelve.

Danny sent back many hearts in reply and I go back to reading my book. It seemed like time slowed down even more, as if it knew I was looking forward to seeing Danny.

I snapped my book shut once it was twelve on the dot, pulled off the apron, grabbed my wallet and told Stanley I was heading out for lunch. Once I stepped out of the building a yellow fiat pulled to a stop in front of me, Danny grinning at me, his cheeks red and eyes squinty.

"Your shoes are blinding!" Danny exclaimed, raising his hands to shield his eyes. I shake my head at the dramatic man before getting into the car, pulling on my seatbelt.

"You make fun of my shoes when it's the watch on your wrist that's blinding." I gestured are the diamond crusted watch on his wrist. Danny shrugged and stuck his tongue out at me.

Danny looked good today. He was decked up in vintage jeans, a white loose shirt that was almost see through and wrapped around his neck like a medal was a collar. It looked soft and there was a rose charm hanging off it, the cranberry colored material looking softer by the minute.

"You're staring."

I shrugged. "I like your collar."

"Me too! I put it on whenever I'm leaving the house alone." Danny said like it answers all the question. Well, it did answer some of the questions.

"It's really lovely." I told him, pushing down the urge to reach out and touch. I look out the window as we drove. "So what's the plan?"

"I know this great restaurant that serves really good sushi and their dumplings are to die for."

My tummy rumbled at that. I love a good sushi and dumpling on a normal day. But if it's a really good,sushi, if it was a fucking wonderful sushi, I eat like it's the end of the world and then throw up later.

But it's all good though.

"And then we're going to the mall, I need to get some stuff." Danny said, turning to wiggle his brows at me.

"What things?"

"Jeff has to leave town for three days and I want to give him something to remember me by."

"Something like?"

"Two words. La Senza."

All thoughts in my head just turned to silence. My lips slightly parted as I stared at Danny who was giggling like he just said the funniest thing ever. I knew there were men, I knew there were subs, who liked soft lacy underwear like thongs, lace panties that leave your butt cheeks out.

It's one thing to know and it's another thing to actually know people who wear this and it wasn't a trick of the mind. Hal never brought it up and neither did I.

I felt the heat in my cheeks, my thumbs pressed against each other.

"Aw, you look like you're about to burst."

That's because I am, Danny!!

I don't say that out loud though. Instead I make a silly face, crossing my eyes and sticking my tongue out. The restaurant Danny took me to was a quaint beautiful thing a couple minutes away from the store, no banners, nothing.

We took a seat and a waiter appears in minutes. The restaurant wasn't full and maybe that had something to do with the lack of a name or sign out front.

We both ordered our food. I had ordered for Nigiri and sasazuchi while Danny ordered sushi and temari. He also added a glass of red wine while I stuck to ice tea. If I actually think about it and I do, the lacy boxer shorts that Hal had slid on me a couple of days ago was close to soft lacies, isn't it? Am I overthinking this?

"You're doing the thing again."

I raised a brow at my friend. "What thing?"

"You do this thing where you either nod or shake your head when you're thinking. Like you're answering internal questions or something." Danny said, wiggling his fair brows at me.

I didn't know I did that. How come no one told me I did that? Did I do the same thing when I was thinking earlier, at the shop?

"It's just... I w-"

"Is it because I like going to La Senza? You don't have to come with me if you don't want to." Danny quickly adds, with a slight shake of the head and wide eyes.

"No! It's not that." I replied. "It's just..." I rubbed the side of my neck, my cheeks hotter than ever. "I think I might like wearing panties more than I thought."

Danny silently gasped. He leaned closer like we were sharing a secret and so did I.

"Details."

"Well, um, last week when I slipped into little space. Hal gave me a shower and dressed me up too. He put on these black lace shorts for me. They looked like boxers you know? Just with lace? And I liked how it felt. So I don't think it's different from wearing lace panties is it?" I asked.

Danny stared at me for a couple of seconds, blinked three times before breaking off into laughter. His eyes squinted shut, white teeth all out on display as he laughed.

"Don't laugh at me."

"I'm not! You're just...adorable."

I rolled my eyes at the man in front of me. And to think I called him a friend. We were both interrupted by a waiter who placed both of our dishes down, his fellow co worker gently placing my drink beside me and Danny's wine beside him too.

"The answer is simple actually." Danny said before picking up his chopsticks.

"Tell me then, Master Yoda."

"You'll never know until you try it."

Danny said this like it was that simple. Maybe it was. We talked as we ate, our earlier conversation still swimming around in my mind. It took us a couple of minutes as we argued about who should pay.

Before Danny could get his card out, I pulled out the black card Hal had given me and tapped it against the pos.

"I can't believe you did that." Danny said with a pout.

"I can't believe you thought I was going to let you pay." I told him. Danny rolls his eyes at me before getting up from his seat. This man was so dramatic

"I won't go with you if you don't stop pouting."

Danny paused and narrows his eyes at me. "What would I get if I do?"

"We can have lunch tomorrow and you can pay."

Danny's lips quirked up by the side and he leans forward a bit. "Do I get to pick where we go?"

I tried to reply but Danny just lets out a loud laugh, he grabs my arm and pulls me up. He doesn't let go as we walk over to the car. I wanted to ask him how he was always this happy and bubbly. I wanted to ask him if he had always been this way.

"Thank you." Danny said once we were seated in the car.

"For what?"

"I... don't have a lot of friends. The phrase annoying and too much, has come up quite a lot and some of them have tried getting to Jeff." Danny said, his grip on the steering wheel tightening a bit.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. And it must have shown on my face because Dan gives me a small smile.

"We are dating two wonderfully gorgeous and most sort after men. They've got cars, money, houses and more. You bet your ass someone is going to try to snatch them away."

I folded my hands into fists. It felt like someone had voiced out of my my biggest fears. It felt a hundred times worse than I did when my own mother threw me out.

"I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to say I'm glad you're my friend. I know we haven't known each other for a long time but it feels like it. So thank you. Thank you for the texts, for actually smiling at me, for paying for lunch."

It felt like my heart had grown twice it's size. I reach over and place my hand on his. It felt good to know that he felt the same way that I did. It felt good having a friend. I know I call Agatha and Jimmy my friends but the truth is they never contact me when I'm out of the store.

Do they count as friends?

"Thank you for being my friend, Danny. I hope it lasts forever."

Danny smiled at me, bright and blinding, all teeth. "Like cement!!"

"Like cement." I agreed, shaking my head fondly at him.

"Let's do something that'll make us feel better." Danny said, a glint in his eyes. I pull back my hand and placed it in my thigh.

"La Senza."

"La Senza!"