Zak was inundated with the sights of Los Angeles. He had just moved to Japanifornia and wanted to familiarize himself with his neighborhood, but he found himself lost in the big city. Lost in admiration for the juxtaposition of the straight edged modernist buildings and the curved roofs of the Buddhist architecture, he had found himself lost in an unfamiliar place.
Zak pulled out his phone to open up GoogleMaps, but found it dead. He stuffed the phone into his pocket and took a few deep breaths. It's okay Zak, you just need to ask one of the nice people around you. Looking around at the sparse crowd, he tapped the shoulder of the nearest person.
"Hey, I -." The man walked away before Zak could start his sentence.
Shaking his head and gathering himself once more, Zak tried asking someone else. This time he was me with a hand in the face. At least I wasn't ignored this time. He tried again and again and with each attempt his shoulders sank lower and lower.
Soon, the oranges and purples of the sunset painted the glass facades of the unfamiliar buildings and Zak's shoulders had set as low as the sun. He had no idea where he was, no clue how to get home and no food in his belly. Seeing the red light of a Wendy's sign, at least he could solve one of his issues. Trudging through the doors and up to the cash register, Zak made his order.
"That will be $13.69." Zak went to pull out his wallet, but found nothing. He checked his other pocket. And then his jacket pocket. He kept checking the same four pockets, over and over, each time more and more frantic.
"I know I had it in my pocket. It has to be somewhere here."
"Sir, this is a Wendy's not a food bank. I can't take your order if you can't pay."
"It probably just fell out of my pocket outside. Let me go check."
Zak ran out the doors onto the street. He ran up and down the street, weaving through the thinning crowd of tourists and people going home from work. Still, his wallet was nowhere to be found. Still holding onto some hope, he was wandering aimlessly hoping to stumble onto his wallet when he heard a loud click.
Zak found himself across from the Wendy's staring as the last employee left the building, closing up for the night. As he stood there, someone bumped into him and he fell back onto the ground. The cement scraped against his palms and a jolt ran up from his arms as he caught himself. The culprit didn't so much as glance back as he picked up his now cracked phone.
Zak sat there staring at his phone, his back against the chilled metal facade of a building, as the people enjoying the nightlife passed him without so much as a glance. He had no way to get home, no way to talk to anyone and not even a way to get food. I haven't even seen any of my friends for a year. My family is across the country. I'm completely alone and for what? I'm trying to chase these dreams of becoming a big time Youtuber, but what does that even mean? I have no clue what I'm doing. I just wanna go home.
Zak was staring at the pavement on the verge of tears. The streets now dark, only street lights and store signs lit the area. Through his blurry vision, he saw a pair of cowboy boots stop in front of him. Wiping his eyes, a cowboy hat filled his vision as the man in front of him kneeled down. The man looked up to meet his gaze and Zak was mesmerized.
The man's strong jawline was decorated with perfectly maintained scruff. His brown eyes gleamed in the street light with a calm unconcerned look. His lips ever so slightly upturned into a smirk. All of that was framed by a curtain of velvety brown hair. And as he opened his mouth, the deep tones of his dulcet voice resonated with Zak's heart.
"Hey there, pardner. Somethin' been rustlin' your cattle?"
"Sorry, I've just been having a bit of a rough day."
