Waiting in the Rain

Chapter 1

A/N: The images above do not belong to me. They belong to the person/s who uploaded them on the internet.

Joss' POV

I waited patiently with my friend, but with my heart in my throat.

"Oww! You're squeezing my wrist too hard!" my friend complained.

My friend and I were waiting backstage where all members of SBFive were expected to come out of their dressing room.

We had just finished watching SBFive perform during their comeback concert and because my friend was related to the manager of SBFive, we were given a pass to enter the backstage area.

I had always been a fan of SBFive, but I was especially a fan of Copter. I loved his fluid graceful moves, I loved his voice, and I loved his looks. Was there anything about him not to love?

Suddenly we heard the door of the dressing room open and we heard voices and footsteps.

I was finally going to meet the love of my life in person!

I'm normally not a shy person but suddenly I felt very shy and nervous when I saw Copter and the rest of the SBFive members walking towards us.

Copter immediately recognized my friend and waved to him.

"Copter," I heard my friend saying through the buzzing in my ears. "This is my friend Joss."

Copter extended his hand to me.

I took his hand and felt embarrassed immediately, knowing that the palms of my hands were cold and clammy from all the excitement and nervousness inside me.

"Pleased to meet you, Joss," he said.

I was too nervous and shy to say anything. I could only give him a foolish smile as I shook his hand and tried to hold on to it as long as I could.

"Hey, Cop," I heard my friend say, "Joss has been a long time fan of yours. Do you think you could give him your phone number?"

When Copter hesitated, my friend hastened to say, "I promise you he's not a creep. He will not stalk you. He will respect boundaries."

After what I thought was an eternity of waiting, I heard Copter say, "No problem."

Then he said to me, "Give me your phone, Joss."

I quickly fished out my phone from my pocket and handed it to Copter with a trembling hand.

Then Copter put his number into my phone.

"Tap on it," Copter said.

I did so, and his phone started to ring.

Merciful heavens, we had exchanged contact numbers!!! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine this happening!

I could not sleep that night. I tossed and turned in my bed, just reliving the exhilaration I felt when I met Copter for the very first time.

Finally just when I was about to drift off to sleep, my phone started to ring.

I reached for it under my pillow.

"Hello?" I said sleepily.

"Joss?"

I was instantly wide awake. I would recognize that voice any time, any place.

"Hello, Copter," I said, my voice quivering.

"I hope I didn't wake you up," I heard him say.

"You can wake me up any time," I said. "I mean it", I added for good measure.

"I suffer from insomnia," I heard him say. "I am unable to sleep until like seven in the morning. I'm like an owl."

"Or like a vampire," I wanted to tease him but I still didn't know him well enough so there was a chance that he might get offended with my teasing.

"I sometimes suffer from insomnia myself," I told him. "I know how frustrating it can be."

"What do you do when you can't sleep?" I heard him ask.

"First I try drinking lemongrass tea," I said. "Then when it doesn't work, I watch a documentary on TV. When that still doesn't work, I read a boring book."

"When reading a boring book doesn't work, what do you do then?" he asked.

"I go out and ask a fellow insomniac friend to meet me at a 24 hour cafe," I replied.

My heart started beating erratically when I heard him say, "Let's do that!"

"Wh... what did you say?" I just needed to hear it one more time.

"I said, let's do that," he said once more.

There was a 24 hour cafe in the middle of town. It was a fifteen minute drive from my condo.

I gave Copter the name of the cafe.

"Yes, I know that cafe," Copter said. "I've been there before, like around this time."

"With whom?" I could not help asking.

"With P'Kim," he replied.

Oh no, I hoped that there was nothing going on between Copter and Kimmon. I hoped hard that they were just good friends. Besides, if there was something going on between them, Copter would have asked Kim to go with him to the cafe instead of me, right?

"I'll meet you there in fifteen minutes or so," I said excitedly, already jumping out of bed.

He was not yet there when I arrived at the cafe.

I did not go inside but decided to wait for him under the wide awning of the shop.

It was raining hard and the awning did not provide ample shelter but I just held on to my umbrella, not wanting to open it and holding it over my head.

I whistled softly while patiently waiting for him. 

I glanced at my watch. Fifteen minutes had passed since I first arrived.

I started to hum a song to keep myself distracted while waiting for him.

I glanced at my watch one more time. Thirty minutes had passed. Was it possible that he had changed his mind about meeting up with me at this cafe?

Then I told myself, forget it, he's not coming. He has stood you up.

I opened my umbrella and stepped out into the rain. I had walked a few steps when I turned at the sound of my name.

"P'Joss!"

"Ohmygod! Cop! I thought you had stood me up!"