One of a Kind

Chapter 1

Let's start from the beginning. 

My dad was in the army in the '40s. His name was Malcolm Douglas. My mother used to be a nurse. Her name was Iris Holloway. He was a daredevil so he would always end up in the infirmary. That's how he ended up meeting my mother. According to what I've been told it was love at first sight. Dad would always look forward to seeing her beautiful smile and her luscious long hair. Mom would always scold him for not being too careful. One thing led to another and soon after my mom became pregnant with me. 

Initially, mom was able to work while pregnant. But it did come to a point where she couldn't work full time anymore, so both dad and mom chipped in their savings to buy a house in the suburbs in New York. From what I can remember everything was like a dream. Dad would occasionally come to visit and mom would do everything to make sure things would flow smoothly for me. And when Dad wasn't here he would call in to check in with us. 

And then when I turned 4, all of a sudden the calls stopped. Just like that. It wasn't until 10 days later where mom received a call that dad went MIA. And that constant bright smile that my mother always had on her face, dropped. As a young child, seeing my mother's pain was unbearable. She dropped down to her knees, sobbing and wailing with her whole heart. Her bright green eyes were bloodshot with tears.  From that day on she was different.

She became much more numb. She would try to put on a brave face for me but deep down she was hurting. Badly. Sometimes when I would arrive back from school she would just be staring at a wall, lifeless. Like she was living the day all over again. She went from this beautiful, lively mother to just a soul within a body. She died when I was 15 and since then I've really just been on my own.

As I grew up more and more, I was scared to fall in love. Scared to be vulnerable and put myself through extreme pain like that. I always never let anyone fully in, that way in the end I wouldn't shatter like glass. And that's where the dating apps would come in. I would just swipe right day in and day out. I would go on dates and let them see part of me but not me fully.

One day I decided to swipe after work to see the daily choices of the day. And then I came across Bucky. I usually don't smile very often but his profile seemed to make me smile and even giggle a little bit. We got along well so we decided to meet. For a 106-year-old guy, he didn't look a day over his 30s. Wasn't really taken aback by his age though because living in this world, I've heard and learned about crazier stuff. He seemed different from the other guys I dated. I felt like I felt much lighter around him. Like it was just us floating on fluffy clouds. And looking into his eyes, he had this type of pain peaking through. I was very familiar with that feeling. 

After the date ended, I insisted on just taking an Uber back home. He replied with a stern no, because he wanted to make sure I got home safe. Especially because I had a few drinks in my system. We hopped onto his motorcycle and he handed me his helmet. I held on tightly as we zoomed through the street and arrived at my apartment. When we arrived at my apartment complex elevator, looked into my eyes and connected his lips to mine. I felt this giddiness inside I hadn't felt before but I think it was just nerves. He walked me to the elevator of the apartment and flashed a little smirk before leaving. I went to my floor, to my apartment door, and got inside. I then melted across the door, with my purse held to my chest, and had the biggest grin on my face.

Well... this will be interesting.