My Mistake ⌲ River Phoenix

14; a crack in the wall

The sun soon rose through my emerald-painted window - signaling that it was time to help Asher with his little proposal, which also, unfortunately, meant I couldn't stay in bed and reminisce the night of the ill-fated Mona Lisa escapade. Asher stood at my door frame. The clock read 6:07 am - and it was also Valentine's Day.

"Too bright and early for you, Reena?" Asher asked, emitting a disgruntled sigh.

"Seems like you are the one having trouble staying awake... You know, Carm sleeps in until 3 every day. I don't know why you've got to have everything ready now." He raised his eyebrows - subsequently chuckling to himself.

"Are you kidding? We've got a long day ahead of us."

Oh, no.

~

At approximately 4:26 pm, it was finally done. The apartment was decorated with red and pink streamers, glasses topped with champagne, and "Your Song" by Elton John blaring through the new speakers Asher installed.

It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live

That's also when a tired and weary Carmen stepped outside of her room. She wore some purple pajama pants and a tank-top that needed to be readjusted. She rubbed her blurry, mascara-smeared eyes.

"What's all this?" She spoke groggily, "This is my favorite song." Asher shot me a quick glance then ran up to her - leading her hand to the dining room table which was prepared with her favorite food: spaghetti and meatballs.

Her eyes widened.  However, at this moment I knew I grew sick of the sappy shit and decided to leave the two lovebirds alone.

"I'm going to head to the Hardback... Maybe see if Rick needs an extra hand for the night," I gave them an intentional wink then grabbed my apron and walked outside - closing the door behind me. I then stood and listened for a bit through a crack in the wall.

"You didn't have to go all this way just to ask me to be your Valentine, Ash," I heard a muffled Carmen yell out with a hint of suppressed excitement.

"Um, about that..."

~

Within 5 minutes or so, I found myself walking down the pavement, kicking at the moss in the road - pondering over "Your Song" that will now find a home in my brain for the rest of the night. Hey, if Asher and Carmen can finally find their way back to each other, so can Rio and I, right? It's a damn cold night trying to figure out this life.

"Take me by the hand... take me somewhere new. I don't know who you are, but I'm with you," I muttered to myself as I stood at the entrance of THE HARDBACK CAFE- hoping he was there, knowing what he means to me.

When I walked in, I stood at the bar, already feeling weird that Asher wasn't there greeting me. I looked around the restaurant. I didn't actually want to pick up a shift - mostly was just looking for a place to get away.

That's when I noticed Rain. She was leaning on the countertop that overlooked the empty stage. There was a drink in front of her and one next to her - almost implying that someone was there, but not anymore. I ignored it and thought about going up to her and maybe asking how Rio was. At that moment was when she caught my leering stares.