Trying Your Luck // Joel Hokka

V

After everyone left, I felt that I was a bit too intoxicated. I shouldn't have drunk so much, but I didn't really know the limits. Also, having Joel around didn't help as I was itching to touch him, I always had him in the back of my mind, because I used to love him more than anything, I still love him, I think. But I was scared that once again this wasn't our time.

Joel's career was finally taking off and I knew that he would never stop until he had achieved his dream of conquering the world. And me... I was expected to write another banger of a movie, but the pressure of writing something as successful as Promising Young Woman was messing up both my mental and physical health.

I finally made it to the bed and after some time of tossing and turning, I found my phone and searched through my contacts until I found Joel's number. I was contemplating whether I should write to him and then it hit me that I didn't know anything about this man anymore, maybe he went back home to his girlfriend, maybe he was just polite and he didn't want me back in his life. But my fingers were faster than my thoughts.

Nora: "Knock knock"

It was a stupid silly thing, but knock-knock jokes become our thing whenever one of us didn't know how to start the conversation or just it felt that the other one needed a cheer up.

I was looking at the phone screen for a few minutes and I was about to put the phone down when I heard the little ding and my heart started to race.

Joel: "Who's there?"

Nora: "Aherd"

Joel: "Aheard who?"

Nora: "Aherd you like girls who tell knock-knock jokes!"

Joel: "In fact I do "

Joel: "Knock knock"

Joel wrote back and I started to laugh. I can't believe this actually is how our conversation is going.

Nora: "Who's there?"

Joel: "Hope"

Nora: "Hope who?"

Joel: "Hope you'll go out with me!"

Nora: "Well we have to plan a pizza date soon, babes"

Joel: "I am counting on it"

Joel: "Why are you not asleep?"

Nora: "Have too much on my mind... including you"

A while ago... I stared at my phone screen, every message I received made my heart leap, but none of the messages had been from that one person I was waiting for. I was putting the clean glasses on the counter, trying to somehow take my mind somewhere else, but once the glass slipped out of my hand and shattered everywhere, I understood that I wasn't even paying attention to the surroundings around me.

"Shit." I loudly swore and was about to go and get the brush, but Adam was already coming back with one.

"You haven't been on this planet for a while now. What's wrong?" Adam calmly said and gestured for me to take the seat on the other side of the bar.

"I'm not even sure. I haven't really made sense of what is wrong, but somehow I feel like the world around me is falling apart because I can't get over a man. I met this guy, we go out for a few drinks and I can't get him out of my mind, but there is nothing to get out of my mind, as I don't even know him.'' I started to ramble a bit too fast in the end.