Our Second Life

Chapter- 24

Winter's POV

It was already six-thirty in the evening and I was nervously pacing back and forth in my living room while waiting for Ian to arrive.

Tonight I decided to wear a red satin dress which was securedly kept inside my wardrobe for god knows how long. The last time I probably wore it was two years ago when I went to a Christmas dinner with Jake.... when things in my life were nice and normal.

Fast forward to two years and here I was living in a different city far away from my home and going out on a date with a man almost two decades older than me.
And yet I could still feel the same butterflies that I had felt as a teenage girl going out with a messy haired thin highschool boy when I was seventeen.

Life had its own twisted way of making us feel things. Honestly speaking, I had always pictured my perfect life with Jake since my highschool days until one night it all turned out to be just an illusion that I had been living in.
Never in my dreams had I thought that a coutryside girl like me would leave her hometown behind to live in a new place so far away. Neither did I ever think that I would start having feelings towards a man who was so much older to me.

I checked the time once again and frustratingly tapped my foot on the wooden floor. I was already so nervous to the point that any moment I could literally have a breakdown. The only person I had gone on a date with before in my life was Jake and things were different back then. But this me is not the same. Time has changed me....time has broken me.

It was taking every bit of my sanity to keep calm as it was already past seven now and I had started doubting if Ian would show up or not. I had texted him half an hour ago asking where he was but neither did he reply nor was the message seen.

Frustratingly, I sat down on my bed and picked at my fingernails anxiously. I almost chipped off all of the red nail polish that I had put on in the afternoon. Even at this point I had started sweating like a pig in spite of it being the mid of January.

Another half and hour passed and by now I had given up on any hopes that Ian would actually show up. I had even called him twice but he didn't receive any of my calls.

Hot streams of tears flowed down my cheeks and I sat on my bed clutching my knees tightly. My makeup was already ruined and I looked like a complete mess.

What had my stupid self thought that Ian would actually take me out on a date?!!
If he really liked me even a little bit he would have never stood me up like this.
Maybe he got to rethink his decision about asking me out and thought that I was not a good match to him.
In fact it was really stupid on my side to think that something so good could actually happen to me. Afterall there was nothing good left in my fate.

I cried and cried till I fell asleep for god knows how long until I was awakened by the doorbell which kept on ringing continuously. I sat up on the bed and rubbed my eyes vigorously smudging the remaining bit of mascara and eyeliner on my eyes. I could feel my eyes puffed up and heavy from all the crying and my satin dress all crinkled up from sleeping in it. I got up from the bed without bothering about the mess that I looked like and opened the door.

There stood an equally messy looking Ian with his top buttons of the dress shirt opened up, hair ruffled and sweat covering every inch his body. He looked at me frantically and checked me from head to toe once. Maybe he had already noticed rather he had definitely noticed my messed up makeup and hair, ruined outfit and dried tear stains on my cheeks when he decided to directly lunge in and engulf me in a hug. His big hands encrossed my body and he held me tightly to his chest. For a moment I wanted to break free and close the door on his face and never talk to him again for standing me up tonight. But suddenly it felt like I had lost all of my rebellious powers and embraced the man who just stood me up a few hours ago tightly. Within a few seconds I started crying hysterically onto his shirt and probably soaked it completely with my hot tears.