Will Love Ever Come?

Chapter 11

THE WEEKEND ARRIVES. THE sun blazes hot as Eschewal backs his car into a tight parking space and switches off the engine.

Deuce pops the door and says, "Come we go."

Eschewal pops his door and steps out. He slams it shut and turns on the alarm, then follows.

As he and Deuce hit the park area, they join a thick crowd of people walking toward the main stage. Loud music pumps. Different food aromas waft through the air. People jump up and down, dancing to the loud music, spilling their drinks on themselves and others.

Eschewal and Deuce stop on the outskirts of the massive crowd of ravers.

Deuce's eyes dart around at all the females. He says to himself, 'Nothing but jezzys.'

Eschewal's eyes move from girl to girl, studying them like beautiful works of art on display in a gallery. Three minutes more, and he would never have seen her. But at that moment, when he decided to look over his shoulder, his world would never be the same again.

Everything around him falls silent for some seconds, and his eyes become transfixed on love. She stands, glowing and radiating her beauty. A sharp prick sticks him in his heart like an arrow from the love cupid. His stomach tightens as if being pulled together by a leather belt. His legs feel as if he has done a million squats. He seems to have lost control of his bodily functions. His heart seems to tell him; this is your future wife. You need to be stepping to her now. But the fear of rejection makes him turn around to contemplate his actions. He can feel his heart pounding. He believes it is too good to be true that he could find romantic love so easily.

He shakes his head. 'I don't deserve someone as nice as her. I can't get someone like her, and she'll probably have a boyfriend anyway.' He closes his eyes, and a passage from the black book filters through his mind: One must learn to love oneself and realize that there is no perfect person whom one must live up to. Love can be found anywhere and at any time. When you see it, you must seize the moment.

The words from the black book dispel his rationalizations and wash away his fear. He turns back around to make his move on his dream. Disappointment pulls the corners of his mouth towards his chin; the girl has vanished. He steps a few paces forward, looking through the crowd to spot where the girl has gone. He cannot see her. He feels as if his heart has sunk to his feet.

He turns back towards Deuce, with the feeling of his brain pulsating in his skull from stress. He wants to get away and look for the girl, but he is embarrassed to come out and say he is no longer a player. Besides, he knows Deuce will only laugh at him and say something negative like, "Come on, bruv, don't run down, no girl. Don't be a dickhead. Be a player, man."

Eschewal's mind works overtime to find an excuse to slip away from Deuce when three guys, who all greet Deuce, interrupt his thinking.

Deuce does not introduce Eschewal, so he says, "Hey, bruv, I'll be back in a minute, yeah."

Deuce nods as Eschewal slips away into the crowd.