Life is but a Fiction...

4- Mystery man

Bringing me coffee for our group thing, damn, he was sweet. Zachary was already melting my heart even though he was a perfect stranger. An extremely attractive one to say the least.

"So, how was the party last night?" He asked.

"My friend who I hadn't seen in two years called me and we went to a bar, and we danced, then we drank, we talked, we drank some more... You know... classic"

"Yeah, I know" he chuckled. "Should have invited me and my friends tho, we never miss a chance to party."

"But I don't know anything about you, remember? Except your name, that you are kind enough to bring strangers coffee and that you are maybe a tortured artist. You'll get an invite when I know I can trust you."

He laughed.

"Who are you anyway, mystery man?"

"Let's do our assignment. We have to explain why we chose this major"

"So why did you?" I asked him.

"My friend and I were drunk and made a bet. If I were to successfully complete a semester, I would have something of his that I really want."

"You are joking, right?" I doubted every word he was saying to me.

"I swear to you I am not."

"You are even more mysterious. Who goes to college for a bet?"

He giggled. I continued.

" I call bullshit, but let's say this is true... what are you winning ?"

" You won't believe me..." He paused "His car. "

"Are you kidding me ? Who bets a fucking car? No way, you are right, I don't believe you."

I looked down at the paper and looked into his eyes, with a serious look.

" You do know that I cannot write that on here right? They will say I lied."

We laughed.

"You are right, but I swear on my best friend's life that drunk bet is real." He paused, then said more seriously " There is something you can write though... If I'm being honest, I needed a change of scenery. You wanted to know the chaos in my life ? Here is a glimpse. I recently broke up with who I thought was the one. She cheated on me. I was devastated for a while. I work with my best friends and my work has me partying quite a lot. I drank too much to try to get over it. We were fooling around one night and we made that bet. I wasn't exactly the best student in high school, I was getting myself in trouble, a lot, with those friends especially. Skipped classes. So he bet I wouldn't stand a chance surviving a four month semester. I gave it a thought and it was what I needed. Don't write that part about my relationship though, that will be only for you to know. You can tell that I'm trying to get creative, be inspired, get back in shape, I got into arts because I want to design a clothing line. This part is also true. "

"I am so sorry about your relationship Zachary. That sucks. "

"No need. I'm fine." He smiled slightly. " And call me Zacky, that's how my friends call me. Anyway, my best friend is the reason I am here, but I hope to get inspiration for my clothing brand."

"Okay, Zacky. Does this mean I am your friend now ? "

" I mean, I got your number, I brought you coffee, we're getting there, right?"

"Fair enough, and maybe I could help you."

"Help me get there? " He raised his eyebrows, wondering what I meant.

"No, silly... " I said, laughing. " With that clothing brand of yours"

"Oh yeah, no, of course" He relaxed. "Well, maybe, yeah, actually, it would be cool to have someone else's input, plus you are really talented."

" Anytime... It'll be my pleasure. Can you tell me about work? Working with your best friends and partying a lot does sound fun." I asked. "By any chance, are you hiring?"

"We do not, unfortunately" He laughed. "Let's not talk about that here. What do you say we finish this paper then we go for a walk? "

"Yeah, ok"

I proceeded to tell him about my dad not exactly being supportive of my career plan, the deal I made with him about getting a degree first, how this major was the most logical considering my interests. We finished the paper then went for a walk together as planned. I felt a lot of people were staring at us, it felt weird.

"So where do you work?" I came back to it. "I'm looking for a job, yours looks fun, wouldn't hurt to get some ideas." I glanced at him.

" I have an atypical job, the best one. I work from everywhere in the world, I get to travel the world. But I was born and grew up in Huntington Beach"

"I love how you're not telling me. Again with the mystery. Now I only wanna guess what it is that you do."

"You know what? I feel like I'm not telling you because people tend to see me differently when they know I am known."

"So you are famous? Let me guess. Are you a musician?"

" Yes. "

"Makes sense. I thought people were staring at me because I looked tired. "

"They stare because you look beautiful."

I laughed nervously. I clearly was blushing at that comment. I looked at him. God, was he handsome.

"Thank you. But they were not." We laughed. "So what do you play? Are you in a metal band?"

" I'm not telling you anything anymore... You can Google or find out for yourself." He looked at his cellphone. " I'm sorry, I gotta go. "

"Yeah, no problem. Thank you for this. But I am not planning on Googling you. That's boring."

"I'll text you" He grinned and then left.