Hop-On Hop-Off

Zwei.

The loud energy from the party buzzed in the atmosphere like electricity searching for its pray to strike at the right moment. As Bob claimed last Tuesday, I got an e-mail from boss on weekend with an invitation to the welcoming party. Honestly, I was still hungover the fact that boss personally mailed each and every employee to invite them or who was I kidding? It was probably his PA. The whole party thing seemed bizarre at first glance.

I agreed to attend it because 1) Free food in this economy? Hell yes. 2) I was broke. The latter figuratively speaking of course, yet I couldn't shake the feeling of being a parrot in a flock of ravens all around me.

God, anxiety is such a bitch.

To feel better, I made my way to the bar after I was done with small talk and conversing with enough set of people that my anxiety raked up to the almost hazard level, where I asked for two tequila shots and drowned them in less than five seconds. I twisted my body on the stool in a way so that my arms were settled on the bar behind me with one leg crossed over the other. 

And then I let my brain did whatever it did whenever I saw a crowd of people.

My eyes wandered over every person, consenting my brain for once to conjure up thoughts about the endless possibilities of what might be the backstory/upcoming story of them. Maybe the guy flirting with boss's sister had commitment issues and looked around just for fun. Or he had a complicated relationship with the term 'love' and was one of those who didn't believe in it.

I know it sounded hella judgemental but the difference was that I didn't let those possibilities form an opinion about the person without talking to them. I was very much aware that what I was thinking about them ninety-nine percent didn't happen and I took pleasure in continuing it because it gave me a lot of ideas for my books and helped me with my writer's block at times. 

It began after I wrote my first ever story in middle school. I couldn't figure out what really was happening until I hit my teenage years but after years of experiencing this activity of making scenarios, I was so comfortable with the fantasy bubble that I never wanted it to pop.

Plus, it let me forget for some time how annoying people were in real life anyway. 

For the next few minutes or so, I got so many ideas to go ahead with for the new mystery book calling my name in my laptop that I almost got up to say my goodbyes and leave for my apartment. 

But just as I made my decision, my gaze met a set of hazel eyes I couldn't recognise. He was still conversing with the people around him but never once did our eye contact break. 

Until I allowed myself to see the rest of him. Sharp jaw, luscious dark- almost black- curls and broad physique that even the white shirt he wore stretched, flaunting his biceps. The sight took my breath away in such a way that suddenly I regretted wearing a woolen dress even though it was less than five degrees outside. 

"Dorothea, I'm surprised you made it here!" 

Our short lived trance shattered when I heard Gina coming up beside me. 

"Great party, Gin." I gave the Latina a polite smile as she dived into a conversation about a club she went to recently where the drinks were so cheap, she almost believed she had left Prague and accidentally ended up in another state. 

She waved a hand in the air, "Anyway, did you meet the guest of the night? He's super hot." She whispered me the last part before her incoherent words dissolved into giggles. 

I awkwardly held her arms when she slipped on air and said, "Er...I think you've had a lot to drink, Gina." 

But she gathered and made herself comfortable on one of the bar stools, "I'm fine, I'm fine. As I was saying, God Dorothea, he looks like someone straight out of the rom-coms. I mean phew," she fanned another hand in cool air while rolling her eyes dramatically. 

I huffed trying not to lose my patience over this newcomer who had suddenly swept everyone's thoughts and it hadn't been even a day since he joined, "No offence, but I don't really get the fuss about the ass kissing when it hasn't ever happened before to anyone. Unless, he's Jesus Christ walking down the ramp with gold eyeshadow. Now that would be-"  

I was speaking more freely than I did usually but I blamed it on the two shots I had before and that...enchanting ogling session with the stranger. 

A  throat cleared behind me before a smooth voice drawled, "While, I'm very much pleased to hear your fantasies of me, I'm afraid to inform that I'm in fact not a deity."

British accent.

"Unless we're talking about Hell."

Gina's lips thinned with an indecipherable expression as I closed my eyes in exasperation. Just how I wanted my night go. 

"I think I need to water some plants." She got up slowly and awkwardly went away but not before I mouthed 'Traitor' to her.

Preparing myself for another embarrassing confrontation, I took a deep breath and turned only to clash with a newly familiar pair of hazel eyes. 

My breath hitched, as realisation dawned over me. Standing before me was the same stranger I earlier had a staring contest with but this time, the faint buzz of electricity between us had turned into a full blown thunder. Goosebumps covered my skin as I tried not to squirm under his scrutiny and my cheeks turned scarlet. 

Dimples appeared on his flawless cheeks as he said, "Felix Carter, twenty-four, the new bus driver for green line and apparently, a recently discovered God figurine to some out here."

I wished earth to open then and there so that she could swallow me.  

But I brushed off my inner nerves filled with mortification begging to crawl all over me and instead tried to appear unfazed by his subtle dig at my earlier comment, "Dorothea Zelda, conductor of the blue line and definitely do not see you as a God figurine." Even though you resemble a Greek one.

Disrespectfully, shut up conscience. 

He let out a chuckle as he sipped what looked like whiskey from his glass and something flipped inside my stomach at the sound.

And just when I thought he was going to make another dig, he held his glass in a small salute and left with a wink that went straight to my chest, "I guess you'll be seeing of this sometimes God figurine a lot, Thea."

Thea. My heart skipped a beat or two. 

Only when he was out of sight, I let loose a sigh of relief I didn't know I was holding back. I picked up my bag and cardigan, bolted out of the room, the hall and soon the block but my heart didn't stop fluttering even when I lay silently under the covers of my bed. 

I chose to blame it on the last health checkup I skipped and definitely not a pair of hazel eyes before sleep finally greeted my endless thoughts.

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yall i totally forgot to update help 😭🙏

but the second chapter is here finally and we meet our very own deity (iykyk) 🤭 tell me about your thoughts on this first meet and greet between thea and carter!!!!

love, ct <3

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