After the past Friday afternoon, where I had met the prettiest girl I had ever seen in my 19 years of existence, I anxiously awaited this Monday morning.
Today I had school and work while Darius stayed with his grandma until I picked him up on my way home.
I had the same schedule as last Friday and I eagerly hoped that the mystery girl did too.
Darius had told me she introduced herself to him and that her name was Ally. I knew it sounded a little ridiculous but I couldn't help the jealousy arising in me as I realized he had already gotten to know her even more than I had.
I was hoping that would change though. This afternoon.
So with Ally consuming my every thought and being the cause of my lack of concentration in class and work, I carried on with my day impatiently until Darius and I stood hand in hand at our bus stop at the end of the day where I began to bombard myself with questions.
What if she didn't ride the bus regularly? What if I didn't get to see her today and I would have to wait for another chance tomorrow? What if I never saw her again at all?
Thankfully the bus pulled up a couple minutes later and after Darius and I greeted Mr. Peterson, I took notice of the empty seats and Ally's absence.
I pouted in disappointment, making sure to double check for the smaller girl but then sitting happily next to Darius after I remembered something.
The first time I saw Ally, she wasn't in the bus when we got on so maybe she was waiting at the next stop.
After making distracted conversations with Mr. Peterson for a couple minutes, he glanced at me through his window and I could've sworn he knew what, or who, I was thinking about. Then he looked ahead and his lips curved into a smile and that's when I saw her.
Messy light brown waves framing her face and her always apparent bright smile were the first things I caught sight of. She was dressed in some sort of chef's outfit so I assumed she had just got off of work.
Her smile got even wider when she saw Darius and I and I'm pretty sure I was blushing by the way she was looking at us.
So much adoration laced with happiness and surprise covered her features, especially her soft brown eyes.
"Darius! Hey buddy, I didn't think I'd see you again!"
The shorter girl barely had enough time to sit down in front of us before Darius crossed the short distance and wrapped his small arms as much as be could over her waist.
Of course that caused Ally to brighten up even more and lay her own arms over his back in response to his eager display of affection.
Darius was never a shy boy and he was adorable around his grandmother, always making me smile when he hugged her or told her his 'I love you''s when we arrived at her home and when we left to ours, but this was something else.
The way they had managed to connect this quickly, or how they held each other, or the way they said each other's name in adoration made me wonder how far this would go.
Both Darius and I were falling in love with her and I didn't think either of us ever wanted her to leave.
I let them speak for a moment, both of them sharing details about their day, before Ally looked up at me and we simply looked at each other in happiness before she spoke.
"Gosh I'm so sorry, I must've forgotten my manners today," again, a string of giggles that made my heart ache and my smile widen," I'm Ally, nice to meet you....?"
"Normani. I'm Normani and I'm sure you're already acquainted with Darius." I replied smoothly, gesturing to where he had taken the seat next to her.
Her laugh was something beautiful. Everything about her was a type of beauty I had never witnessed or even knew could exist. Obviously I was dying to speak to her and hear her voice but I also cherished the moments when I heard her giggle and smile in the prettiest way possible.
So from then on we easily slid into a pleasant conversation where Darius would add his own opinion here and there.
And this is what happened every afternoon for the rest of the week. Even in times where I wasn't physically near her, I would still have her in my mind. Sometimes replaying past conversations or sometimes creating my own daydreams about us, all three of us.
I knew that I wanted her around.
I knew that I wanted her to spend more time with Darius. I wanted her to watch movies with us and cook for us and simply exist with us. I wanted so badly to create an official "us". And I knew we would make it happen.
--
It was Saturday morning, and while Darius and I were a little disappointed over not being able to see our favorite girl in the world, I was currently stressing over something shockingly worse.
I had planned my Saturday to be relaxing, from waking up after a good nights sleep to spending the day lazily around the apartment with my son.
However, that wasn't what my boss had in mind for me.
I had gotten a call at six in the morning, requesting me to be at the dance studio for an unscheduled last minute early class starting at 7:30 am.
There was the fact that I had less than an hour and a half to physically get to the studio and then there was the fact that I had less than an hour an a half to emotionally get to a point where I could manage an entire dance class on my own while being under this much stress and pressure.
So I called the only person I knew that could calm me down with little to no effort.
"Hey, Ally?," I held the phone in between my cheek and my shoulder as I attempted to stuff my legs into my joggers, but failing miserably.
"Hey Moni. Why are you up so early?" The raspy edge to her tired morning voice made me lose control and almost sent me straight to the floor as I tripped over my pants.
"I have an unexpected class waiting for me in....a little over an hour and I'm really in such a rush that the only person I can rely on under such circumstances is you." Okay, maybe this was a little bit of a lie since my moms house was on the way to work and I could drop Darius off there but I didn't want to wake him up so early and maybe I was really hoping for a chance to see Ally, especially if it included having her in my home.
"Yeah, sure, Moni. You know if my car wasn't in the shop right now then I'd give you a ride but I'll definitely try to help with as much as I can."
I happily smiled at her words, easily noticing her genuine concern for me.
"Well, I need some help with watching Darius-"
"You got it Mani Bear, when do you want me to come over?"
"Oh god, thank you so much. It'll just be until the class is over, 3 hours at most."
--
"Mommy! It's been 2 weeks since we've seen Ally and I miss her."
"I know, baby. I miss her too. But her car works now and she doesn't have to take the bus. We should be happy for her. She struggles a little less now." The familiar ache in my chest became evident as soon as I was reminded of how much I missed my sunshine and how long it'd been since I had seen her. Of course we called and texted each other constantly, even video chatting a few times but it still didn't stop us from missing her terribly.
There was something about Ally that radiated happiness and positivity wherever she went. We were homesick and Ally was our home. We felt the peace and comfort with her that you can only feel in your home. We felt all the love and support and we craved it. We craved Ally and what she made us feel.
Darius had been whining for a couple minutes now but it hadn't bothered me until he began crying. Then I knew it wasn't an attempt at trying to annoy me, it was honest like my own sadness.
Sighing, I bent over to pick up my phone, knowing that soon enough our little sunshine would be joining us once again.
