All You Got

chapter 28

Luna

5 years later...

5 years later? Wait, you're lost right? Yes, its been five years. I graduated Stanford, chemistry, on time, and currently I'm working at a pharmaceutical company, at the laboratory. The money is good, for my first job. I live alone now, in California, where the university is. I'm lucky I found a job here, but I kind of wish I went back to OBX. About OBX: All my friends went to different universities, but we still keep in touch. Obviously with my cousins, and of course with the other three. Leo and Leah got married when Leah turned 21. Early, I know, but they are so in love with each other, everyone expected them to end up together. Leah's currently pregnant actually too, and everyone is thrilled. Me too. Mariah studied business administration and is currently the "mini boss" of the Wreck. Smart move, if you ask me, and it's a plus that she loves the restaurant completely. She's dating David for the past three years, and safe to say they're so cute together. I never expected David to like her, but he did for a long time before finally confessing his feelings to her. About Josh, currently he studies law in Harvard. And it suits him. He's working at a firm too, and overall, he's kept pretty busy. But that doesn't stop his love life from slowing. In the meantime, he's dating a lawyer at the firm, and things go well, as he says at least. He's the one I haven't seen in about a month, or more, and I miss him.

About me now.. Nothing much. Oh, yeah, I'm dating. His name is Mike, and we've met almost two years ago, hit it off well. It took me a long period of time to open up to someone new, to actually move on from him. Damon. I haven't heard from him in about 4 years. I don't know why we stopped speaking, but it just sort of happened. He's still in Canada, working at the airlines from what I know, and I'm sure everything's going well in his life. Sometimes though, I do something unhealthy. I check if he has deleted our photo from social media, the one when he took me flying for the first time. He hasn't ; and every time I check my heart skips several beats. But then I remembered that I, too, haven't deleted the picture, and I'm dating someone else. And that calms me down. I know I'm immature, but what can I say...

I get inside my apartment and open the lights, going to take a shower immediately. Its 6pm currently. I wash the day off completely and get out, seeing myself in the mirror. I have changed these past 5 years. I brush my hair, still blonde, but shorter, in layers as they are, and check my face. It hasn't changed. At all. Then, I check my body out. That has changed. I've put on some weight, I'm not the thin I was 5 years ago. I'm curvier. I put on weight in places you can imagine, but I've grown to like it. It shows that I've matured. Right?

I go to my bedroom and put on a fresh pair of panties, then my pajamas. I'm dead to do anything. I plop down to the couch, when my phone rings.

It's Mike.

"Hey." I say as soon as I answer the phone.

"Babe, hi. You ready for tomorrow, right?" he asks me and I smile softly, licking the spoon of ice cream clean.

Tomorrow, Mike and I are going to OBX. Yes, I'm taking him to home-sweet-home. I'm kind of nervous of him meeting my parents for the first time. I hope they like him. It's not like I'm gonna marry him though.

"Yep, all packed." I answer and I can feel him smiling through the phone.

"You?" I ask him after a few seconds of silence. "Yep, I'm all packed too. I just got off work too, and I was thinking if I sleep by your place tonight? Since you know, you're closer to the airport." he reasons himself and I nod, before remembering that he can't see me.

"Yeah, of course. I'll be waiting for you." I tell him and after some more chat, we hang up. He told me he'll go by his place to get fully ready, then he'll come to mine.

And after a good one hour wait, the bell rings.

I get up quickly and go to the door, greeting him with a hug and a peck on the lips. He pecks my neck too and we go in, resting on the couch.

Mike is cute. A handsome man. Tall, but not that tall, he's about 6ft tall or a little less. He has black hair, and black eyes, and a couple tattoos. He's working as a teacher. Yeah, his appearance makes people think he's a tattoo artist or something.

He knows about my past, but not everything. I don't think I need to share everything, and he respects that.

"So, what are we watching?" he asks and takes some ice cream too, making me whine. I faked it, obviously.

"You choose." I say and he sighs, before putting on a movie he's seen plenty of times already. I groan and he laughs. I open my phone and text Mariah.

Luna
How you doing? Is everything alright over there?

left me on read.

I would be pissed under other circumstances, but now, I know she's running like crazy. In two days, she's opening the restaurant as the "big boss". She's not changing anything, yet she wants to do an event. Like the end of an Era and the start of another one. That's mostly the reason we're going. Also, it's a nice opportunity to go back home, even if it's just for a week. We leave tomorrow, Saturday, and come back next Saturday evening.

Mariah
Babes sorry, I've been running like crazy. Yeah, everything's fine. I can't wait for you to get here.

I smile at my phone and text her back, and I see Mike looking at me. Oh not again.

"Who are you talking to?" he asks me and I answer Mariah, simply. He nods and goes back to the movie. Mike can be jealous. That's why I said "not again" earlier. In the early stages of our relationship, he got jealous easily, which wasn't the deal for me, really, but I decided to give him a chance. And he didn't do something similar again. Or he faked it really well.

I check the time. 9.30. I decide to give the movie another chance and watch some with Mike, but it's so bad, I fall asleep in his arms.

I guess, OBX here we go.