Dear Stranger

Chapter 5

"This is a nightmare" I said over the phone. I put it against my cheek and my shoulder to take the hot pocket on the fridge, still holding my phone. "You're overreacting, dude" Joey told me back. "I swear I'm not. You should have seen her yesterday. She insulted me! She said I was unprofessional and unable to put my feelings aside. She doesn't even know me!" I explained. I threw the food into the microwave and push the right button. "Darren, I don't know what you guys have against each other. I mean, I swear she's one of the best people I know" Joey defended her. "Are you saying I'm a liar? Man, she attacked me for no fucking reason!" I repeated a little louder. "Ok calm down bro. Either way, you guys will have to work together. Maybe that would change the way you see her" Joey said optimistically. "I doubt it. I can't stand her" I said. I couldn't even imagine her being nice to me.

"Ok, you know what? Let's just change the subject. Do you have news from your letter girl? Did you get her name?" Joey asked. I knew he was smiling. I couldn't blame him. Just the thought of her made me smile too. "I didn't got her letter yet. And no Joey, the whole point of this is that it's anonymous" I explained. I took the hot pocket out of the microwave and put it on the counter. "I don't really see the point of keeping it anonymous if you wanna do more with her. I mean you like her, right?" Joey asked. "Yeah, I think so" I admit. I took out a fork from the drawer and started to eat. "Don't you wanna meet her or like talk to her face to face?" Joey asked. "Af curse I jus-" "What?" I heard him asking. I swallow my bite and correct myself. "Sorry I'm eating" I explained. He sighed. He's used to it. "Of course. It's just that I'm not sure we're ready yet. Plus, imagine if she's a fan? I don't want her to freak out and treat me like everyone treats a celebrity. I want her to keep thinking of me as the nice letter guy and not Blaine Anderson" I explained.

"Yeah, but if you want more, you'll have to do it at some point" Joey pointed. "Yeah..." I pinch my lips and looked down at my dinner. "What do you know about her already?" Joey asked. "Well, uhm, she's living in LA, she-" "She's living in LA?!" Joey cut me. "Yeah, that's what I just said" I chuckled. "Do you have her address?" he asked. "Joey, where would I send her letters if I didn't have her address?" I giggle at him. "Dumb question. Stop laughing at me, dumbass!" he laughs with me. "What are you waiting for? Go see her!" he added once our laughter slowed down. "I don't know Joey" I hesitated. "You don't even have to say that you're that letter boy! Just go see what she looks like at least!" he said excitedly. I chuckled again. He had this thing of getting excited very fast. "I don't know. I will think about it" I said.

We kept talking for a while, I finished my dinner and spent the night playing piano. I flew to New York for the weekend to see some shows and walk through Broadway. I was very excited to put a little bit of me in this brand new musical.

And then Monday came and I had to remind myself of that excitement to get my ass up and go join y/n and Ricky at the place he texted me about. The idea of spending my days with her wasn't very appealing, but at least the music was with me. When I got there, both of them were already waiting for me outside of the building. I hugged Ricky and nodded my head at her. Man, this was already awkward. Ricky leads us to the building and showed us the place he rented so we could work. A studio full of instruments, music sheets, and a huge table with a few chairs. It already inspired me. He gave us the scripts and just like that he was out to keep his day going.

And there I stood, with her, in that studio. In the loudest silence, I took off my coat and turned on some heaters. Without saying a word, we both sat at the place and read the script. It really was a beautiful story.

It was about that girl, Amanda, who was dreaming about being on Broadway. She never felt like she belonged in her life, neither with her husband nor with her job. She dropped everything only to find out home is not a place, it's a feeling.

It inspired me a whole lot. I raised my head to see y/n going to grab a guitar. If we wanted this to work, we need to make an effort. "Beautiful story, huh?" I asked away. I closed the script on the table and turned around to grab my own guitar. "Yeah it is. The writer's really talented" she answered short. Gosh, I normally could talk forever, but I just couldn't right now. It was like she... intimidated me at some point. "We have 17 songs to write so we better get going. How do you usually work? Do you get the music or the lyrics first?" she asked. We discussed for a while about our different techniques of writing, always keeping it professional and steady. We worked on a few melodies, wrote a few sentences, brainstormed some and it was already time to go.

"Sorry we have to stop early today. We can stay later tomorrow if you want" she said. She closed the door of the studio and put her coat back on. "Yeah, sure" I answered. "Ok. See you tomorrow" she said. I was going to answer, but she walked away before I got a chance to. That wasn't that bad. Of course I would rather joke and have a little more fun but anyway... It's different.

I walked to my car and drove on the way home. The soundtrack of Chicago was playing and for the first time today, I relaxed. I stopped at a red light and looked around. A floral shop came into my eyes and I couldn't take stop starring at the roses exposed outside. "What are you waiting for? Go see her!" I heard Joey's voice as if he was next to me. I parked my car and quickly ran to buy those flowers.

I had to try. With my heart beating fast and my fingers drumming on the steering wheel, I drove to the address that I was used to writing on a piece of paper. It was a building. I just had to walk in, see the number, catch her name and go see her. I took the flowers from the back seat, closed the car and passed the gate of the building. I looked around. It was nice. Seemed expensive. The little garden I was going through was very clean and full of trees. Suddenly I wondered what she looked like, what I will see in her eyes and what kind of clothes she will be wearing. I looked down and smile to myself. I was going to see her. I almost couldn't believe it.

Reality came back to my face just as rudely as I bumped into that person. "Oh my god. I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention and-" "Darren?" the familiar voice said. Y/n. Out of all the people I could have bumped into just the night I wanted nothing but to stop thinking about her, here she was. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Well" she chuckled. "I was just leaving my apartment" she explained. Was her and y/n neighbors? Oh god no. What if they were like friends and she talked about me to her? Oh no. "And you? What are you doing here with... Roses?" she asked confused. "I just... Got lost I guess. I was searching for the... Hospital. My grandmother is there. Yep. These are for my grandma" I lied as I held up the bouquet. Out of all the things you could have said, really Darren? "Uhm you really did get lost. There is no hospital around here" she explained. "I guess my GPS fucked up" I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah. Anyway, you shouldn't stay here. The security guard is gonna fire you from here. Come on" she said and walked to the gate. God. Why did she have to ruin this?

I stood there but she insisted. "What are you waiting for? Come on!" she opened the gate and motioned me to get out. I rolled my eyes and sighed. She closed the gate behind her, of course. Gosh she's even a bitch when she has no clue she is. Well... I hope your grandmother is doing good. See you tomorrow" she said quickly. "Bye" I said coldly. She raised her eyebrows at me and left without saying more. I sighed loudly.

Thanks for ruining everything, y/n. I threw the bouquet in the closest bin. Looks like I won't meet the letter girl tonight.