Dear Stranger

Chapter 10

"So how did you found out about my secret identity?" I joked and gave her a cup of coffee. She smiled and took it before thanking me as I sat next to her. "Joey called you Iclemeyer yesterday at the party. So I kind of freaked out" she chuckled. "And then I looked online and that was it. I discovered everything about you" she took a sip. "Really? Man I can't even remember that..." I rubbed my forehead. "You were pretty drunk" she reminded me. "Yeah I was" I giggled.

We talked about everything and nothing. And it was nice. No dark looks. No hate. Just the letter boy and the letter girl finally able to talk face to face.

"How did you think I looked like?" I asked her. "Uuuh, that seems like a trick question" she grinned. I chuckled. "No, I'm just... Curious I guess". "Actually you're kinda similar to the guy I was picturing. You're a hipster too" she explained. "What? I'm not a hipster" I frowned. "Shut up, you're totally a hispter. You like to grow a beard and you have longer hair than most men. You are a very classy guy and you can't stop saying 'man' and 'dude' all the time. You're totally a hipster. Not that there is something wrong with that. I kinda like hipsters" she smiled. She looked shy; she blushed at her own comment. She looked cute.

I didn't know how I could not like her; how I could sigh about having to see this face every day. She seemed like an angel to me now. I smiled back fondly and she looked down. A silence took over and she put her cup on the coffee table. "I should probably go" she said almost in a whisper. "No, why? Do you have plans? Maybe we can go out for lunch or something?" I proposed. She stood up and put her hands in her pockets. "I don't know... Maybe you would want to spend some time with your girlfriend today!" she was trying to sound happy, but that kind of failed. "It's a beautiful day, and it's the weekend! You should take advantage of it! Take her somewhere nice" she smiled sightly. "M-my girlfriend?" I asked.

I tried to take a relaxed tone, but even I could tell it really wasn't. "Yeah! You told me you were with someone right? That day at the office?" she pointed out. Oh fuck. Why did I said that back then? Oh right. It was after the... Incident? Not sure how to call it now. I can't tell her I was talking about her, the letter girl and I never discussed our relationship. I can't tell her I have a girlfriend, obviously. "Uhm actually I-" I started to say before I got cut off by a ringtone. It was my phone.

I sighed loudly. "I'm sorry, hang on" I said and took it out. Joey. Of course he had to ruin this. "Hello?" I answered. "Ok buddy we have something to tell you" he said. "We?" I frowned. "Lauren and I" he rectified. "Oh. Ok. Listen I'm kinda busy at the moment. Maybe I can call you back later?" I proposed. Say yes, say yes, say yes. "Actually we're outside. Open up for us!" he responded. I mouthed a huge "No", which made y/n both frown and chuckle. "Ok, I will. See ya" I eventually said.

I hang up and walked to the door. "Joey and Lauren are here. They wanna talk or something, do you mind?" I asked. "Uhm no..." she scratched her arm. I turned to open the gate but she stopped me. "Wait! Can we... Can we just keep the whole 'We're good now' thing to us?" she asked. I frowned. "No, please don't take it the wrong way. It's just that they have been so annoying when we were hating each other, can you imagine how awful they will get if they know we're over it?" she widened her eyes. She was right. Having them knowing would be the beginning of a huge amount of questions and spying on us. They could be worst than parents on their first child's date. "Ok. Secret kept" I agreed. She nodded and I opened the door.

"What do we say for you being here then?" I realized. "Let's just say we had to work out something for work" she proposed. "Yeah" I breathe out and hurried to put some pens, sheets and some folded papers on the coffee table. "Take a seat on the couch and just pretend to be busy" I said. She nodded and I just had the time to take my guitar and to sit on the couch when the front door opened.

"Darren! 911 time!" Lauren said. They both turned to the couch to notice y/n was here. "Oh... You're here too" Joey said, disturbed. He seemed to think about it and glanced at Lauren. "It's okay. You were the next stop anyway" he said. He got in front of us and rubbed his hands nervously. I put my guitar aside, "What's going on guys?" I asked. "Guys you need to be seated for this" Joey announced. "Joey we're already on the couch" y/n said. Lauren chuckled nervously. What was up with them? "Ok so... Darren... Remember that girl you're writing letters to?" he asked. I nodded. "Y/n, remember the guy you're writing to?" Lauren asked. It was like they rehearsed their speech or something. It was perfectly organized. "Uhm yeah" she answered, confused. Joey put his squeezed hands against his lips. "Come on, Richter" Lauren encouraged him. "Ok... You guys..." he said slowly "Are actually writing to each other".

Y/n stood up immediately. "Wait, wait, wait. Since when you do guys know about this?" she asked. "Uhm... Last week" Joey recalled in â guilty tone. "I read one of the letter you send to Darren and I recognized your drunk story" he added. Y/n turned to me slowly and very discretely winked. I did my best not to smile. Act it up, Darren.

"Are you serious right now? You guys knew I was writing to this douche and you didn't tell me?" she said a little louder. "Hey! I'm not a douche!" I stood back up. I tried to look angry. "Guys, guys, guys. Calm down. Just try to see the good sides here. That actually means you two are getting along after all" Lauren shrugged. "Yeah! Plus you actually had sex with your letter person, so no guilty feelings" Joey pointed. "Wait, you guys had sex?" Lauren frowned. "Yes we did, Lopez" y/n said loudly. "Worst decision I've ever made" I added. Y/n pointed at me "What he said".

She quickly took her purse and her jacket and hurried to the door. "Where are you going?" Joey asked. They both turned to you. "Away. Seriously guys, what you did was not okay. I thought we didn't had any secrets with each other!" she exclaimed. Lauren twisted her mouth and looked down. "When you learn things like that, you're supposed to tell us right away. Even if that means discovering that my letter guy is a big joke!" she screamed. Shit, I almost smiled. "You are!" I screamed back. She opened the door and before she could close it, I took advantage of Joey and Lauren looking away to motion to her to call me. I think she got the sign. Good. Now time for some explanations.

Monday was so different. It felt like she was a total different person. After spending several hours on the phone during the weekend, we now joked and laughed. Nothing like the old mood we were in. I explained to her my whole conversation with the guys, about how we couldn't be together, because after all, we hated each other. It was funny to do. It was a secret between us that I was willing to keep.

We were currently trying to write the last songs, but the sheets were blank, the inspiration was definitely not there and a silence, way more comfortable then the one before, took its place in the studio.

"We only have one week left and we have three songs... And nothing in our heads..." I said, my head against the dark wood of the table. "Uh huh" she agreed and kept tapping her fingers on it.

It was the end of the afternoon and we had been looking at white pages for hours. "Grab your stuff. I have an idea" she suddenly said. The smile was back on her face, which was a good sign. "Where are we going?" I asked. "You'll see! Come on, move your ass! If we hurry we might get there for the sunset" she said. She took her stuff, as well as a few sheets and she put on her purse and a guitar. "Let's go" she said excited.

She took me to her car and drove some place I had no idea of. The music of the radio was all over the car and when I saw a "Santa Monica" boardwalk, I knew what she had in mind.

She parked in front of the ocean and got out of the car quickly. She took a few items as I took the rest and we settled in front of the ocean. She took off her shoes and took a deep breath. "Isn't it the best place ever?" she grinned. 'With you, probably' I thought. "Yeah, it's really beautiful" I smiled. She sat on the sand and I joined her.

"I always come here when I want to write. There is something about this place... The sounds of the waves against the sand, the color of the sky when night falls. It's so peaceful. Like nothing else matters. Just the moment" she looked at the ocean with the same smile that couldn't leave her face since we got here. "We're gonna be inspired here, you'll see" she said. She took out some sheets and the guitar and gave it to me. "Go on. Just look and play" she pointed at the sunset.

She looked at it and I looked at her. I looked at the way her eyes were twinkling, the way her hair were shining against the late sun, and her smile. I looked at the power she had on me and the inspiration she gave me. I just had to look at her. I knew at this moment that no matter what will happen between us, I will remember that night for the rest of my life.