Antilove

Cinque

CAPITOLO CINQUE

a second chance, a second date

***

"HOW'S THE GIRLFRIEND?" Rose asks Alex.

They're sitting outside one of their favorite restaurants, squinting at the sunset. Rose is fiddling with her halter top, getting it untangled from her jewelry while Alex is toying with his vape pen. He only picked it up to be ironic and to be able to say "I vape" with a sly smirk on his face. Alex Lee is the type of person to do that, having recently adopted a slew of vocabulary to be satirical and finding that the new words have stuck to his tongue.

"Her name's Chelsea, if you must know. Delightful, she is."

Rose rolls her eyes.

"I'm really not in the mood for your artful angst, Alex."

Alex shrugs and gives a torturous sigh, lips quirking up at Rose's obvious dismay. The pretense finally drops when she puts on her sunglasses and sips her coffee. If there's one thing she never does, it's drinking black coffee. Rose Kaufman is an avid believer of using Splenda, despite the warnings all her coworkers give her during the early hour shoots.

"She's taking me sightseeing tomorrow. Can you believe it?" Alex says.

At this, Rose laughs heartily—it would've been disgusting had she not swallowed her mouthful.

"You've lived here your whole life," she says.

"Never seen all the 'good stuff,' I suppose," he replies.

There's a pair glasses sitting on his nose and he knocks it askew when he rubs his eyes. Today, Alex looks exceptionally like the history major that he is and extraordinarily worn down. It's almost typical to see him lacking sleep since he's a good student—well, a better student than Rose ever was. Plus, she doubts he's been going to bed early with his girlfriend around.

They sit in amicable silence, people-watching and commenting on how the colors of the sky change. It's a dumb game they've picked up over the years but it's a fun one that makes them giggle like children. Rose enjoys being with Alex alone than being with Alex and the rest of their friends. He's less rowdy, more thoughtful, and far more immature.

"You like boyfriend jeans?" she probes.

"I'm indifferent. My legs look good in them though," he replies.

This sets off another bout of laughter, one that neither can understand and life is sweet again, like the caramel-drizzled sky. Alex pushes his hair off his forehead and one of the sun's rays hits him there and so he ducks his head down and rests his chin to his hand.

"Are you going to finish the bagel?" he asks.

"No, I have dinner soon," she replies.

His chair scrapes backwards as he rolls up the sleeves to his elbows so he can pick off the bagel. "Relationship?" he asks once he's taken a bite.

"Kind of? I picked him off of the curb," she jokes.

Alex gives her a closed-lip smile, contents almost tumbling out, and takes ahold of her hand tightly.

"You're following my footsteps, young one."

"You're disgusting," she grimaces and pries her hand out of his grip. "Also," she adds, "I'm older than you."

"You never let me forget," he sighs.

Rose checks her reflection in her phone screen and pays the check, having to hurry home for her second date with Lucien. On Thursdays, Alex is usually always busy and can't stay long because he has obligations at his local animal shelter. Whenever they hangout, it's never at his place—a house full of critters and cages. His parents are vets and he developed a liking to any and all animals, despite never wanting to follow their footsteps. Rose had to learn that the hard way when she woke up on his bed with a nest of hedgehogs by her stomach.