Begin Again

[ 4. stranger danger]

He was stuck inside the bathroom for about an hour- pretty much he had the intention to remain in there for as long as he wanted.

Seeing those brown almond shaped eyes emblazoned on that feminine, fragile looking face; his task was made a whole lot rigorous. He never thought she would look a whole lot ethereal in reality than she appeared in the photos.

"Keep yourself together Gavin. Breathe." He clutched his knees whilst whispering to himself.

He stood up from the toilet seat, stopped by the sink to wash his hands and went out of the bathroom. His eyes wandered around the diner and searched for a particular figure.

Oceane was positioned beside the glass window fronting the diner and she had company. He examined her entirety for the second time.

She wore a loose grey shirt that made her look twice her actual chubby frame. Her curly shoulder-length brunnete hair suited her well. She wore black tights and dark blue sneakers. She appeared harmless and mediocre but she was still the girl he came after for.

He took a deep strained breath and ordered a bowl of dark chocolate flavored ice cream, a quarter pound burger and sat on a few tables away from Oceane. He wanted a clear vantage point of her and he couldn't think of any perfect place to settle other than where he is at the moment.

* * *

A waitress took Aleph and Oceane's order and placed it on the counter. On their tab were 3 bowls of mango ice cream, another bowl of dark chocolate, large fries and two quarter pound burgers.

"Oh no you did not! Why are you such a lame brain? Were you so preoccupied of your urine induced bladder that you forgot what a female bathroom looks like? Come on!" Aleph said while stifling a laugh. Her lips were quivering and her stomach ached so bad she wanted to roll on the floor for days; which were notions of course caused by her clumsy sister.

"Don't you dare underestimate my bladder! And just because I failed to look at signs does not mean I have a lame brain! I just screwed up, not lose my intellect! You judgmental tumbleweed!" Oceane retorted, keeping her cool yet managing to make her voice a bit more angry.

"Okay I'll stop but please I beg you, do not try to overlook such a simple detail ever again or you'll end up going inside a lion's den instead of an elephant's! Damn it!" And with a sigh, Aleph's face was hard to make out.

Oceane was laughing inside knowing her sister was overly affected by such a simple mistake and was making a big deal over her utter idiocy when she has been like it ever since they were kids. Nothing was new about it. "Your face looks like a hippo's wrinkled bosom." She taunted, earning an ear flick form Aleph.

"Ouch! Why? This is child abuse missy! An act of felony!" She again teased, mustering a grin.

"Bloody hell would you stop with those acts of felonies Oceane! Do you want to replace the local legislator? Tell me! I'd without a doubt send you to Harvard for law school! You're freaking me out!" Her older sister shouted back at her, its face turning tomato red, and she could almost imagine the fumes coming out from her sister's nose and ears.

Oceane snuck a tongue out and rolled her eyes upward. "Why so cranky Broncalle? Are you on your period today? Hot swiss you could explode from all the crankiness I can see in you! Chill sis, chill."

Her elder sister did nothing but heave in a deep sigh and calmed her nerves; they were in a diner after all- their personal place of indulgence and bliss.

"So are you still sending letters to mister effing artsy?" A question that came out from Aleph's mouth, regret filling in her system the moment she knew Oceane heard. It was not a cool topic to delve in.

With pursed lips, Oceane kicked her sister on the knee from below table. "I thought I made it clear not to talk about him?" She said briefly, tired and drained from the intensity that single question held.

Closing her eyes for a bit, while knitting her hands together, Aleph decided to keep her mum and thought about other topics to talk about.

Oceane almost saw her elder sister's mouth burst open when she heard her dark chocolate bowl paged in the counter. She shot Aleph a knowing look and stood up from their table.

She scurried to the counter and laid her hands to the precious bowl that contained the most beautiful edible thing in the world, but she was welcomed by another pair of hands that also clasped the bowl at the same moment she did.

She fixated her gaze to the owner of those territorial hands only to leave her mouth agape and her eyes wider than Sahara.

It was the guy from the bathroom and he was also mustering the same reaction as hers. And as if static electricity coursed through their hands, they both let go of the bowl.

"Excuse me but this is my order." She said trying hard to sound tough and authoritative.

He shot her a confused look, lifted a brow and pulled from her grasp the bowl of divine happiness. "No, this is my order. Get lost." Gavin said, turning his back from Oceane heading for his table, but right before he could take the second step, his hair was pulled back to the direction where Oceane stood.

The impenetrable Gavin had his hair pulled and abused by the girl who gave nothing but pure lament to Damon.

"What the fvck!" He shouted, furious and feeling violated. "What the fvck to you too and give me back my ice cream!" She shouted back, desperately reaching for the ice cream bowl which was shamelessly held by a misconstrued guy he never saw before.

But as if on cue, she heard the attendant call from the counter: "Dark chocolate ice cream for Oceane!" Knowing the extent of her lavish idiocy and her face turning hot red, she took desperate steps to the counter to claim her order.

As she got her bowl of divine happiness, she passed by the other side, planning to evade any breathing soul when she was suddenly grabbed on the elbow by the guy whom she had an argument a while ago.

He whispered to her: "Nice try Oceane. Consider listening carefully next time, or perhaps you wanted to be me, we could trade names if you want."

With eyes wide, she wiggled her hands free from Gavin's grip as she took nitro-boosted steps back to her table.

She sat down and heaved in exasperated breaths while clutching her heart to feel the rapid beat of her pumping chambers.

"Out of breath?" She felt the hair at the back of her neck spike up as the gentle wind that came out from his mouth, lapse out as a breathy voice, entering her ears, boundlessly resonating inside her mind.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Her elder lovely sister spatted out, making the situation nevertheless worse.

"The hell I care." She shouted back, as she stood up and went straight to the door. She got out from the diner and marched her way home, fuming.

She had enough embarrassment for one day and she need not to be reminded of them. She knew Aleph would declare bloody war the moment they'll face each other in the house but she did not care anymore.

She knew it was a bad idea to go out of the house and now she suffered the consequences of doing so, dragging along a misguided egocentric stranger with it.