insomnia

night iv

If cash had a penny for every time his life has taken a sudden turn, good or bad, he probably wouldn't be wiping down a table at a crappy Italian restaurant and instead would be enjoying a vacation to a nice resort on a tropical island.

Examples of bad changes: his mom's anxiety, the job he worked at, starting to have a higher tolerance for caffeine, and the bank not giving him a loan and his uncle not being able to do anything about it.

Examples of good changes: getting accepted into NYU, graduating with a 3.8 gpa, finding his guitar sitting in the side of the street after he lost it somewhere, and Ashlund.

The phone call he had just picked up would fall into either category.

"Hey Uncle," he greeted the caller, holding the phone in place between his ear and shoulder as he continued to wipe down the tables.

"Aren't you at work?" His uncle asked.

"Yep." He popped the 'p'. "I'm closing."

"Oh, okay," his uncle replied, and there was an awkward silence before his uncle spoke again.

"The bank called me."

Cash stopped what he was doing, standing bolt-right and clutching his cracked phone in his hand. "What went down?" He asked breathlessly.

"They said that they reviewed your proposition, and they'll give a loan and try to help you buy that one place you've had your eye on for a while, since the owners went bankrupted and the bank now owns the building." His uncle was smiling on the other side of the phone, happy that things finally went well for his nephew.

Cash fist bumped the air, doing a little jig before talking again. "You're not pulling my tail, are you?"

"Nope," his uncle said cheerily.

"Oh my god, thank you so much," he breathed.

"Anything for you, my boy. Your parents will be so proud."

"I know," he whispered before hanging up.

Cash quickly finished with the tables, walking on air. He was on cloud-nine. the dream that he has had since he was a little kid was finally coming true. His cafe, finally a reality. It brought tears to his eyes. And there was only one person he wanted to celebrate with.

He hollered out to his manager, informing her that he was leaving as he dashed out the door, letting the balmy, sweaty heat hit his body. The moon was high in the sky and the stars twinkled a hello. His feet slapped the concrete as he started to run towards Central Park, the city's noise a symphony in his ears. nothing could drag him down.

Finally the park's slopping hills and trees came into view, and his speed increased.

He got to the clearing, a small frown on his face when he saw that Ashlund wasn't there waiting. He sat down, not even having his guitar to give him company, waiting for the hazel haired girl that he had met four days previous.

He didn't know why he enjoyed her presence so much, a total stranger. He was rude to most people, giving a persona of importance and coldness so no one would dare touch him. After the first night she walked up to him he had thawed, and when he saw her delusional from fever and anxiety, something inside him snapped and he had to help her. Have you ever met a new group of people and you automatically connected, a homeliness that you had never felt before expands inside your rib cage and sets roots, so you never want to leave those people again? That was Cash and Ashlund, a set matched by the gods themselves to be friends.

Cash waited for a hour, looking behind him whenever a sound was made. She never showed, so in the wee hours of the mornings he stood up, stretched his long legs, and started walking.