Open Eyes (Phan)

Ten

Phil

"Lock up when you leave."

"Will do," I replied. Chris strode out the door. I glanced up at the clock. Two hours. I had two hours left. And then I was free. Free of obligations and responsibilities; at least for a while.

As I stood there, toying with the bookmarks, my mind started to wander. I thought about my parents. I hadn't seen them in a few months. But Christmas was only two and a half months away. We got together once a year. I missed my mum and my dad and my older brother Martyn.

I thought about Dan. I hadn't seen or heard from him in about a week. He hadn't been in his corner. I found myself hoping I'd run into him on the street or something. Wishful thinking, am I right?

Maybe that's what I'd do with my time when I got off. I'd text Dan and see what he was up to.

I felt bad for him. For his mum and brother leaving. It made me wonder if there was anything else going on with him. He clearly had some serious anxiety issues. It made me worry.

Two hours passed ever so slowly. And when the time came for me to leave, I grabbed my phone and left.

After locking the door, I started walking down the street. I was just about to pull out my phone to text Dan when I saw a familiar figure walking towards me. Slumped shoulders, head tilted down, and a blank stare.

Yup, that was definitely Dan.

I lifted one arm up and waved frantically. It only took a second for him to recognize me. He slowed his pace and gave me a tiny wave in return.

"Hey, Dan!" I called when we were within earshot.

"Hey," he called back. We stopped in front of each other.

"How've you been?" I asked him.

"I'm fine." He said. He kept looking at the ground. He didn't seem fine. Almost everything was normal. His chocolate brown hair was slightly messy, as if he'd half assed doing it this morning. He was still wearing all black.

But his eyes. Never in my life had I seen eyes so lifeless. It was like his soul had been sucked out of him. They were completely blank. Void of emotion. Looking into them was like looking into bottomless pits.

No, he did not seem fine.

"That's good," I replied. "Do you want to get a cup of coffee or something?"

I saw him nod slightly. But I didn't miss the way his shoulders slumped and how he heaved a sigh a moment later.

I didn't say anything else as I led the way up the hill to the coffee shop on the corner. The walk was silent. You could've heard a pin drop. Normally it wasn't hard for me to break an awkward silence. But this time I had absolutely no idea what to do.

The little bell above the door chimed when we walked in. I stood in the line of two people. I was all to aware of Dan's silent, heavy presence next to me. I moved up in the line.

I glanced over at him. His gaze still hasn't left the ground. What was wrong? Why was he acting so strange?

Dan was already strange as it was. He was usually quiet, and distant. But even this was beyond him. Granted, I had only know him for a short while. But somehow I knew, something was off. There was definitely something wrong with Dan.

I gave the raven haired woman our drink order, the same as last time. We got our drinks and went to sit at the same table.

We sat silently for a few minutes. Not once did Dan look up. Not once did Dan take a single sip from his drink. I thought I saw him blink twice. His eyes remained blank.

"It's been a while," I piped up. He seemed startled by me, like he had forgotten I was there.

"Yeah, I know." Dan said simply.

"What've you been up to?"

"Nothing really," he answered, after a slight pause. I noted the hesitation in the answer. It almost seemed like he wasn't telling me the truth.

"Dan. Look at me." He looked up at me. Now I could truly look into his eyes. I could feel my own cheerful soul deteriorating. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"There's clearly something wrong. It's been a week since we've talked. You can't look me in the eyes. Three words is literally the most you've said since we ran into each other. What's going on?" I didn't take my eyes from his downcast gaze as I waited for him to answer. And I didn't move my gaze as his golden flecked eyes rose to meet mine.

For about five seconds, he stared at me with his mouth hanging slightly open, like he wanted desperately to say something. His mouth opened and shut. Like a fish out of water. His eyes flashed with an internal struggle that I couldn't even begin to read.

But after another five seconds, he simply shook his head vigorously. "Nothing." He said softly.

I didn't try to conceal the heavy sigh I let out. And I quickly wished I had.

Because Dan deflated at the sound. If it was even remotely possible, he appeared even more lifeless. His fingers turned white as he dug his nails into the table.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Why?" I questioned. Truthfully, I was the one who should've been apologizing, but I yearned so badly for him to say more than two words. I knew I probably should've been happy he was speaking at all. But I was selfish and wanted to hear his voice.

He didn't answer. I waited six minutes, waiting intensely for a response I never ended up getting.