Incubus

Chapter 19

Endure and persist; this pain will turn to good by and by

 ~Ovid

"Who needs men anyway?" Emmalyn muttered as she walked next to me. I had not told her about my last encounter with Hayden; as far as she was concerned, that ship had sailed weeks ago. But she was on one of her rants after a date involving herself had gone bad the other night. A few moments ago, she had been yelling at the top of her lungs about how much she hated men for all of Manhattan to hear. We got peculiar looks as we walked down the streets, to which I replied with a sympathetic smile. 

"He didn't even bother to show up on time. Instead, he came twenty minutes late. Not even an apology out of him, just a smug smile as he sat down in front of me. Seriously, why are guys so stupid?"

Little did she know that I ultimately agreed with her. I didn't know what it was, though. Ever since Hayden had shown up at the coffee shop that night from what now seemed forever ago, I had not only found my nightmares to be returning more often than usual, but I also realized I wasn't the same around Emmalyn anymore. When I once shared every secret with her, I would now not even tell her where I was going to have lunch anymore. It seemed to be turning into a dilemma, whatever was happening between myself and Hayden.

The good thing with Emmalyn was that she could ramble on and on about a particular topic for hours before noticing that I wasn't paying any attention whatsoever, which especially worked in my favor today.

"Then he ignores me the entire time, as I try to find conversation starters. I ask him if he likes the food, he shrugs. I ask him what his favorite color is, and he nods his head! I then ask him if he ever had sex with his sister, to see what his reaction would be. And guess what? He said yes to that! Either he is the most honest man on the planet about incest, or he wasn't paying any attention to me. I hate it when people don't listen to what I'm saying."

Oh, the irony.

"Honestly, I don't know what I saw in him in the first place; he isn't even that attractive. Or nice. Really, Rin, don't go out with a guy that you don't know. Get to know them first because you can see where not following that rule got me!"

I continued to let her unwind for ten more minutes before I stopped her. "Want to go shopping?" Me suddenly coming back to life seemed to surprise her, but she nodded. 

"Anything to get my mind off of that date of horrors."

We made our way to the Manhattan Mall on 33rd Street.

J.C. Penney was the first store that we entered, and Emmalyn had already rushed off to the shoe section, leaving me stranded alone in the entrance. Sighing, I followed her but decided that maybe some time away from her would do me good. She wouldn't even notice that I wasn't there. And she never did. 

As I was prowling around the store in search of proper clothing, I was almost bored to tears. Perhaps I shouldn't have abandoned Emmalyn the way I did,  but my guilty thoughts were soon forgotten, as I spotted a cute sweater and decided to model it in front of a mirror. It looked good on me, which was saying something. I quickly glanced at the price tag, and my eyes almost popped out of my head. All that for a simple sweater?