Jared Abitol is ugly, past his prime, and desperate for love.
Years of being hyper-aware of his own looks have made Jared develop social anxiety. When you look like Jared, love isn't easy to find. Jared might not have the looks or confidence, but h...
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Jared was in Austin's car today because he needed a lift. He had taken public transport to work today mostly because he had forgotten to do little things like checking the oil in his car and sending it off to the car wash a day before. It was around five in the evening and the whole city's dim lightningwas due to the cloudy sky.
Jared had a lot in his mind. So much so that he wasn't paying much attention to what his friend was talking about. He kept spacing out and overthinking what had happened this morning. On a whim, when Darnell was no longer awake, he had dialed the home number to his childhood home and had gotten excited when he noticed he still knew the number by heart. The phone number hand rang and rang, but no one on the other end picked it up. He was about to give up but called one more time just for good measure, and someone picked it up. Sadly, it wasn't anyone he knew. The family that now had the old phone had bought it with the sim card still intact.
The situation had choked Jared up a bit, and he was about to apologize and hand up when the lady offered t check the phone for any contact he might want. He agreed and made to look for a notepad and a pen as fast as he could. Now, Jared had about ten numbers that belonged to his aunts, uncles, siblings or cousins. He was still trying to figure out who might still have their old numbers, and he kept spacing out when he got lost trying to play subtraction in his head.
"You're not listening to me." Jared blinked at Austin's words, turning to his friend who had a frown on his face as he made a turn. "Is something on your mind?" he asked, making Jared bite his bottom lip before looking down at his fingers. Austin already knew the gist of things, he might as well explain to him what happened yesterday.
"I called my family's home line — well, I guess their old home line since I didn't know the person that picked up," Jared started, looking out into the road. "The lady was nice enough to check the phone for old numbers, and even though I'm grateful now I'm not sure if they'll even work."
"How many numbers do you have?" Austin asked, making Jared look over at him.
"Ten."
"Come on, I'm sure at least one number still goes through," Austin said, and Jared shrugged his shoulders, turning to look out of the window. It was wishful thinking. What person kept their number for over fifteen years? Jared was sure that he had personally changed his line multiple times over the years.
Austin started talking again when Jared didn't say anything in response. This time Jared listened. Yves had traveled back to France a few days ago, but Austin kept talking about him. They called each other often, it seemed, and Austin seemed to be happy with the arrangement. Jared put some effort into making sure he didn't seem gloomy. He talked to Austin and took out some time to text Darnell. The younger man couldn't come over today because he had a school project that needed to be completed before the deadline tomorrow.
The kept exchanging texts even after Austin dropped Jared off and the older man moved up to his bedroom. He dropped his phone on his desk before making to change out of his work clothes. His phone buzzed a few times during this, and he made sure to check his messages after he got into a pair of loose shorts and a plain shirt.
