The nights in a busy city are always still buzzing. Street lights lit up the footpaths of every street throughout the city. Motor traffickers moved back and forth either heading home or going to work for their late night shifts. The diners were scattered with the later night customers while restaurants were shutting down for the day. 24 hour fast food places prepared for the night ahead letting go the employees who had worked the entire day.
Friday nights were particularly very busy. Party goers headed towards clubs all dressed up in celebration of the week’s end. This meant more traffic, obviously. There were howls of laughter in the air, the thumps of the bass in the music could be felt by passersby as they continued on their journey.
Kaycee Rice was not one to entangle herself in such a situation. What made matters particularly worse for her was that her apartment was only a couple of blocks away. The distance could easily be coved by foot but the thing that always go her worried was the fact that there were too many people out at that time of night waiting to take advantage of other people, particularly those who were supposedly under the influence.
Walking out of the studio, she checked both sides of the road before crossing to the other side of the street where she could see the oncoming traffic. She had left her car when she left home in the afternoon as she had not expected to stay so late. Conversations between her and many other dancers and choreographers just kept coming after class and she just couldn’t find a way to escape without being rude.
The street were still scattered with people as it was slowly thinning out. A majority of the population of such a big city was bound to be going to bed at that moment. Her feet were starting to hurt as she shuffled herself towards her apartment.
The tiredness of the whole week then rushed over her as she remembered that her fridge was empty. A groan escaped her lips as her stomach started to growl reminding her that she hadn’t eaten since lunch.
Why didn’t I just get Sean to drop me off when he left?
Deciding to make herself something quick for dinner, she dropped by her local grocery store. The store was deserted considering the time at night. The checkout lady seemed to be engrossed by whatever was happening on her phone that she didn’t notice the young lady walk into the store.
Choosing to be quick with her shopping, getting only the essentials, she made her way to the checkout. A vibration on her thigh indicating a message coming in on her phone made her take it out of her jeans pocket.
Not looking where she was headed, she bumped into someone who had their head down, apparently also on their phone.
Looking up to apologize, she realized who it was.
“Sean?”
“Kayc?” he asked at the same time
Laughter than erupted from the two individuals.
“What are you doing here?” he asked out of curiosity, knowing full well that she would much rather have been at home.
“What do you mean, Sean? This is my neighbourhood.” She said a smile still gracing her face and laughter clear in her voice.
“Why are you here?”
“I was on my way over to yours and thought I’d stop and get a few things. I just texted you if you needed anything”
“Oh, thank God. Now you can make me food” she exclaimed relief washing over her. She then proceeded to shove the shopping basket into his hands and continued towards the counter.
“Wow. And here I thought you liked me for me” he responded with a teasing gleam in his eyes.
“Yeah, that too” she called from ahead of him.
After all the shopping was rung up and bagged, the two walked out of the store, groceries in hand. Kaycee then walked around the corner.
A hand then stopped her motion as it gripped her upper arm.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Sean asked
“I’m walking home” she answered with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Why?”
“Because I left my car and I don’t wanna catch a cab or call an Uber cause the distance is short and that would be pathetic” she mumbled in one breath.
Somehow, even though the whole sentence came out as a jumbled mess, Sean understood every word that she had said.
“Why didn’t you call me, Kayc” he said rubbing his forehead, a small migraine starting to form.
“Because you already left and I didn’t wanna bother you” she said looking down at the pavement.
A groan escaped his lips as he looked up at the dark night sky slapping his forehead.
“Kayc, you do realize that the guy across the street has been watching you since we came out of the store” he said slowly
“What?” she asked as she started to get anxious
“Please, if you ever need anything, you can just call me. You know this.” He said calmly
“I know. I just don’t like being a bother”
“You’re never a bother Kaycee. Now come on, get in the car so I can get you home”
As they made their way across the parking lot to find Sean’s car, Sean felt like he needed to make absolutely sure that she was safe. Her parents entrusted him with this duty as their little girl was no longer under their roof or even in the same city.
When they had settled in the car, Sean turned on the ignition and pulled out of the lot.
“Kayc, promise me that if you ever even think about walking home again, you’ll call me”
“But what if I want the exercise and the fresh air?”
“Then I’ll walk you home”
“Really, you’ll walk me home?”
“Of course, I promise”
A couple of weeks later, after a dance class that was at the studio located near her apartment, Kaycee thought she’d engage his promise. Sean was in a very instance conversation with of the students, hand gestures and all. He looked totally drained as he stood there giving his full attention to the kid before him.
She decided that maybe it was best if she just slipped out without him noticing.
As she exited the building walking in the direction of her apartment, the door burst open behind her. Sean looked both ways before spotting her. He jogged a little to catch up with her slowing down to match her pace.
“Kayc, we talked about this” he said, steadying his breathing and sighing at the same time, a whole lot of air exiting his lungs.
She then looked up at him, a sense of pride of the man he was becoming rushing over her. A smile then broke out on her face as she responded,
“Walk me home?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P!NK - Walk Me Home (linked)
I love the choreography to the song in the video. Both the song and video are absolutely beautiful.
Oh my goodness guys,
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR 1K READS.
YOUR SUPPORT IS AMAZING. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH. ❤
Thank you also for making me smile today.
Sending love and positivity your way
~ Rue 🍃
