A Broken Story

2.4 Starting A New

The two walked down the park, which was pretty empty on weekend nights. The park was dense with trees and foliage, a small pocket of fresh in the middle of a bustling city.

They just walked side by side for a bit, Andy's hands were in his pocket while Jenna's arms were crossed in front of her body, her face facing away from Andy. The two haven't said a word after leaving the restaurant but neither of them was in a hurry to leave the others side.

"Thanks for stepping in there." Jenna finally broke the silence, "I don't what would've happen if you didn't." Her grip on her arms tightened and her body shook a little.

"Of course, that guy was a jerk. Talk about being pushy, who was that guy anyway?" Andy asked.

"Uhm a regular that tried to hit on me last week, I said no but I guess he couldn't take a hint." She said as they walked past a bench next to a couple of vending machines, "Can we sit down for a bit? My legs are getting tired."

"Yeah, sure." He let her sit down and turned his attention to the vending machines, "You want anything?"

"Some coffee would be nice, thanks."

He punched up the numbers to get a couple of cans of iced coffee before giving one to her, "Here you go." He sat down on the other side of the bench.

She accepted the can and took a sip, "Why are you so far away? You hate me or something?" She pat down the spot next to her, "Come on, you can sit closer."

He gave her a nervous laugh and scooted closer, "Heh, sorry. I just didn't want to get pepper sprayed."

She started laughing, "You remember that huh? Well, I think I can put away the pepper spray for my knight in shining armor for now." She continued drinking her coffee before another quiet spell overcame the two of them. Guess, they haven't gotten pass the awkward phase of their relationship yet.

In that moment, Andy absentmindedly took out his notebook and opened up the piece he was working on before, "What you got there? I saw you writing on it at the restaurant."

"Oh this?" He said, confused that someone actually took interest in his writing, "It's just my silly writing hobby, I just like..." Jenna took the book right out of his hand, "Hey!"

"Oh, hush. I just want to see, I won't judge I promise." Her eyes glued on to the book.

"Well, okay, just don't laugh."

She took a moment to read the passage before standing up in front of him and reciting,

The dark clouds roll in

Lightning splits the sky in two

My being has no more value than tin

With no other soul to hold on to

Day in day out

Time goes at a snail's pace

How did I not see our flame flicker out?

Why didn't stop you in the first place?

My days became blue

My nights were shades of gray

But I didn't think I'd see you

On that bright sunny day

This feeling is what I miss

My days have been so askew

But being here by you is bliss

Wonder if it's the same for you

Confidence, elegance, and beautiful were all words that Andy could describe her by. Her voice smooth like honey as she recites the words smoothly, hitting the inflections almost perfectly. Even her stumbles and stutters were charming to his ears. He almost spaced out in silence, until Jenna commented, "You're pretty melancholic huh?" He quickly snapped out it, "You're a pretty good poet but I do have one criticism if you're willing to hear the comments of an amateur."

"um, yeah sure."

"I think we met on a cloudy night not a sunny day." His eyes widen as his cheeks started to blush, "Surprised? Didn't think I'd catch you taking glances at me while you were writing this?" Her lips curled into a sly smile.

"I wasn't taking glances at you, I was... just looking at the decorations, yes, the decorations." He tried to come up with an excuse, not a good one but an excuse nonetheless.

"You don't have to lie, you know. I'm not mad about it. I'd be a hypocrite if I were." His eyes soften as they met hers. Her lips relaxed into a soft, genuine smile, "Did you know that you do this thing where you twirl your pen between your fingers when you write? I tried to do it in the break room but it's not as easy as you made it look. You are a man of many talents it seems."

"Heh I don't know about that but I didn't take you to be a voyeur and peeked on me like that." He giggled.

"Hey!" She nudged him on the shoulder, "Rude much!" He kept on giggling and her eyes were fixated on his face, the smiling on her face was not letting down, "Say, are you busy tomorrow? There's this movie I've been dying to watch premiering and I just so happen to have a couple of tickets with me."

"Wow, aren't you smooth?" He scratched his chin and looked up at the sky, "Well, I don't know. I have to take look at my schedule, double check with my assistant, and call up my clients. I'm a very busy man." This earned him another punch on the shoulder.

"I have been wondering if the playing hard to get works, thank you for giving me an answer. So, you'll go with me right?"

"Yeah, sure." He said while rubbing his shoulder, "You're stronger than you look."

"Well, apparently a lot of guys deserve the pepper spray and I'm almost out. Got to deter the creeps somehow. My knight in shining armor can't always be nearby." She kissed him on the cheek and stood up, "Thanks for today, Andy and I'll see you tomorrow." She flashed him a smile and waved him goodbye, leaving him with that stupid grin on his face.

"I could be." He sat frozen in place, not quite believing what just happened.

As thesky turned gray and the rain start to trickle down, this would normally be thecue for anyone to run and seek shelter. Andy usually hates the rain but seeinghow life has been for the past few weeks, the rain feels refreshing and coolrather than wet and irritating. Perhaps this was the start of something new.