Emily, Please Don't Go Away

Four

 I paced back and forth in the kitchen, waiting for him to knock on my door. We never set an exact time, but as seven approached, I began to get discouraged. I ran through various scenarios in my head. Maybe he was running late, or maybe he got tied up. Maybe he just forgot altogether. Time continued to drag by, and by almost eight, I was fairly certain that he had forgotten about our plans.

Just as I was about to give up, there was a faint tapping on the door. I counted to fifteen before walking over to the door. Once I got to the door, I counted again, not wanting to seem like I was just waiting desperately. I exhaled the breath that I didn't realize I'd been holding in and pulled the door open. My heart skipped at the sight before me.

He stood with his hands behind his back. His hair was pushed back, fully revealing his face. He was wearing a black button-up, black jeans, and his worn out converse. Upon seeing my reaction, he smiled warmly before revealing a small bouquet of carnations. I bit my lip nervously as he handed them to me. As I went to put them in water, I noticed the colors. There were two light red, one white, one dark red, and one pink.

"Did you know," I started as I slid the stem into a vase. "That carnations have symbolic meaning behind their colors?" I looked back at him, noticing how nervous he suddenly looked.

"Uh, yeah... Not many people do though, so I didn't really think you would..." His words were barely audible. I smirked.

Now, it was my turn to make him feel a little embarrassed.

"Let's see. Light red for admiration. There's white for luck, or purity. Whichever happens to apply. The pink means gratitude, and the dark red... Hmm, what's that one again?" He looked like he was trying to stare a hole into the floor. "Oh, I remember. It means love and affection. Got something to tell me, Mr. Way?" He shifted uncomfortably, so I decided to end my ruthless teasing.

"I'm sorry," I said as I stepped over to him. I lifted his chin with my finger. "They're beautiful. Thank you." He smiled sheepishly. "So, where are we headed?" In an instant, his mood shifted from bashful to excited.

"Right! So, since we both love coffee, one of us more than the other," he said with a wink. "I figured we could go to that coffee shop. There's open mic tonight, but if you aren't into that, we could always hit up the art gallery nearby."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * * * *

"That was actually nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be," I admitted as we exited the little coffee house.

"Yeah, there's some pretty decent talent that comes through there. When I used to read, it would give me a confidence boost. I mean, a lot of places do stuff like that, but it usually just turns into really bad karaoke."

"Wait, you read? What did you read?" He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Come on, Gee. I want to know!"

"Gee?" He smirked as he raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Well, I used to write poetry and lyrics for songs that I never made... Lame shit like that."

"I don't think it's lame at all. I've always envied poets. I could never make the words flow right."

"I'm no poet, but thanks, I think."

"Okay, Mr. Jack-of-all-trades. What other stuff are you into? Comics, poetry, art... Anything else?"

"Well, I can cook pretty well. I used to sing in a band, but that never went anywhere. Um, I've got a little bit of a green thumb. I know it's dumb as fuck, but my grandmother loves flowers, and she taught me about gardening. She is a big believer in symbolism of flowers, stones, herbs, stuff like that."

"Hence the carnations." He cringed slightly before nodding.

"Yeah... Not gonna lie, it really threw me off that you knew that. I was pretty damn nervous when you started talking about it. Not many people know the meaning of certain flowers."

"My Gran was really into the whole spirituality thing. I could've sworn she was a witch or something, but it was never confirmed."

"On that note, tell me more about you. What's your family like?" He asked in an attempt to shift the conversation.

"Eh, there's not much to tell. My Gran and Gramps raised me, and when they died, I lost the only real family I'd ever had."

"What about your parents?" I scoffed.

"As far as I'm concerned, they died a long time ago. It's a long story, and it's not one that I'd really like to discuss." He back off the subject, and we walked in silence for a moment. "What about yours?"

"Ah, I actually love my parents. They are a really big part of my life. I also have a little brother, Mikey. He's three years younger than me, so we've always been pretty close. Then, there's my grandma. She has been my rock, man, and I don't know what I'll do when I lose her. She's the reason that I am where I am today. She has always been so supportive of everything I wanted to do."

He cut short as his voice cracked. I reached out and took his hand. He smiled gently as he squeezed my hand. The subtle gesture sent a shiver up my spine and caused butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

"So, what's left to discuss?" I asked, trying to bring back lighthearted conversation. "What about exes? Any crazy chicks I should know about?" He tensed up. "I only ever had one serious boyfriend, but he was always super bipolar, so I ended it before one of us got hurt. I'm sure that, at twenty-seven, you've had at least one or two bad ones." He dropped my hand.

"Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you," he said abruptly as he turned and walked away.

"Wait! I was just kidding!" He kept walking, unfazed by my words. "Dude, what the fuck..." I muttered to myself as he disappeared into the crowd. I turned and headed back towards the apartment complex.

As I approached my door, I considered seeing if he had made it home, but I decided that something must've struck a nerve, which I didn't want to press any further. I went inside my apartment, locking the door behind me. After finishing my nightly routine, I decided to head to bed. As I tossed and turned, my mind ran through the events of the evening. It was going really well until that point. I sighed as I rolled over again.

Maybe I'll see him tomorrow.