the girl on the bench

Chapter 19

I don't get much paint on the canvas because both Charlotte and G have been texting me on and off since I got off FaceTime with them. I've been trying to get more information out of G about her birthday but she is dismissive and doesn't seem to want to talk about it. Charlotte, however, is more forthcoming about the missing pieces. G's birthday is on Saturday next week and Charlotte has planned on a small get together at a pub with some of her friends. When I'm told of the plans, I immediately ask for this weekend off work and it was surprisingly easy to do. My shift could easily get covered at Half Moon and Steve definitely does owe me a favour. Or a few!

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"What do you think of this one?" I ask Alex showing her my phone. "A heart?" She says sarcastically "Are you in love?" She asks me. I laugh, not wanting to answer her. "OK, but do you see that that's what I'm going for?" I explain. "Show me the first one again" she says handing my phone back to me. I've been racking my brain for days thinking of what to get G for her birthday. She wears big silver rings on most of her fingers and she made a throwaway comment on our first date of how her pinky finger was bare. All her rings have small meanings or memories attached to them so if I get her one, it would have to be significant. Now it's just the trouble of finding the perfect one. I search through my saved webpages and find the first ring I found from Windfall Jewellery. I show Alex my phone, "That one's my favourite" she says. The ring is a horizontal oval with a swan wearing a crown engraved. The words 'sic enim ad astra' is also engraved which is Latin for 'thus do we reach for the stars'. It's poetic in a sense since on one of our first meetings, she was laughing about a swan and on our second date, we had a picnic under the stars. "I think that's the one" I say to Alex adding it to my cart, "I hope she likes it" I say nervously. Alex nudges me with her foot "You really like her, don't you?" She asks me. I blush but don't respond. "Was I right, or was I right?" Alex asks me. "Right about what?" I ask her back. "What I said about getting over Lila" she says. "Who's that?" I ask her. To be honest, I haven't thought about Lila much. When we broke up, Alex deleted her off all my social media including photos I had of her and I. She told me it was a cleanse and it would help. At first I was against the idea but now I understand that it was what I needed. "I hope this ones a good one" she says to me. "She is but she thinks you're a rude shit" I say jokingly. "Let me meet her properly then!" She pleads. "I'll consider it" I say to her laughing. "Now help me buy some lingerie" I say.

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I roll over in bed to check the time on my phone, it's 12:35am and I can't sleep. I finished up painting with little distraction at around 11pm. Alex was at Nate's and I didn't want to disturb G more than I had already. Once I was in bed though, I couldn't sleep. My mind was still but I just wasn't tired. I open Instagram and scroll mindlessly through my feed. I then get the idea to finally search for G. Hesitantly I type in G Flip. Her face is the first to pop up and I click on it. I start scrolling through her feed and get lost in the recordings of songs. I stumble upon an image of a white background and black outline of two figures kissing. I read the caption. It's a break up announcement from G and her ex. The last line 'We believe we are soulmates and will be back in each other's arms someday soon' halts me. The date of the post is six months ago. Does she still feel this way towards her ex? With such a bold statement and recent post, I feel that she would still feel something. I exit out of the post and press the 'Follow' button. I put my phone down and turn on the TV to distract myself from my own thoughts. I flip through the channels and find myself drawn to a romantic comedy movie that I don't even know the name of. My phone vibrates. I pick it up and see G is calling me. I answer. "Hi there" I say to her. "Well hello" she says and I can hear her smile through the phone. "What are you doing?" I ask her. "Still working but I'm taking a break" she says. "G, it's late. How can you even concentrate?" I say taking the phone away from my ear to look at the time. "Ah, my best work is done at night" she says and I stay silent. "You're up late as well" she says. "How did you know?" I ask her. "I just got a follow on Instagram from you" she says and I suddenly become embarrassed, "You stalked me". "Mmm maybe" I say and she laughs. The picture of her and her ex pops into my mind and the butterflies in my stomach awaken. "How's the song going?" I ask her trying desperately to change the subject. "Fucking finished!" She says sounding relieved and happy. "Play it for me?" I ask her. She doesn't say anything but I hear her moving. "Ok. Ready?" She asks me. I snuggle into bed and place the phone between my head and the pillow. "Yep" I say and she begins singing to me. Halfway through I start yawning and can feel sleep taking over but I don't say anything because I'm enjoying her voice way too much.