some morning (open)

”Oh man, oh man, oh man!” Zach said as he speed walked down Main Street. He couldn’t believe how late he was going to be. This was a normal instance for him. When it came to making it on time to classes, but his job? Nope this would be his first time. But regardless if he was five minutes late or twenty, Ariel Dawson would reem him. He was getting to the point where he just didn’t care anymore. Mrs. Dawson hated him. He knew it. The other people at the firm knew it. Everything he did no matter how much time he spent trying to perfect it, the bitch would find something wrong with it. But today, he just didn’t need her bullshit. He had gotten up so late that he had debated on whether to just call in sick with his fake flu voice. But no, he would be the bigger person and face the demon head on sword and all. Too bad he couldn’t slay it. That would make things way easier.

As Zach turned down Zimmerman, he couldn’t help but see wavy blonde hair across the street by a burger joint. Jacinta? Maybe. He wasn’t sure. As long as he’d been living in LA, he’d never once thought he’d seen Jace. Now that he knew she was attending the same school as he was, she could be anywhere which was making him a tad uneasy. It wasn’t that he didn’t’ want to see her. He couldn’t believe that he had the chance to make things right now. Granted, he did freak out on her yet again at the pizza place, but he was not prepared at all for seeing her again. He knew that he had screwed things up with her, but he was willing to try and understand this time. But seeing her with those guys across the street made him rather jealous even though he probably didn’t have a chance at all with her again. When she flipped her long hair to the side, he tried to catch a glimpse of her face. Who knew, maybe he was just imagining it was Jacinta. It could be someone completely not Jacinta.

Zach was too busy studying this girl across the street talking to like three guys that he hadn’t even noticed the girl who was walking right in front of him. The impact was pretty intense. After all, he was already walking quickly. Instead of falling backwards, he instinctively grabbed onto the woman’s arms steadying them both so neither of them would fall. He said nothing to the woman as he glanced back over at the Jacinta look alike who was already turned and facing him now. Yep, she was in fact just a look alike. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly glancing now at the woman he so rudely plowed into and ignored. He quickly let her go forgetting that he still had a hold on her upper arms. “Uh, I’m sorry. Wasn’t paying attention.”

He smiled at her. “Yeah, I guess it does,” he replied to her comment about him not being the only one at fault for the collision. The sun beat down on her dirty blonde hair making it shine a bit more than it probably would normally, and as she continued talking, all he could focus on were her eyes now. Her grayish-rimmed glasses only brought out the blue in her eyes. When he realized that she had stopped talking and was now looking at him as if she had asked him something, Zach quickly went into think mode. What the heck had she just asked him? He reached around under his book bag to scratch his back. “Uh….” All he could think of was the word handsome that she ‘might’ have said. Gosh he hated his ADHD. Especially when he was meeting new people. He wished he could just shut it off and on whenever he wanted. If only that was a possibility. If it was, he would definitely shut it off when his boss yelled at him for something ridiculous. Going! That was what she asked him. She had asked him where he was going. “….oh I’m just heading to work. Woke up a bit later than I was supposed too.” He shrugged as if he didn’t care. “It happens.” And as of right now, he really didn’t care anymore. He was way past being a little late. It was more like ‘oh we should start calling someone else to fill in for him’ late. Yes, it was a little distressing because of the yelling he’d have to endure from Ariel Dawson, the Ice Queen, but it wasn’t like she could get rid of him. Even though she was his boss at work, she wasn’t in charge of any of that; the school was. And there was really no reason for her to complain about him anyway. What did she have against him? He’d never been late until now. The only problem was that she just didn’t like his personality, and he asked a lot of questions. But now that he was getting to know this girl, he was started to feel like he’d rather spend the day chilling with her than even showing up to work.


”Doesn’t everybody?” He asked smiling. “My name’s Zach,” he said taking her hand and shaking it firmly, “and are you hungry because I’m starving and craving pastries. Wanna hit up the donut shop or something. I’m thinking you might be a lot more fun to hang around than my peeps over at Hart Enterprises.” He laughed. Sure he was being a bit bold asking her out to breakfast, but it wasn’t like it was a date. It was more just trying to get to know someone and focus on someone other than Jace for a while. And knowing Zachary, that is exactly something he would do. He was never one to care what people thought of him. Why should this girl be any different?

Zach nodded shoving his hands into his faded blue jeaned pockets. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He chuckled. “This is normal me.” He listened as she apologized for being ‘weird’. He wished he could just tell her that she was the furthest thing from weird after what he had seen in the past year. He had seen the impossible, and he kind of wondered what else was out there. There had to be more than just a bed catching on fire and a napkin floating. What else could happen. What else could Jace do? He had to get a hold of her. He still had a phone number in his phone, but he hadn’t had the guts to call her. It probably wasn’t even her number anymore. “You? Being weird? Nah, I wouldn’t say weird. And for someone with a possible hangover, you definitely handle it pretty well.” She didn’t look at all like she had been drinking the night before. Even though he wasn’t a huge drinker, he had still had a few hangovers and drunken fun times in his life. He could actually use a night out to get wasted. It had been so long.

When Lelia started asking about Hart Enterprises, he wished he hadn’t even brought it up. Internships were supposed to be fun and full of helpful experience. So, what the hell was he doing at Hart Enterprises? “It is actually. Very fancy. It’s a law firm. I’m a business major and working there is sort of an internship for me. I’m not gonna lie though, I really haven’t even started doing anything businesslike. I’m more of the go to guy when people want take out.” He sighed. “I know. So freakin’ lame. And believe me, I am so pissed about it. But it’s a paid internship. I just wish I was getting the experience.”

He smiled as she nudged him. “What makes you think I know this part of town? Just because I’m in it? Because if that was the case you would know too. And if you don’t know this part of town, why were you even in it? These friends, you must not know them that well.” He laughed. He had seriously no business saying any of this to her. She probably was thinking that he was a complete jerk because he was so blunt with everything. But it was whatever. That was how he was, and he liked to make that clear before he started really spending time with someone. He had to make sure she knew what she was getting into if they were possibly going to be friends, which he could already see that they were.

Zach nodded and laughed when she mentioned that she was a professional. “Wow, an alcoholic. Maybe I shouldn’t be hanging with you. You might be too much of a bad influence.” It was a joke. He really wasn’t one to follow other people, at least not anymore. And he had quite a few friends that were all about the partying scene already.

”Ah, a gopher. I like that analogy. Yes, I definitely feel like a gopher at times. But I guess you’re right. Getting paid is better than doing it for free. And what do you mean trading? Where do you work?” He did wish that Ariel Dawson would give him something useful though. But most of the people that came into the firm were a bit fishy. He was starting to think that the firm wasn’t just a firm. There were some things that he came across in documents while snooping around that he really wasn’t sure about. It really wasn’t his business anyway, but his curiosity never seemed to go away. After all, when all he did was file, answer phones, carry boxes to storage, and pick up take out, he had to do something else to entertain himself at Hart Enterprises.

Zach watched her become a little uneasy. He smiled as she pulled out her cellphone. “I was just messing with you. Giving you a hard time. What you like to do or whatever is so not my business. I do know this part of town pretty well actually. Hart Enterprises is just around the corner.” He figured he’d stop the awkwardness now before it got so bad that she just walked away thinking he was a weirdo or something. “And I actually walked. But I know a great coffee shop down the street a few blocks that has some really good muffins. If you don’t mind walking, we could head there.” He nodded as she went on to talk about the weather. She was right. It was horribly humid. Even if there was a breeze, it would most likely only be hot air. “Yeah, I’m kind of used to the hot weather, but it’s pretty bad today.”

Zach nodded with a smile on his face. “Very good point there.” There wasn’t anything at all wrong with what she was saying. He actually agreed with her for the most part. He just liked to let loose in other ways. “Hmm, well the next time you feel like letting loose, you should call me. I’ve been dying to go skinny dipping in the campus fountain.” It was a bit immature, Zach would admit, but it was something exciting and out there. And if he got caught and had to run for it, it would be even better. Those were the things that made him loosen up. They were fun and exhilarating. Most of his friends were too chicken to agree to anything like that. Although he had hopes for this girl. She seemed to know how to have a good time.

”Nah, nah, it’s cool. Believe me, I know how gopher-like I am.” When she mentioned that she was a bartender he was taken back. Was she really that much older than he was? She didn’t look it at all. “A bartender, huh? How old are you anyways? Because I pegged you for 20.” He hoped she wasn’t too much older. He wasn’t big on dating older women, not that this would become dating. But if it had, would it be bad if she was older? I mean he thought she was younger, so did that count for something? “I would be glad to switch jobs. It’ll give you a break from all the guys, right? And I really wouldn’t have to worry about that. And even if the ladies became aggressively flirtatious I think I could handle that one with much pleasure.”

When she commented about not being able to recognize a joke, Zach just chuckled. “No, I just suck at making them.” He really was horrible at cracking jokes. Most of the jokes he said were lame, overused, or didn’t make any sense at all. But he still said them because things just tended to flow from his mouth sometimes without him being able to stop them. He was quite used to making himself look like a complete idiot.

”Yeah, let’s start heading that way,” Zach said as Lelia confirmed their plans. “Yeah I do a lot of sweating myself. It’s not pretty. I just always have to be doing something though. And most of the things I do tend to just bring on the sweat. Running is a must. Soccer is a blast. Any sport actually is pretty high up on my ‘must try’ list. And believe me, that list is really freakin’ big. What about you? You seem like a sporty type of girl. Do you play anything?” He asked turning towards the direction of the coffee shop. He started walking figuring that she would follow him.