Another Disaster

What have I gotten myself into? Amari stares into the mirror assessing her make-up. The nude brown eyeshadow compliments her caramel complexion. Reaching for a brush, she tries to fit her curly hair into a bun. As she attempts to wrap the hair-tie a second time around her bun, the hair-tie snaps. Amari throws her arms up into the air and mumbles. Refusing to go through a battle with her kinks, she settles for wearing her hair loose. She takes a step back from mirror to get a better look of her outfit. Admiring the simplicity of her olive-green dress, she does a full 360. It had been a while since Amari had a reason to dress up. She tilts her head and thinks to herself I could completely bail. Before Amari could give the idea a second thought, she hears a voice from behind her. “Wow look at you!” Amari’s roommate, Gina, stands in the doorway. “Jesus! you scared me,” Amari laughs placing her hand over her chest. Gina causally leans on the door. Her green eyes beam with excitement. “Sorry, I came to ask if you want to order take out for dinner, but I see you already have plans. What’s the special occasion?” Gina speaks quickly. Hesitantly Amari replies “I have an umm… I have date.” Her hesitancy comes from a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her past dating life was a disaster. She could not believe she had let Gina talk her into trying online dating last year. Gina met her boyfriend, Liam, through online dating. They were practically inseparable. “Come on Amari! You should give it a try. You never know you may meet your future husband,” Gina sang. Amari gave it a shot, and eventually regretted it. Most guys that she met were only looking for friends with benefits. She was not opposed to a casual hook up, but deep down inside Amari wanted more than that. The one guy she thought she had a connection with ended up of ghosting her. She almost gave up at that point but decided to go on one more date. It was the last date she went on. His name was Stefan. On their first date, Stefan pulls out his phone to show Amari a video of turtles mating. As if that was not bad enough, he then talks her head off about how he wants a Christian woman in his life. Yet at the end of the date, he asked her if she wanted to do Netflix and chill. Amari declined and wondered to herself why she did not walk out after the turtle video. That night she deleted her online dating app. The sound of snapping fingers interrupts Amari’s train of thought. “You sure do know how to space out.” Gina teases. “I was sort of going down memory lane of the last time I went on a date,” Amari replies. Gina knows that Amari is referring to the turtle guy and they both burst out into laughter. Gina and Amari have been best friends for four years since freshmen year of college. “Oh yeah, what were you saying earlier?” Amari asks. “I was asking you who are you going on a date with today,” Gina replies. Amari explains that she met a guy outside of Brule Café. “I was running late to class and I mean literally running. When I turned the corner, I bumped into a guy spilling my drink all over him. He asked how this was possible. I began to apologize. Then he apologized to me and said he did not mean to sound rude. He was just surprised. Afterwards he asked if he could make it up to me. I assumed he wanted to buy me another tea, which did not make sense seeing as I was the one who spilled it on him. I told him that’s kind of him, but I am running late to class. Then there was something about the way he looked at me that made me change my mind. I told him we could meet up later at the Brule Café,” Amari explains with a big grin on her face. “Okay, you are forgetting to explain some pretty important details like what his name is, what does he look like, and does he have a Facebook,” Gina happily interrogates. Amari nods her head in agreement. She replies “His name is Jaden. He is tall with dark brown hair. He has hazel eyes, and I did not ask for his Facebook. I should have asked huh?” Gina’s facial expression answers Amari’s question. Amari looks over at the clock on her desk. It is close to the time that she agreed to meet Jaden. Luckily, the Brule café is only a 10-minute drive from their apartment. “I am going to be heading out soon,” Amari says. Gina and Amari exchange a few more words. “Don’t forget to share your location on your phone just in case he is a creeper,” Gina jokes. A chill runs down Amari spine as she agrees to share her location. She also promises to figure out if Jaden has a Facebook. Warm muggy air blows Amari dress when she walks outside. She notices gray skies from afar. “hmmm it is supposed to be sunny today,” she says out loud. When Amari gets into her car, she experiences the same strange sensation in the pit of her stomach that she felt earlier. Instead of overthinking the matter, she turns on music to calm her nerves. The drive to Brule Café is quicker than expected and she arrives a few minutes early. Amari finds parking across the street from the café. She does not see Jaden anywhere and decides to wait in the car. Pulling out her phone, she begins to scroll through Instagram. After looking at a few funny videos she comes across a post by Bright Cellars. She happily remembers that her order of wines came in the mail yesterday. A glass of wine would have put her more at ease. Amari looks up from her phone and glances across the street towards Brule café. She still does not see any sign of Jaden. She starts to send him a text, but then a phone call from Jaden comes in. I hope he is not flaking. She answers her phone. “Hey Amari. I just arrived, but it looks like the café is close,” Jaden speaks. Amari finds his low pitch tone attractive. She looks up towards the café and sees Jaden standing there. He was wearing dark blue jeans with a black fitted t-shirt that reveals his athletic physic. How did I not see him arrive? “Huh, its only 6:30. They usually don’t close until 9 pm. Did you drive? Maybe we can go somewhere else,” Amari replies. “I am up for it. However, I took an uber here,” Jaden says. “No problem. I drove. I am across the street if you want to walk over. I’m driving a silver Toyota,” Amari responds. Jaden scans the cars across the street and spots her car. When Jaden starts to walk over, a flash of lightning crackles across the sky. The sound of the thunder rumbles causing the car to vibrate. Jaden gets into the car in enough time to avoid the rain pouring down. Suddenly the rain stops. “Hey glade the rain did not catch you. The weather today is bizarre,” Amari says in bafflement. “Bizarre isn’t even half it,” Jaden agrees. Amari is puzzle by his comment but does not question it. “So, I am thinking we could go to my place. I have some Merlot called Jetbird that I have been eager to try. I could text my roommate to give her heads up. I mean…unless you have another place in mind you would like to go. Uh I am sorry. I tend to say a lot when I am nervous,” Amari breathes. She silently curses herself for not playing it cool. Jaden gently laughs. “ No worries. I am okay with that plan. I also want to apologize for running a little late. I had some trouble earlier,” Jaden says in a genuine yet casual way. “What type of trouble?” Amari asks. Jaden replies “car trouble.” “awe that sucks. Thanks for still coming today. We could have rescheduled,” Amari replies. “I didn’t want to cancel on you. I am looking forward to getting to know you,” Jaden says. His smile makes Amari stomach flutter. She returns a smile and starts the car. Despite the dark clouds looming in the sky, the drive on the way the apartment is peaceful. Jaden and Amari’s conversation flows naturally. Its almost as if they have known each other forever. As they arrive, Amari remembers she forgot to text Gina. She shoots Gina a text and receives a quick a response of Gina saying she went to Liam’s place for the night. Amari tells Jaden they are good to inside. He gets out the car to open Amari’s door. Amari thanks him and leads the way to her apartment. When they reach the apartment door, Jaden gives Amari a respectful amount of space as his stands behind her. Amari swings the door open. “Welcome to my home. Make yourself comfortable. The kitchen is to the left pass the living room. I am going to grab the wine from my room. I actually haven’t opened the package yet,” Amari tells Jaden. “Sounds good. I can help you open the package when you come to the kitchen,” Jaden offers. Amari returns with the package and she takes him up on that offer. After he pours them both a glass of wine, they sit across from each other at the table. They effortlessly talk for hours. “it’s been a while since I have had wine,” Jaden says. “Oh no. I did not break your years of sobriety did I,” Amari ask. Jaden laughs shaking his head. “No, where I have been I have not had much time to relax. This night has been nice,” Jaden replies. It is the first time Amari notices that Jaden does appear a little exhausted. She feels so inconsiderate that she did not notice earlier. She was so caught up in her own emotions earlier. Now she wonders why she ever felt so nervous. Jaden makes her feel calm. Amari realizes she is staring at Jaden. He stares back at her with the same intensity. He breaks the silence by asking where the bathroom is. That is not the question she expected, but Amari shows him the way to bathroom and apologizes for not offering earlier. She walks back down the hallway but instead of returning to the kitchen she sits on the couch. I should really make a move on him. Why has he not made a move on me? A loud bang makes Amari jump to her feet. She starts to walk towards the noise in the kitchen, but then same anxiety she had earlier hits her like wave. She slowly starts to back away in the direction of the hallway. She bumps into a hard body and arms wrap around her waist pulling her back. The anxiety she feels increases as tears start to roll down her cheek. Jaden whispers in her ear to be quite as he leans them against the hallway wall. Suddenly out of thin air a group of people in white hazards suits appear in Amari’s living room. A piercing headache strikes Amari as her stomach turns. Feeling frantic she closes her eyes. She feels like she is being pulled through a vacuum. She then feels rain pouring down on her and hears the loud sound of thunder all around her. When she opens her eyes, she is standing across from Jaden in an unfamiliar world.