Judith

“So….” I mumbled.

“Yea?”

“Here it is. My apartment.” I spoke.

“Oh…” Dean realized what was going on and stopped in his tracks.

We both stood awkwardly in front of my apartment. I guess at some point, neither of us wanted this journey to end, as crazy as it sounds.

Look, I really like talking and this guy before me managed to listen to every single one of the bullshits that I uttered. So, I looked upon him favorably. And the fact that he talked quite a lot as well only increased the favorability points that I had for him, to be honest.

And that was the reason why we both felt really bad now that we had to go our separate ways.

“Ha, didn’t you say that your house was near the restaurant? Look at how far we came!” Dean laughed as he said that.

“I mean, it is near when you compare it to the next bus stop, right?” I asked.

“Well… You ain’t lying about that.” Dean nodded his head as he said that.

I sighed. “So, now that we’ve reached my house…”

“…Yea, it’s time for me to leave.” He smiled bitterly.

Had someone told me a day ago that I would form a bond with someone like this, I wouldn’t have believed you, but look at us.

“You’re right.” I mumbled.

We both proceeded to take a moment of silence. It was basically our point of realization that this journey was over.

“Maybe we should exchange numbers or something?” I asked, since it seemed the most logical move. I mean, that made the most sense in my mind. Like, you enjoy someone’s company, then you get their number so that you can talk to them when you feel like it.

However, it didn’t seem like Dean was a fan of the idea. “Not really, no.” He replied.

I didn’t get his thought process behind it though. Here he was saying that he was a rather open person and is open to talking with anyone and everyone and yet he didn’t share his number with me. I know that I sound like a prick and I should be aware of his privacy and his boundaries. It’s just that I was a bit disappointed that he would end this abruptly like this.

“Why?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Just felt like it.” He spoke.

“I see, well, if it’s a decent chat that I want to have with you, then I can always head by the restaurant, right?” I asked.

“I don’t think that would work out for me.” He replied, much to my dismay.

“I see.” For some reason, it seemed like he was deliberately avoiding me. And since that was the case, I didn’t think it would be right to disturb him any longer.

“Yea…”

“Well, you are always welcome to my apartment if you ever want to swing by.” I shrugged.

“Thank you for that.” He smiled, but it felt so distant. That was when I remembered that we are nothing but mere strangers. “Let’s meet up if fate wants us to.” He smiled, totally unaware that I could easily make up this so-called fate by swinging by his restaurant and stuff, but I didn’t say that out loud since that could totally make myself sound like a creep.

“Yay to fate!” I chuckled as I said that.

“Bye, Sam.” Dean said, as he hurried to leave.

“Hmm, bye Dean.” I waved goodbye to him as he slowly left my field of view.

#

I don’t have friends. Well, not that I don’t have friends per se, but I don’t have friends that actually listen to me, you know? It took me Dean to realize this fact. It seems like Dean managed to fill that lack of friends that actually listened. But now that he has blocked me from his life as well, it seems like I’m back to square one when it comes to friendship and relationships alike.

Being in the office sucked. Mainly because of the fact that Martina is still opposite my desk and is giving me some weird glares. Due to the whole Dean fiasco, I kinda forgot about the Martina thing. And now that reality is facing me opposite my desk, I don’t even know what I should be doing.

I kinda wanted to talk to Martina about all of this and apologize, but I didn’t feel like I did something that I should apologize about. If what I did was a mistake, then it would be a mistake that I’m willing to commit again. So, my pride just wouldn’t allow me to step down.

But what that meant was that there’s a high chance that half of the office probably hates me for what I did. I mean, I’m not even badmouthing her, but Martina is one of the main people here when it comes to idle talk or gossiping to put it clearly. And I don’t think she would miss a chance to talk about me. And if she did, then that would explain the stares that I received in the morning from many people. They hate me. And they hate me for taking someone on a date. And that plain sucked. This was not how I expected today to go. What I expected was somewhat of a flirty relationship across the desk with Martina and look what I got.

“So, how did it go?” Judith, my sole friend, even though I said that I don’t have any friends here, hugged me from behind as she asked.

Oh, and she’s talking about my date with Martina, by the way. Why is she talking about that? Well, she kinda was the one who mediated me into that disaster of a date. No, I’m not blaming her or anything. But, she kinda is my wingwoman, if you ask me.

“It went worse than you can imagine.” I sighed.

“Oh, now it all makes sense.” She replied.

“What?”

“Martina’s rude stares.” She spoke. “Get up. There’s no use sulking like this. Let’s have a cup of lemon tea. There’s nothing that it can’t solve.” She pushed me up as she said that.

#