Chapter Text
94 .
She counted 94 water droplets that fell into the pristine tablecloth from her glass, another one rolled down the moist surface and onto the white fabric. That’s 95. She doesn’t know how long it has been, but her date hasn’t arrived yet.
Zari sighs as she picks up her phone to check the time. The screen lights up to a blurry lock screen picture of her and Behrad she took during the New Year’s party at Nate’s. Behrad was wearing a ridiculous red 2022 plastic headband while she was wrapped in bright yellow fairy lights, both of them beaming at the camera.
The display clock says it’s a quarter till nine so she opens her inbox with Helen on Upswipez. Nothing, no new notifications. Zari bites her cheeks before sending out a where are you? and setting her phone back down the table, Helen’s last message of see you there! burned at the back of her mind.
Maybe there’s an emergency , Zari thinks, or she just got caught up in traffic. She’s from National City after all.
Looking around, her eyes fell on the elderly couple a few seats from her, enjoying a slice of cake together. Turning to another direction, she watches a family dining together while having a conversation. The youngest child was eating his noodles messily, dark red sauce smearing the corners of his mouth.
The sound of the doors opening pulled Zari away from her musing, her eyes snapped at the entrance with eagerness. A tall redhead enters with a man in tow behind her. Swallowing her frustration, she slumps back on her seat.
It feels so hot and loud and cold and quiet at the same time, maybe it’s the overly expensive chandelier lights or the chatter of people or cutlery scratching against plates. The way she thinks she’s underdressed with her flannel shirt and jeans only made the feeling worse.
Glancing back at the empty chair in front of her, Zari flags down a waiter.
The cold night breeze is what greets her first when she steps outside the restaurant. As soon as she planted her feet on the concrete, it felt like she could breathe again.
Ava dropped her off earlier so she had no choice but to take the bus. Her and Behrad’s shared apartment was only a few blocks away, so normally, she’d just walk from here to there but it’s nighttime and she couldn’t risk it. Can’t really call an Uber because of how expensive it is.
When she reaches the stop, Zari pulls out her phone again. Two messages from Nate and one from Ava. She opens Nate’s first.
r u free tom?
i already asked B and he’s good :DD
for what?
lita’s band is playing @ mick’s bar and he’s inviting us
knowing ava, she probably cancelled all her meetings for it
obviously
so r u in or not?
sure
She doesn’t open Ava’s message. From the notification banner, Zari already knows that she’s asking how it went. Zari doesn’t have the energy to reply back so she stares at the unopened message.
And then something wet splashed on her brow. Zari observes her phone in surprise as raindrops begin to fall on the screen.
There’s no roof she could stay under because the stop is just a pole with a sign nor did she bring an umbrella. “ Fucking hell ,” she mutters under her breath before wiping the screen with her sleeve and putting it back on her pocket. She craned her neck to the left to look out for a bus. Only a few cars passed by, not a single bus in sight.
She feels her clothes and hair getting damp as the seconds go by, then a handful of minutes later she’s fully drenched. Zari couldn’t bear to feel angry anymore because she’s tired and freezing from the cold. All she can do is stand under the rain and wait.
Unable to do anything else, Zari crosses her arms and releases a shaky breath, releasing visible puffs of air. She then turns to her side bag to tug the zipper open and begins digging for something, anything , that can help her in her current situation.
Can’t call Behrad because at this time he just got home from work, not Nate because he’s still grading papers in the university. Ava and Mick are out of the question, so in short she has nobody to call to ask for a ride. Why did she even leave the car in the first place?
But then the pouring stopped, or rather, the rain isn’t pouring over her anymore because it’s still raining around her and there’s an umbrella above her head.
There’s a person on her right holding out an umbrella so that the both of them are under it. Zari looks over them and blinks owlishly. “Oh,” Zari says, “thank you.”
“You look like you could use it. Rain like this isn't really forgiving.” She’s wearing a dark coat on top of a peach blouse and black trousers while standing on painful-looking stilettos, Zari couldn’t help but stare for a second.
The woman offers her a soft smile and oh shit Zari is having a crisis right now in this bus stop because she’s soaked and freezing and there’s a pretty woman sharing an umbrella with her. All thoughts of the ruined date forgotten.
Zari manages to collect herself before speaking. “Then I guess I'm lucky you stopped by,” she says, cracking a small grin as Umbrella lady snorted in reply.
A small gust of wind flew by causing Zari to shiver and shake even harder. “Damnit,” Zari grumbles, rubbing her hands together to create even just a tiny slither of warmth.
“Wait, I got just a thing,” Umbrella lady shakes her arm off the left sleeve of her blazer, then switches the umbrella to her other hand and does the same for her right arm.
With one hand, she drapes the coat across Zari's shoulders. Zari could only watch her with wide eyes, body frozen and unable to do anything as the woman's hand brushed up against her arms then leaned forward to tug the collar in her neck.
Her hair smells like strawberries .
“There you go,” she says, “I think that will help with the cold, even just a little.”
It took a few seconds for Zari to reply. “Thanks,” her voice was so deep she clears her throat then raises an eyebrow. “Do you always walk up to freezing girls and offer them your umbrella and blazer at night?”
She shrugs. “Only the pretty ones.”
Crap . “Do I have the pleasure of knowing my savior’s name?” Zari asks.
The soft smile returned, brown eyes crinkling. “I’m Amaya.”
“Zari. Nice to meet you.” Amaya beams.
“You’re waiting for the bus too?” Zari asks.
Amaya shakes her head. “I’m waiting for a friend to pick me up.” Zari nods.
There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two of them as they both watched the speeding vehicles roll before Amaya turned to her and asked. “What’s got you so down?”
Zari huffs. “My date bailed on me. I was waiting for her since seven but she didn’t come.”
Amaya’s face fell, a frown replacing the smile on her face. “I’m sorry,” she said so sincerely that the corner of Zari’s lips curled upward.
“Eh, it’s fine,” Zari shrugs, staring down her soiled sneakers. “For what it’s worth, at least I got a slice of lemon cake for myself.”
She hears Amaya giggle from beside her and it’s the most beautiful sound Zari has ever heard.
“Of course. Nothing’s more important than dessert.” Amaya teases.
Zari opens her mouth to respond but the words die in her mouth as the sound of brakes cut through the moment and a bus finally rolls in front of them.
She visibly deflates, her and Amaya’s time was cut too short and it was time to go home.
Facing Amaya, she began to take off the blazer to give it back only for a warm hand gently stopping her. “Keep it,” Amaya says, eyes twinkling.
“Are you sure?” Zari asks in disbelief.
Amaya gives her another smile. “Yup. This way, you won’t get cold for the rest of the ride.”
The bus door opens with a hiss, Zari returns the smile. “This is my ride. Thanks for everything.”
“Don’t mention it,” Amaya returns and there it is, the glimmer in her eyes Zari saw before. She looks so lively and breathtaking at that moment Zari almost trips at the steps of the bus.
Amaya nods. “Stay safe, Zari.”
“You too, Amaya.”
Zari sits in one of the chairs as the bus finally moves, from the window she sees Amaya standing there still smiling at her and waving. She waves back at the other woman until Amaya slowly disappears from her sight.
Turning to her back, Zari slumps down the fake leather seat and sighs.
“I got cake!” Zari announces as she shuffles into the apartment. Shutting the door behind her, she removes her ratted out shoes then throws them by the rack. Tossing the keys at the counter, she carefully peels the blazer from her shoulders before folding it and gently tucking the warm piece of clothing on her arm.
Behrad was on the couch playing a game on the tv. “Hey sis,” he waves with the controller, eyes not leaving the screen. “How was the date?,” he asks.
Taking the paper bag of slightly pressed pastry out of her bag, she walks over the small kitchen table and sets it down. “Didn’t show up,” Zari drawled, exhaustion evident in her voice. She gently sits down the chair as to not get rain water all over the furniture.
The game pauses, a cowboy character riding a horse freezes mid-game. Behrad stands up and looks at her, he flinches at her appearance and hurries over her. “ What the — Z, you could’ve called me.”
“I didn’t have the heart. I know you just got home from your shift,” Zari sends him a tired smile, pulling the elastic from her ponytail and setting her poor, damp hair free from its prison.
Behrad touches her hand and jumps. “You’re freezing!” He exclaimed.
Zari reassures him with a wave of her hand. “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine. You’re going to get sick,” Behrad argues before marching over the cupboards and pulling out two mugs, one in a color of mint green with a chipped rim (his, a souvenir from Central City’s Water Park ) and another in lavender with the words girl gay-mer printed on it (hers, a gift from Nate). “Go take a shower and change, then we can share this cake.”
“B-” Zari starts, but he cuts her off.
“Go,” Behrad urges her with a gentle voice. There was concern written in his face, Zari softens and nods before heading to her room.
After a much needed scalding shower, Zari changed into a sweatpants and a Starling University pullover. She walks to the kitchen to find her brother grabbing a box from the table.
Behrad looks up at the sound of her footsteps. “Oh hey.” He holds up the tin of English Breakfast in his hands with a smile. “Got your favorite.” He places it back beside the toaster.
“You’re the best,” Zari sits across from him. The cake was out of the crumpled box and was set in a plate, she was thankful that she hadn't managed to flatten it to a pancake.
She watches Behrad fish out two forks and a cake knife from one of the drawers before taking a seat. Zari stares at one of the coffee ring stains on the table with a faint smile.
“So,” Behrad begins. “What happened?”
Zari tells him.
Later that night, Zari replies to Ava's message from earlier when a notification pops at the top of her phone.
Helen: sorry couldn’t come tonight, something came up. next time maybe?
Zari stares at the banner before it disappears. She heads to where Upswipez is located and deletes the app.
Plugging in her phone, she places it down the bedside table and closes her eyes. When sleep came, she dreams of bright eyes and the smell of strawberries.