Amor

The Instructions

Jenny was in her room again, crying for the umpteenth time. She's been a withered vegetable with a tear duct problem ever since Max, her ex, left. He wanted more, more more. More than she couldn't give. They were still young, fresh out of college, and so have no jobs yet. She didn't want to rush life, not while there was still so much she could do, so much that life has to offer. For that, he left. He went away to search for the "more" that he was looking for. Ever since then, she's been locking herself in her room, just crying herself to sleep and only leaving to go to the bathroom. Her best friend and roommate, Jennifer would be the one to feed her and try to get her to bathe, but to no avail. She was crying again, and she was about to fall asleep when the doorbell rang.

She groaned, not wanting to move, but forced her sobbing to stop. For some reason, she felt as if she really wanted to go and check who rang the bell. She stood up and opened the door, but whoever rang the doorbell was long gone. All that was left was a small envelope that had a heart sticker as a seal. She gingerly picked it up, looking again one more time to see if the one who left it there was just lurking around the corner. Seeing no one, she went inside and closed the door behind her.

She wanted to go back to her bed and cry herself to sleep again, thinking that this was just another plan of Jennifer to get her out, but she got curious and plopped herself on the sofa. She tore off the heart sticker and opened it. Inside the envelope was one of those scented papers. She gagged at it but read on.

Hey, it's me, Max. I just wanted to ask you for another date. Remember where we first met? The Dining Table restaurant uptown? There will be a table there reserved for you tonight at 7. If the waiter sees you there at that time, he'll give you more instructions to find where we'd actually have our date." - M

Jenny didn't know what to think. A letter? From Max? Asking her out on a date? Why? And why now? The letter didn't even sound like him. Maybe he's changed. She waited for Jennifer to come home, which was around 3. She still had time. When she showed the letter to Jennifer, she too couldn't believe it. It didn't sound like Max at all. She offered to go with Jenny if she wanted but Jenny wanted to go alone. She promised, however, to be in touch and call every once in a while to let Jennifer know she was safe. With that settled, they set off on their work to make her look presentable for a date. She arrived there just in time.

When she told the waiter of the reservation, he immediately led her to a table that was set up romantically, complete with candles and roses and all. The waiter told her that she was supposed to read the letter on the table and that the boy who reserved it told him to tell her not to wait for him. So that's what she did. As soon as she sat down, she read the letter on the table.

Hey, it's Max again. So you actually got here, huh? So, now, you'll just have to go out and follow the trail of pink lights. I'll be waiting at the end.- M

Jenny didn't think about it and immediately went out. sure enough, there was a trail of pink light bulbs every few feet. She followed them, walking slowly, thinking of what she would say to Max. If it isn't obvious at this point yet, then let me tell you what is troubling her. She still likes Max. She's forgiven him long ago, and now she just wants to see him again.

The trail of lights led to a gazebo. Everything there was set up too, but this time nobody was there waiting for her. She turned around, thinking somebody must be pranking her. Finally, a voice behind her spoke.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The voice asked.

She turned around to face the voice and her heart fell when she saw that it wasn't Max.

"I just followed my ex-boyfriend's instructions and-" she started to raise her hand, the one holding the letters when the guy snatched them up from her.

"You! Why do you have these? These were meant for Nora! Where is she?" The guy shook her. Jenny pushed him away,

"What do you mean? These were sent to me by Max, my ex-"

"Don't you see it? I'm Max! I dropped off the letters at Nora's house this morning myself." he said, disbelieving.

"So you were the one who rang my doorbell!" Jenny pointed a finger at him. "You left your letters at the wrong house!"

"No, I'm sure I left it at 221 B Chef Street." He assured her.

"I live at 220 B Chef Street. As I've said, you picked the wrong house."

Max looked defeated. "Then she won't be able to go here anymore, would she?" He said

"Who? Nora? My neighbor? Why?" Jenny asked.

"You're the neighbor. Don't you know? She's moving tomorrow. This was my last chance to get her on a date again, and now it's wasted." He huffed.

"No, it's not! How dare you call food a waste just because it wasn't your crush? You're not the only one with problems!" She crossed her arms.

So the two of them just shared the dinner among themselves, and in order for it to not be awkward, they had small talk. When Jenny finished her story, Max went up to her and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. And your Max was an as*hole to leave you just because you wouldn't agree to that."

"Agreed," Jenny said.

"So let's toast? For making a new friend today!"

"For making a new friend!"

And hopefully, for something more, Jenny thought to herself.