Chapter 7
1260 Words
Hope’s POV
"I like your friends," Abraham said with a soft chuckle.
He then glanced at the bags dangling from our arms and asked:
"Is today someone’s birthday?"
"No, nothing like that." I shook my head. "We just… needed a little girl's time."
I then paused, unconsciously adjusting the bag on my shoulder before continuing to speak again.
"Let’s just say I haven’t been doing so well, so my girls wanted to cheer me up by insisting we go out."
He nodded thoughtfully like he already knew the full backstory without me needing to explain a single detail.
"They're good friends," he said warmly.
"Yeah..." I admitted shyly as I saw the way he fixed his eyes on me. "The best."
"I like you," he then said bluntly. "And I’d like to be your friend."
I blinked, startled by his approach as I began to think he was trying to shoot his shot. I'm flattered but isn't he a little old for this?
"Oh—" I stammered.
He must've seen my cheeks turning red because he quickly held up his hand with a smile.
"Relax." He said gently. "I’m not shooting any shots at you."
I let out a nervous laugh as he said that and I turned slightly to glance at Riley who were still pretending to be busy with God-knows-what.
"I thought— never mind."
"It’s okay," he said, still smiling. "Here."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a sleek card and handed it to me.
"I'd like you to call me sometime, if it wouldn't be a bother." He said with his eyes squinted as if he already knew I would call. "I’d love to catch up."
Before I could even respond, Riley turned and leaned closer, finally choosing to no longer mind her business.
"She’ll definitely call you," She cut in proudly.
"Riley!" I jabbed my elbow into her side and Abraham laughed again.
"It was nice meeting you, Hope." He said, then nodded politely at Sophia and Daphne before walking away.
The moment he was out of earshot, Riley snatched the card out of my hand.
"Someone’s found herself a sugar daddy," she sang.
"He’s NOT a sugar daddy," I snapped, trying to reach for the card.
She sniffed it and let out a dramatic exhale before saying: "this smells like money."
"Riley!" I reached again but she danced away, waving the card before finally handing it back. "And he wasn’t hitting on me. He was just being friendly."
"Duh..." She said. "That's how it always starts."
She smelled the card again and I smacked her arm before collecting it. Just then, Sophia slid into the conversation.
"Let me see the card." She asked and I passed it over reluctantly.
"Oh my God, not you too!" I groaned as I watched he sniffed it.
"What?" she said innocently. "It truly does smell like money."
I finally grabbed the card and shoved it deep into one of my bags before anyone else could bury their nose in it again.
We then gathered our bags and headed for the exit. Riley walked at my side while Sophia was behind us with Daphne, both of them giggling about something entirely unrelated.
As we reached the parking lot, a cab was just about to pull off and Riley quickly waved it down.
"Wait! Taxi!" She called and the man halted.
"Is it okay if I come with you guys?" Daphne asked as we were about entering and Sophia answered without hesitation.
"Absolutely!"
"Of course you would say that." Riley said, shaking her head and Daphne lets out a chuckle.
The cab pulled up our driveway and Daphne paid before Riley could reach in her pocket for cash.
"Keep the change," she said casually and the man zooms off.
"Thanks, babe," Sophia whispered, resting her head on Daphne’s shoulder.
"Don’t thank me yet," Daphne murmured back with that sly, knowing look that says Sophia would pay her back in another way.
We were just making our way to the door when our nosy neighbors, Mrs Madison, saw us and started running to us, probably to start a gossip or to know what we were doing.
"Girls!" Mrs. Madison called as she hustled toward us.
"I knocked earlier," she said as she reached us, "But no one answered. I wanted to come check on you, Hope."
"On me?" I responded. "Why?"
"I haven't seen you in days. I thought something terrible happened after I saw you crying 3 days ago."
Translation: She needed new gossip content but she's masking it as a neighborly affection.
She always does this, pretending to care only to end up being the Neighborhood's very own news reporter.
"Oh." I said, pretending to be surprised.
"Aw, that’s so sweet of you," Riley said with a fake smile.
"You don't have to worry yourself, Mrs. Madison. We’re fine," I added quickly.
"Perfectly fine," Sophia repeated as she unlocked the door.
But Mrs. Madison wasn’t done. I could see another question loading in her mind, so we all shouted "BYE!" at the same time and hurried inside before she could supply our names for her next neighborhood rumor.
Once inside, we dropped everything in the living room and collapsed onto the couches one after the other.
"Finally." Riley said as she stretched her legs dramatically. "Home at last."
"I swear Mrs Madison doesn't quit." Riley said as she quickly got up from the couch and peep through the window to see her still standing nearby.
"She doesn't seem that bad." Daphne said in her defense.
"Babe, trust me, she is." Sophia said as she open her takeaway and started stealing from her own food.
"One time, our other neighbor Mr Jonas, who just got back from the army confided in her that he had turned gay and she spread the news in less than 24 hours. Sophia said. "24 hours."
"Mr Jonas almost moved out that same week out of shame." Riley added.
"Oh my."
"Luckily our neighbors aren't so judgemental." Riley said as she finally steoekd away from the window.
We all kept talking for a while before Sophia and Daphne finally decided to start being all smoochy in front of us.
"You two get a room." Riley said as the kissing grew and we finally decided to give them both some privacy and head to the bedroom.
Once the door closed behind us, I pulled out Abraham’s card again to look at it.
Are you gonna call him?" She asked as she flipped on the bed.
"Should I?"
"Yeah. Call him." She answered. "He seems pretty cool, considering he said he wasn't shooting his shot."
"Besides, isn’t it a little too early though?" I asked. "It hasn’t even been up to 30 minutes since he gave it to me."
"Who cares?" She said as she sat up. "I like him."
"But—" I started and Riley yanked the card from my hand.
"Where’s your phone?" She asked and I checked my pockets looking for it before remembering I had forgotten it in the livingroom.
"It's on the couch." I said and she then stormed back to the living room.
A minute later, she returned shaking her head.
"Sophia and Daphne are really having the time of their life," she announced and then dialed the number on the card before shoving the phone into my hand.
"What should I say?" I asked nervously.
"Just be yourself. Don’t overthink it." She answered and the line clicked.
"Hello?" Abraham said over the phone.
"Hi!" I said quickly.
- Writer
