Take Me by Surprise, It Will Blind Me

As soon as I stepped into the foyer of the apartment, the smell of freshly baked brownies and popcorn floated from the kitchen and hit my nostrils. I could recognized Amy's and Feranix's giggle, but there was someone else... More like two more unfamiliar voices.

I slipped off my shoes at the foyer and changed to my Goofy slippers before walking into the kitchen. It surprised me to see who were the owners of the unfamiliar voices; David and Eric.

"Oh, hey, Dareen!", Amy greeted and a second later, she squealed because Eric slapped a handful of flour onto the top of her head. "Hey!"

"Uh... Not being rude, but, what are Eric and David doing here?", I asked while observing the kitchen that looked like a battle field with flour and destroyed eggs all over the floor.

Feranix stopped whatever she was doing and glanced at Amy. "We... Invited them for a movie?"

"I thought it's Sunday Girl's night.", I crossed my arms across my chest. The tension was getting awkward and the "warm" part of me wanted to just bit my tongue off for being so bitchy. I mean, my friends were having fun and these two guys obviously liked them. Why couldn't I be happy for them?

Eric was the first one to speak up. "Look, Dareen, I'm sorry. We should leave."

Then, guilt rushed into me. "Stop.", I sighed before they could even move an inch. "I'm sorry. I was having a rough day... And, I think I'm just gonna go straight to bed anyway, you two need to keep Amy and Feranix company."

Before anyone could say anything, I turned around and dragged my feet to my room. It wasn't too long until I could hear they already played the movie, and from the sounds, they were watching Resident Evil. After I changed and planned to just slip into my bed, Amy poked her head into my room through my door.

"Hey... Is everything okay?", she asked. I just looked at her while I sat on the edge of my bed and shook my head. "Do you wanna tell me what's wrong?"

Amy got into my room and sat next to me. "Well...", I sighed. "Arletta didn't give me the job."

"That bitch.", she breathed. "I'm sorry, Dare, I know how you wanted to prove that you're worth it..."

I sighed heavily out of frustration and buried my face in my hands. "I just don't know anymore.", I muffled. I could feel Amy's hand rubbed my back in a soothing manner, trying to calm me down.

"If there's anything you need, just tell me or Feranix. That what friends are for, right?"

"Can I join you guys?", I smiled slyly. Amy just grinned before standing up, pulling me up, and dragged me to the living room. David and Feranix were on the couch, while Eric was on the carpet with the bowl of popcorn next to him. When we showed up, they looked at me. "Uh... Is it okay if I join you guys?"

Feranix grinned and patted the space next to her. "Come on up."

I grinned and sat next to her with my legs pulled up to my chest, while Amy sat down next to Eric. The rest of the movie was spent by commenting on how stupid the scientist could be or the moment where David had to throw a brownie onto the TV because a zombie showed up out of nowhere.

The night ended with Pirates Of The Caribbean and when the movie was over, all of them were asleep, except for David and I, but I could see that his eyes were already drooping. "You guys should crash here. It's not adviced to drive when you're sleepy.", I chuckled and stood up from the couch.

"Yeah.", David yawned. "Eric's already asleep, anyway."

I nodded and turned around to make my merry way to my room, but David called me again. "Hey Dareen..."

"Yeah?", I replied with a turn.

"Well, I know I just knew Cameron since two and a half years ago, but... I really think he likes you."

I looked at him for a moment before burst into a fit of giggles. "Cameron and I are friends! We're friends since high school! Besides, he has a girlfriend, remember?"

"Nothing written on stone, right?", he just grinned. I narrowed my eyes and walked away to my room. "Night, Dareen."

"Night, David.", I rolled my eyes. Good thing he couldn't see.
***************
It was already 9 AM and I needed my caffeine shot. The brownies and popcorn were bad subsitutes for dinner and I still could feel the really-sweet-chocolate-mud-shake on my tongue. The line in Starbucks was devastating and I just groaned while being a zombie.

"Different time, same place, huh?", a voice said behind me. I turned around and saw Cameron, smirking.

"Is it me or we're destined to meet here?", I chuckled sarcastically and shook my head slightly.

Then, Trish walked into the coffee shop and waved at us. "Oh, hi, Dareen.", she smiled when she was already next to Cameron. "Never knew we could meet here."

I smiled bitterly. What did she mean by that? I didn't care. "Hm... Yeah, it's a public place, so we could bump into each other here anytime, right?"

Trish furrowed her brows and decided to shut it. I flipped my hair a bit and Cameron glared slightly at me, probably telling me to be nice. Two days after we reunited, he already knew how my "ice queen" self acted. When I ordered my drink, I could hear the mushy stuff the happy couple said behind me and all I could do just roll my eyes.

After I was done, I picked up my drink and said goodbye to Cameron and Trish. "I gotta go work, I'll see you guys around.", I flashed them a little smile.

"Hey, you should come to the show tomorrow.", Cameron suggested while they were waiting for their drink.

"I... Don't know. I have a lotta work."

"Well, if you have time, you should drop off. Cameron's really good on stage.", Trish grinned and firmed her arm around his waist.

Was this girl trying to make me jealous? Did she really think I liked her boyfriend? People.

"Hm, maybe.", I shrugged and said a goodbye once again before walking away.

The walk to the boutique wasn't that far, only a couple blocks away. When I got to the parking lot of the strip, I could see Amy talking to a man with her clipboard in her hand. "Hey, Ame.", I called.

She looked over to me and waved her clipboard. "Hey!"

"Do you need a sip?", I asked when I was already in front of her, motioning my coffee.

"So much.", she groaned and took the cup of coffee before taking a swig. "It's gonna be a rough day for me."

"The CDs?", I asked and looked over to a opened U-Haul truck, filled with labeled boxes.

Amy nodded. "Yup. I need to sort this out and give them the price tags."

"Good luck, baby cakes.", I gave her a pat on the shoulder and said goodbye because I needed to get to work. Somehow, I didn't want Amy or Feranix to know about me, meeting Cameron and Trish earlier.