I Will Hold You When No One's Around

I will hold you when no one’s around.
7-

I spent the night at Jennifer’s and woke up by the sound of my cell phone ringing. It was a new message from Darrel.

“I’m sorry I didn't answer earlier, and sure, is it okay if I go for you in two hours? Maybe we can have a few drinks or go to Hollywood.”

How did he find my phone number? I had saved his on my contacts after I came back home from the hospital, but I hadn't texted him or anything yet, have I? I decided to take a look at my sent mails.

“Hey Darrel this is Dsarrel. Would u like to go out or sumthin tomorrow? Im so lonely!”

“What the hell? I didn't text him! I mean, I did, but I don’t remember I had! There are so many grammar horrors in that sentence, what an idiot am I! And why did I text him? Oh my God I feel so embarrassed. He was coming in two hours? What time is it?” –I urged out loud, looking at the clock hanging on the wall. It was 4:27 PM. “Why did I sleep so much?” –I thought. When I stood up I got a dizzy feeling, and instantly found out the reason. Jenn and I had taken a few more drinks than we should have. Thank God I wasn't really a “hangover” girl, I've never suffered so much with the aftermaths of getting drunk. I needed to leave right now. My friend was still sleeping, so I left her a poorly written note and called a taxi.

I got home and I still hadn't answered Darrel’s text.

“I guess it’s okay… we will just hang out a bit.” –I said, while writing a new message on my phone.

I took a long hot bath. I guess it was good; at least as good as a bath would be when you are wearing a cast. I took a cute black dress from the closet and got myself ready. After that, I grabbed some milk and cereal not to have an empty stomach for the rest of the evening. It was already half past six; I guess Darrel was almost here. I left the plate there on the table and went to my messy bedroom to check if everything was in order, in the meantime Jenn texted me letting me know she read my note. A few minutes later, the bell rang. I took my purse, directed to the entrance and opened the door. And there he was. I swear that was definitely the hottest man I had ever seen on Huntington Beach. Oh Lord. He was wearing fine black pants and a black shirt with a grey tie. His shoes were nice too. His lips were thin, his arms were strong and he had a couple tattoos on them; I could also see one other tattoo on his skin thanks to the cleavage of his shirt. It was definitely a turn on.

“Hello there, Darrel.” –He said with a seductive voice, looking at me in the eyes.

“Hi!” –I greeted, giving him a quick hug. “You look good!” –I told him with a big smile on my face.

“Thank you, I’m flattered. But I am the one who should say that.” –He took my free hand and made
me flip. “So beautiful.”

“Thanks.” –I said, with red cheeks. “Are we going out or what?” –I encouraged, trying to hide my face by looking at the ground.

“Of course! Follow me” –And with my hand holding his, we left. When I saw his car I couldn't believe it. It was my dreamed car, an original black Mercedes Benz SL Class Roader. It was worth over
100.000 dollars, so that’s why I say dreamed.

“Oh my God.” –I mumbled.

“Is there something wrong?” –He asked, worried.

“I am watching beauty and elegance at the finest. Jesus Christ.” –This couldn't be better.

“Huh! You like the car!” –He smiled.

“I don’t like the car, I love the car, I need the car, I want the car, I am the car. God. I've wanted to buy it! But it’s so expensive… And it’s black! Do you know how many dollars that adds to the price?” –I was so excited. I didn't really know how to stop talking about the goddamn vehicle.

“I know, and, I understand! It was a gift from my father. When he found out I was single again he got so happy he bought me this. He hated the crazy bitch I used to call my girlfriend.” –He laughed.

“Really?” –I asked, surprised.

“Yes, but let’s not talk about that, we have things to do!” –He said while he opened the car’s door for
me to get inside.

“Okay, if you say so.” –I teased.

“Oh yeah, I do.” –He smirked.

When I got in the car I felt a lovely scent all over the air. It smelled so good. He soon got himself into the car, too. We started talking about each others; he and I had a lot of things in common. The way to Hollywood was long, but very entertaining. We even flirted, and he slightly touched my knee every now and then. I hadn't been on a date like this since I broke up with my now ex-boyfriend almost two years ago. He was always complaining about me being so busy and spending more time with my friends than with him, even though we met every day.

When we finally arrived to the so called city of fallen angels we didn't quite know what to do. There were a lot of possibilities. We went to the Grauman's Chinese Theatre and walked through the Walk of Fame and entered to the Hollywood Wax Museum. We took a lot of pictures and it was very fun. We even went to Guitar Center, just to take a peek. When I thought we had finished with our visit he took me to the Laugh Factory and we had dinner there and went to the bar inside it. It was hilarious, not only because of the amazing comedians, but also thanks to Darrel, he was a very funny gentleman.

This was nice, I mean, being able to talk and hold hands in public, flirt and laugh out loud, the weird but enjoyable feeling in my stomach… I felt so normal.

It was almost midnight, and he said he was not going to let me go until I saw “this really amazing thing”. We had a little trip on car to a place I didn't like much. The way was lonesome, dark and there were a lot of woods.

“Where are you taking me to?” –I asked, laughing, even if I was nervous. I didn't want to sound anxious.

“It’s a surprise!” –He said, with a big smile on his face that was a little bit creepy.

“Come on!” –I joked. “Tell me!” –I playfully hit him in the arm.

“We’re almost there! You will love the view!” –He sounded excited. “It’s my favorite place on the world.” –Those words kind of relaxed me, his voice was too cute. I grinned and stayed quiet, listening to the music of Slayer that had been playing since the car was started. Somewhat like two minutes later he broke the silence. “We’re here!” –And with that, he parked the car.

We arrived to the Griffith Observatory. I’d read about it on internet but never got to visit it. It was late night, and they didn't let people in at that time.

“Oh Darrel! I've wanted to come here for so long! But isn't it a little too late to get in?”-I said with a sad smile, while taking his hand.

“Not for me, I have contacts.” –He winked an eye.

“How interesting…” –I said, smiling and pulling him to follow my steps.

He talked to the guard on the entrance of the place for a couple of minutes and gave him a note. When the man read it, he nodded and told us to go in. We walked around the whole building and we took pictures with the “Hollywood” sign behind us as a background. It was very romantic.

“You were right. I DO love the view.” –I said, looking at the landscape, still holding his hands.

“Well, yeah, I mean, I love it too.” –He spilled. I diverted my gaze to him and realized he was staring at me.

He was totally charming. His hazel eyes were mesmerizing and he hypnotized me with that beautiful smile of his. Just by looking at those shining orbs you could easily guess what he was planning on to happen next. He didn't talk, neither did I. I leaned forward and so did he. Our lips touched each others in a very sweet kiss. I deepened the kiss into a more passionate one, but the subtlety was still there.

After he broke the kiss we just hugged and stayed like that for a long time, just admiring the beautiful scene before us. I liked it; I was still amused for the kiss. We ended up leaving at 2 am, with an hour left to arrive to Huntington Beach.

“Today it was nice.”-I beamed.

“Sure it was, right now I’m so thankful the pizza guy broke his arm, because if he hadn't, I wouldn't have met you.” –He laughed.

“Hey! Don’t joke about that kind of stuff, just look at me!” –I gagged, showing him my right arm.

“Oh, I’m sorry. And, by the way, what happened to you? I was going to ask you right when I saw you but you looked so beautiful standing there I lost my mind.” –He said with a grin.

“Thanks!” –I smiled, I was glad it was dark, if not, he might have seen me blush. “Well, I was just angry, and I guess I needed to get all that out. You know, it’s not like I’m used to act like this, I just didn't think of what I was doing.”

“But what did you do?” –He asked, with concern, looking at the road and me.

“I… kind of hit the wall…” –I said, afraid he would think I was crazy or something.

“What?!” –He looked stunned, and I don’t blame him.

“Yeah, I… it was the closest thing I had to me and I guess I just smashed my fist on it.” –I laughed, tense. He was just looking at the street, quietly. I was going to talk but before I could open my mouth
he saved me from killing the moment with a joke.

“So I don’t want to be near you when you’re mad, right?” –He asked, smiling.

“No… I mean, yes. I mean, if you’re around I wouldn't act like a beast… I mean, I would but… I mean, I’m not insane. Damn.” –I babbled, trying to find the right words so it didn't sound pervert or crazy. He just laughed out loud.

“What is so funny?!” –I was taken aback by his reaction.

“You are! I love it! How do you manage to be so humorous even when you’re talking about how you got a broken hand?” –He was still giggling.

“I… I don’t know.” –I decided to play along. “I’m just hilarious like that.” –I smirked.

“Sweet.” –He said, and with that, the rest of the conversation became a lot less awkward. Without noticing we were already getting in my driveway.

“I’m sorry for bringing you home late.” –He apologized, with a grin on his face.

“You can bring me home late anytime you want.” –I winked. What the hell, brain.

“Well, that’s good to know.” –And with a smile on his lips, he approached me and kissed me goodbye.

I got into my house and saw the car leaving from the window. Then I went to my bedroom, took off my clothes and stayed like that for a moment while I settled out for a quick shower. After that I just put on my underwear and an over sized navy blue t-shirt of my favorite baseball team, the LA Angels of Anaheim, it had the number 21 on it, and “Darrel” was written on the back. I was never a fan of sports, but I loved to watch the sports channel only because of baseball; my father had taught me to love them since I was a kid.

“What a wonderful evening!” –I said out loud, serving a glass of water and taking the painkillers for my hand.

“Sure it was.” –I heard a voice saying. It was me again. “We need to talk.”

“Let’s talk this out tomorrow, I need to sleep.” –And after finishing my drink, went to my room and let myself fall on the bed, stepping on the dreamland right away.