Feel This Moment

As the final moving truck pulled out of the driveway of the apartment complex, tall tanned and heavily tattooed Matthew Sanders gave the driver a final wave, glad that the stress and anxiety of moving was finished. He had all of his furniture moved into his new little home, and with the C.N Tower standing against the skyline, he finally felt like he had his life back on track... or as on track as it would ever be. He stepped inside his apartment and closed the balcony door behind him, and looked around. It was nothing compaired to his flat in Huntington Beach; his chest tightened at the thought of his home in California, and with a shuddering sigh he looked back to the foreign tower, and gave another little smile. He had to make it through this; he was going to make it through this. Grabbing his new keys and his wallet, Matt slipped a pair of sunglasses over his face. Time to see where he could snag a job.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Don’t touch me!” She screamed, tears of fear and shame running down her face. The short brunette didn’t understand why she was reacting this way; it was something she hadn’t expected and it was beginning to scare her. Her date – appalled and falling over himself to distance himself from her – was bewildered with her behavior, and he wasn’t sure what to do. Everyone was staring in the tiny hole-in-the-wall diner, and instantly Ellie Conners felt like she was being suffocated. Choking on air, she grasped the table and pushed herself from it, waving at her date. “Sorry, I… I have to go!” She sped off, leaving the café without another word. The tears she had been spluttering began to dry as she raced from the diner, hoping to get lost in Toronto’s crowds.

Ellie took a handful of deep breaths, running a hand through her blonde-and-red hair as she tried to calm herself down from this horrendous date. She had been put on this … this ‘date’ via a ‘well wishing’ friend; a friend that had been couch surfing between her apartment and her mother's house. Ellie felt the embarrassment and shame rise up hotly in her body; he would never ask for her to go back out ever again, and that was completely on her. She flinched as someone brushed past her, and she began the eager jog back to her apartment. Living in Toronto was tough; rent was ridiculous in most places and even though she was lucky to have snagged an apartment with a mediocre rent, she still had to work two double shifts a week, along with her normal shifts.

She turned down a street and took a second to catch her breath, holding onto her knees as she took five deep, slow breaths. Ellie knew her social anxiety wasn’t something she could just get over, and it had taken a long time for her just to be able to go out with her friends after what happened in college. The very thought made her chest tighten again, and she whimpered, clinging to herself as she tried to fight back the memories. It was something she didn’t wish on her worse enemies. Once she was finally calmed down – or as calmed down as she could get – and began on her way towards her apartment.

That was when she bumped into him.