Paper Cranes

I sighed and set down the can of Coke on the coffee table. Winona was paying her fullest attention to the TV screen, we were watching Panic Room. Ironically, the movie was aired after I met Jared. Sadly, it had been a week since I first and last met Jared and he hadn’t call. I had to admit I didn’t expect he would but there was a small part of me that wished he would. He did seem sincere. But once again, I was wrong in judging people the first time I met them.

I picked up the bowl of popcorn and threw a handful into my mouth, munching away. After that crazy and unexpected night at the club, I had told Winona about everything that had happened. She too was convinced that he would call but I guessed both of us were wrong. Winona was lucky too that night; the guy she met worked as a stock broker and his name was Ryan. In a week’s time, they had already gone out on three dates and were planning on going sailing this weekend. I didn’t dare to admit it but I was jealous of Winona. No matter how many times I told myself not to get into a relationship anymore, but I knew deep down my heart, I wanted a guy whom I could share the rest of my life with.

It was one of those Friday nights where either I or Winona would go to either one of our apartments to chill after work. Today was her turn to come over and together we shopped for some groceries and cooked our dinner for tonight. Then, we had a nice gossip session and were flipping the channels on the television before we found out that Panic Room was about to be aired and I remembered Jared mentioning that title when he was trying to convince me that he was an actor. He wasn’t exactly the main character in the movie but when you think about it, the entire movie mainly revolved around those few characters and when you put it that way, he was quite a significant character. When Winona saw who he was, she couldn’t stop saying how hot or how gorgeous he looked. And all I did was nod in agreement or mumbled some words under my breath.

He was hot, that was a fact. I couldn’t deny it. But there was something else about him, something more than his burning looks, something captivating, even in the movies he acted in. There was this energy, this vibe that surrounded him. It was somewhat calling out for me, telling me this guy was the one that I was looking for all my life. I know it sounds crazy. I had just met him one time and that was a disaster. But it just felt right. It felt like he was the one. I pushed away the thought and tried to focus on the movie as I grabbed another handful of popcorn.

The movie was reaching its climatic scene whereby Jodie Foster’s character got locked out of the panic room when the house phone rang. The sound of it pierced through the silence which gave Winona and I quite a fright. I rolled my eyes and put my hand on my chest where the heart was supposed to be located to feel my racing heartbeat. I grabbed hold of the cordless phone, clicked on the green button and answered, “Hello?”

“Hi. Erm… is this Rowena?” asked a male’s voice on the other end.

Puzzled yet slightly excited I replied, “Yes. May I know who am I speaking to?”

I heard a chuckle and a sigh of relief. “It’s Jared. Jared Leto? We met at a club last Thursday?”

I couldn’t help but jumped out of my seat from the couch and glided to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. I plopped on my bed which caused it to creak softly. “Oh… hi, Jared. How are you?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Good. And yourself?” he asked casually, his voice was huskier than I remembered.

“I’m good too. So what’s up?” I continued with my relaxed tone. At that point, Winona had already crept into the room and was lying beside me on the bed, grinning widely.

“Oh… nothing much. Just… you know… been busy working. But… erm… I was wondering…” he paused, taking in a deep breath. I was holding my breath on the other end of the line, fingers crossed in what I hoped the next question was. “Whether you would like to go out and grab some dinner or something tomorrow?” he continued. I covered the phone with my hand and shrieked. Winona was screaming a soft yes by my side. “You go girl!” she cheered. I smiled.

“Hello? Rowena? You there?” Jared asked, worried at the long silence.

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m here,” I replied immediately when I heard his voice. “Dinner sounds great,” I added.

He laughed softly. “You like Italian?”

“Italian’s great,” I said as Winona started to act out a kissing scene. I slapped her arm as I heard him said, “Great! I’ll pick you up at… seven?”

“Seven’s fine,” I replied.

“Well, see you then.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Rowena.”

“Bye, Jared,” I replied and the dial tone went dead. I clicked the button on the phone and placed it on my bedside table. “I have a date with Jared!” I yelped in joy. Winona laughed but was celebrating with me by doing our victory dance.

“I’m so jealous, Ro!” Winona began. “He’s such a hottie!” she teased.

“I still can’t believe he asked me out,” I said, lying down on my bed again, breathing heavily. Winona was beside me. She grunted. “Come on, Ro! How many times do we have to go through this?!”

I turned to her with my most innocent look. “What?! It’s true! I mean… look at me!” I gestured at myself. “Look at all this!” I motioned to my bedroom. “I’m a mess! I’m not pretty. I’m not hot. And I’m definitely not cute!” I exclaimed. Winona rolled her eyes at my list. “I’m just a clerk at a law firm. I earn less than 1000 dollars a month. I don’t have a great personality! I’m evil. Why would a guy like Jared want to go out with a girl like me?!” I asked.

Winona heaved a sigh. “Ro. Listen to me.” She grabbed my arms and held me to sit up straight, facing her. “You are gorgeous, Rowena. You’re a great person. You are funny, intelligent and fun to be with. Plus, you have an hour-shaped figure. Why wouldn’t Jared die to be with a girl like you?” She shook me gently as she said these words of encouragement. I inhaled a deep breath and tried to digest what Winona had just said to me.

“You just have to boost up your self-esteem,” she said. I smiled weakly at her. “Come on, Ro. There’s a hot guy who just asked you out, who by the way is a famous Hollywood actor as well. Can’t you just accept the fact and enjoy the moment?” she asked. Her green eyes stared directly into mine.

After a while of silence, I nodded. Winona smiled and hugged me tightly. “Just…don’t worry about who he is and trying to impress him,” she started. “Just be who you are Ro. Be Rowena Harris and nobody else, okay?” she pulled away to take a look at me.

“Okay,” I muttered. “Thanks, Win.”

She laughed and shook her head. That was what I really liked about Winona. She was one of those friends who would never judge you; she would just accept you for who you are. She had a huge amount of optimism with her since the day one I met her and this positive energy around her had always helped me whenever I had one of my down times.

The next thing I knew, we were talking about what I should wear tomorrow instead of going back to the living room and continue watching the movie. Since it was going to be an Italian restaurant, we had narrowed down to two outfits. One was a simple, plain navy dress which showed off my back and had a V-neck which revealed quite a lot in my point of view for a first date. The next option was a white V-neck blouse with a pair of skinny faded jeans. I personally preferred the second choice because I didn’t want to overdress for my first date with an actor. But Winona thought the first option was better. She was assuming it would be a fancy restaurant since he was an actor and it was going to be Italian food.

We were arguing about it before I gave in to her after she allowed me to wear a white jacket over it. I didn’t know why but my whole life I wasn’t much of a person who likes to show off their skin. I was more of a pants and sweater girl. I looked at the dress in front of me and prayed Winona’s decision was right.