The first time I saw him was at the Russian tournament. I was with Ray at the time. I thought to myself, 'who is this guy?' I asked Ray, but he didn't know either. He went off to find Kai because this red haired guy was on Kai's team. Ray told me his name was Tala. I liked that name. It strangely fit him.
I zoned out, kind of sort of looking for the bathroom. I ran into someone, pushing myself to the ground, but I was caught before I made it that far. I was pulled forward into a warm chest, and I blushed so bad. I looked up just a little, and there holding me was Tala. I swear I blushed harder, if that were humanly possible.
I thought he was going to say "watch where you're going" and "you're such a troublesome kid," but he didn't. He grabbed the back of my head and pulled me closer into him. I was embarrassed enough and now he wants to create a scene. I knew he did when he asked me, "are you ok?"
What was it about him that made my heart beat like crazy? I liked Ray, Hell, even Kai at one point in my life, but I just met him and he probably didn't even know my name. I was totally too dazed to speak. I slowly stuttered out, "yes."
His hand left my back and I instantly wished it would've stayed. "That's good. If you'll excuse me, I have a match to win."
I saw Kai walk up behind him and he tapped Tala on the back. Tala turned to meet him face to face. "You ready?"
Tala answered, "You bet." He looked me straight in the eye. "Maybe we can hang out later." He took a pen out of his pocket and wrote his number on the back of my hand. "Call me." With that, he walked into the bright stadium, leaving me to stare at his number the rest of the day.
I came back to my hotel room at about seven that night, still with Tala completely taking over my mind. Why is he so intriguing? His number was still on my hand, even though I wrote it on a piece of paper. I grabbed my cell and called the number, heart beat sky high.
The receiver was answered, "Tala."
I barely stuttered out, "hi."
His voice rose in happiness levels. "Ah, you're that girl who bumped into me this morning. I'm glad you called. I was looking forward to this all day." He chuckled. "Usually I call the girls, but Kai told me to switch it around and make them call me. Who knew he was right?"
I laughed nervously. I wonder if he can tell I'm nervous. "That does seem kind of odd. I didn't think he knew girls very well."
"Apparently he does. I mean, I didn't think so either. So, tell me where you want to meet?"
I thought for a second. Well, Lee would kill me if I brought him here. There is a place nearby though. "Well, maybe, um… there's a club nearby, but I can't pronounce it."
Tala was silent for a minute then said, "can you spell it?"
I shook my head, mentally forgetting he couldn't see it. "I didn't learn Russian, so no."
"Hmmm…. What about streets? The streets are numbered."
"Let me look outside. I didn't look at the street signs." I took me a short minute to get outside, in the blistering cold. How do people live in this place? "Ummm… One of them looks like a B and the other looks like an N. Does that help?"
"Yes, it does. Thank you. I'll meet you there in ten minutes, my Azalea." Too shocked to respond, he hung up. Wait, did he call me a flower?
