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Ray checked his watch again just to make sure he had the right time, it was ten minutes after nine. Nine- the time he had asked Neela to meet him in the park. Maybe she was late, maybe her shift ran late or she missed the train, maybe he just had the wrong time he mused.
"uh excuse me" Ray said to a young woman as she walked by him in the park
the young woman turned to look around her to make sure she was the one Ray was talking to, when she didn't see anyone else around, she turned back to Ray
"uh yeah..hi" she said to Ray, she started to smile flirtatiously at him.
Ray who only had Neela on his mind, ignored her flirting attempts and with a serious face asked "Do you have the time?"
"yeah it's…" she trailed off as she looked at her watch "its ten after nine" she said and then looked back at him with a smile
"uh thanks" Ray said a low voice
"Uh…I was just about to go a grab a coffee…would you like to join me?" the young woman asked, still smiling at Ray
"Uh no thanks. I'm just waiting for someone." Ray said in a distracted tone
"Oh well I'm sure you friend can meet you over at the coffee shop. Why don't you call him?" The young woman thought Ray looked like a nice guy and she didn't want to lose the chance to ask him out and get to know him.
"Actually She should be here any minute, so I should wait for her" Ray said as he clearly said the word 'she'. He knew the girl was flirting with him and if he had met her a long time ago he would have jumped at the chance to have coffee with her- she was pretty good looking and he wouldn't have said no. Now though, he was a different person and the only one he wanted to see was Neela.
"Oh" the girl said disappointment evident in her voice "well she's a lucky girl" said the young woman as she turned to continue walking
Ray turned and watched her walk away and then turned back to see if he could see Neela. He checked his watch, fifteen minutes after nine. Ray sighed and sat down on the bench, he ran a hand through his hair and then kept watching for any sight of Neela. She could just be late he thought. After twenty minutes later and asking two other people the time, Ray realized Neela wasn't going to come. He fingered the rose in his hand as he stared at it, deep in his own thoughts. He wasn't angry that Neela didn't show up- maybe later he would be, but right now more than anything he was just hurt. He had never really felt this way about anyone, he loved her. He had always been careful showing his feelings to a girl, that's why the groupies were an easy thing for him- they didn't care about being serious or feelings. With Neela though, he opened up to her, he loved everything about her. He wasn't Gates and even now he didn't understand what she saw in the guy. He was just using her and that made him angry. If there was anyone he was angry with it- it was Gates. The guy shows up and takes over everything, including her. If it wasn't for him, he was pretty sure he and Neela would be together right now- he knew there was something between them- he had felt it the day she walked in when he was cooking for her and she told him she was moving out. He had felt it that morning when he was standing so close to her, helping her clean her shirt before work. They were so close he could smell the scent of lavender she always used in the shower. The scent of lavender would be something he knew he would always associate with her. He stared at the rose in his hand I guess I have my answer he thought to himself. At least now when he leaves Chicago he wont feel like he was leaving something behind or the possibility of something behind. He wouldn't have the countless thoughts of 'what ifs' to think about. Of course Neela would always be on his mind but at least now he wouldn't feel like he lost her. She had made up her mind on what she wanted and it wasn't him.
Ray felt a hand touch his and he looked up, there in front of him was a little girl around the age of 5.
"I like your flower" the little girl said
"Uh thanks" Ray said as he looked around the park to see if he could see her parents, he noticed a couple walking towards him looking in his direction. He realized they must be the parents and the little girl must have ran ahead of them when they were walking. He waved to the parents so they knew she was with him.
Ray smiled at the little girl "and what is a little princess like yourself doing all alone in a big park at night?" Ray said sweetly to her
"I'm not alone" she said frowning
"Sweetie- leave the nice man alone" the girls mother called out to her as they got closer to Ray
"Its ok- I'm a doctor so I'm used to kids" Ray called back to them looked up at her and said as he softly smiled at the parents. Ray turned his attention back to the little girl
He playfully rubbed the top of the rose along her nose and the little girl started to giggle.
"what's that you got with you?" Ray asked the girl as he pointed to a bracelet she had
"Sweetie lets go" the girls parents called out
The little girl turned to her parents and then turned back to Ray and smiled
"I have to go" the little girl said as she started to turn away
Ray paused for a moment, "will you be my princess?" Ray said to her and smiled
The little girl smiled shyly at him
"Well then I can't let my princess go without giving her one of these, can I?" Ray said as he extended the rose in his hand to the little girl
The little girl's smile widened and her eyes widened as she took the rose from Ray. She ran back to her parents and said 'Look what I got" excitedly as she showed off her flower to her parents
"Well what do you say to the nice man?" the parents said to her
The little girl turned back and said 'thank you"
Ray smiled at the girl and said "as long as you promise to be my princess" and he winked at the little girl.
Ray watched at the little girl and her parents continued their walk through the park. Ray looked around the park, he told himself he was just looking but he knew he was looking to see if Neela did decide to come. When he convinced himself that she wasn't there, he got up and decided to walk back to the Ltrain to get the next train home. He had an early flight and he still had to finish a few things before he left.