THE DAY OF THE CONVENTION… HANNAH
He called me last night! Oh technically, 8 hours ago. It's 8am and by this time, in regular days, I'll be clocking in for work. Good thing night shift offered to cover for us; this is the day of the convention anyway. Bad thing… we have a double next week. Anyhow, the important thing is… HE CALLED ME LAST NIGHT!
Remind myself to thanks Sara to the heavens later when I see her. "Then the phone rings/ hear you/And the darkness is a clear view/Coz you've come to rescue me," I sing in the shower all the time. It's kind of like my own personal recording studio. Echoes actually enhance the voice, making it sound better than in normal atmosphere. Okay, stop it. Right now, you're Ashlee Simpson… and you're singing while massaging aloe vera shampoo on your hair. "Fall... With you, I fall so fast/I can hardly catch my breath, I hope it lasts."
I take my day-off ritual in the morning… cleanse, tone, moisturize, lounge in bed watching chic flicks… being away from Science and deep thinking for a while. Then my phone rings, "Valdez."
"Uh hey…it's me again." It's Archie. "I didn't wake you didn't I?"
I chuckled and paused 'Never Been Kissed'. "No, I'm just relaxing and stuff. You know, it's not all the time I get the day off for having fun later in the night." His turn to chuckle. "And I'm catching up on my flicks. It's uh… a chic thing."
"I understand. I stay by my football movies," he said. "So… later tonight—"
"I'll see you."
"Yeah, me too. But I was kinda wondering if… if," he sighed and I impelled him to choke it out, "I was wondering if we can go out. I mean, Nick said these seminars tend to get a little boring. And if it bores you, maybe we can go someplace else. You know, we're dressed and stuff and no use in staying cooped up in a room full of scientists."
It didn't quite register to me at first, his implication but suddenly; it hit me, "Are you asking me out on a date?"
"Uh… what if I am?" he said politely. I can hear him fidgeting with something in the other line.
"You hardly know me," I said simply without any intention of offending him.
His breath hitched. He was silent for a bit and then he began babbling away, "Yeah, you're right. Uh, it's not a really genius idea anyway—" but I stopped him in mid-sentence.
"No, Archie stop," I said sweetly. "Yes, I would like to go out with you. And no, it may not be a genius idea to go out with someone you just met but it's not entirely idiotic."
There was a pregnant pause on the other line. After a while, "So you would go out with me?"
I giggled like a teenager. "Do I have to keep repeating myself? Shi de (yes), Archie. I'll see you."
To my not-so-much surprise, he replied, "Xie xie ni (thank you), Hannah xiao jie (Miss Hannah). Bye and I'll see you too!" and he clicked off. I sat there on my loveseat with the phone glued against my ear, staring in space, dumbfounded.
"I just agreed to have a date with Archie Johnson!" I berated myself.