The end is near. I hope you all have enjoyed my story. I look forward to the last few chapters. I think you will like it.
Jacob
I step out into the rainy night and jog to the bus stop. I don't allow myself to think about her as I allow the rain to permeate my pores. It's pretty late for anyone to be out, but I just off work and have no choice.
"Do you have a light?" a pretty girl with dark hair asks. She takes a seat on the bench and looks up at me earnestly.
"Sure, sure," I answer as I pull a lighter out of my coat pocket. I hold the lighter in front of her cigarette. It takes a few times to light up with all the rain, but eventually we get it. I take a closer look at the girl and realize that she looks way too young to be smoking. "Aren't you a little young to be smoking?" I ask as I sit down on the other side of the bench.
"I'm eighteen," she replies with a thick accent.
"Bull shit. How old are you really?"
"Seven," she responds with an eyebrow raised.
I laugh for the first time in a while. My body feels strangely alive. It's like my nerves are buzzing or something. "So what brings you out on this rainy night?"
"I like the night." She looks away from me and takes a long drag from her cigarette. "What about you?"
"Just got off work."
"Where do you work?"
"I bartend at Mickey's Hideaway."
"Buy me a drink?" she asks suggestively.
"You're underage," I reply.
"I won't tell if you won't."
Once again I feel my lips upturn in a smile. It's odd to have a normal conversation with someone. "Maybe," I answer. Our conversation is interrupted by a bus that pulls up. It's the number eight. I'm waiting on nine.
"That's my ride," she says as she puts out her cigarette. "Thanks for the light…"
"Jacob," I finish for her. She steps onto the bus and drops a few coins in the slot.
The girl turns back and looks at me again. "Have a good night."
"Hey! What's your name?" I shout over the rain.
"Katerina," she answers as the doors close and the bus lurches forward. I am left standing in the cold rain.