The Way Your Heart Sounds

After Jimmy disappeared, Dani and Taylor made their way back to the table and sat down. Dani smirked at her.

“Your patient, huh? If you have a crush, you can tell me,” Dani said. Lauren blushed and started to play with the straw in her glass of water.

“I literally just met the guy yesterday, I don’t have a crush on him,” she mumbled.

“Well, he certainly seemed to have a crush on you,” Taylor said.

“You’re blushing! Look at you, you totally dig him. I have to admit, I would have never pictured him to be your type,” Dani said, giggling when her friend hid her face with her hands.

“Let’s not talk about this now, I’m starving,” Lauren said. She picked up a menu and preoccupied herself with it so she would stop thinking about the conversation she just had with Jimmy. It didn’t seem to be working though. She was still confused. Why did she give him her number? Why did she find herself interested in this man when she knew that her interest would probably bring nothing but heartbreak and disappointment?

Luckily for Lauren, her friends dropped the talk about Jimmy for the night. They enjoyed dinner together, and exchanged hugs again before leaving. After driving home, Lauren wasted no time getting into bed. She was absolutely exhausted. As she was falling asleep, she couldn’t help but picture his eyes. Those haunting, crystal blue eyes she had trouble resisting.

The next morning was a slow, lazy morning for her. She was off from work, so she took the extra time to sleep in, do laundry, and clean up the house. After lunch, she decided to go outside and water her plants. Her house was small, but sometimes it was lonely living in a house with no one else. She had thought about living in an apartment or getting a roommate, but didn’t want to embrace the change that would come with that.

Her phone started to buzz in her pocket. She turned the hose off and pulled her phone out to see who was calling.

Jimmy’s name flashed on the screen. Panic flooded through her veins. He was calling already? She quickly swiped the screen and put the phone up to her ear, hoping the nervousness in her voice wasn’t apparent.

“Hello?”

“Hey Lauren! I’m sorry if I’m freaking you out by calling so soon…. Johnny, shut up! I’m on the phone!.... Sorry about that, my friend is being annoying.” She smiled hearing his voice.

“That’s alright. What’s up?” she asked.

“You’re off today, right? Can I take you out for a bit? Feel free to say no if I’m weirding you out… No, Johnny, you can’t talk to her! She’s not into guys that look like they’re still in high school.” Some cursing from another person was heard in the background.

“You sure you’re not too busy torturing your friend over there?”

“What? Johnny? Nah. He’s a little shithead. So what do you say?”

“I’d like that. I’ll text you my address.”

“Awesome! You won’t regret this, I promise. We’re going to have an amazing time. I’ll pick you up around five?” he asked. He was grinning ear to ear, and was sure she could tell even though she couldn’t see him.

“Sounds good. See you later, Jimmy.”

“Later, my angel! Can’t wait to see your pretty face again.” Lauren smiled as she hung up the phone. She couldn’t believe she just met Jimmy two days ago and she was already agreeing to a date with him. As much as she wanted to tell herself that he was nothing but a crazy alcoholic party dude, she couldn’t help but feel there was so much more to him.

It had been at least a year since Lauren had to get ready for a date. Being so busy with work didn’t always give her the time to meet new people, though in this instance she supposed it did. She was extremely nervous, but excited to see him again. After a shower, she decided on a simple red dress, loose curls in her hair, and a fair amount of makeup. Once she was ready, she anxiously paced around the house waiting for him. Around 4:55, she noticed an unfamiliar car pull up to the house.

His tall, gangly frame stepped out of the car and started walking towards her house. Lauren took a moment to breathe deeply before she opened the door and smiled at him.

“Hey Jimmy! How are you feeling?” she asked. Even though he looked amazing, she couldn’t help but keep the picture of his pale skin from a few days ago in her mind. He grinned and pulled her in for a quick hug, which made her heart race.

“I feel great. So much better now that I’m with you.” Lauren was sure she was blushing. Jimmy stepped inside.

“Do you live alone?” he asked, taking a look around her living room.

“Yep, just me.”

“I live alone too. I used to live with my friend Brian that you met the other night, but he moved out when he got married,” Jimmy said. She noticed the slightest hint of sadness on his face. He must have been lonely.

“Anyways,” he continued, “is it okay if I take you out to dinner now?” She smiled and nodded. He held out his arm, and she took it as they walked out to the car. Jimmy opened the passenger side door for her, but she stopped before getting in. He didn’t smell like alcohol, or sound like he was drunk, but she knew it was sometimes hard to tell.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“You haven’t had anything to drink today, have you?”

“No! No, of course not. I knew I would be driving you tonight. I wouldn’t dare do anything to sabotage our first date,” he said. She couldn’t tell if he was offended or not by her question, but she smiled at him and got in the car.

As they drove off, Jimmy turned the car’s CD player on. Dream Theater started to play.

“Hey, I love Dream Theater!” Lauren said. Jimmy snapped his head towards her.

“For real?!”

“Yeah! I grew up listening to classic rock but I like other things like Dream Theater too.” Jimmy was grinning from ear to ear, like a happy five year old.

“I think I’m madly in love with you. Dream Theater is one of my all time favorite bands,” he said.

She felt butterflies in her stomach even though she knew he was just kidding.

“You said you were in a band, right?”

“Yep,” he said, popping the ‘P.’ “I’m a drummer.”

“Anything I may have heard?”

“Have you heard of Avenged Sevenfold?” Lauren thought for a moment.

“I think so… You guys did Bat Country?”

“He who makes a beast out of himself,” Jimmy bellowed, “gets rid of the pain … of being a maaannnnn!”

Lauren giggled and watched Jimmy as he bobbed his head to the song playing.

“I can’t believe I’m on a date with a celebrity,” she laughed.

“I feel like I’m on a date with one too,” Jimmy said, winking at her.

Notes

Hope you guys are enjoying so far! I have plenty of ideas for this story, so stay tuned. :)