~ Dominic Lambert
Coral Gables, MiamiDominic snapped awake to the distant calling of his name. He checked the clock to see that he had napped for two hours, way more than needed. As his brain began absorbing the surroundings, his head quickly darted to the left, startled by the presence of a little girl. A girl he had the privilege of calling a sister. She held his smartphone up in full display.
"Your phone made a noise.", she said rather calmly as she placed the phone on Dominic's extended hand.
"You should keep it with yourself at all times.", she advised before making her way out of his room and down the hall. Although he considered himself to be her guardian, he needed her more than she needed him. She always made sure that he didn't forget anything, gave health advice and hell even fashion advice. She was the most insightful ten year old girl ever. He unlocked the phone which immediately displayed the notification that caused the noise. It was a text, by Vanessa of all people. Once he began reading it, his heart almost skipped a beat or two. Any text by her which had the words "love" in it gave him a shiver down his spine, comparable to being left outside, butt naked, during winter. However, once he grasped the context behind the message, he let out a barely audible sigh of relief, and maybe a little disappointment...only to shift into a panicking state.
He was late. It was the Fourth of July party, and the poor bastard was
late!
"Oh shit, shit, shit!", he mumbled to himself, aimlessly circling around his bedroom as he decided what course of action to take. He rushed himself to the bathroom, causing a commotion as the doors bashed. He couldn't control his feet, his hands, he had no control over any part of his body. Standing in front of the mirror, he turned the water on the bathroom sink and formed a cup with his hands, splashing and rubbing his face as a few drops of water made it into his t-shirt. It was his nap time t-shirt, so no big deal. He had no time to brush his teeth, so instead he just opted for a replacement; a mouth freshener. He opened his mouth wide and sprayed it until he could no longer feel his tongue, before skipping out the bathroom and back into his bedroom in a haphazard manner. Alerted by the noise, Natalie, his little sister, climbed the stairs up a second time to see what was happening. She caught him trying out a rainbow colored, v-neck t-shirt which he'd bought on discount. It took a while for Dom to notice she was standing on the doorstep.
"If you walked past someone on the street who was wearing this exact t-shirt, what would you do?", he asked, his sentence phrased to be his equivalent of 'how does this look on me'. She pondered for a little while before quipping.
"I'd give him directions to the nearest gay bar.""Right.", he sighed before taking the t-shirt his sister so cleverly mocked off and throwing it on top of the bed sheets. Realizing he's practically hopeless, Natalie leaned on, rummaging through his wardrobe until her small hands held onto another t-shirt. It was colored gray, and had a black and white picture of what seemed to be an European neighborhood in the middle. He had never even tried it up until then. It just got lost in the pile of all the other clothes.
"Try this one.", she said.
Surely enough, the t-shirt fit him like a glove. It was also made by a pretty thin material, which was good since it was hot as hell outside. He looked at his sister as she put on a shit-eating grin, as if trying to say 'where would you be without me', before asking her to leave the room as it was time for him to change into his pants. Putting on his favorite pair of dark blue skinny jeans, he grabbed his phone, his wallet and his car keys and went downstairs. Their house was a rather large one, and beautifully decorated too. It wasn't the sort of house you'd be able to afford with a minimum wage. Whatever his old man did, it surely wasn't a janitor.
Before leaving her, he knelt before Natalie and handed her a couple of dollar bills while providing instructions.
"I've told our neighbors to keep an eye on you the minute they hear me leaving. Keep your phone with yourself at all times. I'll call to check up on you.""Don't worry. I know the drill.", she responded, effectively maintaining her matter of fact attitude.
"Besides, I've invited a couple of friends for a sleepover. They got permissions from their parents.""Awesome. If you need snacks or anything, I've left some treats on the cupboard.", Dom pronounced excitedly, landing a quick peck on his sister's forehead and then prancing out of the backdoor. Normally, it would be a risky move for him to leave a 10 year old alone in a big house unsupervised, but they had a state of the art security system. Plus, he had everyone on the neighborhood alerted beforehand so that they could keep an eye out on her occasionally. She didn't worry about her doing anything - she was a cool-headed, reasonable human being, and probably the best child anyone can have. It's a shame she never got to meet her mother.
Boarding his Ford F 150, a car his Dad had picked himself, he started the engine and drove away, saluting some of his neighbors who were taking a stroll around the neighborhood. It was after a while that he got another text from Vanessa, but this time it was a group text. She was just being her cheery, caring, usual self. It were those qualities that made him so attracted to her, among other things. He shook his head and, consequently, he also drove his thoughts away. It was a long drive to her house, and Dom needed all of his brain cells to keep himself from hitting a lamp post. He stopped at a convenience store and got a bag of ice, all while making sure the cashier understood he was in a hurry, and then drifted away once again.
After an exhausting trip to her house, Dom parked the car in a driveway nearby. He got out, grabbed the bag of ice and then made sure to lock the car before heading to her lovely beach house. He expected at least one familiar face standing on the porch, but no one was there, which meant that he was the first to join the party. Excellent. Assuming that she had already seen him through her window, he positioned himself in front of her doorstep and rang the bell twice.
"Don't fuck this up.", he whispered to himself, the prospect of being alone with Vanessa, even for a brief time, making him sort of anxious.
