Story123 Third

Valerie Zheng opened and shut the door three times consecutively, checking to make sure she had entered the right apartment. The number on the door read #303 as she had shut the door for the last time, there was no mistake, she thought to herself. She opened the door one last time, this time slipping inside and shutting the door with her back against it. Valerie stared at the living room with disbelief, her attention kept well for a good five minutes, trying hard to search for even a little piece of the floor. Continuing her search, her eyes shifted over in the direction of the connected kitchen. To no surprise, the sink was piled high with dishes, white cabinet doors stained by food or pop, garbage overflowing onto the floor and scattered over the counters. She started to navigate her way carefully, surveying the scene as she went. The small dining area was covered with newspapers and leftover bottles of drinks. Even the small office area (that could only fit a small computer desk with a built in shelf on top) had all brands of beer cans laying anywhere possible -- on the monitor, on the keyboard, including under the chair. Slowly taking in the mess, she tiptoed around the garbage and headed towards the bathroom. Giving the slightly opened door a light push, Valerie prepared herself mentally for the worst possible state it might be in. As soon as the door revealed a guy with his head half dipped into the toilet bowl and dried vomit spread all over the front of his shirt, she let out a small shout responsively. The guy twitched but did not move. He was out cold. Becoming slightly frustrated, yet not wanting to leave the poor guy in the toilet bowl, she pulled off hersweater, grabbed the towel off the rack and pulled the guy out of the toilet. “Oh, c’mon! Get out of there!” She groaned as she hauled him by under his arms and lifted him out of the toilet. Being use to lifting people, it was no sweat for her to drag him out of the bathroom and onto the living room floor, or what was left of the floor. She dried his hair and face off with the beige-colouredtowel she had. After concluding that he was not going to regain consciousness anytime soon, she decided to leave him, and the towel, behind to investigate the condition of the rest of the house. Reaching her room door, she stood in front of it and hoped for a second that it had not been destroyed, considering that it was suppose to be off limits. She closed her eyes as she twisted the handle on the door. One hand still on the handle, the other on the door, she gently pushed it open and opened her eyes. Her heartskipped a beat to discover three half naked young men lying in HER bed. She felt her face flush up as she got a closer look at them. All three guys had a nice six-pack, along with muscularly built bodies. Two of them had a cute sleeping face, yet she did not recognize them, while the third was

buried under her blanket. She gently removed her blanket from the guy’s face and realized it was Jordan, one of Jayden’scloser buddies. Wow! She thought to herself, never did she know that Jordan was this built. He usually looked a lot scrawnier, probably due to his oversized t-shirts. While she admired the guys, the corner of her eye twitched as she caught a glimpse of the rest of herroom. The entire room was a wreck! Her photo albums, letters, postcards, and even textbooks were scattered across the hardwood floor, along with her favorite stuffed animals and pillows that were missing their covers. That’s it! She thought to herself, she couldn’t put up with this any longer. Angrily but calmly, she gave herself three seconds to calm down before yanking her camera out of her bedside drawer. She decided to photo document the “crime scene” for two reasons. Firstly, she needed evidence, as if the mess itself wasn’t evidence enough. Secondly, if you saw these guys, you would laugh too. She snapped some wide-angle shots and portrait shots; after all, she planned to get the pictures autographed by them when they regained consciousness later on. After finally being able to wrap her head around the state of the place, she decided to pay a visit to Jayden’sroom and see if he was actually home. Surprised she was able to suppress her anger for so long, she decided now was a good time to release it. Venturing her way into Jayden’s room, which was five steps away, she laid a couple loud slams on the door before barging in. Oh, so typical of him, she thought to herself, as she stared at the two white chicks doggy piled on top of who was probably Jayden. The two girls had mascara and make up smudged all over their face, while intheir bra and short shorts. One girl was wearing a set of black leather lingerie, which Valeriefound quite weird. She could not imagine how comfortable leather made lingerie would be. She shook herhead at the thought. The other girl was wearing a hot pink bra and neon green panties, which was utterly eye-catching yet not very pleasant to the eye. Both girls had toned bodies with pretty nice racks, oh how envious she was of them. Not being a huge fan of the sight, she snapped two quick pictures and proceeded to rescuing the probably suffocated Jayden. She started by slowly removing the arms of the girls off his back and uncovering Jayden. She sat on the side of Jayden’sbed for a few minutes, admiring his facial features. He had prominent cheekbones, and symmetrical features. Silly kid, she thought to herself, smiling even when he’s a wreck. She lowered herself closer to him. She slipped herfingertips on his cheek and gently tapped him. “Jay, Jay!” She called. “Get up, it’s time to get up.”

He stirred a bit before opening his eyes. Even when they were half open, his bright greeneyes stood out beautifully. Jayden stared blankly at Valerie for a few seconds before mumbling drunkly, “Why hello there, and what might your name be?” Snapping back to reality, Valeriegrasped him by the shoulders and shook him to life. “Jayden Emerson! IF YOU DON’T GET UP THIS INSTANCE …” Jaydensuddenly jumped out of bed and became aware of the situation. He quickly held onto Valerie’s arms to keep her from exploding and tried to explain, while apologizing at full speed. Not being able to make out a single word he was saying, Valerie gave him her blank stare and crossed herarms with his hands still on her upper arms. Jayden must’ve figured that he had calmed her down enough because he led her over to his chair, sat herdown, and let go of her arms. “Look, I’m sorry, things got a little out of hand this time…” He winced as he glanced over and knew that the mess was beyond anything he had expected. “Yea, Jayden, I know,” still calling him by his full first name, “things get out of hand sometimes, and this is not the first, but this is a complete wreck! And this time into my room?What’s next? I was only gone for three days, and look what happened!” She admitted that she was getting a little frustrated with his house parties; the first few times it was fine, but this has just gotten too far. JaydenEmerson, aged 21 was Valerie’s crush she met since junior high. They became really good friends, and involved in each other’s lives every second of the day, whether it was by phone, online, or hanging out. But at that time, they rarely hung out because he had a different group of friends. Eventually, she confessed her liking to him, but he did not feel the same. Jaydenkind of just brushed it off and pretend that it was not there, but at the same time, they developed a little game where they were like a “fake” couple. Being his “fake” girlfriend was like a dream come true for her. By the second year of high school, she finally gave up liking him, though not completely and she still dreamt about being with him sometimes. Eventually, shewas off to university while he headed to college. When he turned 19, he was looking for a roommate to move out with. Valerie is a year older than him because Jayden’s birthday lands in early February, so she was 20 at the time and was also looking to move a little closer to the university. The two never actually thought that she’d move out for real, never mind being roommates. She has always been a mommy’s girl, and he has been more of the rebel… or rather just more westernized, though she does have a wild side.

Nonetheless, when they met up one day, he brought it up over coffee and she took him up on the offer. She was very well prepared to move out, but her parents on the other hand, weren’t too keen on it. --- flashback --“You’re moving out?!”Mom exclaimed. “To live with a coccasion?!”Dad finished. She was slightly surprised Dad didn’t just say “gwailo” but those were their exact reactions. “Yes, and yes.” She slowly explained to them who Jayden was and that suggested that they could meet him if they wanted to(of course they wanted to). She added that she would be home regularly to reassure them she was not trying to ditch home and also to ensure that she would still have extra storage space for herthings at home. Eventually after having met Jayden, and even his parents, they gave in and supported herdecisions. “Eh, she’s going to be a nurse, she can care for herself.” Dad concluded. --- end flashback --So ever since then, they have been living togetherfor about close to two years now. Jayden’s friends always called her the short, little asian, which was not so pleasant but it stuck to her. Valerie Zheng, though most referred to her as Val, was a five foot tall girl. Coming from a Chinese ethnic background, she had the typical long, dark brown hair. Val was currently in her third year of the nursing program, and wanted to become an obstetrics nurse. She was hoping to take the fast track path in theprogram and try to graduate by summer of next year. JaydenEmerson, usually known as Jay, was a little over five foot eight. He came from a ukranianbackground, possessing the brown, honey blonde hair. He had greenish blue eyes. Jay was in his third year of his business degree at college, but was working part time. He was more laid back, and just having fun in life. After sitting in silence for awhile, Jay and Val automatically looked at each other, both knowing that she had once again forgiven him and that this would be discussed at a later time. “I’ll start in the kitchen.” She got up and gave him one last look of disappointment before heading to Jayden’s least liked area of the house when it cameto cleaning.

“I’ll start in the living room.” Jaydendecided. This was their relationship; they were at a level where they understood each other so well that most people suggest that they should practically be married. Other people thought they were in an open relationship, which in a way, it could be counted as that, in Val’s eyes at least. Before she left the room, Jaydenstopped her and said, “Val… Thanks.” She shrugged a smile and headed off. She grabbed a bucket filled with cleaning agents along with some old rags out from under the sink. Just as she was getting started on cleaning the garbage up, Jayden hollered frantically. “Val… Val!” He sounded panicked as she hurried towards the direction of his voice. As soon as she reached the living room, Jayden almost looked as if he had a hint of relief in his eyes, “he was throwing up and now this…” Jayden said as he pointed to the guy Val had left on the floor earlier, who did not look so well at the moment. “I think he was still drinking when I got in here,” Jaydenhinted at the two empty bottles. Val shook her head as she replied, “I don’t know which is worst, him having half his head soaked in the toilet bowl or this… probably overdosed.” She rolled her eyes as she got down beside the guy and became serious. “What’s his name again?” She asked Jayden to calm him down, as shehauled the guy into recovery position, on his side. “Uh…Kyle… I think.” She winced at his response, how could he not know his own friend’s name. Val gave Jayden a split second glance before Kyle recaptured herattention once more with his breathing. His breaths started to become slower and shallower. “Yep. Vomiting followed by irregular breaths, paling skin, looks like OD to me.” She diagnosed as while placing her index and middle finger on the inside of his wrist to take his radial pulse. While she took his vitals and made sure Kyle was okay, she instructed the worried looking Jaydento call for an ambulance. Within two minutes, the sirens could be heardsounding loudly from down below in the streets. Shortly after, the paramedics rushed in with their equipment and a stretcher. Two paramedics transferred Kyle onto the stretcher with the transfer board as Valgave the details of what happened to a third paramedic. Jaydentold them all he knew as for the contact information of Kyle, which was pretty much just a phone number. Shortly after everything was settled and Val had led them out, she commanded that Jaydengot back to cleaning. The twospent the rest of the entire day cleaning. It was close to about six in the evening when theyfinally tidied up most of the house. Being so use to cleaning after Jayden’s parties, they practically had a

system going knew what order to clean in. Val had moved from the kitchen into the office area while Jay was working on the small dining area. After Val finished with the office area, she sat down on the couch to take a breather. Jayden joined her on the couch shortlyafter. “Wow…” He said after they both caught their breaths. “Yea…now you know what it’s like when I have to help you clean allthe time after your parties.” She glared at him. He turned to face her and gave herhis puppy face. “Forgive me cutie pie, I didn’t mean for it to get this out of hand.” He begged for her forgiveness. Naturally, she forgave him. Val could never stand tough when Jay gaveher that face. She took her camera from the glass coffee table and started to show Jayden the pictures that shetook earlier. “Oh man, Don, Richie, and Jordan are still here?” Val nodded as they continued to laugh at the pictures, figuring that those must be the guys in herroom. “Oh yea, how was your long weekend with your family?” Jayden asked caringly as he recalled that she was away for the weekend. “Eh, it wasn’ttoo bad. We had a BBQ with my cousins...” She slowly recapped the events of her weekend for him as theyrested on the couch. After sharing a few more laughs, she caught a glimpse of the time and suggested they finished off their rooms, so theycould grab some dinner. “Yea, I’ll help you haul the guys out first.” “Oh, speak of the devil…er devils.” Val said, as the guys came wandering out of her room right after Jaydensaid that. “Whoa, killer night eh?” Don commented and Richie nodded in response. “Hey man, wow, um… it doesn’t even look like a party happened here.” Jordan spoke as he caught sight of the twoon the couch and inspected the room visually. “Hm… yea. You guys are ones to speak.” Val glared at them as she spoke, mostly directing it at Jordan, since she was only familiar with him. Trying to look stern, Val was secretly thinking about the pictures she took earlier. Jayden played along with her. “Whatever man, c’mon, you guys should get outta here before my beautiful lady gets angry.” He joked.

Val darted him a glare while smiling at the same time not sure of whether he was helping her or teasing her, but nonetheless, he was sweet. Being the envious girl she was, she let Jayden deal with the girls alone before heading in to help him clean out his room. Jayden later reassured her that he didn’t really know the girls; they just happened to hear of the party from some friends. After the girls left, they started to tackle Jayden’sroom. Jayden did not have as much stuff as Valdid. His room was quite spacious and empty. All he had was a small desk, his bed, a bookcase, a bedside table, a closet, and a futon. Though he had little furniture, they were all matching and high-classed looking. The furniture was all made from a polished red oak material. She tidied up his blankets and pillow, while he was swifferingthe floor. “You know I’m going to sleep in my blankets tonight anyway, you didn’t have to make them.” Jaydenpointed out. “I know, but I had to change your bed sheets anyway, plus it’s a habit.” Sheshrugged. Val jumped onto his high double sized bed and leaned back on herarms. Looking around his room, the picture frame on his bedside table caught her attention. She sat up and robbed the table of it. There were a total of four pictures in the frame. One was his family, which consisted of his parents and him. The second was a group picture of his and his closest friends; there were six of them. Thirdly, it was his graduation picture from grade twelve. Lastly, there was a picture of Val and him when theyfirst moved in the house. The picture was taken on the balcony during the sunset. It looked almost as if theywere kissing, because all you could make out was our silhouettes. “Hey, I remember this, I was whispering to you about how Jordan and his girlfriend were making out in your room!” Jayden turned around to see what she was referring to. He saw the picture frame she held up, “OH YEA! Yea, that was too much info for me. I had goose bumps just thinking about it when I walked in my room.” He pretended to shiver, “I think I still do now.” Shelaughed. “Okay, I’m all done. Now off to your room!” Jayden lifted the swiffer and marched out of his room like a soldier. Val giggled at his immatureness. She hummed along to his tune of “The Ants go marching” song. When they reached her room, she told Jayden to start in her bathroom. Val got the room with the bathroom because Jay’s parents suggested that being a girl, itwould be more convenient for her. She had made a good impression on them when shemet them. While Jayden was tidying the bathroom, Val gathered the piles of letters and textbooks and replaced them to their rightful place on their shelf. She was changing her bed sheets when she letout a long yawn.

Jayden caught sight of her yawn as he reentered the room, “Must not look, must not look…” He mumbled. She laughed because she knew he was referring to the myth they believed in; yawns were contagious. “You can look now, I’m not yawning anymore.” Val sarcastically spoke. Jay then suggested that she go take a showerto freshen up before dinner. She agreed. Val started to head towards her lingerie drawer, after picking out her clothes, but Jaydenbeat her to it. She immediately covered her face with herhands squeamishly. He opened it and pulled out a baby blue lacy bikini panty before shecould jump at him. “Wear this one!” He held it up in the air looped around one finger as he grinned widely. Condemned into another one of Jayden’s silly acts, she gave in. “You might as well pick out a matching bra too then.” She said sarcastically which of course he did so, proudly. While she was in the shower, her mind drifted onto thoughts about Jayden. Secretly, she has never stopped likinghim completely. Even though they weren’t dating, the way they talked like a sweet loving couple was all realto her. Or rather, like a gift, she was grateful of the way he treated her, like he really loved her as his girl. Although she did find out that hewas doing it just to be nice, she didn’t mind. Shefelt comfortable. Their way of communicating has stuck to them and it was enough for her. Every time he said something sweet, it would make her day and everything would be better again. Woken up by the water becoming cold, she finished up with her shower. She got dressed and headed out of the bathroom; Jaydenwas nowhere to be seen. Val saw one of her pink post-it notes stuck on herbedside table. It was from Jayden. Hey Val, it’s getting late, so I decided to get some take out and rent a movie instead. Be back soon. Love Jay ! Her heart fluttered like a butterfly in love as she read it over once more. Snapping back into reality, she quickly dried her hair so she wouldn’t keep Jay waiting when he gets back. When she finished, sheheaded into the kitchen made two fresh cups of cappuccinos. Leaving the kitchen, she carefully brought the two drinks out on a small tray. Just as she stepped into the living room, the door flew opened. “Good timing once again!” Jayden shouted as he set the food down on the coffee table, almost like a touchdown but gentler. She turned on the TV with the remote as he popped the movie into the DVD

player. “What movie?” She asked as she started tounpack the Chinese takeout he got. “You’ll see.” He slyly replied as he let the previews roll on screen. “Ithink you’ll like it. Oh and Ididn’t know if you wanted Chinese or not…” he trailed off. “I’m fine with whatever.” They were starved from theirclean up session so ended up gobbling down most of our food before the movie even started. “P.S. I love you?!” She shouted sarcastically yet excited at the same time. “What?! I heard it’s a really good chick flick,even for guys, plus I knew you wanted to watch it.” He frantically tried to defend himself. With each word he said, she slowly fell deeper and deeper in love with him. The way he tried to defend himself, was just too cute. “Touche.” Shesaid allowing him to win yet another argument. It started to get slightly chilly so she reached over and grabbed the fleece blanket off the easy chair. She threw it open over the both of them while Jayden put his arm around her and theycuddled close together. This was their usual movie night routine, cuddling up with takeout and coffee on Friday nights, only difference being tonight was a Monday. Halfway through the movie she started to tear up but didn’t cry. “It’s so sad.” She said. “Yea it is.” Jaydencontinued to stare intensely at the screen. Something was a little different about Jaydentonight. He was being extremely nice. He agreed to every single comment that she said about the movie. Maybe hewas just tired. By the end of the movie, Jayden started to tear up while Val was using tissue after tissue. She looked over at Jayden who still had his eyes glued to the screen. He sensed her staring at him after awhile and opened his mouth to defend himself as he wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. She put her finger to his mouth and shook her head. “Shhh.” She smiled and laid her head on his chest. Jaydenturned to face her and smiled with his eyes. Shedid not care what he made of this. Just this moment, just the simple way he holds onto her, she just wanted this moment to last awhile longer and it would be enough for her to forgive him for anything he’s done at all. She could not lie to herself, she’s never given up on him, but what more could she really ask for? Though she has gotten better at attending more social events at school and work, in order to meet more people and keep Jaydenoff my mind.

Losing track of time, Val listened to the ticking of the clock realizing that the credits had already finished rolling on the screen leaving the room in silence. Jayden did not stir and kept still while providing her with hisbody warmth. Slowly letting her mind wander onto images of Jayden and herself, hereyelids started to grow heavier and heavier. Val’s alarm rang loudly the next morning. Shelooked over at the hello kitty clock face. The big hand was quarter to twelve, the little hand approaching five. She let out a groan as she tried to wake herselfup by sitting straight up in her bed. She looked directly across from her (which was her closet door that had mirrors on the outside) and saw some post-it notes. These immediately caught herattention. Val crawled as fast as she could to the foot of her bed and stretched over the edge to retrieve them. Her heart anxiously wondered what Jayden wrote as shepeeled them off the mirror surface. Dear Babybum, You’ve gained weight. It was warm last night, so I opened your window slightly. Hope you had a good sleep. Love Jay !

Rise and shine pancakes, Your uniform is on your door and lunch is in the fridge. I might be off early tody, will leave you a text if I’m picking you up. TTYL. Jay ;) She laughed at his attempt to draw a winking face at the end of the second note. Back in junior high when they wrote notes to each other, they had trouble trying to draw the winking face nicely, but Jay has gotten alot better at it since then. She was ready to tackle another day at work after reading his two simple notes. She jumped out of bed, into the shower and washed up. Feli called shortly after she jumped out of the shower. [Introduce Feli here] “Hey, I’m back to work again today, need a ride?” She offered. “How did you ever know?! Be ready in ten.” “Okay. Seeya.” She chuckled. Feli was Val’s nursing peer and one of her best friends since junior high, so she knew all about Jayden. Summer was half over, but was ready to get back to school and tackle another year of nursing. Feli and Val were lucky to land a job as

NA’s at the hospital after just our first year, most students ended up working in senior homes. They both kept their jobs throughout the school year too, so they’reboth still employed at the hospital this summer. Being second year student nurses, they had more experience, and with more experience comesmore luck when getting shifts for other units besides general medicine. In fact, they were so lucky they even got on the obstetrics unit for a week and Val loved it. She was back in the med wing today (that’s what they called the general medicine wing), which was her least preferred but she’s adapted to it. Shereally enjoyed the staff in the wing though. Val bathed a couple clients before taking her lunch break that morning. She grabbed her packed lunch from her locker and headed down to the cafeteria. She looked around for a single table but spotted none. “Val! Over here!” Someone called causing her to turn her head in the direction of thevoice. It was Dr. Connor from the ICU ward. She hadrecently met him from a few of the staff socializing events. “HiDr. Connor, how’s it going?” She smiled as shesat down in the empty chair opposite of him. “Please, just call me Greg. And it’s nottoo bad, yourself?” “Pretty good. Not too busy up at med today.” She replied as she unpacked herlunch. “Homemade lunch? Such a caring boyfriend?” He hesitantly assumed. “Oh no. I mean yes and no. It is homemade,but he’s just my housemate.” She clarified for him, not wanting to drag Jaydendown. Theythen moved on to make some small talk. “I heard…uh… there’s a good movie coming out.” Greg started. “Yea! There’s tons that I’m dying to watch!” She realized her voice was slightly raised due to excitement and quickly looked around to see if she was being too loud. Theyboth laughed. “Let’s go catch one, sometime, maybe… I mean, you want to?” He stumbled. “Sure! It can be like a movie night!” She thought as she was already running through her head the people shecould invite.

“Yea!” He smiled and seemed to be more at ease with excitement now. “I’ll setthe date and let you know?” She suggested since she was use to planning group events. “Sure. That sounds dandy.” She looked at him with an arched eyebrow before letting a half smile appear on herface. After lunch, Valerie finished her usual routine of baths and dressing patients before finishing her shift and heading home. She packed up her stuff in her locker, and changed from her work shoes to a pair of bright green flipflops. While shuffling around in her bag for my phone, another co-worker walked by. “Hey, I love your sandals!” She commented. Val turned to face her as her had one hand still in her bag shuffling around, while the other supporting the bottom of thebag. “Thanks! I got them at the thrift store.” shebeamed. “I think I’ll go get myself a pair.” Val’s coworker said and then left. Bingo! She finally felt her phone pileddown at the bottom of her bag. With a gentle pull, she pushed away the other items in her bag while retrieving her pink sony ericsson. Quickly navigating her way around the screen, she read the new message from Jay. Be there at four sharp! See you later baby gator! She almost laughed herhead off reading that message from him. The time on the screen read 1545. It was still early; still had fifteen full minutes left, she decided to go grab some coffee. Val made her way down to the main entrance, waving to the nurses hard at work as shepast by the unit’s front desk and headed for the elevators. The green light at the top of the elevator display read “M”, as the doors slowly opened. She stepped out, carefully weaving her way through the crowd waiting to get in, and steered herself towards the coffee stand. The sign above the counter read “Jack and Jill Café”. The coffee there was amazing, and they had about 5 franchised stores around the hospital. She waited patiently in line, as she knew that she still had quite awhile before Jayden wouldarrive. Already knowing what she would get, she looked around, taking in the atmosphere of the busy hospital. As she turned back to move ahead in line, a light tap landed on her shoulder. Slightly surprised, sheturned around wondering who it could be. “Hi again,” Greg Connor gave hera smile and nodded.

Shenodded responsively. “Oh hey, what a coincidence. Done for the day?” She turned slightly, to maintain better body posture as she spoke to him. “Yea, I’ve been here since the midnight shift. Exhausted.” He made a face likehe was about to fall asleep. Shelaughed at his innocent, child-like play. Greg was one of the younger doctors here, just starting out in his first year of officially being a full-fledged doctor. He was in his early twenties, though he looked very young and handsome. “Well, that would explain why you’re in line waiting to be refuelledthen.” Shejoked. After they chatted for a bit, Val was next in line. “Hey Valerie, what can I get you today?” Mindy, the cashier, worked here long enough to know a lot of the usual customers. She was a university student working on her bachelor of sciencedegree. “Hm. I’m gonna go with the green tea latte today, and an ice mocha please.” She placed her order and reached into her purse to grab her wallet. “Add it to my bill please.” Greg’s voice suddenly sounded from behind her. He had stepped up to the counter, and was now beside Val. “But …” She started and before she could finish, he started to place his order and held out a twenty dollarbill. “A double doubleplease.” He smiled at Mindy as she collected his money. Val thanked Greg for the drinks as theywalked towards the main entrance. “You need a ride?” He offered when theyreached the entrance. “My roommate’s should be here soon, I’m gonna wait outside.” She quickly responded, not sure if shewas reading his signals right. “Oh, okay. I’m heading towards the parking lot, bye then.” He pointed towards the underground parking direction and waved as he headed off. Val said bye and headed out the main entrance. As she stepped outside, there was a cool breeze, which was refreshing in the hot summer heat. She stood near the curb of the sidewalk and waiting patiently for Jayden to arrive. Enjoying the gentle breeze, she sipped hercool green latte. It was delicious. The taste of green tea was very distinct, yet gentle as it hit her tastebuds, thinking that they were in love. Shewatched as cars drove by, dropping people off and picking people up. A silver BMW pulled up next, right in front of her. She

stepped back, leaving some room for whoevermay step out of the car. To her surprise, the tinted window of the passenger seat rolled down, and a voice called her name. Val bent over at a 90 degree angle and lowered her head to peekinto the car. “Oh. Hey Greg.” She let out a halfheartedlaugh. “What a coincidence, again…” Sheadded sarcastically, in a friendly matter. “Yea,” he laughed along with her, “thought you might still be waiting, so decided to drive by and say hi.” He bit his tongue as he realized that he had just recently spoken to her. Val opened her mouth to respond, when the familiar custom ring tone she had set for Jayden’snumber started to ring. “Oh, my ride’s here. Seeya.” She quickly changed herwords, and waved. Shewalked towards the blue truck pulled over behind Greg’s BMW. Getting in the car, she watched as Greg turned his head and looked curiously into Jayden’struck. She attempted to make eye contact with him through the windshield of the car, he looked a little disappointed to see Jayden, before smiling and driving off quickly. “You know him?” Jaydeninterrupted my thoughts. “Oh yea, he’s a freshman doctor, I guess you can call it. Works on the ICU ward. I think he’s hitting on me…” She added as shecontinued to look in the direction his car drove off, a little worried, he might suddenly reverse back into the loading zone or something. Jayden’s smile disappeared as he turned his head and watched for oncoming cars. “Rough day at work?” Sheasked him. As he pulled onto the street, he plastered a smile back on. “Oh. Nah, just the usual amount, moving stuff here and there.” He replied casually before adding in fun sarcasm, “And, I don’t think he’s hitting on you. I mean, a guy driving a BMW, hitting on Valerie Zheng? That’s hilarious.” “Well of course! Who else would he hit on, Y-O-U?” She played along in his game. “Well, of course.” Shehad set him up again to victory. “Just drink your ice mocha and be quiet.” Valshoved it into his face when we reached a traffic light. Remembering that Greg had bought the ice mocha, she felt kind of bad. She was not use to people buying her things, and if her suspicion of Greg was right, then he probably wouldn’t have been too happy to know that he bought an ice mocha for his “rival”. She quickly shook the thought of Greg out of her head as she clued back into what Jaydenwas talking about. He was

suggesting some dinner plans for the weekend. It was his Jordan’s birthday, and they were looking for a good place to go eat. “Am I invited?” She butted in. “Only if you bring your single lady friends.” He planted a evil smirk on his face as they pulled into the underground parking. They made up;that was how easy it was for them to forgive one another. They were both people that weren’t too good at being mad, or too great at staying angry for any amount of time, perhaps that’s why theycan actually room together with minor problems. That evening, Val called up the nursing staff on the ICU unit, andplanned out the movie night. They picked a cinema that was near the hospital area and planned to watch a midnight movie because most people could attend at that time. It was amazing that even when the nurses had to work so many shifts, they were mostly still up for the movie event. She went down her contact list and reached Greg’s number. Carefully, she punched it into hercell, and sent a text message. Hi Dr. Connor, It’s me, Val. Just checking, movie this Friday at midnight alright with you? The message was automatically sent with her call back number displayed at thebottom. Two minutes later as she was continuing down her list, shereceived a text back from Dr. Connor. Oh hello! It’s Greg. Movie at midnight sounds great, I’ll pick you up? She thought it was nice of him to offer a ride, and Feliwould be over, so she figured he could take the both of them. She replied his message accepting his offer. Working through her evening routine of dinner, showering, bumming around the house, she finally settled down at her desk at nine-thirty at night to write in her diary. She opened the second drawer down on her desk, and shuffled around for herpink diary. Burrowing her brow, she closed the drawer to find that it was not in there. She thought for a second as she checked thefirst drawer thinking perhaps she might’ve misplaced it. Apparently, she did. Though she didn’t quite recall placing it there, she unclipped the magnet edge holding the diary close, flipped it open, allowing a small piece of paper to fall to the floor. Shelooked around for it, wondering what it was, but it was nowhere to be seen. Hmm…maybe it was just one of my note to self’s. She quickly forgot the matter and started to make her entry about herday.

Quickly came Friday night, and it was nearing midnight. Feli had come over early for dinner and Jayden had goneout. About half past eleven, she gathered her belongings into her purse and applied some lip gloss on before joining Felion the couch. Just as Val settled down on the couch, hercell phone vibrated. “Ah, I’m vibrating.” She stated aloud. “Oh geez…” Feli rolled her eyes at Val as they both giggled at the dirty joke. Valread the message aloud. Hey, I just arrived outside. “That’s it?” Feli grabbed her thin sweater off the couch and headed for the door. Val slipped on her white ballerina flats and locked the door behind her after leaving Jayden a post-it note on the inside. Val smiled at Dr. Connor as sheapproached his car. He had stepped outside and was waiting at the passenger side. “Hey Val, how’s it going?” “Good. And thank you.” She politely nodded her head as she stepped into the passenger seat. She turned to face him, “Oh, hope you don’t mind that Feli’shitching a ride.” He quickly turned beside him and smiled at Feli, “Oh, hi Feli.” He shut the door and smiled at Feli before returning to his side of the car. Val turned around to watch Feliget in the backseat and turned back to thank Greg for the ride.