It feels like walking through a portal into another world when Jake rounds a corner leading from the brightly lit and bustling Chinatown quarter into a narrow and gloomy side alley. There are no shops here and only a few lost souls hurry along the narrow sidewalk.
Jake takes out his phone to check the route description MC sent him, then he looks around. That could be it: An old garage door. When he walks up to it he can see a huge, old clock face through the glass. It must have been taken from an old train station.
MC: Just my luck. Tram service stopped working all of a sudden. I had to walk the last two stations.
MC: You can head inside already. I made a reservation under the name Smith.
MC: I’ll be with you in just a few minutes. 😄
Jake looks around once more. Noone seems to be paying any attention to him. So he turns to a small side door next to the garage gate and rings the doorbell. It takes a moment before the door opens a crack and a man in a suit and tophat appears. “Yes?” he asks, wearing a wary expression on his face. Jake takes a deep breath, and then, feeling silly, he says: “Lovely trails.”
The bouncer’s attitude changes immediately and he opens the door as wide as his smile. “Welcome to the Buried Tub. Do you have a reservation?” “For Smith.” “Well, come on in then.” Jake is led through the garage room. The massive clock turns out to be concealing a pathway into the interior of the house.
A narrow hallway later Jake enters a surprisingly large bar room. The bar is to the immediate right of him. Opposite of it is a small stage where a few people are currently setting up instruments. Further in, there are six bistro tables with two chairs each. A sort of lounge with a few cozy leather sofas is separated from the main room by a pool table. The entire room is dimly lit. Every bit of wall space is occupied by old photos, newspaper clippings and advertisements from the prohibition era.
They walk past the pool table. Then, the bouncer indicates a single couch with a small coffee table in front of it. Jake takes a seat and is handed a menu. “I take it, you expect company? Once they arrive I will start you off with our signature Sidecar.” “Thank you.”
Jake puts the menu on the table in front of him and settles back into the couch. When MC suggested this place for their first meeting, he had looked into it. Despite, or maybe because of its secrecy, this bar is very popular. It is regularly booked solid and apparently you would need to offer your first born as a sacrifice to secure a spot on the more comfortable and intimate couches. Still, right now there are only four other patrons: Two couples occupying two of the bistro tables in the front.
He takes out his phone and starts fidgeting with it. They have been waiting for this first meeting for so long. And now that he is here, knowing that she will walk in any minute now, he can’t help it but wonder what her reaction will be when she sees him for the first time. Ever since she came into his life he was not able to show her his face. He still fears his pursuers catching up on him. But he has also made a promise to her.
But he has also spent many hours thinking about her and wondering what she looks like. To his own surprise, he always felt hesitant to look her up on social media or through other channels available to him. This is normally not in his nature anymore, especially when his own safety is at stake. But the thought of violating her privacy and her trust like that always felt wrong.
Jake frowns down on his phone. Right now, however, the temptation to sneak a peek is stronger than ever.
Just when he looks up again the entry opens again and the bouncer walks through, followed by a woman. They stop at the bar and speak briefly, before he turns back and she continues her path right towards him. Jake gets up to greet MC, but as she gets closer, his smile freezes. He has no doubt. Her long ponytail has changed to a shorter hair style. But apart from that she has barely changed.
The look of surprise on his face is mirrored on her features. “It is..you?” “What the hell?” they say in unison.
It was a Saturday evening and people were flocking to one of the last house parties of the semester. Climbing the stairs to the second floor it dawned on Jake that the apartment was packed with people already.
“Ugh. I can’t believe I let you drag me here. I should be working on my final project.” “Oh come on, “ Rob retorted. “We still have two weeks to hand it in. And, unlike me, you don’t even need the credit anymore. I still can’t believe you talked our Prof into granting you extra credit for your side hustle.” Rob was not wrong. Jake had been working at a Cyber Security firm all year parallel to his studies. With his boss and their professor being old friends he could even use one of his recent assignments as his final project.
“But did it have to be a motto party?” Jake asked. “Crooks and Hoodlums!” Rob beamed, waving his plastic Tommy Gun that shot soap bubbles. Everyone around them was dressed up. There were some Blues Brothers, several characters that look like they climbed out of a second grade mafia movie, a few pimps, and so on.
As soon as they made it through the door, they were greeted by Pete, one of the hosts. "Hey guys, good to see you! Help yourself to some beer. We are keeping it cool in the tub." He gestured toward a door. From the looks of it, the bathroom was the most popular room of this party. "There is also some food in the kitchen." Rob patted Pete’s shoulder. "Did you invite the entire University?" "Almost," Pete laughed. "There are plenty of people from the Physics and Math department, the weirdos from History and Languages and I think the entire geosciences department showed up. As usual when there is free beer involved."
Pete was called away and Jake and Rob proceeded to the infamous tub, where they ran into a few more familiar faces. A conversation, however, was barely possible over the blasting music. The group drifted back into the hallway and Jake ended up leaning against one of the bedroom doors observing the others playing Singstar on Pete's Playstation. None of the participants would be competing in The Voice anytime soon.
After a while, Jake noticed that the wall next to him, between this and the other bedroom door, was plastered with photos. He moved on to study the images capturing other house parties, dinners in the garden downstairs and various other outings. It looked like this collection spanned many years and must have been inherited and continued by new roommates moving in.
Suddenly, a girl, noticeably also not dressed up for the motto, came storming out of the second bedroom, tailed by a handful of clearly intoxicated friends. “I won’t stand here letting you call me a bore, just because I did not feel like dressing up as Patty Hearst or whatever.” “Well, this is my party, Maya,” one of the girls said, slurring her words. “And I say that the punishment for showing up in civilian clothes is that you have to show your wild side right now.” The flock behind her giggled. “I’ll show you alright.” Maya swirled around, almost colliding with Jake. For a second, they looked at each other in equal surprise. Then he noticed a devious twinkle lighting up in her eyes. And before he understood what was happening, she put her hands to his face, bringing him even closer to her, and pressed her lips to his. Her scent of lilac, citrus and honey was intoxicating and for a moment the blasting music and all the people around them faded to nothing. Jake could not help himself but kiss her back, while the girls behind her gasped in unison. He could feel her lips twist into a smile, followed by a slight nibble on his lower lip. As their kiss deepened even further, she raised herself up to her toes, closing even more distance between them.
They were both gasping for air, when they finally parted. Jake’s heart was racing. Maya was flushed as well. Her now rose colored cheeks made her look even more adorable. “Hi” she said with a smile that caused his heart rate to skyrocket even further. “H-hi…,” Jake stuttered. Before he could add anything more eloquent, she was dragged away by her friends, raising her free hand palm up and shrugging in an apologetic gesture.
“What was that?” Rob was standing in the door, carrying several empty beer bottles. “I have no clue.” Raising his own bottle, he asked “Let’s get some more?”
During the remainder of the evening, Jake was not able to get this kiss out of his head. He was on the constant look out but could not spot her anywhere. He almost started to believe that he imagined it all, if it were not for the constant mocking of his friends.
It was already well beyond midnight when the kitchen table was converted to a beer-pong set up and Jake decided that he had enough. Ignoring the protests of Rob, who had counted on Jake joining his team, he headed out of the apartment and down the stairs. “You are leaving already?” he heard a voice behind him. Jake turned around and there she was, standing at the top of the stairs, leaning over the banister and looking down on him with a smile. “Oh, you are real after all.” She let out a melodious laugh. “Last time I checked, yes.”
Straightening up, Maya walked down a few steps towards Jake. Her stopping one step above him brought them up to the same height. “I am sorry about that earlier.” Her smile indicated that she was not sorry at all. “I am Maya, by the way.” “Hello, Maya. I am Jake. What was that all about?” “Uhm,” she hesitated. “I don’t know what came over me there. Jenny got on my nerves, I guess. But I have to say, that was a nice kiss.” “It sure was.”
For a moment they stood there, on the stairs, looking at each other in silence. They both seemed to now know how to go on from here. Maya broke the silence. “You have really pretty eyes, you know?” Jake felt heat creeping up to his face. “Thanks?” This triggered another melodious laugh. “I’d like to talk some more. But I have promised to stay and help clean up,” she said with a sigh. “How about dinner tomorrow? Well, today actually. I live close by. We could meet here around seven?” “I’d like that.” “Great. See you tomorrow then.” She gave him a last, bright smile and hurried back up the stairs. Jake stayed for a moment, watching her disappear through a door next to the apartment's main entrance, before finally continuing his descent.
By the time he arrived back at his dorm he still felt too wired to go to sleep. These whirlwind encounters with Maya still kept him in a daze. His thoughts were racing, mainly towards seeing her again the next day.
Not being able to find any rest any time soon, he decided to continue working at his assignment instead.This would, however, trigger a sequence of unfortunate events.
And, as a result, Jake would never make it to that date.
“I thought I’d never see you again. At first I was really pissed when you stood me up. But a few days later I ran into your roommate. And he was completely freaked out, saying that you just up and left.”
They have settled onto the couch. MC with her feet tucked under her, cocktail in hand and turned to face Jake, while he sat forward, his elbows resting on his knees. The musicians on the stage at the front of the bar have started to play some smooth Jazz. There are more people now, occupying the tables and sofas.
MC had mentioned earlier that she chose this Speakeasy for their first meeting, because photography was banned here. So there was no chance that Jake would accidentally show up in the background of someone's latest Instagram post.
“Remember when I said that I lost everything in one night? All that happened right after I went home from that party. My final assignment before graduating was related to checking and improving on the IT security of a government branch. I could not sleep that night. So I decided to carry out a penetration test that was still pending.”
Jake feels the familiar knot forming in his stomach when thinking back to that night. “While doing so I stumbled upon some incriminating data linked to a network account of an official high up in the ranks. By the time I finally reached the owner of the Cyber Security firm I was doing the assignment for, he had already been pressured to give up my personal details. He warned me that they were coming for me and that there was nothing he could … or would do for me.”
MC slams her glass onto the coffee table. “This is unbelievable!” Startled from her outburst, Jake turns to face her. Her face looked like she was about to shoot lightning bolts from her eyes.
“I did not mean to blow you off like this. I thought about finding you after I found a place to hide. But what good would have come from dragging you into my mess?”
MC expression softens and she scoots over to close the distance between them. Taking his hand into hers, she leans against his chest. Her scent is just as intoxicating as it was back then.
“And you never realized that it was me all along, after Thomas contacted me?” Jake shakes his head. “I never looked into you. I can’t fully explain why. But this way I knew only about you what you chose to tell me. And since you did not tell me that your full name was Maya… What does the C stand for anyways?” “Christine. My middle name.”
MC breathes a small laugh. “I admit, when you first told me your name I did think about the guy I randomly kissed at a party. But the possibility that this could actually be you somehow never crossed my mind.”
She looks up at Jake. Their faces are only inches apart now. “If this is not fate, then I don’t know what is. But it explains the instant connection I felt when we first started texting.” “You are right,” Jake says with a soft smile. He brings his free hand to her face, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb.
They are ripped out of their thoughts, when a waitress approaches them, seemingly out of nowhere. “Is everything okay here? Would you like another drink?” Jake regards her with a frown, while MC whispers: “Shall we get out of here?”
Once the tab is settled, they leave the Speakeasy. Outside, MC takes Jake's hand into hers and leans against him again. It is as if she could not bear any distance between them anymore. In the dim light of the distant streetlamps, he can barely make out her features. But he is certain that he recognizes that devious twinkle in her beautiful eyes again.
“So, what now?” he asks. “Well,” she responds. “Whatever happens, don’t even think for a second that I’m going to let you off the hook again, this time.”
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This oneshot is based on a writing prompt I received from the lovely @julesisreading
