5. The Three-Second Late Corner

[𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗟𝗘: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘-𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗥𝗘𝗥] 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘: I like happy endings. If I can't have one, at least let me have the joy of playful teasing... I guess that makes me sound a bit cheeky, doesn't it? But if it makes people smile, then so be it. [𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧] (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘌𝘉𝘖𝘕𝘐𝘌 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵.) [𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘] 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "You're late. Three seconds." 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "Hey... it's you." "I thought... I thought the corner was empty again." 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "It was." "But I came anyway." 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "Oh..." "Wait..." (𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴) "Are you... quitting smoking?" 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "Yeah..." "I considered it." "...For about five seconds." "Nah... just kidding." "It's a long story." 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "Oh... right." "I'm listening." (𝙀𝘽𝙊𝙉𝙄𝙀 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦.) 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘 (𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚): "Okay... where do I even start?" "Ah... that night, after we said goodbye..." "First of all..." "I lost a perfectly good pizza." (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝...?") 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘 (𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚): That night I got home soaked from the rain I picked up that little receipt (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑...") ...you handed me before we walked away. (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛.") 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘 (𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚): The ink was fading, the paper was ruined like a sad little goodbye letter (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝙾𝚑 𝚗𝚘...") Maybe I just wouldn't admit it Because honestly... It was just a Pizza Hut receipt. (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢...") 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘 (𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚): I kept staring at the blurry words trying to make out what you wrote (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢?") Yet somehow... I still hoped to hear your voice (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚎?") through those fading little words. 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "Or you could just tell me." "I'm listening." [𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘] 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "I was going to tell you..." "If you weren't here again." 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "Were you checking?" 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "No." 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "You answered too fast." 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "...I did not." 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "Oh... Garvan..." 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "Okay. Fine. You got me." "But I still want to know..." "Why weren't you there after that night?" 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "Oh, because my dentist told me I couldn't smoke." 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "So that's it...?" 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "Yep." "Sorry I never got to tell you." "I blame that receipt." 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘 (𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚): The day after we said goodbye I had my wisdom tooth pulled (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝚆𝚊𝚒𝚝, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝?") I had no idea it would hurt that much and my face swelled to twice its normal size. (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝙾𝚞𝚌𝚑...") 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘 (𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚): And honestly... there was no way I was letting you see me like that (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "...𝙵𝚊𝚒𝚛.") And if I had actually shown up you would've thought I was storing nuts for the winter. (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: *𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎𝚜*) 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘 (𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚): ...and knowing you you would've pretended not to notice. (𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙰𝙽: "𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍'𝚟𝚎.") 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘 (𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚): Yeah... so that's the story It began with the rain... and almost ended with it. [𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘] 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: (𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮) "Well..." "Maybe I was the one who was too dramatic." 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "Too dramatic?" 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "Uh... Nothing..." "I just thought this corner was going to stay empty." 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "Garvan..." "Do you hear yourself right now?" "You're actually kind of sweet." 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡: "I am not." 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "You're really something, Garvan." (𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘱, 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴.) 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: "I don't know why..." "But somehow..." "I feel like I could just stay here and talk with you until sunrise." (𝘎𝘈𝘙𝘝𝘈𝘕 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘵𝘩. 𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨...) 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘: (𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯) "Hey!! You know what?" "I had a dream about an owl last night..." "I think it was the........." (𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘸𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.) [𝗙𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗞] [𝗘𝗡𝗗]