Chapter 8: Hacker

“Alice Li is my soon to be wife.”

That was the stupidest sentence I’ve said in my entire life. I could’ve said anything else, but that’s what I said. The people around us were shocked, to say the least. Some had their mouths wide open, others just stood there. For at least thirty seconds after my announcement, no one said anything, nor did anyone move.

I turned toward Alice and she was just standing there. No emotion, nothing. I was beginning to be afraid that I’d shocked her so much that she’d die. Okay, maybe that is a little dramatic, but you get the point. I had to think of something to do to make these people believe me. I could just get on one knee and just ask her or I could grab her hand and run…..

I glanced down at my hand, and had an even worse idea. Looking back on it, I may have milked the situation for all that it was worth. Like I said before: I like my life interesting, and this was by far the most interesting thing I’ve done all my life.

I like to wear rings and I wear several on each of my hands. Most people think I’m a douche (Not sure I blame them), so they would most likely think that these rings have no sentimental meaning to me, but the truth is, they each do. I had one from each of my close family members along with others which had great memories.

I got down on one knee and held Alice’s hand gently so as not to startle her and tried to get her to look at me. The scariest part was when she actually looked at me, but again, there was no emotion at all. Still, I needed this to work so I could take her out of here and help her. I slipped the ring that my grandma gave to me and put it on her hand.

“Alice, I’ve known you for quite some time and I know that you’ve put up with a lot of my antics, and for that I apologize. I know things have been rough for you and that you’ve been suffering. I know it’s hard. So, I’d like that from here on out, we’d solve these problems together.”

The crowd’s expressions now changed from shocked to “AW”. I was glad that my love for romance novels (You better not tell anyone or you’re dead) has helped me woo the audience. I just need to finish this off so we can get out of here.

“So, Alice Li, will you marry me?”

I looked toward the audience and they were murmuring amongst themselves. Each face waited in anticipation for her answer. I turned back toward her and she still looked so...dead. I was beginning to get more and more nervous by the second. I was about to just take her hand and run when several slow claps sounded from behind me.

I turned around and stood in front of Alice so that this person couldn’t see her. I didn’t need this to fail now, especially since I’ve gotten this far. I wasn’t going to give up so easily.

“That was a nice little speech you gave their buddy. Though, I’m sure she won’t appreciate it when I tell her that she’s-” He tried to lean around me to look her in the face, but I blocked him and he glared at me. “Fired.” He spat in my face and walked away.

Right on cue, Alice dropped. I’d say that she fainted, but it didn’t seem that way seeing how dead she looked before. Her deadness must have decided that it was too much work to stand. When she hit the floor, the people around us started to call for help. If there’s one thing I know about Alice is that there’s only one hospital that she can go to.

I scooped her up in my arms bridal style and ran out of the building. Some people shouted at me to come back while others were cheering. God, people were so dumb sometimes. I could have been a kidnapper and they would just let her go. Dandy. Since I was driven here, I didn’t have a car either. Great planning, Daniel, great planning.

I heard feet frantically slapping the pavement behind me so I took off running from them too. If it was that “bodyguard” from earlier, I was screwed. There was no way in hell I was going to go through two run-ins with that person in one day.

“Wait, young man!” The person’s footsteps slowed down until they completely stopped. When they called after me, they were panting heavily and, to my surprise, it was a male voice. Curious, I turned around to face him.

“I see that the girl is passed out and you look to be in distress. I’m guessing you don’t have a ride and need one?” I didn’t trust him yet. He seemed sketchy.

“Well, you’d be correct in your observations. However, I don’t trust you yet. What if you’re going to kidnap us?”

“Isn’t that what you’re doing to this young poor girl?” He asked icily. I was taken aback. I took a couple of steps back. It was now that I truly realized how bad this looked for me.

“Look, it’s not what it looks like. It’s cliche, but it’s true. I proposed to her in that courthouse back there-” I gestured toward the courthouse, but he didn’t look back. I could see him forming a plan. “-and she passed out. So, I took her out here to take her home because she doesn’t want to go to a hospital.”

The man looked back and forth between me and Alice. “Look, son. I have a daughter and I know what boys like you do to passed out girls and I will NOT stand for it. So you can let her go, and I’ll call the police to get her, or if you won’t, I’ll call the police to have them arrest YOU.”

At this point, I was getting desperate. I didn’t know how to convince this man that I wasn’t trying to do any harm to Alice. I admired him for sticking up for her, but this whole situation was becoming a pain. As if God heard me, Alice woke up and said, “Shut up already. Just take me home.” Then fell asleep. I wasn’t even going to question how that was possible.

I looked toward the man, feeling smug. It was a vocal confirmation from Alice and now he couldn’t even deny it. I turned on my heel and started walking in the opposite direction again, searching for a taxi or some other transportation method. I was relieved when I didn’t hear his footsteps coming after me, or him yelling. This is why I hate people sometimes.

Just when I thought I lost him completely, a white Lexus pulls up to the curb next to me and starts honking. I glared toward the driver, only to see when he rolled down the window that it was that SAME MAN. I rolled my eyes and continued walking. Now I know how girls feel when they are with those guys who don’t take no for an answer. So annoying.

“Look, son, I know we got off on the wrong foot. I can see that you need help and I apologize for accusing you of that stuff earlier. However, I’m sure you get what I mean, right? Not many people stick up for girls and I want to be different.”

As much as I was still irritated at him, I turned toward him and smiled. I was actually very thankful for him and for his willingness to stick up for someone who he didn’t know. This was a good man, I know I can trust him now. He smiled back at me and gestured for me to come into the car.

I opened the door to the backseat and gently put Alice in first and then I slid in myself. Even though I found this guy somewhat trustworthy for his noble actions, I didn’t really fully trust him. Yes, I’m weird like that. He looked at me in the mirror and said, “My name is Oliver. What are your names?”

“I’m Daniel and she’s Alice. Can you take us to 456 Lern Street please?”

“Yes, I can. You don’t seem to be the kind of person who wants to talk on car rides, so I’ll leave you alone.”

“Again, you’d be right. However, I’d like to say thank you. You didn’t have to stick up for someone that you didn’t know but yet you did anyway. This world needs more people like you.”

The man simply smiled and continued driving. The drive was about twenty minutes and even though we rode the whole way in silence, it was a comfortable silence. When we got to my place, he helped me get Alice into the house. Then he walked out and before he left, he handed me a card without a word and drove off.

I looked at the car disappearing into the distance with confusion. He was a good man, yet he seemed a little weird. I looked at the card and written on it was a phone number along with the message: “Take care of that young girl. You don’t know what she may encounter. Call me if you ever need help again.” I smiled. Definitely a good guy.

We had laid Alice on my bed, and took off her shoes, and tucked her underneath the covers gently. I was tired and I decided that I was going to sleep on the couch. But before that, I was going to put my phone number into her phone so that she could call me if she needed. I fully intended to follow Oliver’s words. Soon after I finished adding my phone number and laid on the couch, I fell into a deep sleep.

A couple of hours later, I woke up confused, because I heard screaming. It sounded like it was near me. It was then that all the memories of the last couple of hours came flooding back in. I ran into my room and Alice was looking around frantically.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“You kidnapped me, didn’t you!?” She screamed at me. Moving backwards until she hit the wall.

“No, I didn’t! Oh my GOODNESS, why does everyone think that I’m trying to kidnap you?! You fainted at the courthouse and people were trying to call you an ambulance and I knew that you couldn’t go to any random hospital so I took you here because I don’t know where you live!” I yelled all in one breath and she looked shocked again.

“Why did I faint?” She asked, genuinely confused.

“I think it was because I was going to expose you but then I didn’t and instead was stupid and proposed to you?”

She shook her head and took several menacing steps toward me. Then she got down and started to put her shoes on without saying anything. Then she grabbed her phone and walked straight out of my house. I knew it was useless to go after her, so I just watched her go. Before she left my house, she turned around and asked, “Did you mean it?”

I hesitated for a couple of seconds. Up until now, I thought I messed everything up and that those words were the stupidest thing, but now, I don’t know. My heart started racing when she looked at me, or when she would talk to me. So I answered her right as she turned around again to leave. “Yes.”

She froze for a couple of seconds and then continued to leave, shutting the door behind her. I sank down onto the ground and put my head in my hands. WHY AM I SO STUPID?! I should’ve said no! She isn’t going to love me now, or even like me now! Not that I want her to...or do I? OH MY GOD! I got back up and threw a pillow across the room. Then I flopped onto the couch and fell asleep again.

Several weeks passed and I hadn’t heard from or seen Alice at all. I figured that the reason for this was that she thought that I was a creep and she didn’t want to see me anymore. Because she didn’t want to see me, I made sure to stay out of trouble so that I didn’t get sent to the courthouse anymore and my dad was beginning to be proud of me again.

If I told you that I forgot about Alice or that I had lost any or all feelings toward her, I’d be lying to you. I thought about her everyday, all the time and the distance only made me care for her more. I found myself missing her smile, her laugh, and even the determined look she’d get while trying to win a case. Because of a wrong answer to a question, I lost all of that. But, I was also becoming a better person and maybe, just maybe, if we ever meet again, she’d like the new me. The me that she inspired.

I lived everyday the same as the last, trying to be a better person, and pushing forward. Up until this point, I’d been very optimistic about this whole situation but as I made some eggs for breakfast, I found myself crying over her. I blocked out feeling sad for so long that now it just bubbled over. I hated this feeling. It made me feel weak and I hated that more than anything.

Then the doorbell rang. I was going to ignore it but decided that it was impolite and went over to open it, drying my tears on my sleeves. When I opened the door, I felt as though I was hallucinating. Standing there with a suitcase and looking shy was Alice.

“Hey.” She said, still not meeting my eyes.

“H-hey.” I said, cursing myself for stuttering.

“So, I guess last time we spoke, you forgot to tell me that I got fired for your little stunt. Because of that, I couldn’t pay rent because the boss started to pay me less as well. So, to make up for all the trouble that you’ve caused me, can I stay here until I get back on my feet?”

It took everything in me to not pull her into a tight hug and start crying. I simply nodded my head and led her into the house, trying to compose myself with my back to her. I walked her to my room.

“You can put your stuff in here, this will be your room from now on. I’ll have to get my clothes from here sometimes, but other than that, it’s all yours.” She looked at me in the eyes and nodded her head and then said in a soft voice, “Thank you.”

I nodded. “It’s the least that I can do. I’m sorry that my stupidity led you to this. I’m sure it must be rough.” With that, I left her to unpack and settle in.

I then went to the stove and threw out the burnt eggs, taking out the pancake mix. I’m sure that she has had a rough couple of weeks. So, to help with that partially, I decided to make pancakes. If there was one thing I knew how to do well (that wasn’t hacking), was make pancakes. Within a half hour, I had the pancakes ready and made plates for both of us. I called her in, and her eyes lit up with excitement. Needless to say, I was very happy. She thanked me but other than that, we ate in comfortable silence.

Things were going well for a couple of weeks and she scored a job. Slowly but surely, she picked herself back up and she was doing well. I was trying to prepare myself for when she wouldn’t need me and would move out. But I couldn’t bring myself to distance myself from her.

There was this one day where I decided to kiss her unexpectedly when I could tell that she was having a really tough morning but she didn’t take it well. She locked herself in her room and I could hear her music through the door. She was blocking out her thoughts again. Again, I couldn’t do anything to help her. I was only making it worse. Because of these thoughts, when she came out, I didn’t stop her or even check on her, I just sat. A few minutes later, I heard the car start up and leave.

I sat there in misery for a long time until I got my crap together and realized that I didn’t have to sit here. I didn’t have to let her suffer because I was afraid of messing things up. What if she was depressed? What if she decided to kill herself? What would I do without her? This whole time, I never once addressed how I felt about her because I was worried about her being freaked out and leaving. But, what if she felt as though no one loved her and she was lonely. I needed to see her and tell her how I felt. Because Alice took my one and only car, I called the one person I knew that could help. Oliver.

He was at my house in ten minutes and he raced me to the hospital with no questions asked. As soon as we parked, he said, “Good luck,” and drove off once I got out. I ran into the hospital and up to the receptionist and demanded to know where Alice was. She must know, everyone had to sign in here. She looked panicked, but I didn’t care.

“Where is she?! I need to find her, I know she’s here! Where is Alice?!!”

It was then that I heard Alice’s voice and I froze. “Hey! I’m right here, what are you doing here? You’re not supposed-” I cut her off, pulling her into a tight hug. After a couple of seconds, she pulled back and said, “Daniel? What’s going-” But I cut her off again, putting all my feelings into a kiss, hoping that I didn’t scare her away this time. Hoping that against all odds, she’d accept me.

When we pulled away she said, “Hey, are you okay? Why are you so emotional? What-why the kiss?”

I decided to just let it all out. “I just realized when you left that this whole time, I’ve just kind of let you deal with things on your own. It reminded me of what people do when they’re dealing with things all by themselves because I’ve been there before and the thought of losing you hurt me so much.”

She was shocked and speechless and it scared me. I didn’t know what was going on inside her head and I was scared. But all my worries melted away when she hugged me. I didn’t know what she meant by it, but for now, this was enough. She was here with me, hugging me, and I felt happy.

Well, until I noticed her looking at a guy who was standing down the hallway, hands clenched at his side, completely frozen. After a couple of seconds, he unfroze and walked past us and straight out the doors, but not before glaring at me first. I looked down at Alice. Who was that guy? Was he a jealous ex? I decided not to ask her. But maybe I should’ve.

Because if I would’ve known the situation with that guy, if I would have known he’d be a problem in my future, maybe I’d have stayed away. Maybe meeting Alice wouldn’t have been so worth it after all.