Chapter Text
The sky above the Ratri estate was clear, not a single cloud. It was about a 45-minute drive away from the nearest city so the light pollution wasn’t that bad, and you could clearly see thousands of stars. The first quarter moon shone brightly in the sky. The weather was nice too, at a comfortable 71°F and a light breeze.
August 18, 2056, was a good night.
Except for 21-year-old Gilda.
She just arrived back home after a bad date. She really hoped this relationship was gonna last longer but it was only the second date. The first date with this girl was ok, and they agreed to a second one. But apparently, the girl said that she felt like Gilda wasn’t fully interested in her, and frankly, she was right.
Gilda just didn’t fully feel a spark with her. The spark she hasn't been able to find in the last 2 years since she broke up with Betty, who she mutually broke up with after they realized their lifestyle didn’t match up. Matter of fact their ‘break-up anniversary’ passed a few days ago.
In that time she casually dated 4 people, the number of dates never going over 2 before realizing it wasn’t going to work. She also officially got with two people in that time.
The first was a guy, who hadn’t started showing his true colors after going steady, so she broke up with him after less than 2 weeks. After realizing how easy it was for her to break up with him, Gilda realized she wasn’t even all that interested in him in the first place.
The next was a girl she dated for all of February, but Gilda realized she saw her more as a friend than a girlfriend so they broke up.
As Gilda stepped out of her car and into the summer night all she could feel was pity for her romantic misfortune, but also a little bit of excitement because she knew HE was gonna be waiting for her. The sound of high heels on concrete ringed into the night as Gilda walked towards the building Grace Field and Goldy Pond kids lived in. At the front door, Don was waiting for her.
Gilda gave him a small tired smile.
“How was it?”
“Poorly,” Gilda sighed.
“I made some tea, wanna talk about it over some tea, or do you just want tea?”
“I’ll take just the tea please, we'll have to see about talking about it.”
This became a routine whenever Gilda went on a date or did something big. He always made her favorite tea and would wait for her at the front entrance. One time he even waited outside till midnight in 18°F weather. And for that Gilda was eternally grateful.
They both walked to the dining room where Don left a kettle of tea on a hotplate and two cups on a tray. Don then poured two cups of tea and offered her a seat. They both sat in comfortable silence as Gilda relaxed. This never failed to make Gilda feel warm inside. It wasn’t just the tea, but also by being next to Don. He always had a way of helping her calm down ever since they were little.
“I just don’t know what it is. It feels like with every person I go on a date with, I just…I just……..I just can’t quite feel a spark with them. I’m just not fully interested in them.”
“I see. Any idea why?”
“No.”
…
“Don.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think I’m somehow still caught up on Betty? I don’t think I still have feelings for her but what if I do? What if that’s why I can’t find a new spark!? I’m stuck on an old one!? What if I’m destined to never get over her and I stay single for the rest of my life!?” Gilda got more anxious with each thought she spilled.
“What if-”
“Gilda.”
“What?”
“Calm down. Even if you’re not over Betty now that doesn't mean you're cursed to never get over her. We’re still young. We still have plenty of time to get over people.”
…
“We?” Gilda raised an eyebrow.
A tint of red appeared on Don’s checks, “Oh yeah! Sorry! Didn’t mean to let that slip! You see there's this person I liked and I was having a hard time getting over them and, um, yeah!“
“Are you talking about Harper? Didn’t YOU break things off with her?”
Don’s tone turned from frantic to calm and confessional, “They’re not Harper.” He looked down at his cup for a few seconds. “I actually mainly dated her to try and get over the person in question. I felt terrible about it, and I still do, so I broke things off with her. Just wasn’t fair for her.”
…
“Well that’s enough about me, this is about you.”
“Yeah. But maybe that’s it? Maybe I’m unconsciously trying to get over Betty by seeing other people?”
“Well if that’s the case I guess you should take a break from seeing people?”
“You’re probably right. Like you said we’re still young, I have plenty of time to find someone. Thanks Don” Gilda smiled sweetly.
“No problem.”
“Out of pure curiosity who is this person? Do I know them?”
“Oh, no you don’t know them.” There’s that red again.
…
“Don”
“Yeah?”
“I know you’re lying.”
“About what, I’m not lying!?”
“About how I don’t know them. And you're probably lying about being over them too.”
“H-h-ha-how’d you know?”
Gilda giggles a bit, “I knew you scene we were 1, I just do. Guess you can say I gained a 6th sense about it.”
“Haha very funny,” Don said as he scratched his head. “Well, are you gonna try and get me to confess who it is or what?”
“No, if you don’t want to tell me you don’t have to,” Gilda said as she got out of her chair. “Anyways, thanks for talking to me, it really helped. And thank you for always being there for me.”
“No problem.”
Gilda picked up her empty cup and then pointed to Don’s, “Do you want more tea or do you want me to clean that up?”
“Gilda you should head to bed I’ll clean this up ok.” He put everything on the tray and held his hand out for Gilda to give him her cup.
Putting her cup in Don's open hand she said “Fine, I guess I was the one with a bad date.”
As she started to walk away she turned around, “And I hope things work out with this mysterious person.”
He looked at her like a deer in headlights and red checks until he said “Thanks, Gilda.” And she walked off.
—
The sound of high heels on a wooden floor echoed through the halfway as Gilda lets herself get lost in her thoughts. The idea that she wasn’t able to fall for anyone else because she was holding onto feeling for someone else seemed right, but she didn’t think it was for Betty. She cried all her tears over Betty a long time ago, and Gilda was confident that she was over her. But if not Betty then who? Just as Gilda got to her bedroom door she froze as the realization hit her.
Gilda opened the door to see all her roommates were in bed but not all were asleep. The only two who were actually asleep were Anna and Ayshe. Probably because they were both gonna wake up early the next day, Anna because of work, and Ayshe because she wanted to. The other 3, Gillian, Alicia, and Jemima, were all still very much awake. Gilda checked her phone for the time.
“Guys it’s 10:37 you should go to sleep. Especially you, Alicia and Jemima!”
“But it’s summer,” Alicia whined
“Yeah, and the first day back to school is the 21st! You better get your sleep schedule back in check.” Gilda said.
“How was the date?” Gillian asked
“Me and the girl decided to not go out again,” Gilda said, taking off her high heels.
“Well that’s sad,” Gillian responded.
Gilda got in front of a mirror to brush out her hair, “I was disappointed at first but I realized something.”
“What did you realize?” Jemima asked
Gilda stopped brushing out her hair for a bit, seeing how her cheeks are now red in the mirror. She continued. “I realized the reason I have all these failed dates is because I just don’t have feelings for these people…because I like someone else.”
“And who may that be?” Gillian asked in a mischievous voice.
Gilda sighed and put her, now completely red, face in her palms. “Don.”
The 3 girls all squealed in unison at this revelation.
“Wait, how did you realize you like him?”
“I just realized I felt that spark with him I guess, that I like being with him. And that I did for a while.”
“Do you know whether or not he likes you back?” Jemima asked
“He said he liked someone, he didn’t tell me who but-” Gilda paused. “He was talking about me wasn’t he?”
Another set of squeals. Gilda went to the closet, grabbed her pajamas, and headed to the bathroom as all the other girls talked about their roommate's new romantic prospect.
“Wait, I just realized something! Don started dating Harper like a week after Gilda started dating Fiona. Do you think he was trying to make her jealous or something?” Alicia asked.
“Is he really the type to do that?” responded Jemima.
“I don’t know but just a thought.”
The moment after Alicia said that Gilda walked back in. “Guys it is not set in stone that he likes me back so you better not go around telling people that ok. Anyways it’s like, what, 10:50 Pm at this point. We should head to sleep.” Gilda said as she put her glasses onto her cabinet and rubbed her eyes. She sat down, “Especially you Alicia and Jemima. The school year starts in a little over two days.”
“Sleep is for the week.” Alicia retorted.
“Gilda, are you planning on telling Don how you feel?” Jemima asked.
After a moment of thought, “Yeah, at least some hints.”