Work Text:
At 7:00 in the morning, an alarm clock beeps repeatedly. A man groans and rolls over to turn it off.
“Ugh. Already?” He muttered. The man, Arin Hanson, looks over with tired eyes to see that his wife, Suzy, was not in bed. “Hm. She already went to work.” He then sits up and yawns.
“Morning, Moch.” He greets the cat at his feet, who was purring, and pets his head. Then, Arin stands up to get ready for work.
In the bathroom, he splashes water on his face. He gets confused when he sees a marking on his right hand. “What the…?” On his palm was a blue star. In the middle were two initials: ‘D’ and ‘A’.
He tries to rub it off under the running faucet. “Come on.” He grumbled, but nothing washed off. He sighs and decides to try and take it off later.
Hanson fed Mochi, Mimi, and Otto downstairs while he fixed himself a simple breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs. While eating, he couldn’t stop looking at the star marking on his hand.
“Who is this ‘D.A.’ guy?” He thought. “There’s tons of people with these initials!”
After eating, he washes the dishes and puts them on the dish rack. He goes back upstairs to brush his teeth and change into his work uniform. It was a pastel pink short-sleeved, button-up shirt with white vertical stripes and ivory white pants. He clips a belt around his waist, puts on his black dress shoes, and ties his slightly long hair back into a short ponytail.
He puts on his wristwatch and grabs his car keys from his nightstand. He walks back downstairs to see Mochi purring at his feet again. He softly smiles. “Oh, Moch. I’ll be back soon. Watch Mimi and Otto. Make sure they don’t get into any trouble, okay?”
The cat responds with a meow and waddles back to the kitchen. Arin leaves the house, locking the door, and getting into his chevette.
When he arrives at the parking lot of Reina’s Rockin’ Diner, he locks his car to clock on. Then, a medium-tanned woman with dark, curly hair approaches him.
“Hey, Arin!” She greeted him with a bright smile. “Morning!”
“Morning, Vanessa.” He replied in a half-tired voice.
“Hope your feet don’t hurt today. It’s going to get pretty busy.”
“I’m prepared.” He sighed. As the day began, Arin walks around the establishment to lead people to their tables and occasionally take orders for the kitchen.
A curly-haired man leaned on the pole of a bus stop sign, putting his sunglasses on the top of his head. He adjusts his leather jacket and dusts off his jeans before standing up and walking along the pavement as the rest of the Los Angeles people.
Sometimes, he would watch the cars drive by and honk. Although it wasn’t interesting to see the drivers and pedestrians argue to who had the right-of-way, it did remind him of when he temporarily lived in New York and growing up in New Jersey. It felt like home.
After walking a few blocks down, he decided to rest at a bench. An older woman eyes his outfit, which made him awkwardly wave back.
“Hi, sir.” said a kind, little boy next to the woman.
“Hello.” The man replied back with a smile.
“You look cool! I want to be like you when I’m older!”
“Aw, that’s very nice of you. Thanks!”
The boy hands him a wrapped lollipop. “Want one?”
The boy’s mother then pulls his hand back. “No. Don’t talk to that man.” She then stands up with his hand in hers. “He’s one of those… rebels that have been going around. Come on, let’s go.”
The man sees the boy sadly wave goodbye, in which he waves back. He sighs and looks to his open left hand. The marking on his palm was a pink heart with the letters ‘A’ and ‘H’ in the middle. He stares at the letters longingly.
“‘A.H.,” he muttered. “Who are you?” He then hears lively music coming from a building across the street. He tilts his head up from the familiar song playing, which made him curious. He then stands up to cross the street.
As the diner was increasingly getting busy, Arin was rushing around continuing to lead people to their tables and taking orders.
A woman calls his name. “I need some help! I have a group of ten coming, and I need to rearrange some tables!”
“Coming!” He called, and heads over to his co-worker, Amanda. The two pushed tables together and brought the chairs over. As they were bringing in the last chair, Arin looks over to see a large group of people walk in. There were ten people to be exact.
“Ah! Perfect timing!” Amanda cheered and walks over to the host stand. “Ten for Mallory?”
“We’re all here!” The woman said.
“Great! Follow me!”
Arin dusts off his shirt and his hands. He was then called into the bar by Cole. “Need anything?”
“Bar’s getting busy. Do you mind?”
“No problem.” As Arin and Cole were mixing up the drinks, the curly-haired man walks in. He hears rock and roll music playing from a loud jukebox.
“Oh, wow,” he said. “Pretty nice in here.”
“Hello!” Vanessa said. “Anyone else coming with you today? I’ll save a seat for you.”
“Oh, no. It’s just me.”
She takes a menu out of the basket. “Right this way, please.”
“Oh, uh, is it okay if I sat at the bar?”
She looks over to the location. “Hm, I think we can squeeze you in. Let me talk to them real quick.” She then leaves for the bar.
The man walks to the side of the doors to wait. He looks at the marking on his palm. "'A.H.'," he thought. "Where are you? Are you here?"
Vanessa then walks up to him. "You're in luck! We have two seats left open!"
"Cool. Thank you." He follows her to the bar to sit down. He waits for a couple of minutes until a man with short, brown hair approaches him. He even had a slightly, visible blond streak.
"Hello," he said. "How are you?"
"Doing great."
"What can I get started for you? A shot of whiskey, beer?"
He shrugs. "That's okay. I'll just take a water."
"Oh. Are you sure? I mean, you're sitting at a bar."
"Well… I've had a history of alcohol not doing well in my system," he winced. "Sorry."
"No worries. I'll get that for you."
Cole leans back towards Arin as he filled a glass cup of cold water. "Who comes to a bar and only orders water?"
"Well, people's digestive systems all function differently. Some tolerate, some don't. I've seen a fair share of folks come here and order water."
Cole then turns around. "Look at what he's wearing." He scoffs. "Have you seen those people walking the streets in those jackets and gloves?"
"Come on," Arin groaned with the glass of water in his hand. "Don't just assume that. Maybe he likes to wear them casually."
"I don't trust him." He then walks away.
Arin shakes his head and walks to the end of the bar. "Sorry about that."
"It's all good, dude." Before the man took a sip, he notices something on the other's hand. "Hey, uh, nice tattoo you got there."
"Huh?" He then looks to his right palm. "Oh, it's… not a tattoo. I randomly got it this morning."
He chuckles. "Funny. I got one, too." Arin looks at the man's palm to see a pink heart on his left hand.
"What? He has a marking, too? Wait, it has my initials on there? No… No, it couldn't be."
The man notices him staring blankly. "You… okay, man?"
"Huh? What? Oh, uh," he clears his throat. "Yeah, um… I'm okay."
"Just want to make sure."
"Uh, t-thank you." Arin notices the menu sitting in front of him. "Oh… no, I'm so sorry. Can I get you something to eat?"
"No, no! All good! I even forgot I had this." He laughed and skims through the menu. After a few seconds, he says, "I'll just get a turkey club sandwich. Thanks."
"Okay," Arin said as he takes the pamphlet. "I'll be right back!"
As the man waited, he unstraps his fingerless glove and fidgets with the silver charm on his necklace with his right hand while tapping his left fingers to the rhythm of the jukebox's music.
Another voice came in, but it wasn't as soft-spoken like the guy from before. He slams his hands on the table in front of the man in the jacket. "Hey."
The curly-haired man, and many other customers, jump at the sudden sound. "Dude," he said, calmly pulling his hands away. "I didn't do anything. What do you want?"
"Oh, I know what I want. You need to leave. Now."
"I-I didn't do anything."
"You're wearing gloves and a leather jacket. I know you people cause trouble all the time."
The man nervously eyes the people sitting on his left, muttering to one another. He even heard some voices form behind him. He calmly takes a breath. "Or… maybe I like wearing these jackets casually? Don't just assume based on clothing, dude."
Arin walks out with a small basket and immediately sees Cole pointing an aggressive finger. The man in the jacket eyes him, which made him quickly put the food down and rush over, pulling Cole to the back door. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"It was that guy! He's dressed as those rebel punks I keep seeing on the streets!"
"Ugh," Arin groans. "Seriously? You're worked up about that? It's a jacket!"
"Something wrong, fellas?" Asked one of the chefs.
"Nothing." Cole said.
Arin huffs. "He was harassing someone at the bar. About him wearing a jacket."
"I'll deal with this, Arin," the chef said. "You go ahead."
Arin sees Cole giving him a scowl, in which he rolls his eyes in return before heading back out. The basket had moved to the end of the bar to where the man in the leather jacket was sitting.
"Hey," Arin said as he walked up to him. "I'm so sorry about him." He sighs and runs his hands through his hair.
The man wipes his mouth with a napkin. "It's okay, man. It wasn't your fault."
"I stress out when it gets busy, and now this?"
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure your manager will handle it."
"Excuse me," said one of the chefs coming out from the back. "Are you okay? Sorry about him earlier."
He dismisses a hand. "Totally fine. Thank you." As the chef went back, he watches the man with the blond hair streak wash his hands and walk into the main dining area.
Another man walks into the bar to shake up some cocktails for a couple. After serving them, he sees the empty basket at the end of the table. "Anything else you need?" He asked.
"Nothing else. Just the check, please."
"Sure thing. I'll have Vanessa get that for you." He then leaves the bar.
The familiar woman walks in the small paper slip that was circled with the items he ordered. She takes the basket and the glass cup.
He pays two quarters and before she left, he asks, "Hey, uh, is it okay could talk to that guy again? The guy with the blond in his hair?"
"Sure! I'll go see if he isn't busy." When she left, Arin then walks in.
"Whatcha need?" He asked.
The man takes out two dollar bills. "Here. For you."
"Oh! No, no. I can't."
"I insist. You helped me out from that guy earlier. You deserve it."
"A-Are you sure? I mean…"
"If you want. I won't force you." He shrugged.
"No. That's okay. Thank you, though."
He pockets the cash away. "No harm done."
"Have a good day, sir. And… stay safe out there."
The man smiles softly. "Thank you. You too." He then stands up and leaves the diner.
As the place slowly down in the evening, Arin spent the last few hours cleaning and wiping down the tables and taking the dishes to the back.
When he clocked out, he says goodbye to his co-workers and heads home. When he opened the front door, Mochi ran to the door to greet him on his hind legs.
"Hi, Arin!" Suzy said. "I just finished making dinner!" She then calls the cat. "Come here, Moch! Come here!" The cat turns around and walks to her.
"Hey, honey." He walks to his wife and they share a kiss.
"How was work?"
"Very busy, as usual."
She laughs. "I thought so."
"There was a guy that came in alone and sat at the bar. I was about to give him his food, but then I saw Cole getting in his face."
She gasps, "For what? What did the guy do?"
"Nothing. He was just sitting there waiting. Cole was up on him because he was wearing a leather jacket."
"Oh, geez. I hope he's okay."
"It's okay. He's been dealt with, but I hope it doesn't happen again."
"Well, that's good." She then notices him looking at his open right hand and walks up next to him, rubbing his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"He had a marking on his hand like mine."
"What marking? Let me see." Arin shows her the blue star. "When did you get this?"
This morning. It randomly appeared. I don't know how it did, but…"
"What did the other look like?"
"It was a pink heart, and it had my initials."
"Is he… looking for you?" She asked, concerned.
"Can't be. He was a calm guy and didn't look threatening at all. I have tomorrow off, so I hope to bump into him while I'm out."
"Are you sure?"
"Hopefully." They share another kiss. "I'm going to take a shower and try to get this marking off."
"Okay, honey. I love you."
"Love you, too." Arin treads up the stairs to shower. With body wash, he roughly scrubs the hand with a brush. "Come on, come on," he muttered. "Get off." He winces at the sting of the patch turning red, but the star stayed. "Seriously?"
He gets out of the shower and changes into his comfortable pajamas. He sits on the bed, looking at the star. "Is she right? Hm, maybe I should talk to him about it."
Mimi and Otto walk into the room, meowing near the bed. They jump up with Otto curling into Arin's lap while Mimi laid next to him.
"I'm alright. Just a bit tired, thats all." He pets Otto, who closed his eyes and purred.
Suzy knocks on the door to tell her husband that dinner was plated. They both head downstairs. It was mostly silent except for the clinks of the plates and silverware. Suzy then asks, "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Maybe you're right. I just had a thought about having a talk with him."
"What if he's dangerous?"
"I'm sure he's not that bad, hon."
"You don't know that. Most bad people hide behind a good face." Arin doesn't respond. She sighs, "I just don't want you getting hurt."
"I can try to approach him, at least. If he gets suspicious, I'll back away."
She nods. "Okay." When dinner was finished, they cleaned the dishes, glasses, and silverware to put them on the drying rack. They both tidy themselves up in the bathroom upstairs before heading to bed.
Arin then turns the lamp off on his side. "Good night, my love."
Suzy smiles sweetly. "Good night." The lamp on the other side then switches off.
The next morning, Arin heads into town to buy some records. He walks down the street in his magenta buttoned-up top, dark gray trenchcoat, black dress pants, and brown loafers.
In the record store, he looks through the different genres: jazz, pop, blues, and rock. He accidentally bumps into someone as he was looking in the letter 'Q' section. "Oh. Sorry."
"It's okay." Said a familiar voice as they stopped mumble-singing.
Arin looks to the side. "Oh, hey. It's you from yesterday. You like coming here, too?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "I come here two or three times a week. If I need some records, I come here, but I usually browse. The people who work here pretty much know me."
"That's nice. What types of music are you into?"
"Mostly rock. Grew up with it as a kid. I also don't mind a bit of swing."
"Any particular ones you like?"
"Mmm… Beatles, The Who, Bee Gees, any rock band. Elvis has some nice ones, too."
"You have some great tastes."
"Why, thank you."
"Come on, Arin," he thought to himself. "Ask him!" He takes a breather. "Say, um, I never got your name."
As the man pulls out a Stevie Wonder record, he says, "I'm Dan."
Arin looks at the initials in the star. "Dan?" He then clears his throat, talking aloud. "About your, uh… mark," he asks, "Do you know what they're about?"
"No, I don't know. I'll have to look into it more. We can talk about it tomorrow. I'll stop by your work. Um… you do work tomorrow, right?"
"Uh, yeah. Reina's Rockin' Diner."
"Great! I'll see you there, then!" Dan takes the record in his hands to the register, pays for it, and leaves while giving Arin a friendly wave.
Arin's eyes widen at his hand. The star was fading away. As he heard the bell ring and the door close, the mark comes back in full dark blue. "What the…?"
He pays for a Bob Dylan and a Beach Boys record and heads to the door. He sits in silence, staring at the star.
During the next day at the diner, Arin was feeling more anxious and nauseous. While walking around, he kept looking at the front entrance to see if Dan was going to walk in.
"Arin? Are you alright?" Vanessa asked. "You look more frantic. Did something happen?"
"No," he replied. "I'm okay. Just… waiting for someone."
"Who?"
"That guy from the other day."
"Oh! Him? Why?"
"I need to talk to him about something."
"But your shift doesn't end 'til 5:30."
"Eh, I'll talk to him here and there while it goes. Also, could you keep an eye on Cole? I don't want… that happening again."
"Oh, don't worry. He's got the next two days off."
Arin's eyes widen, surprised. "W-What?"
"Yeah. Boss suspended him after that incident."
"Well, I don't want to say that this is good, but… I hope he learns his lesson."
"Yeah," she winces. "Heard from everyone else that it wasn't a pretty sight to see. Glad you were able to intervene."
"Thanks, V." He said before she left.
The butterflies in his stomach grew as the day strolled by. Then, as he looked up after writing an order, there was Dan walking in with his leather jacket. After telling the kitchen staff the orders, he sees Dan walking to the bar. Perfect timing.
"Hey, man." Dan said as Arin entered in.
"Glad to see you again." Arin hides his nervous, fidgety hands underneath the table. "Keep calm, Arin."
"Nice to see you, too."
Arin takes a quick peek at his right palm. "Huh? Why isn't it fading?"
"Everything okay?"
Arin quickly looks up. "Huh? Oh, y-yeah! Everything's good! Can I get you something in the meantime?"
"Just a water and a turkey club from last time."
"No problem." As Arin traveled in and out of the kitchen, he then hears someone call out his name.
"Hm," Dan muttered, looking at his left hand. "His name is Arin, huh?"
Arin takes a deep breath, sliding the small basket with the sandwich inside to Dan. "Okay, I'm back!" He quickly gets a glass cup, fills it with water, and comes back to hand it to him. "I won't be able to talk that much since… you know…"
"That's alright. Anyways, about your mark. Find anything about them?"
"No. I went to the library down the street and found nothing. It's obviously not magic."
Dan holds his hand out, palm facing up. "Here. Show me your hand."
Arin shows his palm. He sees Dan staring at it in silence. "Wh-What's wrong?" He looks down to see the star and heart slowly fading away. Arin then pulls his hand back. "How…?"
"That's so weird." They both look at their hands to see that the blue and pink had fully restored.
"Maybe it is magic."
"Hey, Arin," a waitress told him. "Someone gave me a complicated order, but I'm not sure I fully understood it. Could you help?"
"Yeah," he said. "Lead the way, Allie."
"Awesome! Thank you!" They both leave the bar and travel to the back of the dining area.
"Hey," an elderly man said, nudging Dan next to him. "You two seem like a great pair together. I've heard about the nice things he does for everyone."
"Oh, really?" Dan asked. "Seems like he's a likeable guy."
"People love him here."
"That's nice."
"You only came here recently, but out of everyone that comes here, it looks like he has a great connection with you."
"Oh, I actually met him at the local record store yesterday. Talked to him about this." Dan shows his palm to the man.
"Hm," he said, curiously. "I have caught something of a similar marking like yours on Arin. I think it was a star."
"They keep fading away every time we get close, and we don't know why."
"Maybe you two are meant to be."
"How so?"
"Like… soulmates."
"Soulmates?"
"For sure. Like a string tying you both together. Of course, the guy's married, so I bet you boys are going to be best of friends."
Dan looks at his palm. "Huh."
"Hey!" Arin said, cheerfully. "I'm back." Dan quickly hides his hand in his jacket pocket and starts to eat his food.
"Um, Arin?" Dan asked.
"Yeah?"
"Is it okay if we could hang out? Uh, well, whenever you're free, that is."
Arin was surprised at the sudden question. "Oh! Well, I mean, I haven't planned anything yet, but we do close every other Friday, though."
"Great! We can meet at the café down the street!"
"What time?"
"Does the evening work for you?"
"Well, my wife usually comes home at around 5:00, so… maybe 4:00?"
"Sounds good!"
Arin nods and heads out to work around the tables while Dan stayed at the bar to eat. Once finished, he pays the check and writes a quick note on a napkin.
"Hey, Arin," one of his co-workers said, walking up to him. "That guy left something for you."
"Hm?" Arin takes the napkin and sees that there was black ink written on it. It was a phone number and a note:
'To Arin — Just in case you want to hang and shoot the breeze! - Dan'.
Arin folds the napkin and puts it in his pocket. "Thanks." Inside, he felt a rush of energy. He gets to finally talk with Dan!
As the diner started to empty out throughout the day, Arin wiped down the tables and cleared out the dishes to bring into the kitchen.
Vanessa meets up with him in the back. "Hey! Just want to check on you from earlier. How'd it go?"
"It went pretty well. We planned to head to the café down the street next Friday."
"Lucky you, dude! Hope you both have fun!"
When Arin and the other employees finished cleaning out the establishment in the evening, they all clock out, say their goodbyes, and depart.
Arin arrives home and Suzy greets him with a hug and a kiss. He then sees Mochi meowing and pawing at his leg. "Hi, Moch." He cooed.
"Mimi and Otto are asleep right now." Suzy said.
"Oh, really? Is she taking up my side again?"
She softly laughs. "Yeah."
He laughs as well. "Say, um, about the guy you told me about."
"Oh, yeah! How was he?"
"I'm being very honest, he's a real nice guy. I'm going to meet him at the café down the street next Friday to talk to him about these markings. He even gave me his house number."
She rubs his shoulder. "Still, I don't want you getting hurt."
"I'll be okay, hon. I'm certain."
She nods. "Okay. Do you want anything before I shower? Are you hungry?"
"Not as much. I don't want to overwork you. I can make something small."
"Are you sure?"
He brushes his hair aside. "I'm sure."
"Okay. I love you."
"Love you, too."
As he wife went upstairs, he decided to make some spaghetti. He puts the pasta in the large pot of water and goes upstairs to wait. In the bedroom, he sees Otto slowly wake up from the floor. He tiredly walks to Arin and nuzzles his head on his foot.
"Hey, Otto," he said in a soft voice as he scratched his head. "You okay?" The cat meows. "That's good. Your sister keeps sleeping on my side of the bed. Why's that?" No answer, but a long stare and the gently swishes of his tail. "Hm. Keeping secrets, aren't you?"
Arin gently pets the sleeping Mimi before heading back downstairs with Otto following suit. He drains the pasta out and waits for it to cool down back in the pot. In the meantime, he goes back upstairs to shower and change into his pajamas.
Once he was done, he heads downstairs again to get a plate and some tomato sauce from the pantry. He sets the plate aside to open the can and mix the sauce in.
Suzy then comes downstairs in her dark purple nightgown. "You made spaghetti?"
He shrugs and grabs a fork from the silverware drawer. "Yeah. Just a bit." He sees Otto jumping up and meowing. "Sorry, buddy. You can't have any."
"How are you feeling about your meeting next Friday?"
"Just a little nervous. I mean, I just met the guy."
"Well, I hope it goes well."
"I hope so, too."
Arin checks his wristwatch: 3:30 p.m. Today's the day. In the bedroom, he looks into the standing mirror to tidy himself up. He wore the magenta button-up shirt, a scarf, dark gray blazer, dress pants, and black dress shoes.
He takes a deep breath. "Calm yourself. Breathe. You're going to be okay." Before heading out, he feeds the three cats and pets them.
Mochi desperately meows as he hears the front door open. "Oh, Mochi," Arin said. "I'll be back soon. It's okay." The door squeaks shut and the lock turns.
Down the street, Arin's heart jumps with anticipation as he neared the quaint café. There, at the window, was Dan. The bell hanging from the door jingles as Arin entered. The cashier welcomes him and takes his order of a simple cup of coffee and a chocolate chip muffin.
When he received his order, he sits with Dan at the window. He was surprised that he wasn't wearing his usual leather jacket.
"Hey." Arin said.
"Hey." Dan said back. His outfit consisted of a brown jacket, ripped navy blue bellbottoms at the knees, a tucked in Beatles t-shirt, a red scarf, and leather boots.
"Nice outfit. Very classy for a casual meet-up."
Dan chuckles. "I can say the same to you." He then takes a sip of tea in his cup.
Arin fiddles with his hands before showing him the star in his palm. "So… about this."
"Ah. Right." Dan opens his hand to reveal the pink heart.
"Those are my initials."
"Really?"
Yeah. 'A.H.' Arin Hanson."
"Hm… 'D.A.' Dan Avidan."
"I'm still confused on why we have these. Did someone give these to us so we could target each other?"
"Well, there was a guy I talked with while you were out and about last week."
"What was it?"
"He said that we were 'meant to be'."
"Huh? Meant to be?"
He shrugs. "That's what he told me. 'Soulmates' was the term."
"Hm."
"I guess we'll have to wait and see if these things will go away."
"Yeah, I guess." Arin and Dan pull their hands away and their markings faded in and out.
Dan then hits a rhythmic tune on the table. "So, uh… how are you doing?"
"Eh, pretty good. Same old, same old. Just running 'round back and forth, but hey. I got some good friends there."
"Well, uh… no offense, but you do look a little stressed."
Arin dismisses a hand. "It's okay." He then takes a sip of his coffee. "Where do you work?"
"I used to be a barista at a coffee shop somewhere 'round town, but I quit recently." Dan takes a few sips of tea.
"What? Why?"
"I… want to make music. I want to sing."
"Whoa. Really?"
"Yeah. A dream ever since I was a kid. I want to make people happy."
"That's cool."
"Thanks! It's been a bit of a rough start, but I'll get there eventually."
"How many people have you played for before?"
"Only about a hundred or so. A few night clubs here and there. I've only ever sang covers."
"That's not bad for a start."
"What about you? Well, other than the diner."
"I draw. Used to animate, though."
"Whoa," Dan said in amazement. "You worked for the big guys?"
"Oh no, no, no. I've seen their work in the papers, and it gave me some inspiration. I'm self-taught."
"Have you thought about pitching anything to them?"
Arin finishes the last of his muffin and coffee. "No. I'm still working it out at home. Maybe soon. Who knows?"
"Anything in particular you like to draw?"
"No. Just whatever comes to mind."
"That's cool." Dan nods and finishes his tea. He takes the saucer and cup to the counter, thanking the woman on the other side. Before heading back, he takes a look at his left hand. The heart and Arin's initials were fading away. He puts his hand in his jeans pocket as he walked back to the table.
Arin switches places to throw away the muffin wrapper in the trash bin and sets the plate and cup on the counter. He says thank you and walks back to the table.
"So," Dan said. "Um… you want to walk around town for a bit? Maybe the park?"
"Yeah, sure." The two men say goodbye to the workers behind them as they exited the café. They reach the park where children played and people walking their pet dogs.
As they walked around, they say hello occasionally to some bystanders. Arin catches a glimpse of a young golden retriever walking by on a leash. "Speaking of," he said. "I also have a few pets at home."
"Ooh," Dan said in interest. "What do you have?"
"Three cats. Mimi, Mochi, Otto."
"I'd like to have a pet, too. Maybe a dog. I had a lot of dogs growing up."
Arin groans and laughs. "Oh, Mimi. She always sleeps on my side of the bed. I try to wake her up, but she doesn't budge."
"Most cats do that. They like to stay in one place."
"And Mochi. Every time I leave for work, he always meows for me. It's so sad to see his beady little eyes."
"How close is he to you?"
"Oh, yeah. When my wife and I first got him, he immediately ran to me."
"Aww. That's sweet."
He shakes his head. "But the annoying thing is that I always have to have to pet him while he eats."
Dan snorts. "Why?"
"Just a thing that he's always been doing."
"How's the last one doing?"
"Oh, Otto? He eats almost everything in the house." He laughed.
Dan's eyes widened with a smile on his face. "What? Everything?"
"No, no. He chews on plastic, though."
"Plastic? Oh man." The two then sit down on an empty bench. "I'll never understand cats."
"Yeah. Sometimes, I don't even understand them, either."
"We may never know what's going on in their heads." Dan joked. He takes a glance at his left hand and notices that the pink heart and initials were completely gone. He looks to his right at Arin, back at his hand, then back to the scenery.
Arin looks around, hearing the birds chirp. "I never knew how peaceful it is out here."
"Yeah," Dan sighed. "A nice breather from the busy town."
They sit in silence until Arin spoke up again. "Want to lap around again?"
"Yeah, sure." They stand up and start walking around. As Arin looked ahead, Dan hummed beside him.
"What are you humming to?" Arin asked.
"A Beatles song I listened to on the radio earlier."
"What was it?"
"'Hey Jude'. Loved singing along to it with my ol' friends back at my other job."
"Aw, that's a good one."
"You got any that you listen to?"
"I like some jazz, but my wife doesn't. Other than that, there's the Beach Boys, Monkees, and the Jackson 5."
"Oh, I love the Jackson 5! Hey, I got a whole record collection back at my place you can borrow if you want some recommendations."
"You have a record collection?"
"Hell yeah, I do. Want to head to my house? Check it out?"
Arin checks his wristwatch to see that the time was 4:20 p.m. Plenty of time. "Sure."
"Alright. I parked just outside the café." The two men exit the park to the now quiet town and walked around the corner of the café to Dan's dark blue chevette.
Dan gets into the driver's seat while Arin sat in the passenger's. "You live near here?" Arin asked.
"Yeah. It's not that far." He starts the engine and drives away.
Arin notices a peace sign decorating the rear-view mirror. "Nice little thing you got. Um, sorry if this sounds rude, but has anyone…?"
Dan sees him point to the decoration. He laughs. "Nah, nah. It's okay, dude. I've been called a hippie a ton of times."
"Do you ever feel mad when people call you that?"
"Usually, no. I don't really have anything hateful towards anyone. Unless it's really, really bad."
"Huh."
Dan shakes his head. "Even when I dream of being a musician, I always dream that world peace would happen."
"That's… actually really nice."
Dan pats the wheel. "Yeah. Someday…" Eventually, they stop in front of the garage of a small home with a decorated brick path followed by various flowers leading to the door. "Alright, here we are."
"You live by yourself?" Arin asked as he got out of the car. "It's a nice house."
Dan shrugs. "It's not that bad." He unlocks the door and they enter through the living room. There was a couch with additional chairs, a small television on a shelf, lamps, and a few decorative plants and paintings.
They head up the wooden stairs to a small bedroom. The walls were decorated with various posters of music artists and rock bands. Arin turns to a wooden shelf filled with records. Underneath was a record player displayed with a few photos. "Oh wow. How many do you have?"
Dan chuckles. "Can't keep count. Some of 'em were gifted from my parents."
Arin sifts through the collection and pulls out a Jimi Hendrix record. "Well, your parents have raised a really good child." After looking at it, he puts it back in the shelf. He looks at his right hand to see that it was bare. "D-Did your…?"
Dan shows his empty left hand. "Mine fully faded back at the park. I assumed your did too, but I didn't want to ask. I was afraid that you would've gotten up and left."
"You know, I completely forgot about it. I was caught up in talking with you. You're a real nice guy." He then gives a soft smile.
Dan's cheeks flush red, sheepishly laughing at the comment. "You're too kind. Thank you, I appreciate it. I liked hanging with you." He then claps his hands. "Want anything to drink?"
"Got a shot of whiskey?"
"Mm, well I don't drink anymore 'cause of…"
"Oh, shoot! Sorry. My bad. I usually keep a couple of bottles at my place. Um, just a water."
"You're all good. I'll be back."
When Dan exited the room, Arin sees a pen and a stack of sticky notes on the desk next to his bed. He takes one note and quickly scribbles something. He hears footsteps coming back up, so he puts the pen back and stuffs the note in his pocket.
Dan sets one cup down on his desk and gives the other to Arin. "Have a seat. You want to listen to something? I mean, there's not a lot to do."
"Sure. What do you want?"
Dan takes a sip from his cup. "Hmm… surprise me."
"Alright." Arin takes the Jimi Hendrix record from earlier and puts it into the player. He displays the cover next to it and takes a seat on Dan's bed.
As the first few seconds played, Dan hums in satisfaction, nodding his head. "Ooh, Jimi Hendrix? Nice."
"Was he your inspiration to become a musician?"
"Oh, many artists have. I really want to pursue rock. Just seeing all those people screaming his name…" Dan then flops onto his back and sighs. "It sounds amazing. I really want to feel that same way."
The two men continue to talk about music, art, and other events in their lives as they switched out records once they ended. Arin then checks his wristwatch to see that it was nearing 5:00. "Ah, sorry. I have to go. My wife should be coming home 'bout now."
"No worries," Dan said. "I'll see you tomorrow at the diner."
"What, you're becoming a regular now?"
Dan shrugs. "Sure. You can say that. I'll meet you downstairs." He takes the two empty water cups and exits the room. Arin takes out the crumpled up sticky note as he stood up. He stares at the phone number and his own signature with his initials, smiling at it before putting it on his desk.
The dark blue chevette pulls up in front of the house and Arin exits the passenger seat. Before he walked up the steps, he turns around to face Dan.
"What's up?" He asked.
Arin's heart started to skip some beats. "I just, um… wanted to say that, um…" He looks into Dan's brown eyes. "I… I'm glad that you're my soulmate."
Dan's brows raise at the sudden words. "Oh! I, um, y-you too, man." Arin smiles at him before heading inside the house. Dan then looks from the front door to his left hand hanging out the window before driving away.
Mochi happily meows and runs to the front door. "Hi, Arin!" Suzy said. "How was it?"
Arin walks to the couch, Mochi in arms. "It went well." The cat then jumps out. He then shows his right hand. "And look. The mark's gone."
She traces a circle with her finger. "You said that the guy also had a marking, right? In witchcraft, there's a sign that when you and the other's marking fades away over time, you both have found each other and are now spiritually connected."
"Sounds enchanting."
"What did you talk about?"
"Music, mostly. He told me that he wants to become a singer."
"Oh, really? That sounds great! Can't wait to hear him on the radio."
"Maybe we'll see him in a club or so."
Suzy then kisses him on the cheek. "Alright, get dressed. We'll have that spaghetti from last night."
In the bathroom, Arin changes into his pajamas and washes his hands and face. After dabbing the remaining droplets, he looks at his right hand and stars at it for a moment. He the traces the letters 'D' and 'A' before heading downstairs.
The phone next to the couch then rings. Suzy pokes her head out from the kitchen. "Who's that?"
"I'll check," he then picks up the headset. "Hello. Berhow-Hanson residence. This is Arin Hanson."
"Wow, dude. So formal." The voice joked.
"Who's this?"
"This is Dan! I, uh, got your note!"
"Oh! That's great!"
"Cool! I just wanted to see if you picked up."
"That's okay. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah! See you! Peace, my guy!"
After Dan hung up, Arin puts the headset back. "Who was that?" Suzy asked.
"Dan. That was the guy I've been talking about. The musician with the other mark like mine."
"Ohhh, his name's Dan? You should invite him over one day! Would love to get to know him more! Looks like the spirits have spoken."
Arin interlaces his hands behind his back with a soft smile. "Yeah. They definitely did."
~ End ~