ALDO

I was walking along, minding my business,

staring at that orange-coloured November sky.
My shadow stretched so far ahead of me

it looked like I was walking on stilts.
Or had really long bell-bottoms on.
Or moon boots.
Or just freakishly long legs.

All of a sudden another shadow reached to meet mine.
I turned the corner sharply and almost body slammed into Dahlia.
“Hey, this is my alley — get out my sun!” I said to her jokingly.
“Whatcha talkin’ bout? You just got here!”

she replied with a grin.

This happened every Wednesday afternoon.
Somehow our timing always matched up perfectly:

I’d be walking up and turning onto the alley off Hotel de Ville,

and there was Dahlia.
Like clockwork.
Normally, we’d just stand there and catch up

and make plans to hook up later.
Until two weeks ago.
That’s when Sam came into focus,

like some random guy who ends up in all your party pics

and you don’t notice ‘til you get

home to upload them on your blog.
You ask yourself: Wtf? Who is that douchebag?
Then you take a closer look and realize he’s really hot….
So you ask around and it turns out

he’s friends with your roommate’s boyfriend

and your curse her ‘cause she never bothered to mention it.
Fortunately, Dahlia knew him too.

“Hey,” I asked coyly, “did you go by Sam’s place?”
Dahlia flashed a mischievous smile.

“Yup. He was out there. As per usual.”
“Shit. Let’s go.” I answered, tugging at the wrist of her coat.
“C’mon, Kate, I just passed by —

it’ll look kinda funny if I walk right back.”
I made a face — the kind kids make

right before they start wailing.

It was a joke, of course, but it worked.
“Awww,” Dahlia groaned. “Ok, dammit, let’s go.”

The alley was wide.
Weeds as faded as the distressed leather on my

boots sprouted out of cracks in the cement.
To my left was an old, terracotta-coloured brick building.
To my right, tall, skinny trees with bare branches stood by languidly, partially obscuring the balconies behind them.
They looked like something out of a stylized fashion sketch.
A little further ahead we saw Sam.
He was leaning back in a plastic patio chair

on his second-floor balcony,

dishevelled brown hair and shaggy beard framing his angular face.
His left hand casually gripped the neck of an acoustic guitar while his right hand strummed.
*Sigh.*
The boy had on a pair of faded grey skinny jeans.
And his crumpled chequered shirt hung loosely over a white tee.
*Double sigh.*

A rainbow lit up my heart when I saw him smile.
“Hey!” he called out to us with a wave of his hand.
We were standing right below his balcony, staring up at him.
“Didn’t you just walk by here?” He pointed at Dahlia with a smirk.
She shrugged her shoulders, smiling.
In that split-second awkward moment, my palms got so sweaty

I had to double-grip my jam-packed handbag

to keep it from slipping out of my hands.
And I was holding my breath.

“Come on up,” he said casually,

and then continued to strum his guitar.
*Omg*
This is the first time he invites us up.
*My rainbow just got four new colours*
Dahlia and I looked at each other quickly,

trying to hide the look of surprise in our eyes.
We climbed up the rickety metal fire escape.
The balcony was supertight.
Dahlia made her way to the far edge so that

I could stand beside Sam.
He was so close now I could smell him.
Faint, musky cologne & the sweetness of boy pheromones.
*Deep breath*
*Mmmmmm*
Dammit, I feel like such a pervy stalker, lol!

I can’t remember what happened after.
I guess I must have fainted.
Ha ha. No.
Really.
I was too lust-struck to remember the details.
All I know is that Dahlia got him talking about his band.
So I got to stare at him.
And imagine what he looked like with his shirt off

while he explained the concept behind their new album.
Then he invited us to his gig later that night.
And we ordered pizza and just hung out.
And it was the best alley meet-up I’ve ever had. Period.