Wishing for Marina

Dylus Hale

I sat at the table with a twitching smile as the twins, Wil and Liam, started yelling at each other. Wil, a brunette, usually dressed in torn, trash-bag-like, shiny clothes that he bought with his whole month’s salary.

“No, Dylus isn’t interested in your stupid bake sale! Can you even bake anything?” said Wil.

“No, that’s why I need Dylus to help!” said Liam.

I sighed and said, “Guys, just stop.”

“After all, I’m raising money for a good cause,” said Liam.

“What’s the cause? Please don’t tell me you’re just trying to impress the ladies again,” said Wil.

“No. I’ll use half of the money to get Bianca. The rest can go to…”

“Ha! Knew it,” said Wil.

“Stop. She’s not for sale,” I said.

“Ohho. Are you trying to woo her over, too?” said Liam.

“No. She’s not my type,” I said.

I unlocked my phone and searched for someone to text. I seriously needed to ignore them for a bit.

There were lights strung across the windows, with plants in large pots, glazed tables, and a large panda mascot who was taking photos with kids. He wore a blue T-shirt.

“Well, Dylus does talk to her quite often,” said Wil.

“Hmm. Just friends,” I said.

While I scrolled, I found Maria’s number from 3 days ago. The pace of my heartbeat increased as I finally typed, “Hi, this is Dylus,” to her.

“If that’s the case, why are you blushing?” asked Liam.

I need better friends. I’m just nervous when I remember her from our undergraduate days. She never even looked my way, but rather, at another guy at the reading circle.

My phone beeped all of a sudden. I hurriedly saw that it wasn’t Maria, but rather, my boss. He wanted the new articles edited by Thursday.

Ugh.

I groaned and smacked my phone on the table.

“What’s wrong? Had a fight with Bianca?” asked Wil.

“No. There’s a better chance of me getting into a fight with you two.”

I gritted my teeth, tapped my nails on the table, and stared out the window. The air was neither hot nor cold, even though winds blew through the lush, green trees.

“Oh. Sorry, Dylus,” said Wil.

“Yeah. I’ll leave you guys alone. Be friends, we need more friends here, to be honest,” said Liam.

My phone beeped with Maria’s message.

Maria: Oh, hey there. Glad to hear from you.

Lifting the phone, I wrote a reply.

Dylus: Yes. What are you doing now?

Maria: Oh, just displaying cupcakes at the coffee shop where I work.

She attached a photo of glistening cupcakes topped with rich chocolate ganache.

Dylus: They look so good.

I smiled at once, remembering the cupcakes my ex-girlfriend brought me once.

It was a decade ago! Snap out of it, Dylus.

In order to do so, I slapped myself in the face gently.

“Umm, what’s wrong?” asked Liam.

“I haven’t had cupcakes in a decade!”

“Exactly, Dylus! We must bake cupcakes. Screw impressing people who don’t care! We’ll bake em’ together and donate to… well, we’ll figure out a worthy cause. A real one,” said Liam.

“Yes! I’ll never care about someone who doesn’t care about me. I do care about the occasional dessert once in a while,” I said.

“That’s the spirit, Dylus! Meet you tomorrow at my kitchen?” asked Liam.

“Oh. Wait. No! I can’t bake either…” I said.

“What do you mean? Then who baked that heart-shaped cake?” asked Wil.

“I did… But it was meant to be a round cake!” I said.

The two of them exchanged looks, and Liam smirked.

“Trust me. That’s what happened. I put it in the oven for too long, and the sides that were burned had to be trimmed off.”

“Sure. That totally happened,” said Wil.

Ugh, why doesn’t anyone believe me? My mom trimmed the sides off and assured that no one would believe that I had made a mistake. At this point, I wish they knew the mistake. Uh, why am I so scared of making a heart-shaped cake, again?

I sank into my chair as they served the fried rice with a side of beef and vegetables.

Checking my messages, I saw that Maria had left me new messages. I guessed she liked chatting, judging from how frequently she looked at her phone during book meetings.

Maria: Yes. Feel free to try them sometime at The Coffee Corner! I’ll try to arrange a discount for you.

Dylus: Nice advertisement.

Maria: Oh. I wasn’t trying to advertise.

I chuckled softly.

Dylus: I’m joking.

Maria: Oh.

I shook my head and dug into my meal.

This is awkward. She misunderstood me.

As I had the seaweed in the mixed vegetables, a distant memory flashed in my mind, like lightning.

Then, like thunder, I remembered Marina, a character from my favourite novel of all time, “Sacrifice of the Siren”.

Her soft, green locks gleamed under the moonlight as her shimmering sea-blue eyes told a thousand stories. Her slight smile as she clutched onto a pearl necklace and sang a soft, resonating melody would give anyone chills.

Hold on. Maria Brooks. Marina the Siren. Maria Brooks… NO!

I chugged down a glass of water.

They can’t be the same person. It can’t be! Has God fulfilled my wish that I asked for as a kid? Has Marina been reborn into a gorgeous woman right in front of my eyes?

I smiled while hoping I would be less delusional at the end of the day. I hummed a tune while shoving rice into my mouth, and Wil and Liam looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

“Dude, you’re changing facial expressions faster than Wil spends his paycheck,” said Liam.

“Hey!”

“Yes, yes, I am,” I said.

Smiling, I looked up at the ceiling.

No, we all know that life doesn’t work that way. Maria probably isn’t anything like Marina. Even if she were a reincarnation of her, I doubt I could ever have feelings for anyone who’s real. I had no feelings for either of my exes. That’s the good thing about people who aren’t real. The feelings don’t have to be real either.

The waiter brought the bill, and we paid in three equal amounts.

“I’ll be on my way, now,” I said.

“Don’t go yet,” said Wil.

I got up, but the panda blocked the way. Squinting, I went to the right, and the panda blocked the way yet again.

“What the heck?” I said, groaning.

The mascot nodded and handed me a piece of paper.

Best Wishes

It was a bookmark. I had plenty of bookmarks over the years, but they always got lost.

“Thank you,” I said, leaving.

“Dylus!” said Wil and Liam in unison.

“What?” I said, turning.

“Let’s take a picture with the panda guy,” said Wil.

“Why?”

“Why not?” asked Liam.

“Uh, okay.”

The three of us stood like stiff cardboard boxes placed next to one another. I handed the phone to the waiter, and he took a photo.

What an awful photo of me. It’s a good thing no one’s going to see it.

“Can I go now?” I asked.

“Yeah, man.”

“Go home, stay safe,” said Liam.

“Okay! Bye.”

“We’re meeting at my kitchen tomorrow,” said Liam.

“No.”

There’s no need to hide my baking anymore.

I walked back and said, “Okay. I’ll be there… if I don’t have anything better to do.”

“Woohoo,” they said in unison.

As I walked out of the restaurant, the roads were silent. Only one or two cars passed by.

There should be a library or a book shop somewhere here. Why isn’t there?

I walked slowly towards the bus stop. It was then I saw it.

In glaring neon blue, a sign read “THE COFFEE CORNER.”

Ah, Maria’s here. Now that I know where it is, I’ll text and ask her to meet up and hang out after work someday.

That’s right. Someday, not today.

Boarding the bus, I plugged in my earphones and played hard rock music. I paid the fare and made my way to one of the many empty seats.

The scenery changed from the city centre to the residential area. That was my stop.

Humming my favourite song, I went to my apartment which was only a two minute walk from there.

Walking up to the steps, there I found Bianca sitting.

“Oh, hey. Bianca, what’s wrong?” I asked.

She had short, black hair and was wearing a crop top with jeans.

“Dylus, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

Is she in some sort of trouble?

“You see, a guy from my class asked me to be his girlfriend.”

“And?”

“I said I’m not sure.”

“Oh. Okay. Be careful out there. Don’t get into any kind of trouble.”

“Umm, okay. Aren’t you least bothered?”

“I am. That’s why I told you not to get in trouble.”

“Ah. He was right. You do only see me as your sister.”

“Yeah, we’re just friends. Don’t worry about it. Have fun out there,” I said.

“Okay. Thank you. Goodbye,” said Bianca.

“Bye.”

She left at once.

The wind blew softly through my hair as I put my hands in my pockets and hummed.

Did I hurt her? That guy better make her happy.