Isolation Hope

*Grace*

Night after night, he comes in. Always with a new girl. I watch them from the kitchen of the Blue Orchid�s. I have developed a crush on him since he first came here. Such a beautiful man. I bet his bed is never empty at night. I want to be in it so badly. I bet it�s so warm. My cheeks feel red now.

I finally got to meet him five weeks ago. Five weeks out of two years. That took so much. I was busy with work and he had his dates. Then that night, I found him in the narrow hallway. He was in deep pain. I already knew why.

I am number twenty-four. I got mine the night before I met Jimmy. I don�t want to die alone. I�m so happy that I found Jimmy. He seems to want to get close to me as well. So far, nothing has happened between us. I keep hoping that will change soon.

My friends at the Blue Orchid�s keep pushing me to ask him out, but I�m not sure. I don�t fit his type. Jimmy goes out with the pretty girls. I�m just in the middle.

But as I look at the twenty-four burned into my shoulder, I don�t have much of a choice anymore. I have to act now or die alone.

I know what time he beings his dates to the Blue Orchid�s. It seems tacky to ask him out while he�s on a date. Maybe I�ll just say hi. Oh, he�s coming in now. But hang on! Jimmy�s alone tonight. This isn�t like him. He looked up and saw me. He gave me a little wave. My cheeks feel hot again. Jimmy walked over to me.

�Hey,� he said.

�Hi,� I replied. I looked over his shoulder. �Where�s your date?�

Jimmy looked behind him. �Huh? Oh, she canceled at the last minute.�

�Uh-huh,� I said. We both knew he was lying. Jimmy shuffled a bit.

�Anyway, I came to see you.�

I gave him a puzzled look. �Me? Why?�

�Well, you doing anything Saturday?�

It shook my head. �No why?�

�It�s just� I�d like to take you out some time if that�s okay with you, of course.�

Whoa! Did I just hear right? Is Jimmy Miles actually asking me out?

�Uh�� I said. I turned to my coworkers. Big Red gave me a thumbs up as she and the others were crowded around, watching. I turned back to my crush, smiling.

�Why yes,� I said. �I�ll be happy to go out with you!� Jimmy smiled back at me.

�Great,� he said. �I�ll pick you up at seven on Saturday.� He playfully nudged me on the cheek and walked away. I think I might faint. This isn�t a dream. If it is, don�t wake me up. I�m too happy right now.