Ghost In Red

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"Hello? OJ, hi! It's you. Mhmm, I am here in a restaurant. I'm going to eat dinner. What do you want? What can I do for you? Yeah, it's okay. I can talk to you while waiting for my food to be served. What's up?" She said to the phone and glanced at me while giving me a look that seemed to say that she was talking to me.    

Oh, smart girl. See?    

"Hi! Uh… well, nothing. I just… okay, I just want to… No, you go ahead and say what you want, Syd. I have nothing in mind." I stammered, telling her to go on with what she wanted us to talk about, and she nodded her head.    

"Alright. Uh, I want to tell you that… I got good news for us, for our mission. So, Vidia texted me earlier and said she knew someone here in Chicago, an influencer residing in Englewood. And my best friend told me that the person could help us find your mom by posting the… our concerns on the girl's social media accounts. It's going to be a good thing since she got lots of followers that live around this neighborhood and all around this state. What do you think, Oj?" Syd explained, looking so hopeful, and she looked at her wristwatch, and I nodded my head.    

"Wow, that's… that's great, Syd! It's going to make our search faster." I remarked as I felt so much relief about this information, and I heard Sydney chuckle.    

"Yep, and we are just going to wait for a call on my new phone number. But, yeah, tomorrow, we still need to go East." She replied and looked somewhere behind me, and I heard someone speak.    

"Is this seat taken? Are you with somebody, Miss?"    

I looked at who it was and saw that it was a guy with a bright smile, and my gaze turned to my girl to wait for what she would say. Then I looked around and noticed that there were no more empty tables around. I looked back at the guy and saw he was still staring at MY girlfriend. Is he checking her out? Huh?    

"Yep. I'm waiting for my girlfriend." Sydney answered him, making me chuckle and jeer at the guy. That's my girl!    

"Yes, bruh! She ain't single and definitely not interested in men! Shoo, go and find another target, dude. She's exclusively mine!"    

I caught Sydney giving him her signature fake smile, and he finally went away, disappointed as heck.    

Syd looked at me and cleared her throat before talking to her phone again.    

"Why are your cheeks red?" I asked her with a whiff of teasing, and she turned her gaze to me while her left eyebrow raised.    

"Am not." She denied it but looked so uneasy, and I laughed.    

"No. You can't see your cheeks. I'm the one looking at them, and yes, your face is going so red. You are blushing. Why?" I told her with a grin, and it just made her annoyed.    

"You know what, OJ? I'm going to hang up now. The food is going to be here soon. Talk to you later." She asserted and turned off her phone, and she placed it on the left side of the tabletop.    

I began laughing when she seemed to be ignoring me, and she shot me a death glare.    

"Will you stop that?" She whispered, and it made me laugh more. Oh, this is hilarious!    

"I'm sorry. Alright, I'm not going to laugh anymore. You are just so effing cute, Sydney. Don't be mad at me." I replied while still trying to compose myself from laughing too hard. And when she rolled her eyes at me, I pouted my lips.    

"Come on. Don't be mad. I'll make it up to you later. I'll sing you a song again until you fall asleep. What do you say, huh? You like that?" I proposed and caught her small smile turning into a smirk.    

Then I followed her gaze when she looked somewhere inside this establishment, and it stopped at the small platform at the front, where a band is about to perform.    

"Oh, no, no, no. No, I won't." I protested and saw her wiggle her eyebrows with a knowing look on her face.    

"Come on. No one else will hear you. Plus, they still don't have their vocalist. I'll request them to play an instrumental version of a song, and then you'll sing for me. How about that?" She insisted and acted looking at her phone, and I tried to think.    

"Okay. I'll try." I agreed, and she brightly smiled at me before heading to the stage and talking to one of the band members.    

Hmm, what song will I be singing then? Ugh, she didn't even ask me. Very nice.    

Sydney went back to her seat, and then I gasped when I recognized the music that began playing. It's a song by Alicia Keys, If I Ain't Got You. I love this song! She didn't just... Hmm. I'm wondering, indeed.    

"Oh, I know this song! Damn, you heard me singing this once, didn't you?" I told the girl after she sat on her chair, and she just smiled in reply—sneaky girl.    

I began singing the lyrics, and I saw how Sydney stared at me with adoration in her eyes. Then I left her at the table while I went to perform on the stage with the band.    

This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I'm going to live in this moment. This song is for my girl.    

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"Wow, that's… terrific! There are no other words I could describe that. I love it." She whispered after hearing my song, and I felt so flattered. I sat back in my seat, and she still looked so impressed by my performance for her.    

"You should witness me play the piano and sing." I proudly uttered, making her look excited about it, and I continued, "I'm just kidding, Syd. I am not good at playing the piano. I'm still learning."    

She giggled and lightly shook her head. "That's okay. I'd still love to hear that. And you should do it."    

And just on time, the food Sydney ordered had been served by the waiter. Then She began eating and didn't mind me talking to her about so many things and singing another song that the band played that I was familiar with.    

---    

After eating dinner, Syd and I went out of the restaurant to finally head back to our quarter.    

And while we were walking on the sidewalk, we got a sight of a homeless man who got pushed by a dude, and he fell to the ground. Without a second thought, Sydney rushed to the man and helped him up.    

I quickly went to them, and I noticed that there were pennies scattered on the ground and an empty can near the man's feet. My girl helped him pick up the coins, and he looked at her with gratitude.    

"Thank you so much, Miss." He said and took the pennies Syd handed him.    

"No worries. Are you alright, sir? Anything hurt, injuries?" Syd replied and asked the rugged-looking man, and he shook his head in reply.    

"No, nothing. I'm okay." He answered and bent to pick up his hat and torn huge bag on the ground.    

"That's good to hear. Have you eaten dinner yet?" Syd asked and received a head shake from the man.    

Oh, poor man. I feel bad about people like him. Where is his family? This man looks so old, and maybe his folks have abandoned him. Or he might have just nowhere else to go.    

"Alright. Here. You can buy some food." My girl took out her wallet from her sling bag and handed the man some bills, making him so surprised and grateful.    

See? She's a big softy—a one-of-a-kind person who has a cold but good heart.    

Sydney was about to bid the man goodbye, but we were startled when someone bumped into her.    

"Damn it! Hey! You! Get back here!" Syd angrily belted and hastily ran after the person in a black hoodie, and I wondered what had happened.    

Oh, no! Did he just snatch her wallet?    

What the hell?