Chapter 3: An Unexpected Message

Work was busy from the moment Jordy arrived.

The lunch rush had already started, and the line stretched almost to the door. Customers stood impatiently, some scrolling through their phones while others looked at the menu boards above the counter.

Jordy tied his apron quickly and stepped behind the register. The smell of fried food and grilled burgers filled the air while the kitchen buzzed with noise. Fryers hissed, the soda machine beeped constantly, and coworkers called out orders from behind the counter.

“Order thirty-two ready!” someone shouted from the kitchen.

Jordy barely had time to settle in before the first customer stepped up to the counter. He forced a polite smile and said, “Hi, what can I get for you?”

The man ordered quickly, barely looking up from his phone. Jordy entered the order, took the payment, and handed him the receipt before calling the next person forward.

The next few hours passed in a blur. Jordy moved between the register and the counter, handing out drinks, packing food into bags, and calling out order numbers. The restaurant stayed crowded, and the line never seemed to get shorter.

His head still felt slightly heavy from the night before, and the constant noise wasn’t helping. At one point his coworker Dani nudged him with her elbow while carrying a tray of fries.

“You look like you didn’t sleep,” she said.

“I didn’t,” Jordy replied.

“Late night?”

“Something like that.”

Dani laughed and walked away before he could say anything else.

The rush finally slowed down sometime in the afternoon. Jordy was wiping down the counter when his manager walked over and nodded toward the back room.

“Take your break,” the manager said.

Jordy let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Thanks.”

He untied his apron and walked to the small break room behind the kitchen. The room wasn’t big—just a table, a few chairs, and a vending machine in the corner—but it was quiet, which was exactly what Jordy needed.

He dropped into one of the chairs and leaned back.

For a moment he just sat there, enjoying the silence.

Then he pulled out his phone.

Scrolling through social media during breaks had become a habit for him. It helped pass the time quickly. Jordy opened the app and immediately noticed a new post at the top of his feed.

Leo.

Jordy frowned and tapped the post.

It was a picture from the club last night.

Leo stood in the center of the photo, grinning widely at the camera. Jordy stood next to him, looking half-blinded by the flashing lights with his eyes partly closed.

Jordy stared at the picture for a second before groaning.

“Seriously?”

Out of all the pictures Leo could have posted, he chose that one.

Jordy zoomed in on his own face and shook his head. “I look terrible in this.”

The lighting in the club had been awful, and it showed. His hair looked messy, and he looked tired even though the night had barely started when that photo was taken.

Then he noticed something else.

Leo had tagged him.

“Of course you did,” Jordy muttered.

He leaned back in the chair, still staring at the picture. Leo had added a caption about celebrating Matt’s birthday and tagged several people who had been there.

Jordy was about to scroll past the post when a notification appeared at the top of his screen.

A message.

He frowned slightly and opened it.

The message was from an account he didn’t recognize.

For a second he thought it might be spam.

Then he read the first line.

Hi. This is Matt from last night.

Jordy froze.

He stared at the message for a long moment without moving.

Matt?

His first thought was confusion.

Had he met another Matt last night?

But deep down he already knew exactly which Matt it was.

The memories came back almost immediately.

The crowded club. The music. The moment they had been alone.

Jordy felt a strange knot form in his stomach.

Another message appeared.

I got your account from Leo’s post.

Jordy glanced back at the picture Leo had posted earlier.

The tag.

That was how he found him.

Jordy leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen. He wasn’t sure what to do. Part of him had expected that last night would just stay in the past.

He hadn’t planned on hearing from Matt again.

In fact, he had been hoping he wouldn’t.

He rubbed his forehead slowly.

Last night hadn’t felt like him. Jordy wasn’t the kind of person who kissed someone he had just met. He definitely wasn’t the kind of person who got carried away like that with someone he barely knew.

That wasn’t who he was.

It had just been the alcohol.

At least that was what he kept telling himself.

His phone buzzed again.

Matt had sent another message.

Jordy looked down and read it.

Last night was fun.

Another message followed right after.

I’d like to get to know you more.

Jordy stared at the words.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard, but he didn’t type anything. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say to that.

Part of him thought about replying right away.

Another part of him felt uncomfortable continuing the conversation at all.

He stared at the message for almost a full minute.

Then he locked his phone and placed it face down on the table.

He didn’t reply.

A few minutes later his break ended. Jordy grabbed his phone and headed back to the counter before anyone could notice he was late.

The rest of the shift went by quickly. Customers kept coming in, and Jordy stayed busy taking orders and handing out food. Between the noise of the restaurant and the constant movement, he barely had time to think.

Still, every now and then he remembered the message waiting on his phone.

By the time the restaurant finally closed for the night, Jordy felt exhausted.

He wiped down the counter one last time and untied his apron.

“See you tomorrow,” Dani said while grabbing her bag.

“Yeah,” Jordy replied.

He stepped outside a few minutes later. The air was cooler now, and the street was quieter than it had been earlier in the day.

Jordy adjusted the strap of his backpack and started walking toward home.

Halfway down the street he passed a small grocery store. The fruit display outside the entrance caught his attention, and he slowed down.

For some reason he suddenly felt like eating fruit.

Maybe it was because he hadn’t eaten much all day.

He stepped inside and walked to the produce section. After looking around for a moment, he picked up a few things—apples, bananas, and a small box of strawberries.

That should be enough.

His mom had mentioned that she would be out late tonight because of her date, so the house would probably be empty when he got home.

After paying for the fruit, Jordy walked the rest of the way home.

The house was quiet when he opened the door.

Just like he expected.

He dropped his backpack on the couch and carried the fruit to the kitchen. After rinsing the strawberries quickly, he grabbed the container and walked back into the living room.

Jordy sat down on the couch and picked up his phone again.

The message from Matt was still there.

Unread.

He opened the conversation slowly and looked at the last message again.

I’d like to get to know you more.

Jordy sighed.

He couldn’t just ignore it forever.

After sitting there for a moment, he started typing.

Hey. I didn’t want you to misunderstand something.

He paused, thinking carefully about what he wanted to say next.

Then he continued.

Last night was just a one-night thing.

He stared at the screen for a moment before adding another line.

It wasn’t supposed to happen.

For a few seconds he looked at the message he had typed.

Then he pressed send.

The message appeared in the chat, and Jordy placed his phone down on the couch beside him.

He picked up one of the strawberries from the container and ate it slowly, trying not to think about what Matt might say next.

But even though he told himself it didn’t matter, a small part of him still wondered if Matt would reply.