Summer has begun.
The air was sticky, almost unbearable, but at least the sun was gleaming. Frank, like everyone else, turned on his air conditioner during the night but it turned off in the middle of the night. This was due to his neighbors’ air conditioners leaking droplets of water on his A/C. He found himself moving around trying to find a cold spot both on his bed and pillow during the last few hours before waking up.
Everything Frank does has a purpose whether he recognizes it or not. The coffee he prepares with the old kettle his mother gave him before he went off to college reminds him of home. The pictures on his fridge that he walks past and unconsciously looks at are nothing but reminders of how uncomfortable his parents made him feel whenever they pulled out the camera without telling him and told him to smile. Seeing how the heat woke him up, Frank thought that he would change up his typical morning routine of drinking coffee and then showering. Instead, he walked into the bathroom and turned on the cold water not realizing that he wasn’t fully awake. He found himself jumping out of the shower and reaching for the hot water knob but to his surprise, it wasn’t turning so he had no other choice but to endure the cold.
He eventually got out of the shower shivering but the summer heat quickly warmed him up. The bathroom’s mirror wasn’t foggy from the typical warm water Frank uses, so he could see every hair on his face, chest, and even the odd hair out of his nose, and the pores on his face looked clearer but he felt more confident. After he was done in the bathroom, he went into his bedroom to choose his outfit for the day. His job wasn’t very demanding of how workers should dress but Frank carefully picked and ironed his outfits the night before.
He was finally out of the house and on the walk to the train station. It isn’t very long but long enough to run a checklist through his head about what he needs to do, whose birthday it is, and enough time to pick the right playlist.
The train arrives and so does Frank. Like any other morning, the trains are running as smoothly as possible. Until the train stopped about halfway through the ride. So now Frank and about the 10 other people are stuck underground on a hot train with no service. It couldn’t have gotten worse for him, everything he wanted to avoid was facing him. No one knew what was happening but they all felt the train’s brakes. Frank just kept calm hoping for the best until his music stopped playing. To his surprise, the girl next to him had a cold and cool look. She was shorter than him, had big eyes, short dark but not black hair that just barely reached her shoulders, and wore big green headphones. Frank grinned when he found her but he was intrigued and although he was focusing on his breathing, his hands were sweaty, and his mouth was dry he worked up the courage to ask her, “ What ya listening to ?”. Funny enough she must have not heard him because she didn’t react, so the embarrassment for him just multiplied. He had no other choice but to look forward and laugh it off awkwardly. That’s when she turned to her right and told him, “ Some Frank Ocean. What about you ? ”, Frank was startled. No words were coming out while she stared at him dead in the eyes, but she began laughing. “ Where are you heading?”, he asked and she responded by pointing to a sticker on her phone. He raised his eyebrows and slightly smiled since it was the logo of the company Frank worked for.
That’s when the train finally began moving again and the two got off. As they were walking to work Frank finally noticed her accent and asked, “ Wait where are you from?”, she said, “ Took you long enough but I’m from London. You know where that is right ?”, he couldn’t tell if she was being serious and just said of course. Then Frank stopped her and told her “ You know what I just realized, we haven’t even asked each other what our names are.” April smiled, “ I’m April. Nice to meet you.” He smiled as well, “ I’m Frank. Pleasure is all mine.”
A month went on where they would take the train to and from work, talk during work and after work and eventually Frank finally asked her on a real date. It was the beginning of a beautiful love for Frank.
It was a July and August filled with dates in the park, long walks under the moonlight, late night talks about anything and everything. He even introduced April to his few friends, secrets, and routines. She told him about her ideas for a book, her own clothing line that didn’t exploit child labor, and how she had to go to sleep in one of his t-shirts. Frank also learned about the time April had to take care of her sister because her mom was in the hospital, how she was once suspended for protesting the use of uniforms, and her summer in Madrid with her friends.
It neared the end of August when Frank went to a coffee shop like every other morning where he waited for April to arrive. Except she never showed up this morning. He began texting her to see if everything was okay but it said she wasn’t receiving them so Frank called and nothing. He decided he would head to work and wait. When he arrived at work he noticed that her desk was empty and that’s when one of his coworkers approached him and said, “ All the summer program employees went back home.”, if Frank could fall to his knees he would have. He went home that night and tried falling asleep but all he kept thinking about was they invested but now were strangers again. Eventually, he got some shut-eye but his air conditioner stopped working and it woke him up again.
Summer has ended.