{"sf1_id":222514,"sf2_id":"YnLZbqve","title":"Letters from the Heart","author":"Revresbo","words":1287,"posted_at":"2011-02-15T06:41:00.000Z","tags":["First Person","Fox","Letter","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/222514-letters-from-the-heart","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/YnLZbqve","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/dd/b5/ddb58b23-27dd-4714-8c68-ed49eca09c4b","description":"#10 of Heart","content":"Hey, Mikey,\n\nI have to laugh just thinking about it.\u0026nbsp; Maybe you don't find it as amusing as I do.\u0026nbsp; I know the memory makes you smile, but now, even as I write, I can't stop myself from chuckling.\u0026nbsp; You know what I'm talking about, right?\u0026nbsp; The day we met.\u0026nbsp; It's because of that day I'm writing this by hand.\u0026nbsp; There's already an envelope, addressed and stamped, sitting on the table beside me.\u0026nbsp; I hope you appreciate it.\n\nMy first day in the city.\u0026nbsp; I know it's not a very big city, but it was big enough for a small town girl.\u0026nbsp; It also wasn't really my first day.\u0026nbsp; The sun was setting when I pulled off the highway.\u0026nbsp; I remember because I almost couldn't read the sign for the restaurant because the light was right in my eyes.\u0026nbsp; I'd never heard of Smitty's before.\u0026nbsp; My town didn't have one, and I never travelled much.\u0026nbsp; Normally, I would have driven around to find a familiar place, but I was still tired from the going away party last night and the long drive, so I was willing to eat anywhere.\u0026nbsp; Do you believe in fate?\u0026nbsp; How different would I be now had I gone somewhere else that evening?\u0026nbsp; It doesn't matter, I guess.\u0026nbsp; I didn't go somewhere else.\u0026nbsp; I walked through the door and into your life.\n\nI often wonder what you thought of me when you first came to my table to ask what I wanted to drink.\u0026nbsp; I must have appeared shy.\u0026nbsp; I've always been grateful for my reddish-orange fur.\u0026nbsp; It can hide my blush most of the time.\u0026nbsp; I asked for a margarita and you asked for my ID.\u0026nbsp; You sly dog.\u0026nbsp; In one move you got my name and age without even asking.\u0026nbsp; While you were looking at my driver's licence, though, I was looking at you.\u0026nbsp; You were wearing the standard black pants and white dress shirt, and the name tag read \"Michael.\"\u0026nbsp; That almost made me pay no attention to you.\u0026nbsp; I don't think I ever told you, but I had a boyfriend in high school named Michael.\u0026nbsp; He wasn't a wolf, though.\u0026nbsp; He was an asshole a fox, like me.\u0026nbsp; He seemed like a great guy.\u0026nbsp; At least until I found out he was using me to make someone else jealous.\u0026nbsp; Worse, the \"someone else\" was a guy.\u0026nbsp; I have nothing against gays--you know that--but he wasn't remotely interested in any female.\u0026nbsp; God, I was mad.\n\nYou looked different, though.\u0026nbsp; You had a smile.\u0026nbsp; Yes, I know, all waiters smile.\u0026nbsp; But yours was different.\u0026nbsp; It was somehow genuine, yet sad.\u0026nbsp; That's what drew me in at first.\u0026nbsp; I wanted to know how you could be so happy and yet sad at the same time.\u0026nbsp; I would think that I was dreaming, but I've seen you smile since.\u0026nbsp; Sometimes the sadness is there, and sometimes you're just happy.\u0026nbsp; I wish I could see your smile right now.\n\nWhen you handed me back my ID, you said something like, \"Don't get many Cassandras around here.\"\u0026nbsp; It was weird hearing my full name.\u0026nbsp; Did I ever tell you that?\u0026nbsp; I've gone by nicknames for so long that I sometimes forget I was named Cassandra.\u0026nbsp; It made the shift from small town to big city much more apparent for me.\u0026nbsp; I remember smiling and blushing some more, but I didn't know what to say.\u0026nbsp; You went off to get my drink as I perused the menu.\u0026nbsp; I can still remember exactly what I ordered when you came back.\u0026nbsp; Heaven only knows why, but I wanted breakfast food.\u0026nbsp; I got the Strawberry Dream Waffle.\u0026nbsp; It's funny.\u0026nbsp; I probably wouldn't remember if that wasn't the night I met you.\n\nThe reason I remember is because when you brought it to me, you started making small talk.\u0026nbsp; You asked if I had visited the city often.\u0026nbsp; I was so confused until I remembered you had seen my licence.\u0026nbsp; When I told you it was my first time, your grin grew, and you said \"Welcome to the city\" with so much warmth.\u0026nbsp; It made me chuckle.\u0026nbsp; It still does.\u0026nbsp; You can be so cute sometimes.\n\nAfter that, nothing out of the ordinary happened.\u0026nbsp; You asked how the food was, refilled my water glass.\u0026nbsp; I paid you at the till, and you walked off, probably to clean the table.\u0026nbsp; The place wasn't busy that late in the evening.\u0026nbsp; I remember thinking that I didn't want to go to my residence yet, so I went to the lounge side of Smitty's.\u0026nbsp; I was about halfway through my first drink when you walked in.\u0026nbsp; Well, second, if you count the margarita.\u0026nbsp; You were still dressed in your dressy clothes, but the name tag was gone.\u0026nbsp; So was your smile when you went to order a drink.\u0026nbsp; I remember thinking that I wanted that smile to come back.\u0026nbsp; It was, and is, infectious, your smile, and I wanted to see it again.\u0026nbsp; I felt unusually bold, so I walked over to your table and said, \"Mind if I join you?\"\n\nYou looked so surprised.\u0026nbsp; It was comical.\u0026nbsp; Sorry, my pen jiggled because I was laughing again.\u0026nbsp; I can still see the look on your face.\u0026nbsp; Once you got over your shock, you said, \"Not at all.\"\u0026nbsp; I was thinking that most people would say, \"Sure\" or \"Go ahead.\"\u0026nbsp; Then you followed it up with \"Please do.\"\u0026nbsp; I was impressed by your manners, I must admit.\n\nWe chatted for quite a while.\u0026nbsp; I learned you were a city boy who worked full time, and you learned I was there for university.\u0026nbsp; I told you I would be in residence on campus, and you told me you lived in a \"sardine can\" of an apartment.\u0026nbsp; I asked you about what attractions and recreational stuff were in town, and you mentioned the park, the art gallery, and the museum.\u0026nbsp; You must have listed some other things, too, but those are the three I remember.\u0026nbsp; You asked about my program.\u0026nbsp; I told you I was just taking some general classes until I figured out what I wanted to do.\n\nI don't remember what time it was when you looked out the window and said, \"I should head home.\u0026nbsp; Don't want the walk to be too cold.\"\u0026nbsp; It had been an unseasonably cool fall, and you were only wearing your work clothes and didn't have so much as a sweater to go over top.\u0026nbsp; I'm still not sure why you were so reluctant to accept my offer to drive you.\u0026nbsp; It can't have been just because I was a relative stranger.\u0026nbsp; Even after we got to know each other, you didn't like to ask for rides from me, or anyone else, for that matter.\u0026nbsp; I persuaded you, though--the first of many times.\u0026nbsp; I can see your scowl when you read that, but I can't help but smile.\u0026nbsp; Sorry.\n\nYou were right.\u0026nbsp; It wasn't far, but it was on the way to the university anyway, so why would I care?\u0026nbsp; After you thanked me, I said the cheesy \"Don't forget to write\" line.\u0026nbsp; But you just said, \"I will.\u0026nbsp; Ever since email, no one takes time for the personal touch anymore.\"\u0026nbsp; I don't know why, but that stuck with me.\u0026nbsp; As a matter of fact, when I sat down to write this, I couldn't help but think of that night, which is why I wrote all this.\u0026nbsp; I hope you enjoy the personal touch.\n\nI'm sorry.\u0026nbsp; This is rambling and long and unrelated.\u0026nbsp; I would start over, but I want to share that evening with you again.\u0026nbsp; I hope it still makes you smile.\u0026nbsp; Unfortunately, I didn't just write to fondly reminisce.\n\nI need to ask you a favour.\n\n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Heart","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/217279-a-settled-heart-part-3.json"}}