Free Trigger by Julia Derek

who’d contacted me. I almost dropped the phone when I saw who the email was from. My heart hammered in my chest.
    Nina. Whom I’d done my best not to think about since seeking her out at Bliss four days ago. It had been a futile effort, but I’d hoped that, if I gave it some more time, I’d eventually forget her. I wasn’t going to try to see her again. What could she possibly want?
    I opened the email.
    Hi Dylan,
    Thanks for coming to see me last Thursday. I’ll admit that I was a little shocked, but now that I’ve gotten some time to think about it, I’ve realized that I’m happy you came. I would love to have dinner with you and get to know you a little better, too. So let me know if you still want to.
    Nina
    I read the email a few more times to make sure it wasn’t just my brain playing a trick on me, conjuring up words that weren’t there. Then, when I was sure it was for real, I no longer felt tired but exhilarated and the pounding in my head was gone. A big grin had spread over my lips.
    I clicked reply and typed in a message:
    Hi Nina! I’d love to take you out for dinner. How about tomorrow night?

    I didn’t have to wait long until a reply appeared in my phone.
    Sure, tomorrow is good. When and where?

    I fired off a reply:
    If you’d like, I could come and pick you up at eight and then we’ll go together somewhere? Or we can meet at the restaurant?

    My phone buzzed with her response.
    Let’s meet at the restaurant. Just let me know where and I’ll be there.

    I sent an email telling Nina I’d let her know the location tomorrow and that I was looking forward to seeing her again. Then I turned on the TV, feeling better than I had in a long time.

Nina
    I spent some hours the next day feeling absolutely sure I’d made a huge mistake in contacting Dylan, others so excited I couldn’t help but grin like a fool. That last part proved to be of great use since it coincided with my lunch shift at the restaurant. My customers responded fabulously to my happy demeanor by giving me mostly better-than-average tips.
    When I was done at McCormick and Schmick’s, I jumped into my car and drove in the direction of Ricki’s job, a non-profit organization that helped the homeless called Invisible People. She was lending me a dress for tonight, a hot red number that fit me like a glove. Since her job was located on the way to my mom’s house in Downtown L.A. and I had to go down to see her this afternoon, it was easier for me to go there instead of to Ricki’s house tonight to pick it up.
    My car stereo was playing a Beyonce song I loved, so I cranked up the volume, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel along with the beat. At the moment, I was riding another wave of elation, so I smiled at the aging, pale woman in the black convertible next to me at the stop light. She was looking like she was having a bad day. Maybe I could cheer her up a little.
    She didn’t smile back, only glared at me like she thought I must be nuts. She must be a New York transplant.Most New Yorkers I’d met were on the grumpy side. Well, her demeanor didn’t faze me. It was only as I turned back to face the road in front of me that my smile left my lips. Pain was suddenly shooting through my head.
    I rubbed my temple with my free hand. Damn . It had been a while since I’d experienced any kind of headaches. I really hoped it wouldn’t get any worse or I might have to cancel my date with Dylan. That would be such a shame now that I’d decided that seeing him again was not only a good idea, but the sooner it happened, the better. I pulled out the pills the doctor had given me that I kept in my purse for when these random spells of headaches attacked me. It had been several months since the last one occurred, but I still never went anywhere without my pills. Experience had taught me that, in order to have a chance to quell the aches, I needed to catch them in their infancy as opposed to later, when they had matured, completely