"Okay, quick! I can help you pick out a fit."
My roommate Jenna ran over to my closet from the other room before I even had a chance. I sat on my bed as she started flipping through hangers trying to find something for me to wear tonight. A few minutes ago her phone had buzzed with a notification from a friend inviting us out for drinks. I was a bit apprehensive at first about the plans since I wouldn't know many people and the place we were meeting was about an hour into the city, but I didn't want to be a burden so I agreed reluctantly.
"I'm pretty sure I've got some cute pieces in the boxes too," I reminded Jenna. I was proud of myself considering I'd moved in about two weeks ago and only had a few random boxes left to unpack. The only problem now is how busy we've gotten; it's made it a lot easier to procrastinate. Even though we don't live in the city, New York life has been a whirlwind. Jenna is a commuter so she's always on the run, either at Bethel as a harvest girl, at work, at the gym, or helping someone in the congregation. She's a lot peppier than I was expecting (and I'll be honest, I was worried when I first met her), but I couldn't think of a better person as an arranged housemate. Our house was cute and small- a little rundown but not far from our Bethel location. I say 'our'... technically, I'm not a Bethelite yet. But! I'm hopeful. I've got a new congregation to get used to anyway so that she hold me over till I get assigned.
"Oh! I need to let Destiny know!" I yelled, reaching for my phone.
"Yes, good idea."
Destiny was my best friend from home who had come up for a while after I first moved to visit and help me get settled in. She was staying with Jenna and me but was currently at a coffee shop meeting up with another one of her Bethel friends. I texted her to look cute because when she got home we were going out. She responded with a string of crazy eyed tongue out emojis. I rolled my eyes.
Jenna sifted through my boxes and found a pink scoop neck top and a green mini skirt. Her eyes lit up.
"Um... don't you think a mini skirt is a little inappropriate?" I asked, laughing.
"Uh, no," she said matter-of-factly. "Bethel boys are gonna be there tonight. You gotta make a statement. And we'll be in the city!! Nobody cares once you're off campus grounds."
"I-" I started, unconfidently.
"Plus! These are your clothes," she laughed. "I didn't place this mini skirt in your wardrobe."
I laughed to myself and got off the bed to look through my closet. I found a yellow floral midi skirt and pastel platforms.
"This will work. I can't have these people thinking the wrong thing about me before they even know me! I'm not trying to impress anybody that hard."
___________________________________
Jenna, Destiny, and I walked into the restaurant at around 8.
"Are we eating? I thought we were just getting drinks," Destiny whispered to us, just loud enough to be heard over the jazz music playing inside this very bougie New York restaurant.
Ding!
Jenna checked her phone.
"Oh! Michael just texted. They said the bar is on the roof? Let's go!"
None of us had ever been to this bar/restaurant before so we had no idea what to expect. None of us had ever hung out with this group so we didn't know what to to expect in that regard either. Jenna obviously knew us girls and had a few friends in the bunch, but we weren't completely sure who Michael had invited. (Michael was Jenna's current interest) I hadn't had much time yet to meet many of Jenna's friends from Bethel.
We reached the rooftop bar, and it was picturesque. Warm yellow lights shone on the dark backdrop of the NY skyline. In the corner was a table where a group of 5 was seated.
I eventually recognized Michael but no one else. Around him were two girls (looked like twins) and two other guys.
Jenna, Destiny, and I approached the group.
"Hey, guys!!! Heyyyy, Michael!" Jenna greeted, giving hugs to Michael and the twins. Destiny and I smiled and stared a bit awkwardly.
"Oh! Sorry, let me introduce these two. This is Destiny and this is Sydney. They're both from NC but Destiny is just visiting. Sydney actually just moved in with me!"
Everyone said hi. I caught eyes with one of the guys. I noted his curly hair, a little longer than standard for Bethel boys. He stared back at me and started to smirk. I quickly looked down, realizing that I might have been looking a bit less covertly than I thought. I blushed.
"Well, hey! Sit down. Don't be shy!" Michael said, gesturing to the empty chairs.
Jenna sat in an empty chair next to Michael. Destiny sat next to one of the twins and I sat next to her, leaving me beside one of the unintroduced guys. The one I had stared at for much too long.
"So I guess I'll introduce everybody too! This is Anna and Alia. Yes, they're twins." We laughed. "I'm Michael, I'm sure Jenna raves about me all the time."
Jenna punched him on the arm laughing but quickly shot a look at me of nerves.
"This is Taylor," Michael continued, gesturing beside him. "He's a laundry boy with me at Bethel. And then this-" he nodded his head toward the boy beside me, "- is Leo."
Leo did a little head nod and smiled. His brown hair shook and he pushed some behind his right ear.
"Leo is relatively new to Bethel! He's new to laundry too so we wanted to bring him out tonight and show him around! He hasn't been out in a while. Taylor and I are trying to rescue him from going stir crazy"
Leo laughed a light laugh. "Ah yeah, Michael. You're my hero."
Jenna and Destiny both gasped.
"Ohhhhhh my goodness," Jenna blurted out. "Not to be annoying but umm... do you have an accent?"
Destiny buried her face in her hands and Michael laughed, leaning back in his chair.
I looked at Leo and he smirked. Suddenly I realized just how close I was sitting to him. I wasn't in his personal space or anything but I could definitely see the slight suggestion of recently shaved facial hair. I tried not to stare. Again. I reached for my water that had recently been brought out during introductions.
"I mean, I think we all have accents, right? But to answer what I think you're asking, yes. I was born and raised in Italy."
I coughed, almost choking on my water. I looked up and thankfully no one noticed.
Destiny chimed in and said something in Italian. His eyes lit up. I felt a pang in my stomach and immediately felt embarrassed that I was jealous. I tried to brush it off. I don't even know him, I thought.
"Sorry if that's annoying," Destiny said. "I've just been trying to learn some phrases in different languages!"
"No, that was great!" Leo said.
"Sydney has actually been to Italy though! I'm jealous!" she added.
Leo turned to me. I felt my stomach light up. His eyebrows raised as if he expected me to speak. I froze. This had to be one of the most attractive people I'd ever seen in person.
"Uh, yeah! A summer ago. It was beautiful..." I trailed off.
He smiled wide and looked down at his drink menu.
I sighed of relief. I wanted to talk to him but to be honest, I was happy to not be under the pressure.
I looked at my menu too and Destiny and I discussed drinks. (She needed help deciding which wouldn't taste too gross for her)
The music on the rooftop settled me and I smiled to myself just thinking about how gorgeous this moment was. I felt a nudge on my arm.
I turned my head to Leo and he was leaning in my direction, head cocked to the side. His hand was now gently resting on my forearm.
"Hey, what's good here? I saw you helping your friend."
"Oh, uh! I've actually never been here but I just know what she likes haha," I said softly.
"Oh!" Leo said, moving his hand and resting back in his chair.
He turned his face toward me. "What do you think I like?"
Destiny choked beside me.
I quickly turned around to glare at her and she slid down in her chair, hiding her face. I can't believe she was eavesdropping.
I turned back to Leo who seemed unfazed.
I looked down at the menu.
"Well, I'm gonna order the pineapple whiskey sour because theirs seems to have a twist on it which should be cool. I mean... you can never go wrong with a mojito! I guess it's not a super "manly" drink but, it tastes good," I suggested.
"Oh I couldn't care less about manly. I love mojitos. I'll get that. Gracie, Sydney," he said looking directly into my eyes and smiling.
I think he's trying to kill me. Good thing I'm already wearing blush... Oh wait, I don't blush naturally haha.
We all ordered and started talking. We all got along so well! Everyone asked Leo questions about his life. He was actually in Bethel in Italy but moved here recently. He does artwork for the society in Italy. He's hoping to help with Italian here.
The drinks are placed in front of us.
Leo tastes his. He moans.
"Sydney, you've got to try this." He places the cup right in front of my face holding the laughably miniature straw to my lips.
I try it. He waits in anticipation with a stupid smile on his face.
"Right?!"
I laugh. "Yeah, yeah, it's really good." It's an average mojito to tell the truth.
He goes back to conversation as if nothing just happened. I turn to Destiny who looks at me with wide eyes and talk to her. We decide to order an appetizer of buffalo cauliflower wings.
A second later Leo turns back to me.
"Sydney, I love your skirt."
"Really?" I ask genuinely.
"Yes, I love the flowers. I use florals a lot in my paintings. Actually, my mom had a beautiful giardino- uhh, garden back home I helped out with sometimes."
I smile.
Our food is served and Sydney and I dig in. It's delicious. This is finger food but I try to eat it gracefully considering Leo right beside me.
"Omg, this is so good," Destiny exclaims. Leo asks her what it is. She explains.
"Do you want to try?" I ask holding the piece I was about to eat out to him. He nods and starts putting his napkin on his lap.
To my surprise, he eats out it directly from my fingers. I feel his lips on my skin. My eyes widen and my heart stops. I don't even bother to turn around. I already know how Destiny would react if she saw that.
"Mmm, that's really good!" he says as if nothing happened. He looks at me and sees my face.
"Oh santo-" his head tilts down. "I just didn't want to get my hands messy and- ugh I'm sorry, Sydney. I didn't want to make you feel weird."
I laugh. "Um.,, it's okay!" Funnily enough, I actually am okay with it.
He smiles uneasily and goes back to talking to the group.
___________________________________
It's a little past midnight when we all start standing up to leave. We all say bye as a group and everyone starts filtering out to walk downstairs. As I reach the steps I realize I forgot to leave a tip on the table. I call down to Destiny and Jenna that I'll be right down but they're preoccupied talking to really notice.
I run back to our booth and take out my wallet to leave a tip. As I shift my weight around, I stop. Leo is walking toward me. He now stands about a step away looking down at me.
"Sydney, I'm really sorry about before. I feel like we were getting along and I don't want to make you uncomfortable. Especially as a brother, I don't want to do that. Plus... you're cute too so... I want us to be on good terms," his lips curl at the end of his sentence.
I giggle and then put my free hand up to my mouth, shocked that I actually just audibly giggled. I put my hand down and Leo smiles wider.
"So we're okay?" he asks stepping closer and grabbing my free hand. His hands are warm on my cold ones. His eyebrows furrow as he realizes and he instinctively moves to take off his jacket and place it around me.
"Yeah, we're okay... I thought you were cute too," I say softly, shocking myself.
"Yeah??? Nice," he says with a cocky look on his face. I laugh.
I start to pull his jacket off. "I can't take this though. We're about to get in our cars and go home."
"No, no, keep it for now. I don't want you cold," Leo says pulling me into his chest. "Plus, this way I can ensure I see you again.... Okay, let's go." He gently places two Italian kisses on my cheeks (which by the way, I didn't see him do to anyone else) which I feel was just an Italian move, but I don't mind. We walk off with his arm around my shoulders.
