Windows on the World (OLD VERSION) [BEING REWRITTEN]

[¹⁴] ˢᵘᵖᵉʳᵐᵃⁿ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵃ ᴷ

"You weren't at all ready, were you?"

"Nope," she admitted, walking closer to him with her hands inside the pockets of those awful pants. "I can show you the place if you want, but there's not as much to see as in yours. And it's all far less shiny-schmancy."

This time he let his eyes linger on the surroundings a little more, but only for a second. "Looks fine to me."

"You're not a good liar. But nice try!"

Phoebe was sure he had not been to many apartments like hers. But instead of feeling embarrassed, she chose to let Walter into her world. It was only fair after all the time she had spent in his.

With a motion of her hand she had him follow her into the short corridor where the rooms were located.

"I ain't showing you Dana's room because she would for real stab me in the eye with a fork if she knew I let you in."

"I understand."

Phoebe's room was just the way he'd expected it to be, for the most part. The walls were barely visible under all the posters and parafernalia. But they represented her, and it was like being able to take a glance inside part of her brain. He felt like he knew her a little better.

"I can't believe you like rom-coms." His lips were thinned out as he tried hard not to laugh when seeing Pretty Woman plastered on the wall.

"It's the only one, okay?" She argued in a matter of seconds. Her voice lowered when she shifted her sight away. "Anyways, it's not the movie itself what I like."

Walter had such a Richard Gere demeanor about him. They did not look that much alike, save for the lower part of their faces, and that voice... Boy, it took Phoebe a great deal of effort to not feel for Walter the same thing she felt looking at the actor. And it did not help that there was also a glimpse of Paul Newman in his eyes.

How the man was still unmarried was a total head-scratcher.

The Hollywood-like man got closer to the desk that was conveniently placed to make the most of the inspiring view. The pale grey silhouettes of the giant towers in the distance were perfectly famed by the window.

"You got yourself a desktop," he pointed out with a little nod of approval.

"And a laptop." She unconcealed said object from its case and showed it to him. "I didn't tell you because I still feel like a leech... but they're so useful." Phoebe held the closed laptop in front of her face. "Thank you, Walter," she said, trying to imitate a robotic voice, opening and closing the laptop as she spoke.

Instead of cringing at the odd scene before him, Walter managed a soft nasal chuckle, finding it weirdly endearing. Something about it was a tad off, though. It wasn't very much like the Phoebe he was used to. The subtle awkwardness in her toward him was beginning to make him curious as to what the cause was. Perhaps it was simply prolonged exposure to her cousin's influence? Or was it more of that denial he had accused her of the other day? He had no way of finding out because he was not about to go down that road again any time soon.

Feeling silly and self-conscious, Phoebe packed the laptop away again in silence but with a little smirk stretching the corner of her mouth.

"Let's bounce," she told him after grabbing a beige coat from the closet.

Phoebe had meant wandering around New York, not New Jersey, so it was a surprise when Walter drove into the tunnel. He did not go all the way to Newark, but bringing her to her home state was part of his agenda.

He parked on the mall's lot, taking advantage of the free space.

"About the other day..." The girl started to say apprehensively, pulling frayed threads from the hem of the old stripey t-shirt instead of exiting the car.