When I woke up, Jay wasn't in the bed with me. I didn't mind, though, because he has a life outside of me and I don't want to take away from that.
I traveled downstairs, wrapped in the quilt from upstairs, into the kitchen and pulled out a bar stool and just sat for a while. I mulled over last night, recapping everything in my mind. I told Jay that I liked him. More importantly, I realized just how much I liked him. Even more importantly than that, he told me he liked me. Just the thought sent a shiver down my spine and ended with a small dance of celebration. My lungs felt like they were about to explode and my heart rate was up. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
I had just sat down on a bar stool when the doorbell rang. I would've usually been annoyed with whoever was on the other side of the door, but I was in too good of a mood to let the doorbell get to me.
"Hey, Oliver," I said, pulling the door open. "What's up?"
"I would love to come in, thank you," he said sarcastically, brushing past me. I raised my eyebrows and had to resist asking him what crawled up his butt.
"I'll get Jen for you," I offer, turning to the staircase.
"Don't," he ordered. I raised an eyebrow at him and he pulled on a fake smile. It looked like pulling the face hurt him. "I came to talk to you."
"And to what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked, crossing my arms and walking to my favorite armchair, while Oliver sat on the couch.
"I just need someone to talk to."
"What's wrong?" I asked, assuming the worst.
"It's not like that," he assured me. "I just get lonely at my flat."
A flood of relief rushed through me. "So you came all the way here? To chat?"
"When you say it like that it sounds desperate," he whined. "But yes."
"Okay. Talk."
"Let's say I like this girl that you may or may not know. Let's also say that she has a boyfriend. But also put into perspective that some other dashing young gentleman likes her as well. What would you tell the dashing young gentleman to do?"
"Depends. Is she happy with the boyfriend or indifferent?"
"I would say indifferent," he nodded.
"Who's her boyfriend?"
"Does it matter if she isn't happy?"
"Guess not. Sweep Jen off her feet, Oli."
"It's not Jen. We don't like each other like that," he explained.
"Are you sure?" I teased. "Because I really like the idea of you two."
"I checked," he mumbled impatiently.
"Oh. Then sweep whoever it is off her feet," I said, trying to get away from the uncomfortableness.
"Really? What would I do in a romance book?"
"Meet her at a park, or some other lovely place. Make sure she's there before you are, and when she isn't looking, come up behind her and hit her in the back of the knees with the handle of your broom of choice."
"That's not funny."
"It kind of was." My reply was greeted with an unamused stare. "Okay, sorry, I don't know... Uh, what bands does she like?"
"Bastille, Fall Out Boy, and I think Avicii."
"Concert tickets."
A look of awe crossed Oliver's face. "Thank you! You're the best," he complimented.
I know. "Don't mention it. Was that all you came for?"
"Actually, I do need to talk to Jen."
"Then I'm gonna take a walk, enjoy yourselves," I excused myself, grabbing a sweater and making my way outside. It was cool for August. As I close the door behind me, I turn and bump into a wall. No, that's a person.
"I was just coming by to see you," Jay spoke.
"I was just gonna go on a walk. I guess you can tag along if you want," I offered, cocking my head to the side.
"Okay," he replied. He stuffed his hands deeper into the pockets of his hoodie and followed me down the driveway. "Where did you want to walk to?"
"I dunno, just around the neighborhood."
He looped his arm around mine and intertwined our fingers, running his thumb over the back of my hand absentmindedly.
"Did you want to talk about it?" I asked, looking up at him.
"What?"
"Whatever's bothering you. There's obviously something."
"What made you decide to come on a walk?" he avoided my question.
"Oliver came over."
"Did anything happen?"
"We talked," I said, recalling our short conversation.
"And?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"And what?" I countered, my temper rising.
"It's Oli, no girl just talks to Oli. What did you guys do?" His eyes had a mean glint to them.
"We had raucous sex, Jay."
His grip on my hand tightened and he stopped walking, forcing me to stop as well. "That's not funny," he warned.
"Neither is how jealous you are right now because I talked to another member of the male species," I said coolly, ready for the coming fight.
His eyes widened a bit in shock and he loosened his hold on me. "Yeah," he said pensively. "Sorry."
I furrowed my brow, trying to figure out what just happened. "You'd better be."
He smiled slyly, looking down. "I want to show you someplace."
"Okay, lead the way."
"Why did you take me here?" I asked, standing in the doorway, remembering that I wasn't allowed in.
"I thought you'd like taking a look around," he mused. "You can come in. I won't hurt you."
A part of me doubted him but I crossed the threshold nonetheless. "What kind of films do you make?"
A small, excited smile swept across his face as he said, "Documentaries."
"Documentaries?" I asked, confused. He didn't strike me as the kind of guy to really enjoy observing things. Much too impatient.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Just watching things can be cool. Taking them in. The quiet of it, taking notes. 'S nice."
"Yeah?" I asked, walking over to the framed artwork on the wall. "Did you draw this?"
"No, I bought it at a flea market. Thought it tied the room together."
"It does," I complimented, still taking small steps around the room and becoming aware of my surroundings. I walked across the room, over to the couch I first met Jay on. Peering out the window, I asked, "Do you live alone?"
"Nope," he said, elongating the 'o' sound. "Roommate's at a concert."
"Whose concert?"
"His own," he muttered nonchalantly.
I nodded, not sure if Jay saw it, considering he was toying with a pencil on his desk. I looked back out the window.
I jumped when I felt his breath on my neck, causing him to chuckle. "I'm not going to bite," he promised.
"I didn't think you would," I assured him, cheeks going red.
"Then why did you flinch like that?" he asked, wrapping his arms around my midsection and nuzzling his face into my neck.
"I have an acute phobia of people invading my personal space." Instantly, his hands unwound, and he stepped back.
"I'm- I...Sorry," he stuttered. "Didn't know."
"You're okay," I comforted, stepping towards him and lacing my arms under his and around his back. "I should have said strangers touching me."
The corners of his mouth flicked up with relief. "Yeah, no, I knew that... I just had to check on my gnomes," he joked, using my excuse on me.
I playfully hit him on the arm, rolling my eyes and going back to observing the world on the other side of the glass.
"Why do you like looking through windows?"
"I dunno. I guess it's fun to observe people. Like, that one, there," I said, pointing to a woman in a neon pink hoodie, "She's not married and has at least one pet," I observed, noticing her lack of ring and the white hairs littering her exercise pants.
"What about that guy?" Jay asked, gesturing to a man with a rotund belly and a five o'clock shadow.
I didn't know his story. So I made one up, "His wife left him about two weeks ago, and he's since taken up visiting the local hot dog stand."
"How do you know that?" he questioned, awestruck.
"I don't," I replied bluntly.
"What can observe about me?"
"I know you quite a lot better than the two out there," I explained, nodding my head at the window, "So the observation will be a bit lengthier, if you care to sit through it." He nodded. "You're quite the metrosexual, taking careful time grooming yourself, from your cuticles to your hair.
"Speaking of, you use moderately expensive shampoo and use too much, judging by the breakage in the back. You shave often, could be because you don't want to look shabby, could be because you doubt your ability to grow a beard.
"You doubt yourself, and your family, a lot. Well, a lot more than normal-- other-- people do. For example, you're very closed off about the whole 'family' scene, but that by no means means you don't love them. You're actually quite proud about your parents' success with a restaurant, but it's not in your nature to brag, am I right? You also show your affection for Jen by protecting her and keeping a watchful, if not at times overbearing, eye on her.
"And, judging your mannerisms, you're secretive. Not about to let anyone in without absolute proof that you can trust them. But," I continued, "once they prove themselves, you're extremely, some might say dangerously, loyal to them. Am I correct?"
His eyebrows were raised, knees crossed, and hands were folded on top of them. (His knees, of course, not his eyebrows.) "I don't have secrets," he deadpanned.
Yeah, okay. "But other than that?" I asked, hoping that I wasn't too far off.
"Other than that, you were spot on. Should've been a detective." I nodded, letting my shoulders relax. "I am disappointed, however, that you failed to acknowledge some of my better traits," he said with a coy smile.
"Which would have been?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"One, that I am unbelievably desirable-" I snorted at this, "and, two, that I am a marvelous kisser."
"Ah, but it would be no fun to inflate your ego any more than it already is," I smirked.
"On the contrary," he said, getting up from the desk chair he had been sat at. He made his way over to the window, grabbed my wrist and pulled me into him. He leaned down, eliminating any space there was between our faces.
And he was, like, really kissing me. It was rough and, overall, nice; a bit sloppy, but nice. The gesture, anyway.
"Are you guys done lip-banging or...?" A voice from the doorway asked, causing me to jump away from Jay like he was poison.
"Presley, really?" Jay asked, irritation clear in his voice.
"I just wanted to let you know that there is a bangin'-"
"Do people still say 'bangin'?" Jay asked as I stifled a giggle.
"Party downstairs if the hot girl and Jay want to come," he informed us. I felt myself go red from the compliment. "Although, with that rude stunt, I'm pretty sure I only want the hot girl down there," he teased.
Jay looked at me for my answer. I shrugged. "Yeah, fine, we'll be down in a minute, just give us a sec?" he asked in an exasperated tone.
Presley put his hands up in mock surrender and slowly backed out of the room. Jay turned to me and sighed.
"Lip-banging," I mused, looking Jay in the eyes. It was less than a second before we both broke into laughter. Just when I thought I was ready to compose myself and head down to the party, Jay let out another gale of laughter, which made me laugh. His laugh was deep, like his voice, and it resonated from the office walls.
"We-" he wheezed, "we...should get down th-there."
~*~
Hello! Yes, I am aware that this is a short chapter, yes, I am also aware that I am late, yes, I have a decent excuse: this week was my second week of school! "But, Stupid Author Lady, anyone knows that the first week of school is the ball-ripper!" Yeah, no, shut up. This week was awful because of Civics and PE, and all in all, I wanted to crawl into a cave for the majority of this week, so...
But, anyway, enough of my school sob-story, you guys don't need to hear about that. The thirst is real rn so remember to vote, comment, and follow me for a really neat experience. Of what, I'm not sure, but nonetheless...
Bye, guys!