Daine sorrowfully stared at her cell phone's screen. Slumping against the coffee shop's counter she buried her face in her arms. There was apparently a huge emergency meeting being called at Tortall Inc. and all her friends, being the high-ranking business people they were, absolutely had to attend it. That left no one available to help her move out of her apartment. Miri and Evin were off volunteering in South America and she'd basically lost contact with all her other college friends when summer began.
She checked her phone again. Ten more minutes before her shift ended. She should probably pick up some take out so she could just get the packing over and done with. It'll take forever to pack by myself ugh. Why didn't I just extend the contract? Why can't the landlord just be a little more flexible? Why did I move here? Ugh life sucks.
The door tingled. Signaling the arrival of another darn caffeine addict. Now successfully in a horrible mood and drowning in self-pity she pulled her head up and tried to put a smile on her face.
In walked Numair. Wait why isn't he at that oh-so-important meeting? She looked at him confused. He worked at Tortall with Alanna and Jon and the others but Daine didn't get to see him as much as she did the others… He was almost always on business trips. They were still very close though.
"Hey…" he smiled tiredly. He looked exhausted.
"Hi wassup? You look… great?" She reigned her attitude in just in time. No need to let dear Numair suffer for it.
"Hah thanks. I pulled an all-nighter after a security issue I found which was actually quite odd as..." he saw Daine's poorly-hidden smile he grinned. "Sorry, I won't ramble. They basically kicked me out to get some rest."
"Oh that sucks." She turned to make his usual cup.
"Mhmm… So you ready to pack up?"
"Oh yeah, no. I haven't done anything at all yet… I'm just gonna get started after work."
"Is anyone else gonna join us? We should pick up some food on the way though…"
Daine turned around surprised. "Wait you're still gonna help? You should probably sleep. And you already helped a lot with finding a place..."
Now Numair looked surprised. "Well… Of course! I promised and there's way too much work for one person."
A slow smile worked its way up Daine's face. She tilted her head and thanked him, grabbing her bag and taking off her apron. "I'm basically done now so… Let's get started?!"
Daine struggled to open the door around her arms full of steaming fried rice and noodles. Numair tried to grab the bag but he just ended up dropping the stuff he was carrying. Pop-Tarts and Red Bull tumbled to the floor. He looked down and blinked, making no move to pick any of it up. Diana giggled. He was totally asleep on his feet. Managing to open the door she pushed him in towards her overstuffed couch and quickly swept up all that junk food into the bag. Amazing how he's so fit after eating all that sugar.
She found him sprawled on the couch face down. Cloud, her fluffy gray cat, leaped onto his back and started washing her paws. Moaning he slowly turned over and gently picked up her up, placing her back down on his stomach. That's sweet.
"Red Bull?" Daine asked holding one out to him. "Or you could just sleep. I really do think you should just go and get some rest. It isn't healthy to be up-"
"Daine, I'm fine," he moaned, grabbing the can. Opening it he drained it within seconds. He threw her a lopsided grin. "See? Better already!"
"Alrighty then… Let's get started in the kitchen?"
Numair turned towards her kitchen. There were boxes stacked throughout. "Sure. Do you have any food in there?"
"No just pots and pans and stuff."
"Pots and pans? What for?" he asked far too innocently.
"I do cook Numair! It's hard eating out every day…" She didn't notice the smile growing on his face.
"Mhmm. I don't doubt you cook, but can you actually eat it too?"
"One time, Numair! That was one time!" She scowled at him.
He exploded with laughter. Slinging an arm around her shoulders he propelled her towards the kitchen. "Oh Daine-y… That was a traumatic experience if ever I have had one. I mean I can't even have soup anymore!"
"Gosh you're so mean!" She slapped his arm. "And I honestly didn't realize it would be spicy! "
He chuckled and picked up a box. "Yeah how would chili pepper be spicy? So anyways how should we do this? Dump it all in or actually take the time to organize it all?"
"Just dump it if it won't break. It'll take forever if we actually try and it's just kitchen stuff."
"Practical as ever." He scrawled out 'containers' on a box with a flourish. Daine grabbed it from him and upturned a drawer full of Tupperware in. Numair watched and, shrugging, pulled the box over and taped it up before starting a new stack on the floor. Moving on, Daine made her way through the rest drawers. She tossed in a handful of forks and spoons and then a couple of pots and a bent pan. Numair peeked over her shoulder a few minutes later after she went through multiple cabinets without taking anything out.
"Um Daine, we should be packing… Not just looking at all the stuff you have."
"But there's nothing to pack! I swear I had more stuff…" Daine blushed. "I guess I don't really cook much…"
"Well you have all those containers," he said. "What do you put in them?"
"I'm pretty sure most of those are Onua's or Raoul's or… or Miri's mom's… I think like six are yours."
He tried to hide his smile. "It's ok, Daine. Cooking's not for everyone! You probably know more take out places than anyone else so that's good!" He pulled her into hug, squeezing her tight. "And what's better than getting free food from yours truly?"
Daine sighed. Varice can cook. Varice was Numair's college crush and on-and-off girlfriend/friend with benefits. She was blonde and mature and just wonderful at all things domestic, especially cooking. She moved a couple of years ago and Alanna had thrown an enormous party afterwards. Varice leaving was one of the best things ever but Alanna really did celebrate way too much.
Pulling away from Numair, Daine moved over to the linens closet. She started roughly stuffing sheets it in a box.
"Hey wait what happened?" Numair came up to her.
"Nope, nothing" Daine threw him a fake smile.
He pulled out some more sheets and folded them a bit more neater than she did. She looked at him from the corner of her eye. She was just a girl slaving her way through grad school and two jobs with no "practical" skills. Why would anyone be interested in her? She had dated before… There was Perin last year, a cute girl who she had shared Economics with but it turned out she wasn't that interested in anything long term. Kaddar had been interested in her some months ago but he wasn't really into giving her any sort of independence, going so far as to ask her to drop out of school. That break up was far from pretty.
She sighed. Let's just focus on the problem at hand. Relationships, or lack of, can be considered later. Numair was quietly watching her.
Moving on to her closet she opened it and looked at all her clothes. Earthy colors along with worn jeans and boots took up most of the tiny closet. Other than a couple of suits for interviews and such there were a few thrifted dresses that were far from fancy and only one satin blue sheath dress Thayet had insisted on. She sighed again. I don't even dress as expected.
"You want to talk about something…?" he eventually asked hesitantly.
Daine smiled. He knows me way too well. "I'm fine. Want to do the bathroom instead? There's a lot of hair products to go through. I feel like I should just throw all that stuff out... Wait you have long hair! Do you want to try some of my products? You never know which will work and there'd be no need to buy it then and keep the entire bottle if it doesn't work! Or do you not want any? I could just-"
Numair walked over to her and turned her by the shoulders. "Daine, no one's going to judge you just because you don't actually fit a certain stereotype. I know for a fact that everyone loves you for being a wittle nerd who can't cook or walk in heels and doesn't wear dresses everyday… You'll realize there's somewhere out there who loves you for you and not just for what you do."
Daine looked up at him. He looked sad yet fierce. She tilted her head, studying that weird look. Could he…? Nah. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek on his chest. Breathing in deeply she buried herself in his scent.
"You're the bestest in the world," she mumbled into him.
She felt him chuckle. "So are you Daine," he said, resting his chin on her.
She pulled away a bit and tiptoed to kiss his cheek but he turned at the same time to do the same. They both froze the second their lips brushed. He tightened his hands around her hips and she gripped his shirt. He bent down and brushed her lips again and she pulled him closer for a proper kiss. Might as well enjoy this… whatever this is. He pulled away to breathe and kissed his way from the corner of her mouth to her neck. She kissed his jaw in response. They slowly came to a stop and just held each other.
"Daine?" Number asked hesitantly, pulling away slowly.
She took a step back. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah… for some time now," he said a few moments later, avoiding her gaze.
She smiled up at him. "Me too… Let's eat and then finish up and then we can just...?"
His face broke into a shy smile. She pulled him to the living room and handed him his takeout box. Settling on the couch he asked, "Daine? Are you sure? Like, are you sure sure?"
She slipped in under his arm and looked up at him. "Numair, you're my best friend. You know me better than I do and you're the only one who completely trusted me when we first met. What's there not to be sure about?"
He smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head.
"I really like you…" he said shyly after he finished his rice.
She smiled and pressed a kiss on his cheek. "I really like you too. Are we still gonna finish this?"
"Yup! Just one more Red Bull."