I just recently dug up this old story and decided to try and continue this. If anyone's still reading, feedback is always appreciated.
'You did what?', Lew asked in utter disbelieve as Wordy and Ed groaned and simply clutched their faces.
'I know, I know!', Spike huffed. 'I can't believe it either.'
It was Monday morning, half past five am and Team One was gathered in the gym working out. Spike had just told them about his run in Friday night and his more than awkward reaction to her wanting to give him her number.
'Scarlatti, are you italian or what! You of all people should know how to woe women.', Ed teased as he jumped on the treadmill.
'Me? I can't think straight. That's not my field of expertise.'
'You're like Raj from the Big Bang Theory .. that's why Babycakes has been your only acquaintance.', Jules chimed in and laughed.
'Ha Ha, very funny. Once I've found her, I'll go and invite her for dinner. She won't be able to resist me, just wait and see.'
Ed and Wordy shared a look. 'Yeah, right. And how exactly are you going to find her? You don't even know her name.'
'Caren. Her name's Caren.', he said and an instant smile appeared on his face.
'Our Spikey's in loooove .. look at that face!', Lew yelled across the gym. Everybody started laughing as Spike blushed and quickly tried to hide his face.
The rest of the day passed quickly and as everyone else had already left to go home and crash on the couch, Spike found himself alone with Lew in the locker room.
'So about that girl. What're you gonna do?', Lew asked casually.
'I don't know man. I have no idea how to find her.'
'Excuse me? YOU have no idea how to find someone?', he stared at his friend in disbelieve.
Spike grinned. 'I can't exactly access the police database for a private search. ... Can I?'
Lew wiggled his eyebrows at him and smirked. 'Let's do it!'
They ran to the computer, all the while shoving each other giggling like little children. Spike quickly typed in all the information he knew about her, which unfortunately limited itself to her first name and street.
His search came up empty.
'Try her name with a C.', Lew suggested.
'Yeah, that's it.', his heartrate doubled. 'Okay, Caren Kingston, moved here only 3 weeks ago from Folkestone, GB. She's 26 years old and works at the Mount Sinai Hospital as a physical therapist. I'll pull up her address.'
Spike had his 1000 megawatt smile on and beamed up at Lew, who was standing next to him, leaning on the chair and desk.
'You're in full blown stalker mode, man. Don't let her find that out .. if she ever agrees to go out with you, after that more than awkward good bye.', he laughed.
'I know, I scare myself sometimes.', he printed out the necessary information and shut the computer down.
Turning around he asked Lew 'What do I do now?'
'Well, you could go to her place and wait until she comes home. Or you just ring her doorbell and hope that she doesn't ask too many questions.'
He smiled nervously as he and Lew parted ways and he made his way in the direction of her appartement.
He was terribly nervous. Constantly drumming the steering wheel with his thumbs, he wondered how this was going to go down.
'What am I gonna say? Maybe she won't even remember. Or she'll think I'm a creep. Oh god.'
It was already dark, when he parked the car in front of the apartment complex and turned off the engine. Nervously rubbing his sweaty palms on his jeans, he made his way over to the door.
There were a total of 16 names on it as he scanned for 'Kingston'.
'Hey there.', he heard a familiar voice behind him and whirled around.
'Looking for someone?', Caren asked raising an eyebrow knowingly.
His eyes widened in surprise at the sudden encounter.
'Oh, uh, yeah actually I was looking for you. I was just gonna ring all the bells until I've found you.', he laughed nervously, hoping she wouldn't catch the white lie.
'Let me guess, you came back for the beer.', she teased.
'Uhm, I just wanted to apologize for the way I left here Friday night. I had a pretty long day and wasn't quite myself. I'm Spike by the way.', he rambled on.
'Spike?', she gave him a lopsided grin.
He blushed slightly. The twinkle in her eyes, when she smiled was just magical. 'I had a hair thing going, back in the days.'
'Still do, the way I see it.', she said looking at his hair sticking out in every direction.
There was a short pause in which no one said anything.
'So, you wanna grab that beer I offered you?', she cocked her head slightly and a small smile appeared on her face.
'Yeah, sure. I mean if you don't have anything else to do right now.', he felt like he won the million dollar jackpot.
'Nope.', she shook her head and opened the front door to let them both in.
They walked up three flights of stairs, and she opened the apartment door. 'Please come in. It's not very comfy yet, I just moved here three weeks ago.'
Spike looked around the place. Most of the furniture in the living room and kitchen was already in place, but it still looked empty. There were no pictures or whatsoever on the walls. He figured that's what was still in the boxes that sat on the far left wall.
'I know.', he blurted out thoughtlessly and immediately wanted to smack himself across the face. 'Shit, shit, shit!'
Caren was in the kitchen, getting the beer and some chips. She peeked around from behind the open fridge door. 'You do, huh?'
'I, I mean, judging by the boxes and everything, I assumed that .. you just moved.', he stuttered and felt the familiar redness creep up his cheeks and ears. 'Well done, Scarlatti. Here we go.'
She made her way back to the living room and dropped on the couch, ignoring his flushed face. 'Sit.', she invited him as she handed Spike the beer.
'So, tell me more about yourself. What's your real name and what do you do for a living?', she asked curiously, running a hand through her thick blonde hair.
'Michelangelo Scarlatti. I'm with the SRU. It's the police strategic response unit.', he said proudly.
'Oh, really? That must be awesome!', she turned towards him and her eyes began twinkling again. She couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice as she put her arm over the back of the couch.
'Yeah it is. My team's great, I love the job. I'm the tech guy, by the way.'
'But you do have combat skills?', she playfully boxed him in the upper arm.
'Hey, hey I'll have to subdue you.', he laughed and grabbed her wrist. 'Sure I do.'
They continued talking and laughing all night until it was half past 1 in the morning.
'I really should go now, I got an early shift tomorrow.. well today.', Spike said. He was sorry to go, he felt they had a great connection. Same humour, same interests and she was so beautiful.
'Yeah, me too. So .. do you want my number this time? I really enjoyed the evening.', she said walking him to the door.
'Yes, of course I do! I had a great time, too.'
When they exchanged numbers and hugged good bye, he jogged down the stairs, feeling as if he could fly.
Today was a good day.