Ally rushed through the preschool doors on Monday morning, she was late for work very late. She pulled off her red coat, hat and scarf hanging them up in the coat room before heading to the office to sign in. She briefly glanced at the small, black framed clock hanging on the wall, Nine twenty. Yes she was quite late. Thanks to an overnight power cut in the building her alarm clock had been disconnected and hadn't gone off, her shift had started at seven thirty. It had not been a good start to the morning and the fact that it had started raining heavily through the night and washed away most of the snow, had not helped her mood.
Ally made her way into the little kitchen where her manager, Stephanie was attempting to chop up pieces of fruit while balancing the phone on her shoulder and a wee dark haired boy on her hip.
Tamati, was a cute nine month old with olive skin and black hair. He had taken a liking to the preschool manager and refused to go to anyone else without kicking up a fuss. Ally walked in and took the knife from her and continued to slice up the snacks for the kids giving Steph a chance to sneak away. Her manager smiled greatfully as she adjusted the wee boy on her hip and disappeared into the office.
...
Ally had just finished slicing up the last apple placing it in a pattern on the plate when the kids came into the eating area for morning tea. They all sat at their little tables on their little chairs, and giggled and talked excitedly amongst themselves. The other two teachers came in shooing the last trickle of mini humans ahead of them.
"Morning Ally," Carrie sing songed as she slid a wee red headed girl in a high chair.
Piper made her way into the kitchen and set to task filling up cups of water. "You finally made it in, everything alright?"
Ally smiled at them, "Yeah, just a rough morning, luck is not on my side today it seems." She picked up a couple of plates of fruit and made her way over to the tables placing them down between the kids, several little hands immediately reached out grabbing for their favourite snacks. She turned to walk away when she felt someone wrap their small arms around her leg. Ally looked down at a head of brown hair.
"Hello, monkey." She grinned rubbing his head. The three year old tilted his face up looking at her with his big blue eyes.
"I'm not a monkey, I'm Domilic!" He said cheekily. Ally crinkled her nose as she smiled.
"Dominic" She corrected, "And I know you're not a real monkey but you sure act like one." She booped his nose.
"Noooo!" He exclaimed with a big grin. Ally picked up the wee boy before popping him down in his seat.
"Have some fruit before it's all gone."
He folded his arms stubbornly. "No, I don't like it!" He stated. Ally raised an eyebrow at him.
"I know you like apple, and bananas, now eat up."
Dominic blew a rasberry at her with his tongue before giggling and turning to grab a piece of fruit. Ally smiled and rolled her eyes, standing back up to head to the kitchen. Steph emerged from the office and placed Tamati in a high chair. He began to grizzle before she gave him some banana. The baby squealed and waved his chubby wee arms excitedly before picking up a piece and munching on it. She smiled fondly at the toddler before joinging Ally.
"Sorry about that, just had a lady wanting to enquire about enrolling her daughter here and she had alot of demands for her," She put on her best posh accent. "She is to have a strict nap schedule at a set time each day, she is to be seated at the lunch table with only the higher class children. And all foods she eats are to be organic and low in sugar. I think she might be a little high maintenance." Steph sighed.
"Just what we need," Ally teased. "Oh, sorry about being so late this morning we had a powercut so my alarm was turned off." She gave an apologetic smile.
"It's fine," Steph assured, waving it off, "These things can't be helped." She shrugged. "How was your weekend anyway?"
Ally immediately smiled, and a wee blush made it's way to her cheeks "It wasn't bad." She fiddled with her fingers before she looked over at her manager who was giving her a knowing smile with one eyebrow raised. "What?" Ally questioned trying to act innocent.
"You met someone," Steph turned her body fully toward her, her hand on her hip. "Spill."
"What, pffft." Ally waved her off, trying her best to look unfazed but failed. She wasn't very good at stretching the truth, especially when her colleages could read her like an open book.
"Oh don't pfft me," Steph demanded, "I know it's a guy, you had that happy little look on your face. I used to get that look when I thought of Rocky."
Rocky was Steph's fiance, they'd been together for six years and he proposed to her a few months ago while on a trip to Paris he'd surprised her with for her birthday.
Ally sighed there was no point in denying it, so she began to tell her about Austin.
Steph listened intently, joined shortly into the story by Carrie and Piper.
"Wow, I can't believe he got a cat for you." Piper said wide eyed. "That's moving fast, you've only known the guy two days, it seems a little weird, are you sure he's normal?"
Ally narrowed her eyes at the blonde, "He'd been thinking about adopting a cat from the shelter anyway, he just hadn't got around to it and it just seemed to fit into place. And Joe is the sweetest." She defended.
"Well I think it's cute," Carrie added in, taking Ally's side. "He's making a big effort for you, it's nice to hear about a guy being a gentleman for once and trying to woo a girl"
Ally gave her a pointed look. "He's not wooing me, we're friends" Though admitedly she wouldn't mind being wooed by Austin.
"And yet you already have a cat together." Piper sing songed. "Next you'll be moving in"
Ally poked her tongue at her before checking on the kids and sending a few that had finished eating outside to play with Carrie.
"When do we get to meet him," Steph asked, as she began picking up the empty plates from the tables. "I want to see what he looks like before I make judgement."
"Stephanie Bishop!" Ally scoulded with her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't judge a person based on their looks."
"Uh oh, is he the, 'only mommy thinks I'm pretty kind of guy'?" Piper asked while wiping down the table surfaces.
Ally rolled her eyes before giving the blonde a playful glare.
"I don't judge on looks" Steph said quickly, "But a nice face is definitely a decent bonus."
Piper nodded in agreement.
Ally couldn't contain her grin anymore, "Okay fine, he's cute."
"Just cute?" Piper questioned.
"Very cute," She gushed.
"Proof, or it didn't happen." Steph said teasingly, She picked up Tamati from his highchair perching him back on her hip. The toddler grinned and gooed happily and started trying to grab at the glasses on her face. "You're trouble you are." She cooed at the toddler.
"Well, I may have a photo of him." Ally said quietly. Piper dropped the cloth she was wiping with down and jumped toward the smaller woman.
"Show me, show me, show me." Steph moved to stand beside Piper nodding her head in agreement.
Ally smiled and rolled her eyes, she wouldn't admit it to them but she was rather enjoying having a boy to brag about, even though they weren't dating it was fun getting a little attention. Stephanie was engaged and Piper and Carrie both had long term boyfriends and they often nagged her about being single, offering many blind dates which she politely declined. She'd seen far to many movies to know the many consequences a blind date could have. Ally pulled out her phone that was sitting in her pocket and unlocked the screen to show the girls the photo of Austin and Joe.
Pipers eyes widened as she snatched the phone from her. "Damn Als, I am impressed. He is CUTE!"
"Yeah," Steph agreed, "If I wasn't already taken," She held her left hand in the air wiggling the sparkling rock on her finger around, She loved to show it off as much as possible. "I'd definitely snatch him up."
"Hey, stay in your lane missy." Ally warned playfully.
"He's definitely a catch, I take away any comments about him being weird" Piper oggled the photo unashamedly. "I may be a dog person but he can get a cat for me any day."
"Ten out of ten would bang." Steph remarked with a tone of awe.
"Steph, you're holding a child don't talk like that," Ally scoulded. She took back the phone admiring the photo for a few moments before slipping it back in her pocket and taking the dishes into the kitchen to wash them.
...
It was past six when Ally arrived home, she hung up her things and threw her keys down on the table before plopping dramatically onto the sofa beside her flatmate.
Tina didn't look away from the television set where a re-run of friends was on. "Long day?" She asked between biting on her finger nails.
Ally sighed, "I love kids but I swear they have invisible little energy sucking machines on them."
Tina gave a small hum of agreement, Ally turned her head to watch the screen where Chandler and Joey were having a conversation.
"I don't care what anyone says, Chandler is without a doubt a hottie." Tina said with a slight tone of awe. Ally crinkled her nose in disgust. Sure he was a nice guy, and could be funny but he was NOT a hottie, Joey however... Her train of thought was cut when Tina mentioned a certain someone that had been on her mind. "So speaking of hotties, how's your blonde, man god?" She leaned over the arm of the couch and pulled up a partially eaten box of chocolates.
"I haven't heard from him today actually," Ally replied as she took a sweet from the box Tina had offered her. "I suppose he's caught up working, apparently mechanics get busy this time of year because alot of people want to go away with the family for christmas and want their vehicles road safe."
Tina hummed again in agreement before biting into a hard caramel.
"You should offer to have dinner with him, he probably won't feel like cooking after a hard day." Tina looked over at her and wiggled her eyebrows.
As tempting as the idea was she didn't want to seem annoying, they'd seen eachother the last two days in a row and she worried that she'd scare him off if she seemed too forward. Would he end up feeling suffocated by their friendship and he'd politely cut off contact and she'd never see him or sweet little Joe again.
"Stop overthinking it,"Tina said once again interuppting her train of thought.
Ally skoffed, "What, pffft I am not." She tried to tilt her head and position her hands in a way that showed she didn't care, she was totally cool with the situation at hand. But from the expression her friend gave, she realized quickly that she just came off as looking a little odd. So she slumped back against the sofa and took another chocolate. "How can you tell?"
"Because everytime you overthink your eyes tend to glaze over and you stare into the distance." Tina looked at her with the best 'I know all' expression she could.
Ally pouted, "But what if he thinks I'm being to forward, we only just met."
Tina nodded, "Yes, and he got you a cat... I think we far surpassed the 'just met' phase. Now come on, just text him. It's not any worse than him stalkishly turning up here in hopes you'll see him." She looked at her pointedly.
Ally took a deep breath pulling her phone from her pocket, "Alright, fine. I'll text him."
"That'a girl!" Tina cheered and gave her a toothy grin before turning back to her show.
Ally smiled and shook her head while opening up her messages.
Sender : Ally
Hey Coffee shop boy,
So I hope I'm not bothering you, but I'm pretty tired after a long day and don't feel like cooking, so I was thinking about going out for a bite, and was wondering if you wanted to come?
She read over it a few times before hitting send. A few minutes later and her phone beeped, Ally quickly opened the message, pulling away when Tina tried to lean in and read over her shoulder.
Sender : Austin
Coffee shop girl! I totally get you, I've had a long day too. I was actually thinking about getting some chinese and chucking on a fun kids movie if you're interested? I know Joe would be excited to see you as well.
Ally bit her lip and smiled as she replied.
Sender : Ally
I would love to to join you both.
Tina gave a wee squeal, Ally had given up on hiding her phone and was allowing her flatmate to read the conversation. Her phone beeped with a reply quickly.
Sender : Austin
Awesome, I was kind of hoping you would, I've been tossing wether to ask you for the last hour, I didn't want to seem clingy after demanding your attention the last couple of days so I'm happy you asked.I'll be over in twenty to pick you up.
Tina held a hand to her heart, "He's so disgustingly adorable I can barely stomach it." Ally giggled and shoved her shoulder.
"You're so mean," She teased, "Right I'm going to get changed." She dashed to her room and dug her way through her clothing before deciding on her woolen, maroon dress with some black leggings and her brown ankle boots. She threw on a quick lick of makeup and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail. Deciding she was satisfied she nodded at her reflection in the mirror and headed back to the living room where the sofa was empty.
She could hear rustling from the kitchen and she went in to find Tina setting a pot of water to boil on the stove, and the ingrediants for spag bol on the bench top.
"How do I look?" Ally asked. Tina turned around to study her outfit, Ally gave a wee spin for effect. She nodded and smiled.
"You look good, He'll no doubt be blown away."
There was a knock at the door. "He's here!" She gasped, "Are you sure I look okay?"
Tina rolled her eyes, "Yes Ally you do, quit worrying and go answer the door, your prince charming is waiting." She grabbed the petite brunettes shoulders and spun her around giving her a wee shove in the right direction. Ally poked her tongue at her over her shoulder before going to the door. She took a breath to compose herself before she turned the handle and opened it. Austin stood before her wearing fitted black jeans, and a grey buttoned up shirt. He looked SO good. His hair looked slightly more styled than usual and Ally wondered if he'd tried to make an effort to look good for her. He really didn't need to try, he was pretty much perfection on legs.
"Hey you," He grinned his beautiful smile.
"Hey," She replied.
"You look gorgeous." Ally face blushed beet red and looked down at her boots. He chuckled. "So are you ready to go?"
Ally nodded, "Yeah just let me grab my coat." She stepped back in grabbing her red coat, scarf and hat from the rack, slipping her phone, wallet and keys in the pockets before calling out a quick goodbye to her flatmate.
Austin stepped back allowing her to go first, the gentleman as always. They made their way outside coming to a red pick up truck pulled up at the curb.
"Is this yours?" She asked as he quickly ran to unlock it.
"It's my uncles, he lets me borrow it sometimes while I'm saving for my own. He's spending the night at a friends so didn't need it."
"That's nice of him." Austin opened the door for her, holding out his hand to help her in. She thanked him as she slipped into her seat and clicked in her seatbelt. Always important to be safe. He came around and climbed in the drivers side and buckled up before heading off.
They drove to a small chinese place not far from her apartment and after a brief argument over who was going to pay for their meal, with Austin winning in the end, much to Ally's annoyance -although it was kind of cute- they finally made it to Austin's apartment.
He unlocked the door and stepped back for Ally to head in before him, she stepped into the cosey living room finding Joe snuggled up asleep on the sofa.
"There's my favourite furball!" She cooed rushing over to squat in front of him. Joe twitched an ear before he lifted his head and gave a big yawn, he looked up at Ally and started purring. "Aww who's a happy kitty." She scratched behind his ears and he tilted his little head happily.
Austin grinned at the pair as he headed into the kitchen with the bag of food and set to grabbing some plates and glasses of soda. "So what movie do you want to watch?" He asked while unscrewing the coke bottle lid.
Ally who was now on the sofa with Joe on her lap looked over at him. "Hmm, maybe something I haven't seen before, what have you got?"
Austin thought for a moment, "Well I've just got a new movie I haven't seen yet, called the good dinosaur. Have you seen it?" He made his way into the living room with their dinner set out on a tray and placed it on the coffee table infront of them.
"No I haven't" She shook her head,"Should we watch that one?"
"Sounds good to me," Austin walked over to his dvd rack and picked up the case he wanted, slipping the disc into the player before sitting over on the sofa. He looked down at the small space between them and tried to sneakily move right over next to her by 'looking around for the remote' Ally looked away and bit her lip fighting back a grin and blush. She knew he had done it on purpose and she didn't mind one bit.
"Oh there it is, right in front of me on the table." He gave a sly wee laugh as he picked it up and pressed play and they started to eat and watch the film.
They were a fair way into the movie, and had come to a sad scene. Ally was trying as hard as she could not to cry but she couldn't help letting a few tears fall as she watched the little dinosaur and boy talk about their lost family families. She didn't want him to see, feeling a little embarrased so she had let down her hair down and was using it to hide her face. Suddenly beside her she heard a loud sniff and she looked over to see he was in fact crying as well. Austin spotted Ally looking from the corner of his eye and quickly cleared his throat. "I uhh, I've got hayfever." He insisted.
"In Winter?" She teased. He nodded trying to act innocent.
They looked at eachother for a moment silently challenging the other before they burst out laughing.
"Okay fine, I cry in sad movies I'm a human so sue me!"
Ally giggled, "It's okay I'm crying too, it's so sad."
Austin slung his arm over her shoulders, "It's okay I'll try to fix you emotionally with a hug."
Ally blushed again, grinning as she snuggled into his side resting her head on his shoulder. "You're a real giver Austin, what would I do without you?" She felt his chest vibrate as she chuckled. They fell into silence again as the movie continued.
As the credits started playing neither of them moved from where they sat, both feeling quite comfortable and a little sleepy after their long days. At some point Austin had pulled a blanket from the back of the sofa and placed it over them, Ally had moved in closer, her head resting in the crook of his neck and his head resting on hers. His arm was wrapped around her, gently rubbing the exposed skin on her arm. It was very soothing and Ally could feel herself drifting. She should probably go home, but she couldn't find the motivation to move. And neither could he.
Joe jumped up curling into the spot where their laps met and went to sleep. Ally smiled at him for a moment before closing her eyes, listening to the sound of Austin's breathing becoming slower and heavier as she drifted off to sleep.
