Hey everyone! I'm back! The story isn't over yet!
I'm finding that I'm making these updates longer and longer. I guess to make up for all of the time that I spend NOT updating (sorry) I've been so ridiculously busy.
Actually, I really like this chapter. I think it's really nice, and I hope you'll like it, too.
In response to Kai: Hi! I don't think I've seen a review from you before, so thanks for the review! Thank you for all of the reassurance. I've definitely taken all of it into consideration and slow things down a bit without completely changing my the pace of the plot itself. Thank you thank you! I hope you like this chapter, too.
In response to Twinkshine2: Oh, no! I'm sorry you felt that way! Keep reading. I promise you'll feel better. And I'll try not to break your heart so much (but i can't promise anything at all lol)
Alright you guys! I won't keep you waiting anymore. Thanks again for all the feedback in the last chapter and trusting me to pull through with this story.
Drew leaned over the railing of his balcony, a beer in his hand. He tried to embrace the silence of the city, though it was never truly silent. He would rather listen to the speeding cars than acknowledge the thoughts that lived in his mind. His initial instinct was to avoid his room, as they would only be separated by cardboard walls, and though sometimes that seemed like too much of a barrier, tonight it was not enough. So he was on the balcony. Where he had been for hours. And now it was probably two in the morning.
His eyes blankly followed the passing cars below as his mind reeled with her. The smell of her skin. How soft she was. That look she gave him. The one that captured him in her deep blue eyes and convinced him that she could read his mind. That other look she gave him. The one that distracted him so fully that his thoughts devolved into absolutely nothing. The one that seeped into her voice, thickening it with something he had to actively fight to resist. He tipped the bottle back and allowed the cold mouth of the glass to erase the memory of her lips.
He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. This wasn't normal. He shouldn't be so tangled in the essence of her. They've had maybe less than ten conversations. He hadn't even known her for a month. This didn't happen to people. He knew that. But he also knew that it was happening to them.
Drew heard the front door of the apartment open, then promptly close. Probably Gary. He heard the sounds of keys jingling, then crashing as they hit the counter. He heard footsteps retreat in the direction of Gary's room before slowing and stopping completely.
"What's…" came Gary's wary voice. "What's up, man?"
He joined him on the balcony, though Drew refused to turn around to face him. He said nothing in response.
Gary accepted his roommate's silence as a valid answer and moved to lean next to him on the railing.
Drew quietly handed him his beer, and Gary took it, lifting the bottle to his lips and taking a swig. He rested his arm on the railing for a bit before taking another drink and handing it back to Drew.
Drew took it and stared down at the concrete steps below them. He could see where he stood with her hours before.
"How long have you been out here?" Gary asked.
Drew shrugged, his gaze still locked onto the street. "A couple minutes."
"I don't know why I thought it was hours," Gary said, beckoning for the bottle.
Drew took a swig before passing the half empty bottle to his roommate. "Yeah, I don't know."
Seconds passed before Gary spoke. "I thought you had work tomorrow."
"I do," Drew said.
He saw Gary nod in his periphery.
The two watched as the stoplight below turned green and the cars purred to life. They continued down the street in a line of delayed elongation.
"Is this about Cottontail?" Gary asked before taking a sip of the beer. He attempted to give Drew the bottle back, but he declined.
Drew smirked briefly at the nickname before his thoughts erased the slight grin on his face. "Yeah," he admitted.
Gary said nothing. He waited patiently for Drew to explain the problem. Drew knew that if he chose not to talk about it at all, Gary would still stand with him in comfortable silence. "Talking" was something that neither of them were good at.
"She told me that she's scared," Drew finally said.
"Of what?" Gary asked, immediately skeptical.
"She said that I'd break her heart," Drew mumbled. Gary said nothing, so he continued speaking. "I didn't even know I had her heart. But she said I'd break it."
Gary turned to face Drew completely. "Why?"
"Because I'm moving," Drew said plainly. He watched the light below turn yellow, then red.
Gary stared at him, then turned to look back out at the urban view before them. He drank from the bottle before lowering it and swirling the remaining contents in the glass briefly.
"She kind of has a point," he said. He cleared his throat slightly. "All your shit is in boxes."
"I know—"
"Alright, so…" Gary trailed off, shrugging. "You can't really blame her. For being scared like that."
"I don't," Drew said. He attempted to wedge his foot in the spaces of the railing in front of him. "It's just a shitty situation."
Gary emptied the beer bottle and rested his arm against the railing, letting the glass hang over the edge.
"Does she…" Gary started, "want to stay friends?"
"She wants to be neighbors," Drew said.
"What the fuck does that mean?"
Drew shook his head and shrugged, defeated. He'd been trying to figure that out himself.
"Being friends and being neighbors isn't mutually exclusive," Gary stated.
"I know."
"Are you just never going to talk again?"
Drew shifted his standing position and sighed, squinting up at the moon. "I don't know." He paused, then looked down at his shoes. "She told me she wants me to figure things out."
Gary shook his head and stared down at the pavement. "That's shitty, too."
"I know."
Gary leaned back from the railing and patted Drew on the back. "Don't think about it too much, man. Whatever happens happens."
"Thanks."
Gary turned around to reenter the apartment. "And go to bed," he said without looking back. He stepped over the threshold and made his way to his room. His voice echoed through the apartment and out the open door of the balcony. "You better not be out there in five minutes."
Drew chuckled. "Alright, man."
He listened as the door to Gary's bedroom creaked open and swiftly closed.
Gary was a logical person and favored realism over optimism. He'd always tell Drew the truth rather than what Gary thought he wanted to hear. And that was usually what Drew needed. He did feel a lot better. It was therapeutic to voice his thoughts out loud, even if his problems weren't entirely solved.
Drew wondered what had caused May to say that to him at all. It came out of absolutely nowhere. Or maybe she had warned him before, with her promise of everything being a one-time-thing.
He sighed. But even after she told him she wanted to stop, she wholeheartedly melted into their kiss. He remembered the sensation of her long, dainty fingers on the back of his neck, weaving their way through his hair. He remembered the light, airy sound of the sighs he drew from her lips every fucking time he kissed her.
Those sighs. They drove him absolutely crazy and threatened his self-control. Did he have to do something specific to trigger them? Did she do that whenever she was kissed by anyone, or was it exclusive to him? Drew knew she was too stubborn to do it when he asked her to, so his only option was to make it happen involuntarily. He longed to experiment. He knew he could easily make it happen more than ten times, but now he would never get the opportunity.
Drew ran his hands through his hair and thought about their conversations. The way she leaned forward when she laughed. How he could never know what she would possibly say next. How she would look up at him through her long eyelashes and say something so softly that it would lull him to unresponsive silence.
"Go the fuck to sleep, Drew!" called Gary's voice from inside the apartment.
Drew laughed out loud at the unexpected interruption of his thoughts.
He entered the apartment and closed the door behind him. "Alright. Goodnight, man."
Drew turned off his alarm as it rang at exactly 5:30 and groaned, sitting up slowly. Gary was right. He should have gone to bed earlier.
Shrugging from his blankets, he made his way to the shower, allowing the hot water to coax the sleep out of his muscles. He ran his hands through his soaking hair and smirked; he couldn't believe she thought it was dyed. What kind of person would dye their hair permanently green? Drew let the water heat until it was borderline scalding before stepping out of the shower. His right hand ran down his face, clearing the dripping water from his eyes.
He wrapped himself in a towel and entered the dark hallway of the apartment. He preferred the apartment to look like this. Dark before the dawn. Quiet before the rush hour. Repaved.
Then there were voices. Faint voices coming from the direction of his room. He entered the space, closed the door softly behind him, and listened.
"I don't want to talk about it," said May's muffled voice.
Drew immediately felt like he was trespassing. But he would be able to hear them throughout the apartment, anyway. And he told May about the patented paper-thin walls earlier.
"May," another voice replied softly. It must have been Leaf. "You didn't want to talk about it yesterday."
"I still don't."
"Why not?"
There was a break in conversation.
"May. It's 6 am. He's probably not even awake."
Another slight pause.
"I feel like he is," said May's quiet voice.
Drew smirked and used the towel to ruffle his hair before tossing it on a chair. When the entire building was quiet, it sounded like they were practically in the same room.
He heard May's bed creak and assumed that someone moved.
"Okay," Leaf said. "I'm sorry."
"I just didn't know what else to do."
"I know."
"Do you think he hates me?" May asked timidly.
Drew had to physically stop himself from scoffing. She couldn't be serious.
"May—"
"You're right," May admitted. "I'm being ridiculous."
Leaf laughed. "As usual."
May joined in with her trademark giggle. "What else is new, right?"
Drew grabbed a pressed dress shirt from a hanger in his closet and smiled at their girlish laughter.
"Typical May," Leaf joked.
"Just typical May!" May echoed.
Drew rolled his eyes and threw the shirt around his shoulders, sticking his arms through the sleeves and adjusting the collar.
Their hushed giggles quieted to silence and it once again felt like six in the morning. The only light in the room came from the streetlamp outside his window. Drew sat on the edge of his bed and stuck his socked feet into the legs of his pants.
He heard May sigh through the wall.
"He's so pretty, Leaf."
Drew paused, and blinked, his eyes emptily roaming his darkened room.
"I know."
"I should've moved here sooner," May said tiredly. "Like months ago—"
"May," Leaf interjected. "You didn't know—"
"I know," she replied. "But I wish I did."
Everything was suddenly silent. Drew exhaled and ran his hand through his hair. If she moved here months ago, it wouldn't have mattered; he'd been planning to leave the building for a while. Every potential sublet just fell through somehow.
"Come on," Leaf said enthusiastically, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "Help me get my stuff together."
Drew listened as May's bed creaked. He could hear the struggle of movement in May's voice.
"Why is your flight so early, Leaf?"
The walls groaned from the force of May's bedroom door opening. Leaf's voice sounded increasingly distant.
"It was the best fare."
"But it's not fare," May said, giggles seeping into her voice, "to me—"
"May—"
"When your flight is this early—"
"May, I can't believe you said that."
Their conversation faded as they ventured further away from May's bedroom. Drew could hear a faint apology on May's behalf before they were entirely out of earshot. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to prevent his neighbor's muffled words from clouding his thoughts even further, but it was too late. She'd taken up residency with no intention of leaving.
Drew fastened a belt around his waist and prepared himself for the very long day ahead of him.
May exited the building and embraced the fresh, spring weather. In the days after Drew's absence and Leaf's departure, she'd gotten used to silence of her apartment. Yet again. She'd also mastered the art of avoiding Drew in the hallway, which was something she'd actually planned on doing since the day she moved in. Now she had a reason.
May watched her feet as she jogged down the front steps of the building. The air felt soothing against her bare arms. She looked up when she reached the plateau, and she froze immediately. A head full of green was ascending the steps in front of her, his eyes aimed at his feet as he stepped as well.
Her peace of mind suddenly vanished. There was nothing she could do. She couldn't turn around; he would know she was avoiding him because she had to have come from the building. They also lived on the same floor, and he would have to follow her up another flight of stairs.
She also couldn't move forward and walk past him without saying anything, so she stood still.
Before her mind could reel any further, she watched him lift his head as he reached the plateau. He placed one foot onto the leveled stairs and stopped immediately. His green eyes clung to her, widening slightly. He wore a white dress shirt and slacks. His shoes were polished.
The seconds of pure silence that lasted between them felt like an eternity. The spring air dusted her cheeks, and chirping birds were suddenly audible. Someone walked past May on the stairs and continued on to pass Drew.
May found herself trying to remember the sound of his voice before he spoke. She tried to keep herself from unearthing what she spent the past three days burying.
"Hey," he said, his voice lightly coated with surprise. He placed his other foot on the plateau of the steps and stood before her, a noticeable distance between them.
The only thing May could concentrate on was how smooth that simple word sounded to her. His voice reverberated in her ears and echoed in the chambers of her mind.
He still looked absolutely beautiful. The curve of his shoulders. The sculpture of his arms. She took all of this in without breaking eye contact with him.
Were his eyes always that color? They were without a doubt the purest green she'd ever seen in her entire life.
It was then that she realized she still hadn't said anything back to him. She began her delayed reply right when he began asking her a question.
"Hey—"
"How is, um—?"
Drew stopped short of finishing his question. She could feel his gaze growing soft. He seemed distracted.
She drummed her fingers against her spandex-covered thigh and tried to prevent the fresh memories of his lips and hands and breath from flooding her mind.
She nodded when she realized he had no intention of finishing his question.
"Oh!" she said. "Good!"
"That's good," he replied.
"Yeah, it's really good."
Drew nodded slowly, his lidded eyes never leaving her face. His nod quickly turned into a slight shaking of the head, a slow smirk covering his lips.
"I have no idea what we're talking about," he admitted, his voice low.
May could feel a smile light up her face. "Neither do I."
She giggled and doubled over slightly, pressing against the barrier they had formed between them. Drew chuckled at her laughter, running a hand through his hair. He brushed at his nose and May looked back up to meet his eyes. She watched as his gaze bounced across her facial features before landing on her lips for half a second.
He suddenly looked down the street at nothing in particular, his hand in his hair. "So, uh, I was about to get something to eat—" he met her eyes and shrugged. "—if you wanted to come with."
May frowned slightly, her mind and heart immediately at war.
"Where were you going?" she wondered.
"Just some place around the corner."
May crossed her arms and averted her eyes. "I don't know."
"They only let you in if you're neighbors," Drew said. May looked back up at him, skeptical. "Just neighbors," he continued.
"Just neighbors?" she asked.
He nodded slowly. "Just neighbors."
"So, I couldn't go with Leaf?"
"No."
May tried to see the thoughts that lay behind his eyes. "And… we couldn't go if we were dating."
"Nope. Definitely not."
She smiled slyly at him, and a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"What about roommates?"
Drew furrowed his eyebrows. "See, that's really debatable."
He looked over his shoulder at a person ascending the steps and moved closer to the concrete railing in order to allow them space to pass through. He tapped May's side lightly so she would do the same. She watched as he leaned against the concrete with his elbow, her side still burning from his touch.
"That's actually a really hot topic right now," he continued. "You probably haven't heard of it because you're so new."
"Right," May said, leaning on the concrete as well. "Because I just moved in."
"Exactly."
The look on his face was so soft and serene when he spoke with her. She could feel that nothing between them had changed.
"Do you ever go with Gary?" she asked.
"No," he said. "We try to stay out of trouble." He grinned. "It's really controversial."
"Of course," May agreed, smiling up at him.
"Really touchy subject."
"I can tell."
She paused before speaking again.
"I feel like that's really bad for business," she said, cocking her head to the side.
His gaze followed the hair that trailed down her shoulder before returning to her eyes. "Probably."
"That's such a weird policy."
He smirked. "I don't make the rules."
She blinked slowly, her smile spreading further across her lips. "Really."
"Yeah, really," Drew said. He lifted an eyebrow when she didn't respond. "You don't believe me?"
"No, I just—" She cleared her throat and pursed her lips playfully.
"You think I'd make that up?" he mumbled.
May shook her head aggressively. "No! No, it's just—" she averted her eyes and shrugged, "I'd have to go back upstairs and change."
Drew's eyes briefly scanned her racerback top and leggings. "You look…" May could tell he was struggling to find a neighborly term. "Fine."
"Yeah?"
Drew nodded slowly. "So do you wanna go?"
May gave in to the demands of her heart, a smile gradually crossing her face. "Yeah. Since it won't be controversial or anything."
"Definitely not," Drew agreed, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning around to face the street.
May followed him down the steps and turned left when she reached the sidewalk. Drew walked on the right side of her, keeping her pace. She looked up at him quickly before looking at the path in front of her. It was weird going anywhere with him outside of the apartment. It was as if he didn't exist outside of the building.
"How far away is this place?" May asked.
"It's the next block over."
"Oh," she said. "What's it called?"
"Jenny's."
May nodded. She admired the little trees lining the sidewalk that were enclosed with tiny metal barriers.
"It's like a café-diner fusion," Drew explained.
May giggled slightly. "That's my favorite kind of fusion."
Drew laughed next to her in surprise, looking over at her as they walked.
She could hear the smile in his voice. "Café-diner fusion?"
"Yeah," she said, smiling. "Forget Tex-Mex."
He laughed out loud again. It was different from the whispery chuckles he usually gave, but she liked this laugh just as much.
"Even Asian-fusion?" he asked.
They reached the corner of the street and waited for the crosswalk to turn in their favor.
"Nothing can beat café-diner," May said.
He shook his head in amusement and stepped onto the asphalt of the street after the light changed. "Whatever you say, Maple."
They crossed the street with a crowd of people, and May stood closer to him so as to not get separated. He walked slightly behind her, their arms almost overlapping.
After reaching the sidewalk she asked him a question.
"So, who do you usually go with?" She looked up at him, and he briefly returned her gaze. The color of his eyes felt like home.
"To Jenny's?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said. She scanned the names of the businesses lining the sidewalk to find the one they were going to. "Since it's Neighbor's-Only."
"Oh," Drew said. "I go with that guy down the hall."
May giggled and leaned into him slightly. "What's his name?"
Drew shrugged. "We're not on a first-name basis."
"You eat with him and you're not on a first-name basis."
They approached the end of the block, and large, navy letters spelling "Jenny's" extended from the top of the business on the corner. They passed large glass windows with sleek, metal framing, and Drew reached passed May to open the door for her.
"We weren't on a first-name basis for a while," he recalled as she entered the building.
"Yeah," she said. She felt him follow closely behind her into the café. "For, like, a day."
"Hi!" the hostess greeted them. "How many?"
"Two," Drew said definitively.
Her heart fluttered at that simple word. How much it implied, but couldn't hold.
They followed the hostess to a booth, at May's suggestion, and sat across from each other. May stared at Drew's collar, her hands folded on the table in front of her. His top button was opened lazily, and his collarbone peaked out from the material. She could feel him staring back at her, memorizing what she looked like in the daylight of the café rather than the artificial lighting of the apartment. The place buzzed with conversation around them, though they sat in silence.
Then, May was hit with a sudden realization, her heart sinking to her stomach and her eyes growing wide. Drew's eyes widened slightly as well, his eyebrows wrinkling with concern.
"What?" he asked her.
"I forgot my wallet," she said.
He pinched the bridge of his nose to hide his smile. "Why did you wait until we sat down to remember that?"
"I don't know," she whispered, clearly panicked.
"I'll cover you," he said, shrugging. "It's no big deal."
"Really?"
"Yeah," he said. He met her eyes. "Neighbors do that, right?"
May searched his eyes before staring at the table. "Yeah."
Glasses of water were placed before them, and she looked up to thank the waitress. Drew requested more time to look over the menu, and the waitress acquiesced, leaving them alone once again.
May stared at her hands, afraid to look him in the eyes. She'd spent the past couple of days convincing herself that they weren't as beautiful as she'd remembered. And so far, she was horribly wrong.
To break the stagnant silence, May cleared her throat politely.
"How's the search coming along?" she asked.
Drew looked up from his menu, his eyes slightly wide with surprise from her unexpected question. Then he casually returned to scanning the paper menu. "Good," he said.
"That's good."
"Yeah," he said. He paused before a slow smirk graced his features. "But then they ask about how the neighbors are, and," he shrugged, "I just have to tell the truth."
May frowned, watching as he closed the menu and placed it on the table.
"What are you getting?" Drew asked.
"Wait—" May said.
"You didn't even look at your menu."
"Drew."
He tried to stop himself from smiling, to no avail. "What?"
"What did you tell them about your neighbors?" she asked.
He was clearly enjoying how antsy she was getting. Amusement was plastered all over his face. "Pick something, and I'll let you know."
She clenched her jaw and glared at him. "Fries."
Drew looked to his left and watched as the waitress approached them. He had to see her coming. He placed their order, and apparently, he'd opted for fries, too.
After she left with their menus, May returned her heated gaze to Drew, who was grinning at her smugly. His eyes were so attractively smoldering that she felt herself being captured.
"So about your neighbors," she mumbled, her hands clasped in her lap.
"Oh," he said. "Right."
Drew said nothing more, opting instead to watch her simmer in the silent anticipation. May squirmed slightly, and his grin widened.
"What do you tell them?" May said through clenched teeth.
He seemed satisfied at her annoyance and began to explain. "Well," he said, his voice hushed in a completely sweltering way, "that the guy down the hall is really nice."
May became especially attentive to how long his eyelashes looked against his cheeks when he looked down. He suddenly glanced up to meet her eyes and she felt her heart jolt unexpectedly.
"But the girl next door?" he said. May could swear that every other shade of green paled in comparison to Drew's eyes. "Different story."
May had to physically stop herself from glancing down at his lips. "You don't think I'm nice?" She could hear her emotions seeping into her voice.
She could tell that he heard it, too, because he took a few seconds to respond. She watched him clench his jaw. "No, I just…" he shrugged slightly without breaking eye contact, "said they'd see you in a towel." He blinked slowly. "Once or twice."
May said nothing, afraid they'd fall back into their old habits. All she wanted was to be alone with him somewhere. Immediately. And see if he could get her to sigh to ten.
Drew must have been thinking the same thing, because he suddenly broke into a smile.
"They're going to kick us out," he said.
She stared at the table and ran her hands in her hair in an attempt to alleviate some of the steam rising in her cheeks. "Neighbors only," she said.
"Yeah."
Their conversation came to a brief pause before Drew's exasperated voice broke the silence.
"You can't keep looking at me like that," he said.
May looked up from the table to see that Drew was staring out the window beside them, a hand in his hair. The sunlight caught his eyes, slightly lightening the color.
"Like what?" she asked.
She watched him process her question, his eyebrows furrowed. "Like you want me to—"
Drew stopped speaking and exhaled. He met her eyes and relaxed noticeably. He watched her face, his eyes briefly passing over her lips. "You're killing me, Maple."
"You're killing me," the brunette said softly.
He raised his eyebrows, his hands still in his hair, his elbow still resting on the table between them. "I'm killing you?"
"Yes," she said, a sweet smile forming on her lips.
Drew smiled back at her so softly that she felt him utterly recapture her heart. They sat in silence and May let her eyes travel across the slopes and contours of his cheeks. She concentrated on the strands of hair hanging in his face. How easily his eyes turned from sweltering to absolutely comforting.
Drew suddenly moved his hand to brush his nose, hiding his smile. He broke eye contact briefly and adjusted his seating position in the booth across from her. His foot briefly touched hers beneath the table.
"They're going to kick us out," he said again.
"They're definitely going to kick us out," she agreed, giggling.
Drew resorted to his signature airy chuckles, leaning his elbow on the table to cover his face with his fist.
The waitress returned and placed a plate of fries between the two of them, and her green-haired neighbor lifted up his head to address her, a smile still lingering on his lips.
"Can I do anything else for you?" she asked politely.
Drew turned to look at May, an eyebrow raised. "Are you sure this is all you want?"
May, on any other day, would've ordered much more, but she politely declined.
"That'll do it," Drew said to the waitress. "Thanks."
"Alright!" she said happily. "Let me know if you need anything else."
May watched her walk away before slyly returning her gaze to Drew.
"Hi," he said, a smirk overtaking his lips.
"Hi," May replied. She looked down at the plate of fries in front of them before meeting his eyes once again. "Why did you invite me here?"
Drew reached for a fry and shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you."
He bit the fry and May reached for one herself.
"Did you miss me?" she asked.
His face was entirely passive.
"Yeah," he said nonchalantly between chews.
May felt her heart warm entirely, a soft grin reaching her eyes. She watched as his stoic expression cracked slightly before collapsing into a smile, and he broke eye contact again.
"May, I swear to God—" he said, entirely exasperated.
"I'm sorry," she said, feeling heat reach the tips of her ears.
Drew stared at the table. "You're making this so much harder than it needs to be."
"I know! I'm sorry," she said, laughing.
He rubbed at his browline, a grin staining his lips. "Control yourself. Jesus."
"Alright," she said, her voice raising slightly. "Okay."
"Okay."
He looked up at her again, his composure regained.
She tossed the fry into her mouth, her face tense with determination.
"How's the job search coming?" he asked her, grabbing a few more fries.
May sighed and lifted the glass of water to her lips. "I stopped looking actually."
Drew frowned. "Why?"
May shrugged, disheartened. She hadn't heard back from a single place that she'd contacted. And she didn't think she was ever going to.
"I think I can help you out," Drew said.
The brunette lit up immediately and saw something spark in Drew's eyes as well. "Really?"
"Yeah," he said. "My boss is looking for a pretty, young woman to be his secretary. You know, be the face of the company—"
May locked eyes with him, smiling knowingly. She entirely disregarded the rest of his sentence. "Did you just call me pretty?"
Drew's eyes widened slightly, and he seemed to realize his mistake. "What?"
Her smirk grew. "You just called me pretty."
Drew reached for fries to break the intense eye contact. "No, I didn't."
May sat up straighter in the booth and leaned forward, her forearms resting against the table. "You said your boss was looking for a pretty girl."
Drew raised his eyebrows and pointed the fries at her. "I said pretty young."
"No—"
"Pretty young, Maple."
May pursed her lips to prevent from laughing and Drew challenged her with a playful smirk.
"Will you do it?" he asked. "I think you'd fit. You're pretty young."
She rolled her eyes and used her finger to press circles in the condensation on her glass of water. "I don't think I want to just be a secretary."
"I know you don't," Drew's voice said softly, reassuring her.
She drew little half circles underneath the dots, creating smiley faces.
"But for now?" His voice begged her to make eye contact with him and she acquiesced. "I think it's worth a try."
She sighed, but said nothing, her focus shifting between his eyes.
"Promise me you'll at least come with me to the office tomorrow," he said.
May could see how much he wanted to help her. She could see the plea in his eyes.
"Okay," she said quietly.
"Alright," Drew said, taking a drink of his water.
May bit her lip and pulled out a fry that was buried deeply in the pile in front of them. "I guess I'll see you again tomorrow morning."
"Yeah," Drew said, running his hand through his hair. "I guess you will."
Alright alright alright. You guys know the drill! Let me know all of your thoughts and feelings.
Hopefully I update before the end of December, because I'm personally not a fan of the whole month-between-updates thing. I need to stop doing that lol
Again, thanks for sticking with me through this. It's going to be a fun ride.