Author's note: Well don't say I don't listen to you. here you go, the first
of four (that's right FOUR new chapters) now if you want to pace yourself
you can, use it to build suspense, but so many people wanted me to post it
all so I am. This will most likely be my last post until February 2004 so
have a Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate, for me it's
Christmas) and a great and creative new year.
Oh and one more thing my writing has been slipping, I think I'm tired so if my chapters seem to be getting lame, sorry but I'll try to fix that next year. K I'm done, have fun!!!!
The mall was alive with the presence of hurried shoppers, like water shooting out the closed off end of a hose, people were exploding out of the corridors, into sporting stores, boutiques, game worlds and cheap restaurants. The busiest shoved past leisurely shoppers with a vengeance as they gave lists of demands on their mobile phones, while the stressed mothers dragged along whiny kids desperate for the latest toy or candy craze. Young couples waltzed up and down corridors oblivious to the utter chaos around them, whispering plans of romance, sultry suggestions, or just plain, sweet, nothings. Many people went by unnoticed to storekeepers, just a wash of colours and heights to the bored attendants. It was hardly an eventful Tuesday evening at the mall for one such shopkeeper.
One couple, he did notice, not exactly blended into the background, but nothing of note either walked the corridors slowly, pausing here and there to look at this or that. There was a young woman, early to mid-twenties at the most, laughing occasionally at the peculiar behaviour of her ambiguous companion. She wasn't anything special to look at, average at most, not too bad, but nothing spectacular either, wearing jeans visibly worn and a plain, coloured T-shirt. She would stand and chuckle slightly at the man, dressed in a baggy pair of jeans a hooded, black sweater (jumper, hoody, whatever!) wearing a stripped, knitted beanie and a pair of old sunglasses, as he would examine a toaster, or vacuum or computer with the utmost care and attention. He would then realize the woman was laughing at him stand up in an abrupt and almost offended way, she would make what looked like an apology and then he would shrug and they would continue on to the next store, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, as if all the arguments of the past didn't matter. The shopkeeper chuckled at the young couple, he had known what it was like to be young and in love once, as this couple so obviously was, but his had ended badly. He hoped their luck was better.
The shopkeepers attention was turned back to the store as another young man, this time in the later twenties came up to his desk in a busy and hurried matter. He was handsome but the shopkeeper could tell that his personality left something to be desired, he was too rushed and impatient, he needed to relax a little, so the shopkeeper decided to play a little game.
"Good day sir!" the shopkeeper said cheerfully.
"It's actually more like night, man," the man said in an annoyed tone.
This was going to be fun. "Sir, are you aware of our promotional offer this month," The old shopkeeper said sweetly yet again.
"Umm, I really don't have time for that right now I'm trying to find someone," the tone of the man became more abrupt and the shopkeeper knew that he was pushing a button.
That only made his resolve deeper. "Sir it really is a fantastic promotion, you give us your mailing address and we send you a catalogue of our store every month, and for the first three months you receive a twenty-five dollar gift certificate absolutely free!" The shopkeeper laid the cheesy cheerfulness on thick.
"Look I really don't have time for this can you just ring through my purchase?" the man began to frantically look out at the store, as if making sure someone was there.
"They may come in while you're doing this sir, the people you're looking for, this is quite a popular stop, and it is a wonderful offer." The shopkeeper didn't budge, he knew he scoring big time on the impatient young man.
"Ok, if I sign up for your little deal will you PLEASE just ring my purchase through and let me leave!" The man was becoming frantic, the shopkeeper decided to let him go.
"Ok, sir I'm going to need your name and mailing address," the shopkeeper continued as he slowly reached back and grabbed a pen and random piece of paper.
"Bradford Shanigan," the man said grumpily.
"Now is that an R or just A-D, after the B?" the shopkeeper teased.
"Oh, for the. Let me do it," the grumpy 'Bradford' said.
"If you wish sir, we're only here to please," The shopkeeper said as he rang the man's purchase through.
"Yeah, I'm so sure," 'Bradford' said sarcastically.
"You know sir, you should really try and relax sometimes, take time to enjoy what's around you. You may find that it improves your personality." The shopkeeper said bluntly, as he handed 'Bradford' his things.
"Yeah, whatever, thanks," 'Bradford' said as he bolted out of the store and took off down the same direction the young couple had taken.
The shopkeeper chuckled slightly as he wadded up the paper and threw it into the rubbish bin; the young man had brought it on himself. He looked once to see if the funny couple was around, but they had left. He sighed while trying to work out why there couldn't be more people like those two coming into his store.
*****
Elizabeth chuckled at Will again as he studied a food processor in the window of a department store. Though he was apprehensive at first Will had quickly became engrossed in the technology of the twenty-first century. For the past hour he had done nothing but explore, inspect and ask questions over every foreign thing he saw, and in a mall with over three hundred and fifty-four shops that was quite a bit. Elizabeth was awed by his sheer enthusiasm and desire to learn, it was amazing. It was refreshing.
"Hey techno boy," Elizabeth called to him before he could cut off any of the chestnut locks which hung dangerously close to the demonstrating julienne attachment. "I think we'd better get what we came here for," she said with a smile.
Will perked to attention almost immediately. "Oh, yes of course Elizabeth, it is just that this is all so."
"Amazing, incredible, advanced, pick one I've heard them all from you today," she said as she grabbed his arm and lead him into the nearest trend setting clothing boutique. She was amazed at how relaxed he'd become now that they were out in the open, learning more about her world and about each other.
"So why do I need new clothes?" Will asked as Elizabeth began looking through clothing racks in the men's section, trying to find something befitting a handsome, dashing pirate.
"Because you won't get into the dance club wearing jeans and a sweater," Elizabeth replied. "And I told you not to talk too much, people recognize your voice you know, we're trying to keep a low profile," she finished as she held up a stripped, button-up shirt, decided it wasn't his colour and put it back.
"Right, and I think I'll need a bigger size than that," Will said as Elizabeth held up a tiny paisley patterned vest.
This wasn't easy; Elizabeth had never shopped for a man before. She decided the best course of action would be to try and get a second opinion so she took Will over to the counter and waited patiently for an attendant to finish. It took so long that Elizabeth had to clear her throat rather loudly in order to get her attention.
The attendant turned around and Elizabeth disliked her immediately, she was wearing the latest styles, pristine and manicured with perfectly placed hair, a gorgeous and no doubt expensive body and a smile (more of a sneer actually) that told the world she was going to get anything she wanted. Her eyes turned down as she looked at Elizabeth's frumpy T-shirt and jeans, giving off an instant air of disapproval which was palpable to both her and Will.
"Are you purchasing something?" The attendant said in a voice that sounded more hostile than customer service oriented.
Elizabeth balked immediately, not expecting such an openly demeaning response. "Umm. me and my friend were looking for a second opinion. You see there's this dance and. Umm," Elizabeth couldn't help it; she became all tongue-tied around snooty people like the store attendant.
The attendant was unimpressed. "You may want to check our sales rack, our seasonal wear may be a little out of your price range," she said with a smile that was more condescending than considerate.
Elizabeth understood the full meaning of that comment, and couldn't believe that the snooty attendant would have the audacity to say such things.
"I assure you, madam that I am financially capable of purchasing anything that I want," was the best come back that Elizabeth could come up with. She'd had enough of this and she grabbed Will's arm and turned him away from the counter.
"Come on," Elizabeth said rather loudly, not caring about conspicuousness at the moment. "I was going to ask for help, but I suppose her precious time is too valuable to waste on simpletons like us," Elizabeth said as she and Will began to walk away. She hated people like that! All judgemental and up themselves, this was not the side of her time she wanted Will to see.
She was shocked at the response she heard from the store attendant. "What amazes me more is how a simpleton like you could wind up with such an obviously above average boyfriend. What did you pay him to come along with you to make you feel better about your average looks and obviously horrible dress sense?" came the snooty accusation from behind.
Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks, insulting her was one thing, ok sure it hurt when you were called simple, average and told you had a horrible dress sense, but Elizabeth had always known that she had never been all that spectacular. It was the dig at Will's honour that really ticked her off. In her mind, she formulated the single greatest comeback she had ever thought of and prepared to do damage.
But she never got her chance as Will broke out of her grasp whirled around, in the process letting his sunglasses slip slightly, marched right up to the attendant and started laying into her.
"Why you conceded, pompous, arrogant fool! How dare you insult Elizabeth in such a way!" Will said with a burning fiery passion that left Elizabeth, the attendant, and the rest of the store speechless. "If you could take a short pause from your selfish vanity, you would realise that a woman like Elizabeth is with me because her beauty is so all encompassing that it radiates from her like heat from a blazing fire! It shines from her like the light of a candle pierces the darkness and gives such energy that it out powers the sun! To people with your eyes, with those who are too ignorant to look past the surface of an individual because of all the character flaws within themselves, it may be hard to recognise. But rest assured, that to me Elizabeth's beauty is as plain as morning daylight." Will turned back to Elizabeth, who was still speechless, and frozen in shock. The whole store stood still for what seemed like forever until one individual was brave enough to speak.
"How dreadful, you have been behaving Sabrina!" the store manager yelled as she rushed from behind the counter and ran up to Will and Elizabeth.
"What?" came the response from all three parties involved in the argument.
"You must excuse, her sir. She's new and arrogant as anything; I only keep her around because she knows so much about fashion. You must not let her poor attitude reflect the image of our store," she said, placing all of her focus on Will while Elizabeth stood off to the side.
"What she did was atrocious," came Will's reply as he turned again and tried to leave the store. The manager would have none of it.
"Umm. you and your lady friend said you were looking for clothes for a dance! Let the store pick you out an outfit free of charge, as a sign of apology!" the store manager was practically begging Will to reconsider and Elizabeth couldn't believe that they had taken his rebuke of the attendant so seriously. None the less if they wanted to apologize with free merchandise, Elizabeth wasn't one to decline.
"I don't think." Will began.
"That one outfit will do," Elizabeth cut in, handing Will his dropped sunglasses.
"What, your serious?" Will was bewildered that Elizabeth would except a peace offering from such lowly people.
"Absolutely, I believe in forgiveness," Elizabeth said with a smile. "It would be a shame after all to pass up all these lovely clothes."
"Well in that case Elizabeth gets two outfits as well," Will said defiantly.
"Two outfits!" Sabrina chocked out before the store manager could silence her with an icy glare.
"Yes, two," Will said smugly.
"I only need one," Elizabeth said, not wanting to push her luck. She was impressed with Will, but didn't know how long his gentlemanly ways would work against the snooty attendants.
"One then," corrected Will. "Do we have an accord?" he asked smugly to the shop attendant and manager.
"It would be our pleasure to serve you. both," the manager said as she smiled up at Will and then half smiled/sneered at Elizabeth. "Right this way."
The Manager led them to a secluded change room with a large lounge chair and a wall entirely filled with mirrors. A couple of small booths were lined up each with mirrors and dance music was playing in the background.
"I hope you find this comfortable, now just sit tight while we find something for the two of you." Elizabeth noticed that the manager kept looking at Will's sunglasses, as if trying to catch a glimpse of something in their reflection. "Would you mind taking your sunglasses off sir? I need to check the colour of your eyes in order to bring out the best in your features," the manager said in a strange tone.
That was a little too much to expose for Elizabeth's comfort.
"His eyes are a deep chocolate brown, and there very sensitive to light, so he'll be keeping the glasses on, thanks," Elizabeth said snarkily as she sat down.
The manager glared at her and then left the room.
"Man I hate retail shopping," Elizabeth sighed as soon as the manager rounded the corner.
"Do not listen to a word those women say Elizabeth, not ever," Will said in a serious tone.
Elizabeth chuckled lightly at Will's concern.
"Don't worry Will, I've been dealing with their judgements long before today and I'll deal with them long after. People like me just have to get used to that." Elizabeth sighed and started to play with her shoelaces, she had forgotten how much she hated shopping.
"I don't understand what you mean by, 'people like you'," Will asked in sincerity.
Elizabeth wasn't in the mood to explain it to him it was a sensitive subject. "Oh come on Will! When people like you enter a room, people stop and take notice, women mostly. I mean, when you enter the room it's like all my oxygen is sucked out and I can't breathe anymore because you look so good. I just wasn't born like that, I can't make people fall in love with me at first glance like you can," Elizabeth said dreamily.
Then she paused. had she just said that out loud?
It seemed as though she had, because Will was starting to get a lot closer.
"I never knew you felt that way," he said softly.
Elizabeth freaked immediately. "I don't umm. I mean I did, might have, before when you. umm. at first before you came and then." This was not smart, admitting to rebound guy that you thought he was hot and still might is not smart when he has kiss-happy lips and you have a deadline to meet.
Nonetheless, Will was getting closer.
Oh and one more thing my writing has been slipping, I think I'm tired so if my chapters seem to be getting lame, sorry but I'll try to fix that next year. K I'm done, have fun!!!!
The mall was alive with the presence of hurried shoppers, like water shooting out the closed off end of a hose, people were exploding out of the corridors, into sporting stores, boutiques, game worlds and cheap restaurants. The busiest shoved past leisurely shoppers with a vengeance as they gave lists of demands on their mobile phones, while the stressed mothers dragged along whiny kids desperate for the latest toy or candy craze. Young couples waltzed up and down corridors oblivious to the utter chaos around them, whispering plans of romance, sultry suggestions, or just plain, sweet, nothings. Many people went by unnoticed to storekeepers, just a wash of colours and heights to the bored attendants. It was hardly an eventful Tuesday evening at the mall for one such shopkeeper.
One couple, he did notice, not exactly blended into the background, but nothing of note either walked the corridors slowly, pausing here and there to look at this or that. There was a young woman, early to mid-twenties at the most, laughing occasionally at the peculiar behaviour of her ambiguous companion. She wasn't anything special to look at, average at most, not too bad, but nothing spectacular either, wearing jeans visibly worn and a plain, coloured T-shirt. She would stand and chuckle slightly at the man, dressed in a baggy pair of jeans a hooded, black sweater (jumper, hoody, whatever!) wearing a stripped, knitted beanie and a pair of old sunglasses, as he would examine a toaster, or vacuum or computer with the utmost care and attention. He would then realize the woman was laughing at him stand up in an abrupt and almost offended way, she would make what looked like an apology and then he would shrug and they would continue on to the next store, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, as if all the arguments of the past didn't matter. The shopkeeper chuckled at the young couple, he had known what it was like to be young and in love once, as this couple so obviously was, but his had ended badly. He hoped their luck was better.
The shopkeepers attention was turned back to the store as another young man, this time in the later twenties came up to his desk in a busy and hurried matter. He was handsome but the shopkeeper could tell that his personality left something to be desired, he was too rushed and impatient, he needed to relax a little, so the shopkeeper decided to play a little game.
"Good day sir!" the shopkeeper said cheerfully.
"It's actually more like night, man," the man said in an annoyed tone.
This was going to be fun. "Sir, are you aware of our promotional offer this month," The old shopkeeper said sweetly yet again.
"Umm, I really don't have time for that right now I'm trying to find someone," the tone of the man became more abrupt and the shopkeeper knew that he was pushing a button.
That only made his resolve deeper. "Sir it really is a fantastic promotion, you give us your mailing address and we send you a catalogue of our store every month, and for the first three months you receive a twenty-five dollar gift certificate absolutely free!" The shopkeeper laid the cheesy cheerfulness on thick.
"Look I really don't have time for this can you just ring through my purchase?" the man began to frantically look out at the store, as if making sure someone was there.
"They may come in while you're doing this sir, the people you're looking for, this is quite a popular stop, and it is a wonderful offer." The shopkeeper didn't budge, he knew he scoring big time on the impatient young man.
"Ok, if I sign up for your little deal will you PLEASE just ring my purchase through and let me leave!" The man was becoming frantic, the shopkeeper decided to let him go.
"Ok, sir I'm going to need your name and mailing address," the shopkeeper continued as he slowly reached back and grabbed a pen and random piece of paper.
"Bradford Shanigan," the man said grumpily.
"Now is that an R or just A-D, after the B?" the shopkeeper teased.
"Oh, for the. Let me do it," the grumpy 'Bradford' said.
"If you wish sir, we're only here to please," The shopkeeper said as he rang the man's purchase through.
"Yeah, I'm so sure," 'Bradford' said sarcastically.
"You know sir, you should really try and relax sometimes, take time to enjoy what's around you. You may find that it improves your personality." The shopkeeper said bluntly, as he handed 'Bradford' his things.
"Yeah, whatever, thanks," 'Bradford' said as he bolted out of the store and took off down the same direction the young couple had taken.
The shopkeeper chuckled slightly as he wadded up the paper and threw it into the rubbish bin; the young man had brought it on himself. He looked once to see if the funny couple was around, but they had left. He sighed while trying to work out why there couldn't be more people like those two coming into his store.
*****
Elizabeth chuckled at Will again as he studied a food processor in the window of a department store. Though he was apprehensive at first Will had quickly became engrossed in the technology of the twenty-first century. For the past hour he had done nothing but explore, inspect and ask questions over every foreign thing he saw, and in a mall with over three hundred and fifty-four shops that was quite a bit. Elizabeth was awed by his sheer enthusiasm and desire to learn, it was amazing. It was refreshing.
"Hey techno boy," Elizabeth called to him before he could cut off any of the chestnut locks which hung dangerously close to the demonstrating julienne attachment. "I think we'd better get what we came here for," she said with a smile.
Will perked to attention almost immediately. "Oh, yes of course Elizabeth, it is just that this is all so."
"Amazing, incredible, advanced, pick one I've heard them all from you today," she said as she grabbed his arm and lead him into the nearest trend setting clothing boutique. She was amazed at how relaxed he'd become now that they were out in the open, learning more about her world and about each other.
"So why do I need new clothes?" Will asked as Elizabeth began looking through clothing racks in the men's section, trying to find something befitting a handsome, dashing pirate.
"Because you won't get into the dance club wearing jeans and a sweater," Elizabeth replied. "And I told you not to talk too much, people recognize your voice you know, we're trying to keep a low profile," she finished as she held up a stripped, button-up shirt, decided it wasn't his colour and put it back.
"Right, and I think I'll need a bigger size than that," Will said as Elizabeth held up a tiny paisley patterned vest.
This wasn't easy; Elizabeth had never shopped for a man before. She decided the best course of action would be to try and get a second opinion so she took Will over to the counter and waited patiently for an attendant to finish. It took so long that Elizabeth had to clear her throat rather loudly in order to get her attention.
The attendant turned around and Elizabeth disliked her immediately, she was wearing the latest styles, pristine and manicured with perfectly placed hair, a gorgeous and no doubt expensive body and a smile (more of a sneer actually) that told the world she was going to get anything she wanted. Her eyes turned down as she looked at Elizabeth's frumpy T-shirt and jeans, giving off an instant air of disapproval which was palpable to both her and Will.
"Are you purchasing something?" The attendant said in a voice that sounded more hostile than customer service oriented.
Elizabeth balked immediately, not expecting such an openly demeaning response. "Umm. me and my friend were looking for a second opinion. You see there's this dance and. Umm," Elizabeth couldn't help it; she became all tongue-tied around snooty people like the store attendant.
The attendant was unimpressed. "You may want to check our sales rack, our seasonal wear may be a little out of your price range," she said with a smile that was more condescending than considerate.
Elizabeth understood the full meaning of that comment, and couldn't believe that the snooty attendant would have the audacity to say such things.
"I assure you, madam that I am financially capable of purchasing anything that I want," was the best come back that Elizabeth could come up with. She'd had enough of this and she grabbed Will's arm and turned him away from the counter.
"Come on," Elizabeth said rather loudly, not caring about conspicuousness at the moment. "I was going to ask for help, but I suppose her precious time is too valuable to waste on simpletons like us," Elizabeth said as she and Will began to walk away. She hated people like that! All judgemental and up themselves, this was not the side of her time she wanted Will to see.
She was shocked at the response she heard from the store attendant. "What amazes me more is how a simpleton like you could wind up with such an obviously above average boyfriend. What did you pay him to come along with you to make you feel better about your average looks and obviously horrible dress sense?" came the snooty accusation from behind.
Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks, insulting her was one thing, ok sure it hurt when you were called simple, average and told you had a horrible dress sense, but Elizabeth had always known that she had never been all that spectacular. It was the dig at Will's honour that really ticked her off. In her mind, she formulated the single greatest comeback she had ever thought of and prepared to do damage.
But she never got her chance as Will broke out of her grasp whirled around, in the process letting his sunglasses slip slightly, marched right up to the attendant and started laying into her.
"Why you conceded, pompous, arrogant fool! How dare you insult Elizabeth in such a way!" Will said with a burning fiery passion that left Elizabeth, the attendant, and the rest of the store speechless. "If you could take a short pause from your selfish vanity, you would realise that a woman like Elizabeth is with me because her beauty is so all encompassing that it radiates from her like heat from a blazing fire! It shines from her like the light of a candle pierces the darkness and gives such energy that it out powers the sun! To people with your eyes, with those who are too ignorant to look past the surface of an individual because of all the character flaws within themselves, it may be hard to recognise. But rest assured, that to me Elizabeth's beauty is as plain as morning daylight." Will turned back to Elizabeth, who was still speechless, and frozen in shock. The whole store stood still for what seemed like forever until one individual was brave enough to speak.
"How dreadful, you have been behaving Sabrina!" the store manager yelled as she rushed from behind the counter and ran up to Will and Elizabeth.
"What?" came the response from all three parties involved in the argument.
"You must excuse, her sir. She's new and arrogant as anything; I only keep her around because she knows so much about fashion. You must not let her poor attitude reflect the image of our store," she said, placing all of her focus on Will while Elizabeth stood off to the side.
"What she did was atrocious," came Will's reply as he turned again and tried to leave the store. The manager would have none of it.
"Umm. you and your lady friend said you were looking for clothes for a dance! Let the store pick you out an outfit free of charge, as a sign of apology!" the store manager was practically begging Will to reconsider and Elizabeth couldn't believe that they had taken his rebuke of the attendant so seriously. None the less if they wanted to apologize with free merchandise, Elizabeth wasn't one to decline.
"I don't think." Will began.
"That one outfit will do," Elizabeth cut in, handing Will his dropped sunglasses.
"What, your serious?" Will was bewildered that Elizabeth would except a peace offering from such lowly people.
"Absolutely, I believe in forgiveness," Elizabeth said with a smile. "It would be a shame after all to pass up all these lovely clothes."
"Well in that case Elizabeth gets two outfits as well," Will said defiantly.
"Two outfits!" Sabrina chocked out before the store manager could silence her with an icy glare.
"Yes, two," Will said smugly.
"I only need one," Elizabeth said, not wanting to push her luck. She was impressed with Will, but didn't know how long his gentlemanly ways would work against the snooty attendants.
"One then," corrected Will. "Do we have an accord?" he asked smugly to the shop attendant and manager.
"It would be our pleasure to serve you. both," the manager said as she smiled up at Will and then half smiled/sneered at Elizabeth. "Right this way."
The Manager led them to a secluded change room with a large lounge chair and a wall entirely filled with mirrors. A couple of small booths were lined up each with mirrors and dance music was playing in the background.
"I hope you find this comfortable, now just sit tight while we find something for the two of you." Elizabeth noticed that the manager kept looking at Will's sunglasses, as if trying to catch a glimpse of something in their reflection. "Would you mind taking your sunglasses off sir? I need to check the colour of your eyes in order to bring out the best in your features," the manager said in a strange tone.
That was a little too much to expose for Elizabeth's comfort.
"His eyes are a deep chocolate brown, and there very sensitive to light, so he'll be keeping the glasses on, thanks," Elizabeth said snarkily as she sat down.
The manager glared at her and then left the room.
"Man I hate retail shopping," Elizabeth sighed as soon as the manager rounded the corner.
"Do not listen to a word those women say Elizabeth, not ever," Will said in a serious tone.
Elizabeth chuckled lightly at Will's concern.
"Don't worry Will, I've been dealing with their judgements long before today and I'll deal with them long after. People like me just have to get used to that." Elizabeth sighed and started to play with her shoelaces, she had forgotten how much she hated shopping.
"I don't understand what you mean by, 'people like you'," Will asked in sincerity.
Elizabeth wasn't in the mood to explain it to him it was a sensitive subject. "Oh come on Will! When people like you enter a room, people stop and take notice, women mostly. I mean, when you enter the room it's like all my oxygen is sucked out and I can't breathe anymore because you look so good. I just wasn't born like that, I can't make people fall in love with me at first glance like you can," Elizabeth said dreamily.
Then she paused. had she just said that out loud?
It seemed as though she had, because Will was starting to get a lot closer.
"I never knew you felt that way," he said softly.
Elizabeth freaked immediately. "I don't umm. I mean I did, might have, before when you. umm. at first before you came and then." This was not smart, admitting to rebound guy that you thought he was hot and still might is not smart when he has kiss-happy lips and you have a deadline to meet.
Nonetheless, Will was getting closer.