Hey all! Yeah, I know, but I SAID updates would be frequent...Look, I just finished writing Chapter 5, ok! This chapter's slightly longer than the first two, with some dialogue I really, really enjoyed writing - thanks for all the reviews, they give me motivation. I'm thinking of writing some more modern fics - they're fun and different... if a little weird... hope you like the chapter!
Neal strolled out the apartment block and began to walk the short distance to the coffee shop. He locked his eyes onto the door across the street. A small gathering was swarming around the door, making Neal frown. He was only five minutes later than he had been the day before yet a small crowd were already there - they didn't seem to be moving much, which meant that they were having trouble getting through the door or that there wasn't any seats left. Then Neal saw the familiar shiny chestnut hair, and he rushed over to watch her as she reached the door.
"Why won't you let Jump in? He's perfectly harmless!" she protested to Eleni who was standing, hands on hips, in the doorway.
"No animals allowed. Sorry. You'll have to get rid of the dog if you want to come in." Kel glared at her menacingly and crossed her arms. Half of the crowd began to leave, the ruckus over, and the others filed into the shop while Eleni pointedly stood outside the door and watched Kel and her dog, Jump.
"The coffee shop I used to go to let Jump in..." mumbled Kel. Neal reached forward and tapped her shoulder.
"Having trouble?" he asked, his face the picture of innocence.
"Oh, shut up," Kel snapped, turning on her heel and beginning to walk off. Neal noticed the mangled dog wasn't even on a lead - no wonder Eleni hadn't let her in!
"Hey! Where are you going?" Neal began to run after her, feet thumping against the pavement.
"To find somewhere with people who have enough sanity to let me and my dog in," she answered without turning round.
"I don't think there's anywhere like that around here." Neal finally caught up with her - she was a very fast walker with a long stride. She was almost six foot tall! He caught her arm, and she turned to scowl at him. "You could come back to my apartment - I have a coffee maker," he offered, hoping she wouldn't assume anything about his offer. Okay, maybe he did like her, but he wasn't just going to go off and do something stupid. He'd only known her for two days...
Kel's face was sceptical. "A nice coffee maker? Not cheap junk?"
"Not cheap junk," Neal chuckled, and he leant down to scratch Jump's neck. "Not a very pretty dog you've got, either."
Kel took a deep breath and explained, "He used to be a stray. Besides, personality is better than good looks."
"Some people might not agree with you there... good thing I've got both then, eh?" Neal hadn't been expecting any kind of acknowledgement from her, but a tiny smile lit Kel's face, though she masked it with a cross between a scowl and a glare. She was really beautiful when she smiled. She looked like a real person rather than a robot. "Come on, then - it's this way."
Kel followed obediently as he led the way over to the block of apartments. She observed each building she passed and each room she entered carefully, as though cataloguing all the details she saw in her mind for future reference. Neal watched her do so whilst wondering why on earth she'd accepted his offer rather than what he'd expected: a snappy reply or an aggravated insult. He gestured her into a lift and stabbed at a button. They then stepped out and Kel surveyed the hall; a rather dingy place where you might expect to find some homeless people or young teenagers causing havoc. Neal slid his key into the lock of apartment 26 and opened the door, revealing his 'bachelor pad' to the hazel-eyed mystery at his side.
His apartment was small, with an open-plan kitchen/living room in modern colours and two doors leading off from the opposite wall. He had very little clutter, but a lot of modern furniture filled the room. Slowly, she removed her black coat and allowed him to hang it up at the door. "Make yourself comfortable - I'll get the coffee maker set up. What do you take?"
"Milk, one sugar," she replied, walking round the coffee table to his snow-white couch. Looking completely at home, she sunk into the thick cushions while her dog trotted in and curled up on the rug.
"Hey, you match the furniture," Neal said, standing over a stainless steel coffeemaker. It was true: she wore a close-fitting black top with long sleeves and dark jeans with black knee boots, completely blending into the white sofa and black cushions.
"Just shows what bad taste I have," she remarked, her voice lighter and slightly more cheerful than the usual outside. Neal walked in with the two cups of coffee just in time to see her sliding her boots off, revealing delicate feet (no socks) which she tucked beneath her and leaned against the armrest. She looked like one of those people in a sofa advert, relaxing on some pristine sofa as though she actually owned it. "Oh - you don't mind, do you?" she asked hurriedly, nodding her head to her bare feet.
"No - I said make yourself at home." As though proving his point, he removed his tie, tugged off his suit jacket and undid the first couple of buttons of his shirt, revealing a muscled chest. He reached forward and took hold of his coffee, taking a sip. Kel followed suit. They continued this in silence for several minutes, sipping slowly while Kel's eyes wondered over Neal's apartment and Neal's eyes wondered over her.
To his surprise, she was the one to initiate conversation. "Why do you go to that dingy café down the street if you have such a good coffee maker?"
"I like bothering people who are trying to read," he replied seriously.
"You're even meaner than I first thought."
"Well, normally I'm obliged to have good manners in public, but seeing as this I own this apartment, I can be honest," he said with a sly grin, raising his coffee in a toast. "To being honest." Kel's eyebrows were sky-high, but she raised her drink too and clinked it against his cup.
"How did the work on that book go, then?" Neal asked casually in a voice that suggested he wasn't actually that interested in the subject, but that he just wanted to make conversation.
Kel shrugged and replied, "Ok. I almost fell asleep halfway through, but I survived."
"I still want to know what that book was called," Neal said, placing his mug back on the table.
"Well, you'll just have to try and forget you ever saw me reading anything. Forget you ever met me. I know I'd certainly like that." Her suggestions that she didn't want to talk to him were more light-hearted and cheerful than in the coffee shop.
"Are you in a good mood today or something?"
"No, but I'm here on my own free will rather than you interrupting my reading in the café, which means that I got myself into this and I ought to make the best of it," she replied solemnly, cradling the coffee cup in her lap with a thoughtful glance at the ceiling.
"Clever logic, there..."
Silence lingered between them for another few minutes before Neal broke it.
"What are you going to be when you're older?"
"More questions? What are you, some police interrogator trying to find out if I've got a TV license or something?"
"No, but that'd be a really good excuse to get to know you better," he smirked.
"Well thank god you already told me you're a doctor," she said with a teasing grin, one of the first he'd ever seen from her. "And it's also a good thing that I need to be leaving soon."
"Hang on, does your dog want anything?"
"I wouldn't know, why don't you ask him?"
Neal rolled his eyes. "That's a no, then?
"Aren't you clever," she remarked, standing up. "Thanks for the coffee, anyway. I guess if I leave Jump at a kennel tonight, I won't have to go through this tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah. But this sure was better than sitting in that coffee shop and forcing you to talk to me through book blackmail," Neal said, also standing up. "We should do it again - that way, your dog will get some exercise." Ok. It was a rubbish excuse - he could have said ANYTHING, but he had to make something up about her ugly dog.
"Maybe on Monday," Kel called over her shoulder, beginning to walk over to the door. "I can let myself out - you should do something about that coffee you spilled on the carpet."
"Huh? Oh -" Neal scowled at the brown circle on the rug. "Damnit!" The door slammed shut - Kel had left. He hadn't even realised her dog had got up and left with her.