AN: Well heres chapter 3 folks, and i hope u enjoy. Thanks goes out to all who reviewed the previous chapter. I would give shoutouts, but i have like one minute remaining on this computer before my parents drag me out of this chair kicking and screaming,...LOL only joking! but i promise to do shoutouts in the next chap. Hope you enjoy! R&R!
Chapter 3- 200 questions
Elizabeth's alarm sounded off at 5:30am the next morning. Not unusual for her, but it still took an effort to be able to get up in the morning. Especially now there seemed to be an unwelcome guest in the apartment.
After sleeping in for five minutes and preparing for her shower, Elizabeth allowed herself to tiptoe as silently as possible to the bathroom, but had to be sure that David was asleep before emerging out in her skimpy bath towel. She opened her bedroom door, clearly eyeing David's own bedroom door directly opposite her own. Seeing it was closed, she concluded he was still asleep.
Now that the coast was clear, Elizabeth strolled out of the door only to be interrupted by the person she had dreaded running into.
"Good Morning, roomie." David sang chirpily.
Having been caught completely off-guard, Elizabeth shrieked in fright. "What the hell are you doing up at this hour?" she asked him, her heart still beating rapidly.
"I would ask you the same question."
"I have work in about an hour." She answered. "But what about you? I know you don't have work."
He sank into the couch beaming at her pretentiously. "Why, my dear, roomie. Is there anything wrong about me merely enjoying peace and quiet in the morning?"
Elizabeth felt extremely annoyed at David's presence, and tried to make her way into the bathroom as quickly as she could, until she heard his voice ring after her.
"You know, if I had known there was a gorgeous blonde running around my apartment half naked, I would've put my house up for lease a long time ago."
Stopping midway in her tracks, she felt an impulse to just scream her head off. "Just where do you get off making comments like that? You are such an rude, cocky, arrogant jerk!" she yelled.
"While you, seem to be an extremely uptight, impossible, stubborn woman, who, might I remind you- is standing in the middle of my living room, in nothing but a bath towel." David grinned as he savored the evil scowl Elizabeth shot him.
She decided she had truly had enough, and trotted dejectedly to the bathroom, flipping him the bird on the way.
"Love you too, precious." David called after her with a wink.
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Later that morning both had entered the kitchen, avoiding each other silently while preparing their breakfasts. David had just poured a large amount of Cheerios into his bowl and was searching the refrigerator for the milk.
"You seen the milk?" he asked Elizabeth
"Oh, I finished it yesterday." She answered vaguely, spreading jam on her toast.
David turned around to face her angrily. "And you didn't buy anymore?"
Elizabeth ignored his question and sat herself down at the table. David acted quickly by snatching her plate away from her, getting her full attention.
"You are not eating until you buy me some more milk." He said grinning with anticipation, expecting a similar reaction to the night before.
She looked up at him, not believing what he was doing. "What's wrong with you?"
He shrugged. "You finished it, so you buy more."
Deciding she didn't want to make this into World War III, Elizabeth simply got up from the table and walked around David to get to the refrigerator. As she got two fresh pieces of bread and popped them in the toaster, David stood, surprised at her calm reactions.
"Well aren't you gunna go get the milk?"
David stood, mouth gaping, unable to make a smart comeback like the night before. This woman was ordering him in his own home. Who did she think she was? He'd never been subjected to such behaviour before. Normally the milk was there whenever he wanted it to be.
He tried to project a laidback demeanour but his perplexity became evident when he took too long to react. Elizabeth glanced at David, victory written all over her face.
Knowing she had won this round, she smiled triumphantly, took the toast that popped out from the toaster and placed it neatly on the plate, then made her way towards the table. David on the other hand, checked his pockets for the house keys and headed towards the door.
As he left, he could have sworn Elizabeth gave him a cheeky little wink.
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It wasn't till six that evening that Elizabeth returned from work, with David awaiting patiently for her in the living room.
"You must be starved. Here, I made some Mac and Cheese." He offered, thrusting a bowl of Mac and Cheese in front of her. It had obviously been there for quite some time, as it looked limp and dry.
Although distant, Elizabeth thanked him before going back to her room to get changed.
Minutes later, she emerged wearing one of her brother's old oversized baseball sweats and bike pants. She sat down on the sofa opposite David's and quietly ate her Mac and Cheese while watching old Friends reruns.
Having about ten or so minutes of silence, David took this in his advantage to study her closely. He had recently come to a conclusion that there was something about her demeanor, that told him she had a rough couple of months. Also the fact that she was very subdued had given it away. He could imagine her as a type of wild-child back in the high school days.
Also her features were something that struck a chord with him. She kept her lips pursed as if afraid to speak her mind at tense moments like these. Although staring at her with the luminescent light from the TV set lighting up her eyes, he could tell it had been a while since her eyes had sparkled with delight.
Once the program had finished, he switched the TV set off and got up to turn the light back on, while Elizabeth took their empty plates to the sink.
"Y'know," David piped up, while heading back towards the couch "It's been about twelve or so hours since we had an argument, and around about twenty-four hours since we met each other. We're not doing to bad so far, are we?"
"Rule number one" Elizabeth sounded out.
David thought back to what Elizabeth had said the night before. "One. We may talk, if I initiate it"
"Hey, you can't ignore me forever." He called out.
"I can try." She called back.
He followed her into her room and watched her as she sat on her bed.
"Can we make this work?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.
Elizabeth laughed mockingly. "You make it sound like we're in a relationship."
David sighed in mock frustration as he sat down next to her on her bed. "Well, close enough, we're going to be living together. We can at least be civilized around each other."
Again, Elizabeth ignored him and walked over to her wardrobe. David swore he could hear her mutter "Rule number one" under her breath.
"But hey, these awkward moments are nothing I can't change." He persisted. "I have the perfect solution."
Even though he knew he didn't have her full attention he continued with his plan.
"20 Questions" he said confidently.
Elizabeth quickly turned around and raised her eyebrows. Was he for real?
"What are you, in the third grade?" she asked incredulously.
"I ask myself that very question sometimes." He answered, patting his hand on the spot next to him.
She reluctantly sat down next to him, but slowly edged herself away from him. "And what exactly do you hope to achieve from this?"
He smiled. "Hopefully a more secure relationship between the two of us. And I want you to learn I'm not really the psychopath you think I am."
She agreed hesitantly. "But can we make this 10 questions?" she asked. After he agreed, she rolled her eyes and continued. "So what do you want to know?"
"Where did you live?" David asked.
"Hillridge, California." She answered back half-heartedly. He nodded with enthusiasm and continued.
"And are you an only child?"
"No, I have a younger brother, Matt."
"How old is he?"
"Twenty-two."
"How long have you been living in New York?"
"A month."
"Did you come alone?"
"No."
"Who did you come with?"
"A friend."
"Was this a male or a female?"
At this point, Elizabeth was starting to get frustrated at the probing he was doing.
"Is that question quite necessary?" she asked.
"Well, I just want to know if this close friend of yours who you moved to New York with was of the female or male kind." He explained.
Elizabeth hesitated with her answer and tried to answer with as little information as possible.
"It was a he." She muttered reluctantly.
"Ahh I see!" David exclaimed, raising his eyebrows. "And was this 'he' of yours a boyfriend, perhaps?" he asked cunningly.
At this, Elizabeth stood up abruptly. "Ok, this ends now. What is this? 20 questions or 200 questions?"
David chuckled, having no intention of leaving. "I'll take that as a yes."
She grumbled furiously. "Ok, out now! Before I throw you out." She commanded.
"Hey! I have a few questions left." He protested.
She tried yanking him up by the arm. "Screw that."
"Well don't you want to ask me any questions?"
Lizzie frowned at him. "Yeah, actually, how do you sleep at night?"
"Quite peacefully, thank you. Now how about asking me a real question? Come on, I won't ask you about your male friend again." David promised.
Knowing that this was the only way that she was going to get him to leave, she reluctantly agreed.
She wasn't really concentrating on what she was going to ask, so she just asked the first thing that came to mind, which was the first question he asked her.
"Um, where did you live?" she asked.
"Well, actually New York." He answered.
Elizabeth got a little interested, and decided she might press further. "You've lived here all your life?"
He nodded his head. "As far as I can remember."
"And you've lived in this apartment all your life?" she asked.
"Well yeah." He answered. "I inherited it from my grandfather. He owned a few places."
Elizabeth had now totally forgotten of her previous annoyance with David and pressed on. "It must get lonely being here by yourself."
"Well, I wasn't always by myself."
Now it was her turn to get even with him. "You mean you had a female friend here too?"
She watched as he looked down solemnly. It was obviously a topic he would rather leave alone. "Also something I wouldn't like to talk about."
Elizabeth nodded, somehow understanding of David's newfound quietness, and was sort of enjoying the peace, until David seemed to regain his spirit.
"So what's with Elizabeth?" he asked suddenly.
Elizabeth turned her head to him in surprise. "What's that supposed to mean?"
David shrugged. "I don't know. It's a bit long, isn't it? I mean what do your friends call you?"
Elizabeth stared at him strangely. "Um…Elizabeth?"
"What about your family?" he asked.
"Well my mom and brother call me Liz." She answered, not quite understanding what he was getting at.
"Well, I'm going to call you Lizzie." He stated, as if there was nothing she could do about it.
"Why?" she asked with a slight giggle.
"Because it's nice and short, and it suits you better than Elizabeth." He stated.
"Fine." She agreed. "But what about you? Surely there can be a better name than just 'David'" she said, grimacing at his name. "You don't like Dave, do you?"
"Hate it." He answered. "No Daveys either."
"Hmm…" she said, thinking hard. "Well, you're last name's Gordon, right?"
He nodded. "Well what about… Gord?" Lizzie asked.
David laughed hysterically. "As in pumpkin gourd?"
Lizzie laughed with him. "Yeah, your right. What about Gordo?"
"Gordo it is." He said, instantly liking it. "Hey, Lizzie, you've still got a few more questions left."
"Um, sure." She said, laughing despite herself. After loosening up a bit, she decided it might not be so bad living with him after a while. He did seem willing to get along with her, no matter how much of a bitch she was being to him.
"What do you do for a living, Gordo?" She inquired, emphasizing his new nickname.
"Um, I'm a director." He answered. "Not a very good one at that. Especially since the whole being broke thing. Though right now, it's the most important thing in the world to me. I'm trying my hardest." He answered.
"What about you, Lizzie, what do you do while you're not hugging phones?" Gordo asked, receiving a glare from Lizzie.
"Actually, I work at the New York News."
"A reporter?" he asked, intrigued.
"Um, actually I'm an advice columnist."
Gordo couldn't control the scoff that escaped his mouth, and the somewhat cruel remark that followed. "You're kidding, right?"
Lizzie shot him a look, slightly insulted. "What does that mean?"
"Well, I've been studying you lately, you kind of seem like the type of person who needs advice, not one who gives it." He believed he was only telling her the truth.
"And what tells you that?" Lizzie was now unbelievably angry.
"Well, you mope around hanging onto phones, you won't tell me about a heartbreaking relationship you've had, and you don't always look like the happiest person on the planet." He answered.
She got up off her bed and walked over to face him. "You get out of my room now before I think seriously about hurting you." She said rather calmly.
"I was only telling you the truth." He answered, before letting himself out. He heard her decisively slam the door behind him and thought that maybe expressing his opinion wasn't the best move.
Meanwhile Lizzie was fuming at David's words, only deep down, she knew he was right. She knew she could never let him know what made her this way. She just had to get over it herself.
A/N: This was actually heaps of fun to write but now I'm finding it hard to incorporate the Lizzie/Elizabeth and Gordo/David transitions, I hope you people won't mind if I start referring to them as Lizzie and Gordo now. I think we all agree that Lizzie and Gordo sounds much better than Elizabeth/David. Well R&R!
(that little purple button saying 'Submit Review' is getting pretty lonely…maybe he needs a friend!)
Have a fabolicious day!
