Chapter 17

The next day, William woke up around twelve noon with a terrible headache. He got off the bed and went straight to the bathroom to wash himself from the party last night. He took a deep breath as the warm water from the shower gently massaged his body as he thought of the events that happened last night. He couldn't stop thinking of Erin and the kiss that they shared after she rescued him from the electric shock he got after helping out with the DJ equipment. He then remembered his promise to Halley before he left her back in California that he would wait for her. He knew he loved Halley but why can't he keep Erin from his mind. He knew he had one thing left to do, and that is to talk to her and tell her that he's not the kind of guy that fools around with everyone.

He got out of the shower and got dressed, feeling hungry and decided to go out and have lunch at a nearby diner. He got out of his place and knocked on Erin's door. After a few minutes, she opened it as she was trying to fix her hair.

"Hey William! What's up?" she said, giving him a half smile.

"Are you going to work?" he asked.

"Yeah, in about five minutes." Erin said.

"Okay. You know what, maybe we can talk later? I don't want to keep you from anything." he said as he began to turn around.

"Come on Will, tell me what's on your mind." she said.

"I was thinking about last night when we, you know, kissed." he said.

"Oh that!? And I suppose you're feeling guilty huh?" said Erin. William looked at her and didn't say anything. Erin looked at him and smiled, touching his face. "I understand William and it was just that, a kiss! You don't have to feel guilty about anything!" she said. "And do you think I'm the kind of girl who would steal a guy from another girl?" she asked, looking him straight in the eye.

"No, it's just, oh I don't know!" said William.

Erin laughed a little. "You're so cute when you fumble, you know that?" she said.

"So last night was…?" he asked, unable to finish his question.

Erin smiled at him. "William, we were drunk. I'm a big girl, I can handle it." she said.

"So we're good?" asked William.

Erin sighed. "Yes we're good!" she said laughing. "We can still be friends William." she said.

William smiled at her. "Okay deal! Friends it is." he said.

Erin grabbed her purse and went out of the apartment to lock her door. "Great. I guess I'll see you around, okay?" she said.

"Sure." he said. "Hey uh, why don't I get dinner for the three of us? Say eight o'clock at my place?" he said.

Erin touched his arm and kissed him on the cheek. "Kim and I never say no to a free dinner. We'll be here." she said smiling. "Listen, I'm gonna be late for work. I guess I'll see you tonight?" she said.

"You got it. I'll buy Chinese food if it's alright with you." he said.

"It's fine Will." she said. "Bye!" Erin added as she went inside the elevator.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, Erin knocked on William's door.

"Hi Erin! Come on in! You're just in time." he said as he welcomed her in the apartment. "Where's Kim?" he asked.

"Oh, Kim went out with her officemates. Some birthday party or something." she said as she stepped inside.

"Well that's too bad. I bought food enough for three people." he said. "Make yourself at home." he said as he unpacked the food on the coffee table.

"Let me help you with that." Erin said as she helped William unpack the food. "Okay, let's dig in." she said.

William took the remote control and turned the TV on. "What do you wanna watch?" he said as he switched the channels.

"Can you go to 'America's Next Top Model'?" she said as William looked for it on the screen. "I think it's on channel forty-five." she added.

"My mom and my sister always watch this show." he said as he started eating.

"Well, you know girls, always wanting to know who's gonna be eliminated!" she said.

"Hey it's not a problem. We watch shows that you don't like, you watch shows that we think is a waste of time so it all fits, right?" he said making Erin laugh.

"You're funny William." she said. "Is that your family?" she asked pointing at the picture frame on his desk.

William stood up and took the picture, giving it to Erin. "That's when we visited my grandpa in New York a few years before he passed away." he said.

"I'm sorry." she said then looking at the picture. "Wow, your sister looks very much like your mother huh?" she said. "That is amazing!" she added.

"That's not the only similarity they have." he said.

"Really? How come?" she asked.

"Let's just say that my sister is a good mix of my mom's sassiness and my dad's brain." he said.

"She seems like a handful huh?" Erin said.

"That's a simple way of saying it. One minute she can be sweet and sensitive and the next one, she can totally bite your head off." he said making Erin laugh out loud.

"Really!?" she said.

"I'm not joking. I guess that's the reason my dad's hair started turning grey early on." he said while laughing with her.

"Oh come on Will, she can't be that bad?" Erin said.

"I'm not saying my sister is a bad person. I'm just saying that she's like a bomb. You never know when she's gonna explode or something." he said making them laugh even more.

"I can't wait to meet her." said Erin.

"Well, if you do meet her, her weaknesses are either food, money, shoes, dresses or objects that sparkle and shine! Just tie one of those at the end of a fishing line and you won't have a hard time reeling her in." he said making Erin laugh louder.

"You're so funny." she said giving him a lovely smile.

"What about you? How come you never told me anything about you?" he asked.

"Well, what do you wanna know?" she said.

"Uh for starters, where are you from?" he asked.

"I'm from Pennsylvania. I moved out here after high school four years ago." she said.

"Why didn't you go to college or something?" he asked.

"My parents couldn't afford sending me to college so I decided to just start working any job that I can find." she said.

"Wow, that is amazing." he said. "So you've been on your own ever since?" he asked.

Erin nodded. "Uh huh. And I never looked back. I actually took a short online course in web design but I didn't finish it." she said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"I ran out of money so I had to find a second job to cover my share of the rent." Erin said. "But I already quit that second job. Now I just ask the restaurant to give me extra hours for some extra cash." she added.

William nodded. "Well you have my respect Erin." he said tapping her on the shoulder.

"Thanks Will. I'm just lucky that Kim is such a nice roommate and friend." said Erin.

"How long have you two known each other?" he asked.

"Two years. I saw her ad when she was looking for a roommate and I gave her a call." she said. "So have you talked to Halley lately?" she asked.

"Uh yeah, I called her last week." he said.

"Boy that must be tough on her you know, not being able to see you and all." said Erin.

William looked at her, smiling a little. "What makes you think it's not tough on me as well?" he asked.

Erin sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry that you're so far away from your lady love and had to endure your long-distance relationship which you had to hide from your parents slash brothers-sisters!" she said sarcastically.

They looked at each other without saying a word then suddenly burst out laughing. "That was funny!" he said as they continued sharing jokes and stories with each other. Erin helped him clean up the coffee table and put the leftovers in the fridge.

"Hey, do you wanna play?" William asked pointing at his X-Box.

Erin smiled. "Uh I don't think I would be good at that." she said.

"Well, have you played before?" he asked.

"No." she said.

"Then how would you know if you're good at it or not?" he said.

Erin took a deep breath. "Fine. But you have to take it easy on me alright!" she said.

"You got it!" he said as he turned on the console and gave Erin the controller.

"Okay, so this game is called Tekken – a fighting game. You just hit any button you like and you'll get the hang of it." he reassured her.

"Got it, and don't go crying back to your mommy if I beat you alright!" she said teasing him.

"Oh it is on woman!" he said, surprised by her 'challenge' as they started to play.

They were playing for almost half an hour when they decided to take a break.

"So?" she said. "Do you give up now!?" Erin asked.

"Fine you win. But that's because I set the difficulty level to 'easy'!" he said.

"Is that so!?" she said glaring at him. "Then why don't you turn it up and I'll give you a run of your money!" she said laughing a little.

"You're on!" he said, wanting to regain his 'honor'.

They continued playing for another half an hour with William having a little difficulty at keeping up with Erin's unusual and erratic tactics. They then heard a knock on the door so William paused the game to open it and see who it is.

"Kim hi!" he said.

"Uh, I heard a lot of shouting." Kim said.

"Uh yeah, we were just playing a little Tekken!" Erin said. "How's the party?" she asked.

"It was alright. We had some food and drinks, you know the usual." Kim said. "Anyway, I'll leave you two alone now." Kim added.

"Why don't you join us? Maybe you can beat Erin in the game." William said making Erin laugh.

"Uh I had a little too much to drink. Maybe next time okay?" Kim said as she turned around. "Have fun you guys!" she added giving them a smile.

"Flush the toilet when you throw up okay!" Erin yelled.

"Yeah I got it!" Kim said as she went back to her apartment.

Erin put the controller down on the coffee table. "It's getting late. I guess I should probably go back now." she said to William.

He nodded. "No problem Erin." he said.

"Thanks for dinner Will, I had a really nice time!" she said.

"You're welcome." he said as Erin walked up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bye William." she said as she went out of the apartment, waving goodbye to him.

After closing his door, William touched his cheek where Erin kissed him as he took a deep breath before going to his bedroom to wash up and get ready for bed.