Chapter 6: Consistency
"You again."
"Looks like."
Angelica checked her watch then gave him a skeptical look. "Are you always here this time of day?"
Chuck nodded. "I like consistency. It's reassuring."
"Consistency is boring."
"I'm boring."
That made her laugh. It was her real laugh, the deep throaty one that sometimes made her snort, and not the fake laugh, that was higher-pitched and tinkled like broken glass. "Touché," she said. Then she frowned. "You're not stalking me, are you, Finster?"
It was his turn to laugh. "No. Not even a little bit." He smiled. "You have class in a few minutes, right?"
"Um, yeah. Why?"
"Well, I got out of class about five minutes ago. The professor always lets us out late, and by then I'm in serious need of a nicotine fix. So I stick around a little longer to smoke, and you show up a little early to smoke." He grinned, pleased with himself. "No stalking. Just class schedules."
She rolled her eyes. "Brilliant, Holmes, just brilliant." Then she realized something. "Y'know, I don't see you smoking. Though you claim to be on a smoke break."
With an exaggerated flourish, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his pack. "I was waiting for you." He handed her a cigarette. "I owe you, after all."
She accepted. They smoked.
"Oh," she said suddenly, "when you get the chance, tell my dearly beloved cousin that I have come through for him. Yet again."
He looked at her. "We're on the guest list?"
"You're on the guest list."
He smiled, then frowned. "Um, Angie? I hope you, uh, didn't have to—"
That's all he had to say, because Angelica had always had the uncanny ability to seemingly read his mind. "Oh, for Pete's sake, Finster! This is not Pretty Woman, and I am not Julia Roberts. No, no, no. All I did was ask Matt out to dinner." She shot him a dirty look. "And trust me, old Matt's no Richard Gere."
Chuck held up his hands to placate her. "Sorry! Sorry! I guess what I meant to say was thank you. So … thank you."
Angelica finished her cigarette and headed up the stair. "You're welcome," she called over her shoulder, the ghost of a smile flashing across her face.