Correction from my last note: The previous stories, "Sadie" and "Kaspar" were posted under the name The Soul Twins. Thanks for the reviews I've gotten so far. I love them 'cause they're cute!
Sadie pulled her curly, red hair back into a ponytail as she crossed the wooden floor of her apartment to the front door. The doorbell rang again and she rolled her eyes.
"I'm coming," she called out. She tightened the hair tie once more and reached for the doorknob. She was expecting the person at her door to be a deliveryman from a furniture store, but it most certainly was not. He stared back at her with his sparkling blue eyes and a crooked smile. "Jack?"
"Did I come at a bad time?" he asked.
"No, not at all," Sadie replied. "Come on in." He walked in and she made sure her hair wasn't a complete mess when his back was turned to her.
"I tried to call the number you gave me the other night, but there was no answer. I hope you don't mind."
Sadie blinked for a minute, trying to think of the reasons she wouldn't answer her phone. When the answer came to her, she squeezed her eyes shut and smacked her forehead lightly. "I'm sorry… I must've left my cell phone off after last night. Ellie and I went to a movie and I turned it off because somebody kept trying to call me." He nodded in understanding and started looking around her apartment curiously. "So what's up?"
Jack looked at her, then blushed and looked at his feet. "I was actually just wondering if you wanted to do something tonight."
"Um…" Sadie had to fight to keep herself from giggling because she was so happy he wanted to go on another date. "What time?" she asked, looking at the clock on her microwave. It was a quarter to five and the deliveryman was supposed to be there any minute.
"Well, um… Are you busy right now?"
"I'm waiting for a delivery, but he should be here soon."
"Oh. How about later?"
"Later would be cool." Sadie smiled because she was starting to feel like she was in high school all over again.
"Awesome. Shall we say seven?"
"We can, but wouldn't you rather hang out here until the delivery gets here and we'll leave right after that?"
He smiled and nodded. "Sounds cool to me." They stood in silence, smiling at each other for a second until they both burst into laughter. "I'm sorry. That who'll thing was kind of juvenile, huh?"
"Yeah, it was," Sadie admitted. "The good news is that I think it was kind of cute and, well, we're bother at fault." He agreed silently and Sadie tried to think of what to say next. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
"Sure. I'll take some water if you've got it."
She went into the kitchen and got a glass from a cupboard. "I hope tap is okay." She looked back at him and he nodded as he came into the kitchen. After filling the glass, she handed it to him. His fingers overlapped hers for a second. It was a small touch, but it sent signals to Sadie's brain. Somehow, she felt like she was falling in love with Jack, even though she'd only met him two nights ago.
"Thanks," he said.
"Let's go sit in the living room and wait," she suggested. He followed her into the living room and sat on the opposite end of the couch as her. They sat in silence for what seemed like minutes. "So… You're in a band, right?" He nodded. "What kind of music do you play?"
"Mostly polka and folk. Sometimes we mix some funk in there, just to get things spiced up a bit." Sadie apparently took him seriously because she just kind of smiled and nodded. He laughed and shook his head. "I'm joking! We play punkish-rockish stuff."
"Punkish-rockish, huh? Sounds interesting."
"Very." He sipped his water and put it on the table next to him. "We've actually got a show tomorrow night if you'd like to come out and see us."
"Absolutely," she said. "I'm always up for a good punk show." She held up her right hand with her pinkie and index fingers standing up and stuck out her tongue slightly.
Jack did a double take and smiled. "How much did that hurt?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow, letting him know she was confused. "The tongue piercing," he specified.
"Oh, this?" She held out her tongue a little more and showed off the silver barbell. "You didn't notice it the other night?" He shook his head and shrugged. "It wasn't that bad. Not nearly as bad as some of the ear piercings I've got. The healing was the worst part. And it wasn't even so much that it hurt. It just got so swollen I could barely talk or chew."
"Really?" He looked contemplative and she could tell he was rolling his tongue inside his mouth. "I've been considering getting mine pierced. I'm not sure, though. I know my brother would never let me hear the end of it if he saw it."
She shrugged. "Well, I'll tell ya… I think guys with tongue piercings are extremely sexy."
He smiled. "Maybe I'll have to consider it a little more then."
She laughed. The doorbell rang and she sighed. "It's about damn time. I've been waiting for this guy since one." She went to the door and opened it.
"Delivery for Rivers," the man in the jumpsuit said in a heavy Russian accent.
"Yup," Sadie said. He picked up a small, dark wooden table (the top of it at least) and carried it over to where she pointed.
"I'll be back with legs and chairs." He walked out of the apartment, giving Jack a strange look.
Sadie waited until he was on the elevator to look back at Jack. "So much for service with a smile, huh?" They both laughed. She walked over to her stereo and turned it on. Loud music made up of electric instruments and what sounded like a fiddle or a banjo blared from the speakers. Jack recognized the music as a gypsy-punk band called Gogol Bordello. "Let's open up our culture borders, shall we?"
Jack was laughing out loud still as the deliveryman returned with two chairs that matched the table and a long, thin box. The man seemed confused when he heard the music, but he didn't say anything about it. After putting the chairs and box down near the tabletop, he pulled a small PDA device out of his pocket and messed with it for a few seconds before handing it and the plastic "pen" to Sadie. "Sign line, please." She did so and handed the device back to him, smiling kindly. "Hardware and instructions in box. If you have problem, you can call store. They fix it, no cost."
"Thank you very much. You have a great day, sir."
"Have nice day yourself," he said without smiling. He gave Jack a small nod as he left the apartment. Sadie closed the door behind him, then turned to face Jack, her back resting against the door. She mouthed the word "wow" and they both laughed a little.
"So… I'm just going to go change and we'll leave. Okay?" Jack nodded. He watched her walk away toward her bedroom and sighed.
"She's beautiful," he whispered to himself, confident she wouldn't hear him over the music. He was starting to think he was falling in love with Sadie.
Jack and Sadie walked up the short flight of steps to the front door of her apartment building, laughing a little.
"I had never seen Angel so scared in my life," he said between laughs. Sadie shook her head in disbelief and took a deep breath to quell the laughter so she could tell Jack how much fun she'd had on their date.
"Jack… I had a really great time tonight. Thank you so much for showing up when you did. I probably would've sat around doing nothing all night if you hadn't come over."
"Hey, what can I say? I had a great time the other night. I've got to remember to thank Ellie for introducing us." Sadie's cheeks turned a darker shade of pink and she bit her lower lip to keep from smiling too much. Jack reached a hand over and took a hold of her hand. "Sadie?" She looked up into his eyes questioningly. "Can I kiss you?"
Her eyes smiled with her lips. "Only if I can kiss you back…"
Jack leaned in and they shared a light, tender kiss. When he leaned back again, Sadie's eyes were still closed. "So I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked. She nodded dreamily and sighed. "Great. Sleep well."
"Yeah," was all Sadie could think to say as she watched Jack walk down the steps and away from her building. He looked back and waved and she realized she needed to get back into her apartment. For a night in mid-October, it was cold. Somehow, that didn't matter too much to Sadie. She took her keys from her coat pocket and unlocked the front door, looking back at Jack's receding form for a brief second before she went inside.