Still not my characters even though I just said it a few minutes ago.
Jess was just finishing getting ready for her date when she heard Winston call her name. "In here Winston."
He appeared in her door way. "Hey, Jess, I know you're on your way out, but can you come help me with something real quick?"
"Sure Winston, what's up?"
"I'm thinking about painting the threshold to the door on the roof, you know, so people don't trip over it. I can't decide on a color, so I was hoping you could give me your expert opinion."
Confused she replied, "Seems like a pretty simple decision, Winston. What do you need my help for?"
"No, yeah, I know. But Schmidt's always praying colorblindness is the issue with my wardrobe and he'd totally kill me if I goofed up the fung shu or whatever it's called. I promise it will only take a minute, no heavy lifting or anything." Thinking he might be losing her, he complimented her on her own attire. "By the way, did I mention how lovely you look tonight, Ms. Day?"
Blushing slightly, she told him "Flattery will get you nowhere mister, but if you promise to make it quick… I don't want to be late for my date; punctuality is a total turn off."
"Totally! I pinky swear, you will not be late to your date."
"Alright then, let's go pick us a paint color."
They chatted pleasantly on the way to the roof about the different warning colors and their meanings. Winston opened the door for her and as she stepped through, she stopped dead in her tracks. Staring down at her feet she saw flower petals scattered all around her. When she looked up at Winston she saw that he was smiling. He moved to the side and turned his gaze away from her. She followed his line of sight and gasped softly as she took in her surroundings. The roof was lit by delicate paper lamps and music was playing quietly in the background. It was her idea of a modern-day fairytale. Out of the shadows Nick appeared before them, hands holding a small bunch of purple lilacs.
Winston gave Nick a small nod as he stepped back through the door way leaving them.
"Nick? What is all this?" She said, breathlessly.
"It's just me, Jess. I… I have some things I need to say to you before I lose my nerve. So please, just don't say anything more. Ok?"
She could only nod in acceptance, because she was at a complete loss for words.
He didn't want to rush through what he was about to say, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Looking at her once again he saw the anticipation in her eyes which gave him strength to go on.
"Jess, ever since I met you, I've always known there was something special about you, amazing even. Until recent events, I've been telling myself you were just a fantastic friend to me. You dare me to do things I would've never done before I met you and I don't just mean jumping into the ocean, because I think I have a tumor. You challenge me to be kind to people I never would have given a second chance. You make me want to be free like you, to not be afraid of being hopeful. You force me, doing that weird impersonation, to believe that I really do deserve happiness.
Because of you and everything you've shown me, I can say this without fear. I don't regret kissing you, not even a little bit. I'd thought about it a thousand times before and it ended up being a thousand times more incredible than I'd ever imagined. I'm sorry I lied to you and told you it was a nothing kiss. I'm even sorrier that I lied to you a second time when I said I wouldn't do it again. The truth is, I want to kiss you again, a bunch more times in fact. I want to take your friendship box and your boyfriend box and build a new box just for us. We can even use pink glitter glue and write Nick – heart - Jess on the side of it if you want.
Maybe I'm completely crazy and this is a phenomenal backfire on my part. If that's the case, even if you don't want to be an "us", I need you to know I'll still be here for you, day or night. Because I've come to realize that your happiness means everything to me, you mean everything to me. But, and this is a big but, if you'd have me, I'd get into ridiculous screaming matches with you over which way is best to roll the toilet paper. I'd help you hang new curtains so you don't have to worry about gang violence. I'd do the chicken dance every morning, while singing Time of My Life, just to make you smile. I would do everything I could to be the kind of guy who deserves to be with someone like you."
Now that everything was out in the open he suddenly felt unsure of himself. He looked down at his hands which still grasped the flowers like a lifeline and shuffled from one foot to the other. When he heard her footsteps approaching, he glanced up at her. She was so close, but the dim lighting made her expression impossible to read.
Very quietly she said, "First of all, over the top is the best way to roll toilet paper and second, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"
When he saw the little tug at the corner of her mouth, he released all his pent up anxiety with a quick exhale. Mirroring her slight grin he said, "I disagree and so what if I am?"
"Well, I have a date that I'm quite late for and he could be the one, you know. His name is Jamarcus Armstrong. You wouldn't happen to know him, would you?"
"I do in fact know of Jamarcus and I think you might be right."
"How so?"
"I bet he could be the one, if he tried really hard."
She took a step forward, only mere inches away now. "Well, if he's anything like you, I don't think he'll have to try very hard."
"I have an idea." He said, his voice low and steady.
"What's that?"
"How about you blow off that Jamarcus guy and let me break a promise I made to you?"
She moved her hands up to rest on his chest and said, "I have an even better idea. How about I pretend Jamarcus was a figment of my imagination and call mulligan on that promise?" Before he could answer she clutched his shirt, stepped up on her tippy toes and kissed him. Without hesitation he returned the kiss, flowers in one hand set low on her back, the other placed lightly on her cheek. It wasn't an intense blazing kiss like their first. This was soft and slow, expressing the deeper emotions they'd both been holding back.
He could have stayed that way forever, but when he reluctantly pulled away from her lips, he said, "Yeah, I like your idea better. Jessica Day, will you be my girlfriend?"
She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then with her best Daffy Duck impression, she said, "Absolutely, Nicholas!"
He pulled her into a strong hug and feigning serious said, "Good, but promise me you won't ever say it like that again."