CH 17
It took Danny a little longer than he'd anticipated to get to Mindy's apartment. He pressed down on the buzzer and waited impatiently for her response. Nothing. He gritted his teeth. The thought that she'd left without him grated on his nerves. He pressed down on the buzzer again. Nothing still.
He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. It rang and rang, eventually flipping over to voicemail. He ended the call without leaving her a message. He buzzed again. Nothing. The flutter of anxiety he felt surprised him. He was about to pull his phone out again when he heard a gentle throat clearing behind him.
He turned and came face to face with and older woman in a house coat holding a Chihuahua. She smiled at him sweetly. "Sweetie, maybe she's not home." She pushed past him and pulled her keys from a pocket of her coat.
Danny was a little embarrassed. "Not home?" Who was she talking to? Had he met this woman before?
She turned back and glanced at him. "That little Indian girl you're dating." Her eyes crinkled with another smile. "I see you around sometimes." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Danny felt the heat rush to his ears. Dating? Did he really hang around here that much? He supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Mindy called him over here all the time for little things. Before Saturday they'd only been friends, but what kind of friends randomly came over and put furniture together? She pushed the door open and paused, holding it open. "Well?"
Danny finally took a hint and followed her into the lobby. He was staring like an idiot. He finally came back to himself. "Uh, yeah. Thanks." He followed behind her as she walked toward the elevator and rode it in uncomfortable silence to Mindy's floor.
He stepped out as soon as the door slid open, hoping to escape the awkward situation as quickly as possible, but she followed close behind. His puzzled expression elicited an explanation. "I live next door." She pointed down the hall with her free hand. "Tell Mindy I said hi." She ambled down the hall.
Danny turned and headed in the opposite direction. It soon became clear why Mindy had not heard the buzzer. The closer Danny got to her door, the more clearly he could hear the thump of a baseline and the muffled sounds of rapping. He sighed and knocked on the door. No response.
He made a fist and pounded a little harder. "Mindy! It's Danny. Hello?" He raised his hand to knock again but door swung open before he could make contact. The muffled music washed over him full blast. He slowly lowered his raised arm.
Mindy popped up in front of him, bobbing up and down to the beat singing along. "So hold your tongue tightly, wish you could be like me. You're poppin' all that mess only to stress and to spite me. Now you can get with that or you can get with this. But I don't give a shit cause really it's none of your business!" She stopped singing and did a dramatic twirl.
She moved aside to let him in, asking loudly over the music if he liked her outfit. He gave her a quick once over. "What the hell are you even wearing?"
She sashayed across the apartment and turned off the music. She pursed her lips and looked at him, contemplation furrowing her brow. "Well you see, Danny," She paused to gesture to herself. "This is a totally retro ensemble pulled from the vintage section of my closet." She pulled at the collar of her tee. "This is an original Beastie Boys t-shirt purchased at a show in the early nineties."
He laughed. "You were like twelve in the early nineties."
She smiled. "I didn't say that I was the one who bought it." She kicked up one of her heels, pointing at it. "These are some crazy awesome high top sneakers in a beautiful shade of neon green." She reached up and popped the collar on the red leather jacket she was wearing. "And this beauty is the same jacket Rihanna wore in her video for Take a Bow."
Danny barely paid attention to the words pouring from her mouth. The only thing he could think about was the way her black skinny jeans hugged her hips. He looked back to her face and met her expectant expression. "You look like an extra in Thriller." He couldn't wipe the smile completely off his face, one corner remained upturned.
Mindy rolled her eyes. "And you look like my grandpa." She gave him a quick once over, pretending to not like what she saw. She stepped closer to him, fingering the material of his jacket. "Suede elbow patches, Danny? Really?" She slipped her hands beneath the garment. He felt his pulse quicken and his breaths shorten. "Hmm… At least you're wearing a nice tee underneath this."
Suddenly he was overwhelmed with how uncomfortably hot it was in her apartment. She slipped her hands over his shoulders, pushing the jacket away from them, a small sigh escaping her lips. The playful expression in her eyes darkened. She lifted herself up on her toes and placed a quick kiss on his lips. She pulled away slightly for a fleeting glance at his expression then returned to his mouth, leaving quick pecks at each corner before planting one full on the lips again.
He sighed into it, fleetingly noting the height difference when she was out of heels. She kind of tucked into him. He reached up and placed his hands on her shoulders, reluctantly pushing her away. "What are we doing, Min?"
She stepped back a little and looked up at him thoughtfully. "What do you mean?"
He was instantly uncomfortable. Introducing this subject had not been his intention. He crossed his arms, but thought better of it, quickly moving them to rest on his hips. "I mean… what are we doing?" Well that certainly cleared things up. He mentally kicked himself, clearing his throat and attempting an awkward back and forth gesture with his right hand. Feeling silly, he rested it back on his hip.
She frowned at him. "Danny, saying the same thing over again does nothing to clarify your question." She mirrored his stance, hands on hips, only her foot was tapping in annoyance.
He sighed. "I mean… Saturday was…" He searched for the words to describe the day they'd spent basically locked in her room, alternately sleeping and exploring each other. He felt his ears warm at the thought. "… a pleasure—"
"You bet your ass it was!" She interjected with a devious smile.
"—for both of us." He continued. "But, are you interested in… continuing it? I mean... we've sort of been playing this twisted game of truth or dare, with the date and…. Are we still playing it?" The words did not come out in the offhanded manner intended, but rather in a rush of jumbled consonants.
A slow smile spread across her face, one eyebrow arched in amusement. "We might still be playing a game. Saturday wasn't exactly planned, but I definitely wouldn't mind a repeat." She had stepped back up to him and placed her hands back under the jacket. "Now why don't you take this relic off so we can go out to Bed-Stuy without you being mistaken for my father?"
He needed little urging to divest himself of the offending garment. He hung it on the hook by her door. The buzzer sounded. She hopped over to the intercom and hit the call button. "Hello."
"Yo, Mindy. We're here. You ready to go?" Rishi's voice sounded through the crackling speaker.
"Be down in a minute." Releasing the button, she walked towards Danny, snatching a tissue from the box sitting on the table beside her. "I don't think Drop Dead Red is your color." She leaned forward and wiped the tissue against his lips, pulling back when she was satisfied with her cleanup. "You ready to go meet and greet some up and coming rappers?"
He tucked his hands in his pockets and followed her out the door. They strode side by side down the hall to the elevator. "Staying out late on a Sunday night, hanging out with people half my age? If only the IRS would call me and tell me I'm being audited, then I could die a happy man." The sarcasm was diluted by the genuine smile spread across his face.
She smiled back at him, the door knocker earrings swinging with the tilt of her head. Easily slipping back into her Boston accent. "This is gonna be wicked awesome."