Night By Night

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all. By the way, wasn’t that just now supposed to be a onetime thing?” she asked playfully.

“Originally that was the idea, but then some things are just too good to be an eclipse,” he said and kissed her on the side of the face.

“What are we doing Adrian? I mean, twice and it starts to turn into something else. Do you want this to go anywhere?” she asked, now getting up so she was facing him.

He stroked the side of her face and put a loose curl in place. “I want to see where it goes. It is no longer a solo event and I am really attracted to you. I would like to get to know you better.”

She smiled and touched the back of his hand. “Me too,” she smiled. “I must admit I thought you weren’t my type at first, but you have shown me how wrong I was.”

“Your type? What is your type?” he asked, amused now.

“A gentleman,” she said as she tried to get up.

He pulled her back down and started tickling her. “I can be a rogue if I want to be. Or an imp,” he said.

She tried to wriggle away but he held her firmly and tickled her until she thought she would run out of air. ‘Okay stop, stop!” she screamed. “It seems I offended you by calling you a gentleman. I will keep it at imp or rascal.”

“Much better,” he said. “I don’t want to give anyone any ideas,” he grinned. He looked so handsome when he did that Jennifer could not help leaning over and placing a soft kiss on his lips. He held her there for a moment longer before releasing her.

“So, how shall I entertain you tonight? I don’t have a vast collection of movies here, but I do have Netflix so we can always find something,” she suggested, only now getting up. She walked to the kitchen cupboard and opened it. “Oh, what will you be drinking? I am afraid I don’t have any beer or other manly drink here. All I have is wine-red and white.”

She turned around now only to realise he had stolen up behind her. When she turned she bumped into him and he caught her before she tripped. “White wine is fine,” he said.

“Don’t do that. You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Why? You were expecting someone else?” he grinned.

“You are a silly man, you know that?” she laughed. She stretched and took down two wine glasses and poured Chardonnay in both.

“Nice,” he said. He held her hand as they returned to the couch. They sipped their drinks and searched through the movie listing but there was nothing there they cared to see. “Do you have any games we can play perhaps?” he asked. “Cards, monopoly?”

“Oh, I have a deck of cards. Monopoly is better in a big group.” She hastened to retrieve the deck and when she got back he had already finished his drink. “Refill?” she asked.

“Yes, thanks,” he said and she went away to fetch the bottle. It was half way gone when they started, but by the time they had played two rounds of Texas hold’em, Jennifer was giggling at everything.

“Aren’t we lightheaded,” he teased. “You aren’t getting anything else to drink,” he said.

“Just one more glass please. I have red wine in the fridge,” she coaxed. He wasn’t listening.

“Okay, up we go. There shall be no more drinking,” he commanded. She was like lead in his hands and he had to grip her firmly to stop her from falling. He propped her up and walked her to the bedroom, sliding her on the bed. He stopped now to examine her house, small but cosy and already he felt at home. He lay beside her while she continued to plead with him for another glass. He pretended not to hear her. She was still wearing her robe and he considered changing her out of it, but he didn’t know where she kept her things and he didn’t want to go prying, so he decided on leaving her as is. She rolled over to him and nestled below his neck.

“Are you sure you don’t want another round of me?” she asked, her speech slurry and lazy.

“Go to sleep Jen. You need to rest,” he suggested instead. Soon her breathing grew heavier and her weight increased, signalling to him that she was asleep. He lay there a while longer holding her, smoothing her hair, and enjoying being next to her. Soon the peacefulness of the room lulled him to sleep as well, and he dozed off before he could even stop himself.

Jennifer awoke the following morning, wondering why her head felt that heavy. And then she remembered. She flew from the bed, but he wasn’t there and she wondered when he had left. She slapped her hand across her face in embarrassment. When she removed them, she smelt the faintest scent of coffee. She wandered to the kitchen where on the counter she found pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs and bacon. Next to them was a steaming cup of coffee and a note. It read: next time you only get one glass; breakfast is on me, followed by a smiley face. She smiled too as she stood there, feeling ravenous as she looked at the meal before her.

She looked down and realised she was still wearing the robe, which means she was also wearing him too. She hugged herself, hoping to catch his scent and she did. She closed her eyes and imagined him there still and her heart swelled at the man who had suddenly rose to such prominence in her life. Whoever said, when things seem too good to be true, they probably are needs to be silenced. She glowed as she floated back into her room and collapsed onto the bed; drunk now with desire for the stranger she was glad she had followed home.