Apparently, though, I am a cuddler. At least when it comes to Nate.
Now that Sunday is here, I’m . . . pretty disappointed, actually, that my one-night stand is finally at an end. I’m disappointed that I’ll have to go home, and that my time with Nate is up.
But, you know. All good things must come to an end, and all that jazz.
Where’s my coat? I haven’t needed it all week . . . Oh! Right, it’s on the hook in the hallway. And my bag . . . Shit, where did I put my bag? I was packing it up yesterday afternoon, collecting my crap from where I’d strewn it around Nate’s apartment, and then . . . Ooh!
Yes, got it. I left it next to the sofa.
Okay, phone, keys, purse . . . Check, check, check.
I pull on my coat, grab my bag, and slip out of the front door. It clicks shut behind me.
The hallways are silent. I guess nobody else is awake yet. I mean, they can’t be; if they were, wouldn’t they all be clamoring to get out, just to see something other than the four walls of their apartment for a change? I know I’m desperate for that.
I half expect to find the caretaker downstairs standing guard, the doors chained shut, laughing at me for thinking I might finally be free. The doors are right there. Just waiting for me . . .
I’m right in front of them.
“Going somewhere?”
I jump, feeling like I’ve just been caught doing something genuinely, properly wrong, and cringe, turning slowly. “Heeeeeeeey, Walter White. How’s it going?”
He’s still wearing his mask and gloves, which I think doesn’t bode very well, but then the bit of his face I can see crinkles in what has got to be a smile, and he laughs. Look at that—he’s capable of human emotion after all.
“Saw you sneaking down the stairs on the security cameras.
Should’ve guessed if anyone was going to be first out, it’d be you.”
He unhooks the giant ring of keys from his belt and waves for me to back up. When I realize he’s unlocking the doors, I start singing that “Pomp and Circumstance” tune, the graduation-type one, and I stand as straight as I can to salute him the whole time.
“If I’d known we were doing an unlocking ceremony, I’d have worn my glad rags,” I tell him. Walt takes his key out, retreating down the hallway to a “safe distance” so I can leave. I look back at him with a grin. “Next time, maybe?”
His smile vanishes. “Please, God, no.”
Whoa, and he has a sense of humor. Who knew?
“Go on,” he says, waving me off and heading back to his own apartment on the ground floor. “Get out of here, Ramones.”
I press a palm to one of the doors, holding my breath, and it gives way.
Oh, sweet, sweet, freedom. Hello, world. Good-bye, building.
Halle-fricking-lujah.
I push the door open the rest of the way, and teeter outside in my heels, bag swinging from my arm, and take a deep breath.
*
I knock on the door. There’s a minute or so before it opens, but I can hear movement on the other side.
When it opens, Nate looks pissed off.
“Ooh,” I say, grinning, “looks like someone is a grouch in the mornings, after all. Just as well I brought breakfast then, huh?”
I hold up the Starbucks cups and the brown paper bag of McDonald’s breakfast, grinning at him.
The scowl on Nate’s face vanishes, relief taking over instead, and he laughs, stepping back to let me inside. “Jesus, Immy, I thought you’d pulled your escape act again. Just leaving without a good-bye.”
I guess I can’t blame him for jumping to that conclusion.
Feigning offense, I gasp, “Me? Now, really, Honeypot, would I do a thing like that?”
Nate pulls me toward him, kissing me softly, and takes the drinks and breakfast from me so I can get rid of my shoes and coat and dump my bag. We eat on the balcony, talking quietly as the rest of the world starts to wake up, coming to life around us. A plane goes by overhead. People leave the building below us, walking along the paths; some have their car keys in hand, others walk off the little complex and in the direction of the shops. An elderly man goes and sits on a bench in the common area, his face tilted toward the sky, eyes closed. Another guy comes to join him after a while, coming from the next block of apartments over.
After we’re finished eating and our coffee cups are empty, a sense of finality settles on my shoulders.
It’s Sunday. And it’s time I went home.
I say as much, and Nate nods, following me into the apartment while I collect up my things again.
He stops me after I put my coat on to kiss me again, and why, why does he have to be so good at kissing? Why does he have to make my insides melt like that, and make my heart race this way? Why does he have to do that thing where he kisses me right at the corner of my mouth like he’s teasing me before really kissing me, in a way that makes my brain stop working? It’s not fair.
It was good for one night, but for a week? It’s just uncalled for.
Because now I’m hooked, and he’s making it harder to remember why I should leave.
He’s wearing the Ramones top, as if to make a point. I run my hands over it, over his chest, and narrow my eyes at him. “You know, that looks much better on me.”
“Next time, maybe. We can draw up a rota.”
“Oh-ho, next time? You sound awfully sure of yourself there, mister.”
He blushes.
Fuck, even that’s cute.
How dare he.
“Just, you know,” he says. “I thought, maybe, when this all blows over, maybe we could . . . ”
“Do this again?”
“Maybe I’ll even take you out to dinner first,” he says, lifting his chin, his eyes sparkling, even though he’s still blushing.
“Gosh, I’m swooning.”
“It was just—we don’t have to.”
I pat his arm, stepping back. “It was good knowing you, Norman, and I liked our little chat in the middle of the night on Friday night, but now I’m free, this whole Beauty and the Beast fantasy is over, and I’m going to head back to my quaint little village and forget all about you.”
Nate laughs, understanding my humor well enough after being stuck with me for a whole week to know I don’t mean a word of it.
“I’ll call you when I get home,” I suggest. “I know you’ll be missing me already by then. You won’t remember how you ever lived without me in your life.”
“Oh, I believe that,” he says softly.
I let him walk me to the door. I put my shoes on. There’s another note under the door, this time reminding residents of the building that the lockdown has been lifted and while they continue to urge caution, we are now able to go outside again.
Hallelujah.
My stomach twists again. Even Nate looks sad to see me go, even though I barged into his life, pretty uninvited, messing up his apartment and getting in the way of his life all week.
I lean forward to kiss his cheek. “See ya round, Honeypot.”
*
I’m halfway down the path to leave, when I hear a familiar voice.
Oh boy, I think, here we go. The jig is officially up.
I glance around to spot Lucy saying good-bye to some girl. She starts off around the side of the building, not having noticed me at all.