Zac lived several blocks away from my apartment, so I left at ten to seven, giving myself plenty of time to walk. I found the place relatively easily and climbed my way up to the third floor cursing the fact that sometimes old buildings don’t have elevators. Zac’s apartment was at the end of the hallway and the whole way down I found myself wondering what it would be like inside. Would it be a typical gross guy’s apartment? What were his roommates like? Did I know them? Would they be home? As I reached his door, number 345, I took a deep breath before knocking. I could hear someone running towards the door on the other side, they too waited a beat before opening. Zac opened the door and pushed it wide.
“Right on time!” he smiled, stepping to the side to let me in.
“I have a mild anal retentiveness for punctuality,” I admitted with a smile as I removed my coat and placed it into his outstretched hands.
“I’ll remember that,” he said, placing my coat on the rack beside the door, “Let’s go in the living room. Did you bring the movie?”
I opened my purse and removed the DVD.
“Heck yes I brought the DVD!” I said in my best Napoleon impersonation, “I’m excited to watch it, and I’ll try not to sing along… too much.”
“Aww, I’m sure you have a nice voice.”
“Of course I have a nice voice. I just don’t want to upstage the actors,” I teased. He gave me a playful nudge with his elbow as we entered the living room. It was small with a futon and decent sized TV with posters of “Boondock Saints” and “Office Space” on the walls. There was a Pizza Hut box already on the table in front of the futon.
“Go ahead and take a seat. Do you want something to drink? I’ve got some Heinekin and… well… water,” he laughed.
“Heinekin is fine.”
“Great, I’ll be right back!” With that he was gone from the room. I took the opportunity to look around a bit more. It was very much a guy’s living room, but it was really clean and uncluttered. Some magazines were stacked under the table, but they were all of the non-pornographic persuasion, mostly sports magazines. He came back in and after the DVD was put in the player, we were seated on the futon about a foot apart. I made sure that I sat down first so he would be the one to determine how close we sat. These were the kinds of things I stressed about and I even drove myself crazy.
We watched the movie and ate, laughing at the funny parts and drinking a couple of beers. Then came the funeral scene. I’m a crier and this part always got to me. I tried to hold them back but couldn’t help it as a few tears fell down my cheeks. Zac noticed once I swiped them away with the back of my hand, trying to conceal them from him. He gave me a sympathetic smile and slid closer to me.
“Oh Esme, don’t cry,” he said, placing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close. Heaven. Pure, blissful heaven. He smelled just like men should, like soap with only a hint of cologne. I hadn’t even noticed he was wearing any until just then. Perfect. I let myself relax into him and was, for the first time in my life, glad that I was an overly emotional person.
* * *After the movie, we cleaned up dinner and Zac offered to show me the rest of the apartment. Like the living room and kitchen had been, it was small, just a bathroom and his bedroom completed the tour. His room was painted a dark navy blue and looked very cozy. I couldn’t help but let my mind wander, wondering what it would be like to lay in there with him on that very comfortable looking bed.
“So you live here all by yourself?” I asked as we went back into the living room.
“Yeah, I figured it was best. I’m still friends with the guys I lived with in the past but it just didn’t really work. I’m neater than most guys and like my quiet when I want it, and most guys aren’t like that. So, I found this place and it’s been great for me so far.”
“Good, I’m glad,” I said, sitting down next to him, a bit closer than last time, “So do you go to the library all the time because you get distracted here at home?”
“No, I go to the library to see you,” he stated. I laughed and leaned back into the cushion. When he didn’t laugh along with me I looked over at him.
“You’re so full of it.”
“No, I’m not. I mean, sure, I’d usually get some work done, but… why do you think I kept coming back to the same place after I knew someone else sat there too? There are plenty of places in the library where I could have gone to be alone.” Wow. I could hardly take it all. He was sitting so close to me, looking at me in a way I hadn’t experienced in quite awhile, and now he was telling me that he’d been coming to the library to see me.
“I can’t believe it,” I said, thinking aloud and looking away from him.
“Can’t believe what?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that stuff like this doesn’t usually happen to me. I’m not the girl who usually gets noticed.”
“Esme. I’ll bet you get noticed a whole lot more than you think,” he smiled as he shifted on the couch to face me, “I noticed you right away.”
“I had no idea,” I said, my voice coming out much quieter than I had anticipated. His face turned serious and his eyes suddenly looked a little darker. Oh god. I knew that look. He was going to kiss me. I tried not to show that I knew, tried to remain composed even though I just wanted to leap on top of him and kiss him senseless. He leaned in and my eyes fell closed as his mouth touched mine. It was soft and sweet and I wanted so much more, but held back. Don’t mess it up, Esme, I told myself. His hand found its way to the back of my neck to deepen the kiss.
I hadn’t made out sober in a really long time, and god did it feel good. Too good. After kissing on his futon for what felt like hours, I finally pulled away, knowing that if we kept it up for much longer it would wind up going much farther than it should on a second date.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, slightly out of breath and obviously worried as to why I had pulled back. God he was adorable. I smiled at him.
“Everything is great, I should just get going. I still have reading to do for tomorrow and it’s getting kind of late.” He looked at the clock and seemed surprised find it that it was almost eleven.
“Oh, so it is,” he laughed, “Let me drive you home.”
“You don’t have to do that, it’s not far.” He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand, pulling me up from the futon.
“Esme. You’re not walking home in the dark when I can very easily drive you. And I don’t want to hear another word about it,” he stated, shaking his finger at me before handing back my coat. I just nodded and put it on. Once he had done the same, we headed out for his car. The drive only took a few minutes and then we were parked outside my building.
“Goodnight, Zac. I had a really great time tonight,” I said, knowing that it sounded lame but knowing it was the truth nonetheless.
“Me too. A really great time,” he replied leaning in to kiss me again. When he went to pull back I grabbed the front of his coat, holding him to me. I could felt him smile against my mouth. “Now come on, I thought you had homework to do.”
I sighed before reluctantly unbuckling my seatbelt and opening the door. “I do. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye!”
“Bye!” he said as the door closed. I walked to the door and gave him a wave before going inside. Once I made it to our floor I practically ran down the hallway. I couldn’t wait to tell Gwen everything. I found her cuddling with Braeden on the couch watching “I Love New York.”
“Oh! She’s home!” I heard her say, shoving Braeden away so she could sit up. I tossed my purse onto the kitchen table and practically skipped into the living room.
“Hello!” I exclaimed before plopping down onto the couch next to Gwen.
“Oh my god! You have make-out mouth!” she accused. I smiled and leaned back into the cushion.
“I know!!” I exclaimed in a much more girly voice than usual. I couldn’t help it, it just came pouring out of me. “It was so good. Like… whoa.” I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. I knew that I was being a big dork but was too happy to care.
“Did you touch his wiener?” Braeden asked, grinning at me.
“His wiener? What are you, five?” I asked, grabbing the remote from Gwen’s hand and turning up the volume.
“Well?” Gwen asked. I looked over to find them looking at me expectantly.
“No! Of course not! It’s date number two, and I want to take it slow with him. I really like him.”
“Oh fine, be sensible about it,” she teased, taking the remote back to me, “You’ll be doing him in no time.” I just ignored her and watched as Mr. Boston picked his nose on national television.