Whatever It Takes

He unlocked the door and led the way inside, “make yourself comfortable” he said as he walked towards the kitchen. Arianna stood nervously at the edge of his door, slowly walking in. When he said he knew the perfect place to go, she didn’t think he meant his apartment. And yet here she was, standing in the middle of the foyer, trying to figure out how she got herself into this.

She looked around the large open area, observing his apartment in detail for the first time. It looked like an average college guy’s apartment. That is if most college guys have floor to ceiling windows overlooking downtown Chicago, and leather couches and plasma screen TVs, she thought. So maybe it wasn’t your average college kid’s apartment, yet something about it was relaxing. She began to walk around the living room, looking at the pictures and jerseys in frames lining the walls. She smiled to herself the more she saw pictures of him with his family and friends.

“Already glued to pictures of me huh?” he teased as he came up beside her. She shot him a look and turned back to the picture smiling. “You look so innocent” she said as she pointed to a picture of him as a kid with his grandfather, “what happened? Oh and this picture…”. She pointed to a frame where a little Patrick stood along side his sisters dressed in a tux and bowtie.

“I just don’t understand. You use to be so cute!” she gasped as she began to make her way down the wall to see more pictures. He reached over and grabbed her by her waist, pulling her away from the wall of pictures, “alright I think you’ve seen enough,” he said as he led her towards the couch.

She smiled at him as they sat down, not too far yet not too close either. There was this invisible line that neither one of them seemed ready to cross yet. Both feeling their bodies want to yet nervous that their emotions were getting the best of them.

“Aw, don’t be so sensitive. I’m kidding. You’re still cute don’t worry” she told him as she looked over at him. “I know I am” he retorted as he leaned over and opened the bottle of wine he had set on the table in front of two glasses.

“It’s why women can’t resist me,” he told her matter-of-factly as he poured them each a glass. “You wish” she replied, as she sat up and accepted her glass from him. “You know you’re one of them” he said as he handed her the glass, his fingers grazing hers.

He had suddenly moved closer to her, the space between them becoming limited. They starred at each other for a few seconds, each one smirking. “If you invited me over to seduce me, I hate to break it to you but it wont work. Especially not with a glass of wine” she commented as she took a sip of her drink, her smile still there.

“Pft, if I was planning on seducing you I would have accomplished it the moment I met you” he told her as he leaned back into the couch. He looked over to her and shot her one of his smiles, his eyes lighting up.

They busted out laughing, enjoying their little teasing moment together, even though they both knew there was some truth to it. “So, I was thinking we could drink some wine, eat popcorn and watch a movie. Sound good?” he asked, as he got up and headed back to the kitchen as he heard the microwave beep. “Sounds perfect,” she replied as she turned to watch him go. “I think you just stole that idea from me though, after I told you it at the hotel”.

He walked back in holding a bowl and napkins, “No way, my idea is totally better”. She looked at him confused, not seeing the difference between the two plans. “I’m here, so right away, my plan wins”. She rolled her eyes at his cockiness, reaching over to grab some popcorn. “Whatever makes you sleep at night” she replied, “so what movie are we watching?”