A Winter Classic

“Son of a bitch! You stupid, asshole piece of crap…”

The cursing died down as Phil moved closer towards his front door. He looked through the peephole and saw nothing; he could hear the grumbling and some banging but couldn’t see where it was coming from. Quietly he pushed open his door, looking from left to right till he found the voice. The hourglass silhouette of what must be his new neighbor greeted him to his left.

“You think for all the money you spend in maintenance fees the bloody key wouldn’t just break off in the door a few months later.”

He watched her turn the knob one more time before she gave up pushing the hair out of her face; giving him the first real look at her. She was beautiful and while his brain was telling him to head back inside before anyone saw him his body was already moving towards her door.

“Do you need some help?” he offered.

The voice to her left caught her off guard and she jumped nearly three feet. Whipping her head to the side she watched the figure move into the light. This must be her neighbor; she’d thought the apartment was empty since she’d heard absolutely nothing for months but suddenly after months of silence she’d heard the sounds of life next door and she’d been curious to see who was living there.

“Umm…” she faulted at first but then recovered. “Not unless you’ve got a time machine and can help me get my key outta there.”

She pointed at the door and when he leaned in he could see half the key broken off in the lock and the other half sat in her mitten covered hand. He laughed which caused her to laugh at the ridiculous situation she seemed to find herself in.

“Wish I could but you might need a professional to help you out there.”

She sighed blowing the bangs out of her eyes before she spoke again.

“Already on their way, or so they say.”

He smiled down at her and suddenly she got self-conscious. After working a 12 hour shift she couldn’t image what she looked like right now; definitely not the way she wanted to meet people for the first time.

“I’m Phil.” he stuck his hand out so she slipped off her glove and slid her hand into his.

“I know who you are.” She stated feeling the warmth in his palm seep into her skin. She was a full blooded Canadian; hockey was in her DNA, imprinted in her blood at birth. “Ellie.”

She watched his brows wing in up in surprise, but he covered it quickly before letting her hand go and racking it through his hair. He was more handsome in person, she’d give him that, and up close he was a whole lot of man, much bigger then she’d have thought.

“You can wait in my place if you want.” He offered tilting his neck towards the door.

She watched the muscles in his upper body flex as he turned towards the door then back at her.

“What if I’m a serial killer?” she asked, well really the questioned flew out of her mouth before she even finished forming the thought and when he laughed she felt relief. Even if he was laughing at her it was better than nothing since she apparently just wanted to make a complete fool of herself today.

“Well I’m pretty sure I can take you down if you get out of hand.”

True, she hasn’t really thought of that and since he had over half a foot on her and more than 50 pounds he could probably handle himself. I mean he handle guys twice her size for a living she was clearly no threat.

“I really appreciate that.” She started. “But the locksmith should be here any minute and I really can’t afford to miss him.”

Any other day she might have taken him up on his offer, he was cute and she wasn’t entirely sure if he was flirting with her but she would have liked to find out.

“I could wait with you.”

“I’m sure you have much better things to do then stand out here with me.”

“You’d be shocked at what little I have to do today.”

Definitely flirting she thought looking up at him. His posture was casual and friendly a complete 180 from the quiet, reserved guy you always read about and she couldn’t place his accent but it poked through on occasion while he spoke.

“Well this explains why it’s been so quiet around here.” Ellie stated pulling her bag off of her shoulder and resting it on the ground.

“What do you mean?”

She watched him casually lean against the wall, arms crossed across his chest.

“I thought your place was empty, it’s been so quiet till a few months ago.” She started. “Now it makes sense.”

If she really thought about it, the movement had started around the time the season had begun; not that the thought would have ever crossed her mind until this very moment.

“Yeah we come and go at odd times, sorry if you can hear it.”

She could hear movement at weird times but she was no better, her job had her working long hours, sometimes night shifts so she understood.

“Oh no, it’s fine,” Ellie started. “I can hardly hear you and your girlfriend really.”

The comment came out without her brain even forming the thought. She was in fine form today and if she didn’t get into her apartment and to bed soon she was bound to make a total and complete ass of herself. When he smiled at her she felt even stupider about what she’d just said, very subtle Ellie.

“No girlfriend, my buddy...” Phil began to explain. “He…”

The ding of the elevator cut him off mid-sentence and when it slid open an older man walked out wheeling a box of what she suspected were tools. After he introduced himself as James, the repair guy she had been waiting for, he went to work on replacing the lock. A few minutes later he had the lock off and her door open, the relief of seeing her open door nearly had her in tears. Sure that was a little bit dramatic but she was so tired all she wanted to do was get to bed.

“Well I guess you don’t need me anymore.” Phil interrupted her thoughts reminding her that he was still standing here with her.

“Thanks for waiting with me.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He wanted to ask for her number, to ask if he could maybe see her again but he didn’t know how to get it out with the locksmith standing right there with them. He’d have to orchestrate a few accidental meeting around the building if he didn’t come up with anything fast.

Ellie turned back towards her door, picking her bag up off the floor and throwing it over her shoulder. She paused and turned back to look at him. He was just standing there looking at her and she didn’t know where the boldness came from but before she knew it she was calling out to him.

“Phil?”

He nodded at her encouraging her to go on.

“Umm, if you’re not busy maybe I could make you dinner sometime.” She dug her hands into her pockets and continued. “Just a small thanks for waiting with me.”

Phil ran through the schedule in his head trying to figure out what day would be best.

“Does Sunday work?”

“Sunday works, around 7?”

“Around 7.” He confirmed.

She pulled her hat off to keep her hands busy and smiled in relief when he confirmed.

“Great I’ll see you Sunday then.”

He nodded at her and watched her disappear into her apartment before he returned to his.