Status: Starts in 2010
Chance
02
Chapter 2:
It was already Saturday and after Saturday's date, Zak had called Maisie Sunday afternoon asking her out for the next Saturday. She agreed happily and currently she was channel flipping on the television. She came across the Travel Channel and recognized the show's title Ghost Adventures. She smiled a little and turned it on. She saw Zak right away except he looked very different. His hair wasn't in its fin shape, it was just pushed up. She pulled her phone out, needing to text him.
“Watching Ghost Adventures, lol. You look so different!” She watched for a few moments before her phone beeped.
“What ep?”
She turned on the info and read the title. “Ancient Ram Inn.”
“Oh God...”
“What's wrong with that one?”
“I'll tell you tomorrow...It's better done in person.”
“Uh oh...Must be bad.”
“It's pretty embarrassing. Editing with the guys, talk to ya soon.”
She decided to leave him alone and just watch the episode, which turned out to be kind of funny except for that fact that she turned that things followed him home from these haunted locations and he did a ritual to summon spirits.
“What are you doing?” Marco asked, walking into the house. Maisie literally turned the TV off, tossed the remote, and turned around to look at him nervously.
“Nothing!”
“Seriously, what the hell was that?”
“I was just watching TV...”
Marco walked over, picked up the remote and turned it back on. Lucky for her, it was on commercial. But, he hit the info button anyway and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Really? What's this?”
“A TV show, like I just said!”
“Ghost Adventures? Why?”
“Alright, you want the truth?” she stood up and looked him in the eye. “I...” she was trying to think of a lie quickly, but she couldn't so she had to tell the truth. “You know that guy I went out with on Saturday?”
“Well I didn't meet him, but I know of him.”
“This is his show...”
“What this is something he watches?”
“No, no, no. He is the host. Him and his friends are the people on there,” she explained. When it came back on, Marco watched intently.
“Which one is he?”
“Guess.”
“Uh that one,” he pointed to the one that Maisie had learned was named Nick.
“Nope. The big muscular one...”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Maisie made her way out of the house and down the side walk. This week, she had opted for a pair of jeans and a black V-neck with a pair of flip flops. She saw Zak leaning against his car with his arms crossed and she nearly melted. She was only human and he had the most amazing arms she had ever seen. She hadn't gotten to seem them much last week, but now...Now her muscles were fully visible in his black T-shirt.
She waved at him, hoping that it wouldn't be awkward, she thought that they had a lot of chemistry and she hoped that he thought that same. As soon as she got closer, he pushed off of the car and stopped in front of her, he seemed to be debating with himself, he made his decision and pressed a warm and inviting kiss to her lips. She returned it, happy that he had one it.
“Well what have you got planned for us?” she asked.
“You'll see,” he smirked and once again opened the car door for her.
They drove for about thirty minutes, talking about whatever was on their minds on the way. At one point, they talked about crackers. Maisie had started the conversation, but Zak kept it alive. One of her favorite things about him was that she could say whatever was on her mind and there didn't seem to ever be a dry moment.
“Is this it?” she asked, seeing the big sign that said 'Go-Karts'.
“Yeah,” he hoped that she liked this sort of thing. She seemed like the kind of girl that would but he had dated girls that were far too high maintenance and would have never gotten within a hundred feet of this place, fearing that she would break one of her salon manicured nails or break the heel of their favorite shoe that had cost hundreds of dollars. But, Maisie didn't have manicured nails, in fact, she didn't even have any paint on them. Zak also noticed that Maisie was wearing a pair of black converse, she was the type he should have been going after all along.
“Awesome, I can't wait to whoop your ass on that track,” she grinned as they got out of the car.
“We'll see about that,” he took her hand in his and she smiled happily, swinging their arms back and forth as they made their way to the front door. They got set up with their Go-Karts and were ready to go. Maisie was in number '14' and Zak was in number '15'. They were right beside each other before their race began. “Don't you even think about letting me win. I want this fair,” she told him as she eyed him carefully. He gave her the thumbs up, not that he was considering it. Maisie flashed him a smirk and once the green light flashed, they took off. She pressed the pedal to the floor and took off ahead of him.
They battled to take the lead but ultimately there could only be one winner. Maisie.
“I beat you, I beat you,” she sang, sticking her tongue out at him. “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.”
“I let you win,” Zak was a sore loser, of course and he knew it, he was sure that Maisie would quickly learn it too.
“Aw don't be sad because you got your ass kicked,” she nudged his arm as they walked into the restaurant attached to the place.
“You cheated, you kept bumping me.” They ordered a peperoni pizza and were told to sit and wait for it.
“Mm hm, sure. By the way, I'm paying for this,” she stated.
“No you're not.”
“Yeah huh. I don't need you paying for everything all of the time, I'm perfectly capable.”
“I”m sure you are but―”
“Oh Geez, don't even start. Swallow your manly pride and let me pay for this.”
“But―”
“Nope,” she said firmly. Even though they were more or less arguing, Zak couldn't help but love the fact that she was independent, that she didn't want to rely on him all of the time.
“Fine,” he gave in.
“Should we start another round of questions then?”
“Sure. Do you speak any other languages?”
“I am fluent in Spanish. Uh what's something about yourself that you find weird.”
“I'm allergic to red food dye.”
They continued their questions for a while until the pizza came out and Maisie paid for it. They spent a short amount of time in the arcade and Zak won her a white stuffed dog from the prize claw machine. She had thanked him by kissing him.
“So what now? It's only eight thirty. Do you have something else planned?”
“Actually,” he said nervously. “I don't...I―don't take this the way it's going to sound. Let me finish,” she couldn't help but laugh a little. “We can go back to my house...Watch movies or something―I'll drive you home whenever you ask me to...”
“That sounds fun, Zak,” she just smiled and linked arms with him as he led the way back to his car.
“It does?”
“Yeah.”
Zak pulled his Bentley into the garage and used the garage door opener to close it. “I have to warn you of something,” he began, looking at her carefully. “My house, is haunted...Like insanely and there's this one spirit that doesn't like when I bring females around so...”
“I'll be fine.” She wasn't scared.
“You sure? I can back right back out and take your home.”
She placed her hand over his and smiled at him. “I'm okay, Zak. I've dealt with ghosts before...”
“You have?”
“I'll tell you about it inside,” she opened the car door and stepped out. He led the way though the garage into the large house. It was nice, it had a modern look and feel to it. The first sound she noticed was the sound of dog nails against the floor and two barks. The white dog with black spots came into view and Zak called her over and began petting her.
“That's a good girl, that's my Gracie.” Zak rubbed her behind the ears and she rolled over for a belly rub.
“I bet she's spoiled,” Maisie grinned. The dog rolled back over and her ears shot straight up. She made her way over to Maisie and the woman bent down to the dog's level. She allowed the K-9 to sniff her hand before she began petting her like Zak had. “She's so soft.” Gracie even rolled over for a belly rub from Maisie, who happily complied. “You are so cute, no wonder he spoils you,” she grinned at Zak who was watching her thoughtfully. “So you wanna give me the grand tour?”
“Right this way, beautiful,” he winked at her and offered her his arm. She playfully bumped into him as they walked together. He showed her around the house, leaving out the dungeon, deciding that some things could be left alone for a while. “So you wanna watch movies now?”
“Sounds good to me.”
By about the third movie, Maisie was starting to get a little tired. Zak had already wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they sat on his couch, so she leaned her head on his shoulder and it didn't take long before she was asleep, even if she didn't mean to be. Zak ended up following her lead and resting his head on hers, not before he tossed a blanket over both of them though.
The next morning, Aaron and Billy made their way into Zak's house. They had an extra key because he did sleep weird hours sometimes and they always had editing to get done. They walked thought the kitchen―after being greeted by Gracie, of course, and into the living room to head back to the study. Billy hit Aaron's arm and pointed to the couch. The TV was still on and Zak and some unknown door were asleep in a cuddle like position. Aaron couldn't help himself. He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture, deciding that maybe he could use it later.
“Hey bro,” Billy called, Zak didn't move. However, the unknown girl twitched and looked up at them sleepily. Her eyes grew wide and she shook Zak awake.
“Ah, fuck,” Zak cursed. “Sorry, I forgot they were coming over and...” he trailed off, looking between his two friends and Maisie. She bit her lip nervously.
“Where's your bathroom?” she asked.
“Down the hall on the right,” he pointed, she nodded and stood up from the couch before going that way.
“Do we wanna sit on the couch anymore bro?” Aaron asked jokingly.
“Shut up,” Zak told him.
“Seriously though, dude?” Billy asked.
“Nothing happened, we were watching a movie and we fell asleep.” He let Gracie out the back door and by the time Maisie got back, her face was washed and makeup free and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
“I'm Aaron,” he greeted her.
“I'm Billy.”
“Maisie. Nice to meet you guys,” she smiled at them and shook their offered hands. “I...Excuse me for a minute...” she walked over to where Zak was standing at the back door. “Can you drive me home, please?”
“Yeah, sweetie,” he kissed the top of her head and let Gracie back into the house. Maisie knelt down and pet Gracie like she had last night, earning a lick on the cheek from the small dog. Zak smiled a little and grabbed his keys. “Wanna go bye bye Grace?” he asked in his special dog tone. Her ears perked up and she began zooming around the house. Maisie couldn't refrain from laughing, she was actually a little surprised that Zak was going to let Gracie in the Bentley, he seemed like he would be worried about her getting fur everywhere.
“We're taking this one,” Zak said, walking out into the garage, he pointed to a larger car and Maisie smiled, knowing that she was probably right about the fur issue with Gracie, not that she blammed him at all.
“Okay,” Gracie got in on the passenger side right before Maisie did.
While he drove, Zak reached over and took her hand. “I am sorry about this morning...”
“Don't be. I understand,” she smiled at him. “I just didn't want to make things awkward by being there, y'know? You've got work to do. It makes sense. Besides, I'm watching Conner starting at like three.”
“It wouldn't have been awkward,” he told her. “I wouldn't have minded if you would have stayed.”
“Yeah but I would have been in the way and I don't want your friends to know me as the one who always gets in the way,” she
laughed nervously. “I had a lot of fun yesterday. I haven't had fun like that in so long...Thank you.”
“Mm, not a problem, Sweetie. I enjoyed it just as much as you did. Think we could do it again?”
“Definitely,” she smiled at him.
“Sooner in the week?”
“I've gotta babysit―nanny―whatever the hell you want to call it everyday until Friday. But maybe, I mean this is completely up to you, I was think about taking Conner to the park on Wednesday, maybe you could meet us there and we could hang out or something...”
“Sounds great,” he agreed.
A few minute later he pulled up to her house and she said her goodbyes to Gracie, petting her head and scratching her behind the ears. Then she looked up to Zak and he kissed her deeply.
“I'll text you,” she promised, kissing him a second time.
“Not if I text you first,” he grinned. She rolled her eyes and made her way into the house. She sent one last wave his way before going in. She braced herself for the speech from brother about the walk of shame, even though she and Zak hadn't done anything the night before, it just appeared that way.
It was already Saturday and after Saturday's date, Zak had called Maisie Sunday afternoon asking her out for the next Saturday. She agreed happily and currently she was channel flipping on the television. She came across the Travel Channel and recognized the show's title Ghost Adventures. She smiled a little and turned it on. She saw Zak right away except he looked very different. His hair wasn't in its fin shape, it was just pushed up. She pulled her phone out, needing to text him.
“Watching Ghost Adventures, lol. You look so different!” She watched for a few moments before her phone beeped.
“What ep?”
She turned on the info and read the title. “Ancient Ram Inn.”
“Oh God...”
“What's wrong with that one?”
“I'll tell you tomorrow...It's better done in person.”
“Uh oh...Must be bad.”
“It's pretty embarrassing. Editing with the guys, talk to ya soon.”
She decided to leave him alone and just watch the episode, which turned out to be kind of funny except for that fact that she turned that things followed him home from these haunted locations and he did a ritual to summon spirits.
“What are you doing?” Marco asked, walking into the house. Maisie literally turned the TV off, tossed the remote, and turned around to look at him nervously.
“Nothing!”
“Seriously, what the hell was that?”
“I was just watching TV...”
Marco walked over, picked up the remote and turned it back on. Lucky for her, it was on commercial. But, he hit the info button anyway and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Really? What's this?”
“A TV show, like I just said!”
“Ghost Adventures? Why?”
“Alright, you want the truth?” she stood up and looked him in the eye. “I...” she was trying to think of a lie quickly, but she couldn't so she had to tell the truth. “You know that guy I went out with on Saturday?”
“Well I didn't meet him, but I know of him.”
“This is his show...”
“What this is something he watches?”
“No, no, no. He is the host. Him and his friends are the people on there,” she explained. When it came back on, Marco watched intently.
“Which one is he?”
“Guess.”
“Uh that one,” he pointed to the one that Maisie had learned was named Nick.
“Nope. The big muscular one...”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Maisie made her way out of the house and down the side walk. This week, she had opted for a pair of jeans and a black V-neck with a pair of flip flops. She saw Zak leaning against his car with his arms crossed and she nearly melted. She was only human and he had the most amazing arms she had ever seen. She hadn't gotten to seem them much last week, but now...Now her muscles were fully visible in his black T-shirt.
She waved at him, hoping that it wouldn't be awkward, she thought that they had a lot of chemistry and she hoped that he thought that same. As soon as she got closer, he pushed off of the car and stopped in front of her, he seemed to be debating with himself, he made his decision and pressed a warm and inviting kiss to her lips. She returned it, happy that he had one it.
“Well what have you got planned for us?” she asked.
“You'll see,” he smirked and once again opened the car door for her.
They drove for about thirty minutes, talking about whatever was on their minds on the way. At one point, they talked about crackers. Maisie had started the conversation, but Zak kept it alive. One of her favorite things about him was that she could say whatever was on her mind and there didn't seem to ever be a dry moment.
“Is this it?” she asked, seeing the big sign that said 'Go-Karts'.
“Yeah,” he hoped that she liked this sort of thing. She seemed like the kind of girl that would but he had dated girls that were far too high maintenance and would have never gotten within a hundred feet of this place, fearing that she would break one of her salon manicured nails or break the heel of their favorite shoe that had cost hundreds of dollars. But, Maisie didn't have manicured nails, in fact, she didn't even have any paint on them. Zak also noticed that Maisie was wearing a pair of black converse, she was the type he should have been going after all along.
“Awesome, I can't wait to whoop your ass on that track,” she grinned as they got out of the car.
“We'll see about that,” he took her hand in his and she smiled happily, swinging their arms back and forth as they made their way to the front door. They got set up with their Go-Karts and were ready to go. Maisie was in number '14' and Zak was in number '15'. They were right beside each other before their race began. “Don't you even think about letting me win. I want this fair,” she told him as she eyed him carefully. He gave her the thumbs up, not that he was considering it. Maisie flashed him a smirk and once the green light flashed, they took off. She pressed the pedal to the floor and took off ahead of him.
They battled to take the lead but ultimately there could only be one winner. Maisie.
“I beat you, I beat you,” she sang, sticking her tongue out at him. “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.”
“I let you win,” Zak was a sore loser, of course and he knew it, he was sure that Maisie would quickly learn it too.
“Aw don't be sad because you got your ass kicked,” she nudged his arm as they walked into the restaurant attached to the place.
“You cheated, you kept bumping me.” They ordered a peperoni pizza and were told to sit and wait for it.
“Mm hm, sure. By the way, I'm paying for this,” she stated.
“No you're not.”
“Yeah huh. I don't need you paying for everything all of the time, I'm perfectly capable.”
“I”m sure you are but―”
“Oh Geez, don't even start. Swallow your manly pride and let me pay for this.”
“But―”
“Nope,” she said firmly. Even though they were more or less arguing, Zak couldn't help but love the fact that she was independent, that she didn't want to rely on him all of the time.
“Fine,” he gave in.
“Should we start another round of questions then?”
“Sure. Do you speak any other languages?”
“I am fluent in Spanish. Uh what's something about yourself that you find weird.”
“I'm allergic to red food dye.”
They continued their questions for a while until the pizza came out and Maisie paid for it. They spent a short amount of time in the arcade and Zak won her a white stuffed dog from the prize claw machine. She had thanked him by kissing him.
“So what now? It's only eight thirty. Do you have something else planned?”
“Actually,” he said nervously. “I don't...I―don't take this the way it's going to sound. Let me finish,” she couldn't help but laugh a little. “We can go back to my house...Watch movies or something―I'll drive you home whenever you ask me to...”
“That sounds fun, Zak,” she just smiled and linked arms with him as he led the way back to his car.
“It does?”
“Yeah.”
Zak pulled his Bentley into the garage and used the garage door opener to close it. “I have to warn you of something,” he began, looking at her carefully. “My house, is haunted...Like insanely and there's this one spirit that doesn't like when I bring females around so...”
“I'll be fine.” She wasn't scared.
“You sure? I can back right back out and take your home.”
She placed her hand over his and smiled at him. “I'm okay, Zak. I've dealt with ghosts before...”
“You have?”
“I'll tell you about it inside,” she opened the car door and stepped out. He led the way though the garage into the large house. It was nice, it had a modern look and feel to it. The first sound she noticed was the sound of dog nails against the floor and two barks. The white dog with black spots came into view and Zak called her over and began petting her.
“That's a good girl, that's my Gracie.” Zak rubbed her behind the ears and she rolled over for a belly rub.
“I bet she's spoiled,” Maisie grinned. The dog rolled back over and her ears shot straight up. She made her way over to Maisie and the woman bent down to the dog's level. She allowed the K-9 to sniff her hand before she began petting her like Zak had. “She's so soft.” Gracie even rolled over for a belly rub from Maisie, who happily complied. “You are so cute, no wonder he spoils you,” she grinned at Zak who was watching her thoughtfully. “So you wanna give me the grand tour?”
“Right this way, beautiful,” he winked at her and offered her his arm. She playfully bumped into him as they walked together. He showed her around the house, leaving out the dungeon, deciding that some things could be left alone for a while. “So you wanna watch movies now?”
“Sounds good to me.”
By about the third movie, Maisie was starting to get a little tired. Zak had already wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they sat on his couch, so she leaned her head on his shoulder and it didn't take long before she was asleep, even if she didn't mean to be. Zak ended up following her lead and resting his head on hers, not before he tossed a blanket over both of them though.
The next morning, Aaron and Billy made their way into Zak's house. They had an extra key because he did sleep weird hours sometimes and they always had editing to get done. They walked thought the kitchen―after being greeted by Gracie, of course, and into the living room to head back to the study. Billy hit Aaron's arm and pointed to the couch. The TV was still on and Zak and some unknown door were asleep in a cuddle like position. Aaron couldn't help himself. He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture, deciding that maybe he could use it later.
“Hey bro,” Billy called, Zak didn't move. However, the unknown girl twitched and looked up at them sleepily. Her eyes grew wide and she shook Zak awake.
“Ah, fuck,” Zak cursed. “Sorry, I forgot they were coming over and...” he trailed off, looking between his two friends and Maisie. She bit her lip nervously.
“Where's your bathroom?” she asked.
“Down the hall on the right,” he pointed, she nodded and stood up from the couch before going that way.
“Do we wanna sit on the couch anymore bro?” Aaron asked jokingly.
“Shut up,” Zak told him.
“Seriously though, dude?” Billy asked.
“Nothing happened, we were watching a movie and we fell asleep.” He let Gracie out the back door and by the time Maisie got back, her face was washed and makeup free and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
“I'm Aaron,” he greeted her.
“I'm Billy.”
“Maisie. Nice to meet you guys,” she smiled at them and shook their offered hands. “I...Excuse me for a minute...” she walked over to where Zak was standing at the back door. “Can you drive me home, please?”
“Yeah, sweetie,” he kissed the top of her head and let Gracie back into the house. Maisie knelt down and pet Gracie like she had last night, earning a lick on the cheek from the small dog. Zak smiled a little and grabbed his keys. “Wanna go bye bye Grace?” he asked in his special dog tone. Her ears perked up and she began zooming around the house. Maisie couldn't refrain from laughing, she was actually a little surprised that Zak was going to let Gracie in the Bentley, he seemed like he would be worried about her getting fur everywhere.
“We're taking this one,” Zak said, walking out into the garage, he pointed to a larger car and Maisie smiled, knowing that she was probably right about the fur issue with Gracie, not that she blammed him at all.
“Okay,” Gracie got in on the passenger side right before Maisie did.
While he drove, Zak reached over and took her hand. “I am sorry about this morning...”
“Don't be. I understand,” she smiled at him. “I just didn't want to make things awkward by being there, y'know? You've got work to do. It makes sense. Besides, I'm watching Conner starting at like three.”
“It wouldn't have been awkward,” he told her. “I wouldn't have minded if you would have stayed.”
“Yeah but I would have been in the way and I don't want your friends to know me as the one who always gets in the way,” she
laughed nervously. “I had a lot of fun yesterday. I haven't had fun like that in so long...Thank you.”
“Mm, not a problem, Sweetie. I enjoyed it just as much as you did. Think we could do it again?”
“Definitely,” she smiled at him.
“Sooner in the week?”
“I've gotta babysit―nanny―whatever the hell you want to call it everyday until Friday. But maybe, I mean this is completely up to you, I was think about taking Conner to the park on Wednesday, maybe you could meet us there and we could hang out or something...”
“Sounds great,” he agreed.
A few minute later he pulled up to her house and she said her goodbyes to Gracie, petting her head and scratching her behind the ears. Then she looked up to Zak and he kissed her deeply.
“I'll text you,” she promised, kissing him a second time.
“Not if I text you first,” he grinned. She rolled her eyes and made her way into the house. She sent one last wave his way before going in. She braced herself for the speech from brother about the walk of shame, even though she and Zak hadn't done anything the night before, it just appeared that way.