Talking with Her

I can’t count how many nights I spent dreaming about her. How many times I tried to build up the courage to ask her out. So, sitting down at the kitchen table across from her feels unreal. I feel my face heating up as our eyes lock on each other. She smiles at me and the sentiment makes my heart skip a beat. How in the world did the girl of my dreams just fall in my lap, well my apartment?

♥♥♥

I clear my throat, trying to ease the tension that her gaze is beginning to cause, “So when do you want to move in?”, I quickly shift my eyes to my hands right after asking her. I’ve never felt so overwhelmed in my life. Being in the presence of someone I’ve admired from a far, and to have said person needing my help, is causing all kinds of emotions to course through me.

“The sooner the better actually. When would be good for you?”

I can’t help but ponder over what her rush is, “Riza, is there… is there something you’re running away from?” I force my eyes to look back up at her. She looks as if she hasn’t taken her eyes off of me.

She stares at me for a moment longer before turning to look out the kitchen window. “I recently went through a bad break-up. The reason I’m looking for a new place is because the apartment was his. Sleeping on couches for the past few months have been extremely uncomfortable. One night at work I just so happened to come across your ad for a roommate. And I just knew…”, she turns back to face me, “It felt like a sign.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Just curious, did anyone else happen to answer you? I saw you had posted it a while ago.”

I shift in my seat, “No… no, no one else.”

She smiles, “Well there you go! It’s meant to be.” She stands up from her chair. “Can I see the room Lou?”

Hearing her say my name causes an inexplicable feeling to shoot through me. I clear my throat trying to distance myself from the feeling, “Mm hmm, it’s right across the hall from mine.”, I stand up from the table and lead us in the direction of the bedroom. “I hope being across from me won’t be a problem for you.”

She chuckles, “No problem at all.”

As we pass the bathroom door, the thought from earlier crosses my mind. “Um… sharing a bathroom won’t be a problem for you either, will it?” I look back at her as we reach the door to the bedroom.

She has a grin on her face, “Why? Will you have a problem with it? Or are you asking in hopes of seeing me naked?”

“What?!” Her question surprises me so much that I miss the door handle and fall into the door. Luckily, it’s closed tight so I don’t actually fall into the room. This is embarrassing!

“I’m just messing with you.”, she laughs, “Lighten up!”

I nervously nod at her as I place my hand back on the door knob. I do not do good with regular people, considering who she is, I’ll probably end up embarrassing myself more than I care for.

“There’s already a bed in here? That’s wonderful!”, she says as we walk in.

“Yeah, it was a guest room. If you don’t like it, we can get you another one.” Did I really just offer to buy her a new bed. I shake my head and hope that I can keep myself from offering anything else I don’t have money for. I mean, I need a roommate because expenses are high.

“No, this is perfect. I have a lot of stuff but a bed, I do not. Matter of fact, this room is a perfect size for me.”, she says looking around the room.

My eyes follow her as she walks over to the bed. Once she reaches it, she stands there for a moment looking at it as if she’s contemplating something. I’m about to say something about the size of it, but before I can she jumps on it landing on her stomach. I watch as she begins rolling around on the bed laughing. Maybe she’s the psychotic killer?

When she finally stops rolling around, she spreads out across the bed. I feel awkward still staring at her. I do not need her thinking I’m some sort of voyeur. I look down at the floor trying to get rid of the thoughts that are starting to surface from seeing her like that. “So, you like it then?”

She props herself up on her elbows to look at me, “I’m so sorry Lou.”, she laughs some more, “I just miss being in a bed. It feels like I haven’t touched one in forever.”, she sighs, “You want to do it Wednesday?”

My eyebrows raise at her question, “Wh…what?! R… Riza, I think there’s some misunderstanding here. I wasn’t… I mean I didn’t…”, I take a deep breath, “I’m not trying to jump into bed with you.”

The silence between us is deafening. We stare at each other and it is becoming more than uncomfortable for my liking. What is she thinking? I take a step back towards the door. As I’m taking another step, she starts laughing. Why is she laughing?

Once she calms down from laughing hysterically, she speaks up, “Lou, that’s not at all what I was talking about.”, she laughs again but not as hard, “What kind of girl do you think I am?”

Well, not to be rude, but if those rumors about her from high school were true then… I blink a few times to keep my mind from continuing the thought. “I apologize. I just assumed, um, what were you referring to?”

“Me moving in and becoming your official roommate.”, she stands from the bed and stretches her arms up, then begins to walk towards me, “You having a dirty mind is nothing I’m not used to, but I am a little shocked to be honest. You don’t look like the kind of guy that would jump to the conclusion that I was referring to us having sex.”, she stops in front of me with a smirk on her face.

That look clears all thoughts from my mind, “So beautiful.” I instantly feel my face flush as soon as those words left my mouth. I hope, I really hope, she didn’t hear me. The smirk disappears from her face, but her eyes are still locked on mine. No, she definitely heard me.

“No one’s ever called me that before. I’ve been called many things especially at my job, but beautiful is not one of them.” She looks down then back up to my face and smiles, “Thank you.”

“R…right. So, you said Wednesday?”, I turn to head back to the living room. I’m ready for her to leave so I can stop any further embarrassment of myself from happening.

“Yes. Is that okay with you?”

“That’s fine. Any day is good, I work from home, so you just tell me when, and I’ll be here.” I stop at the front door and turn back to her, trying my best not to look at her again, opting for focusing my eyes on the clock on the wall behind where she’s standing.

“Then I’ll be back on Wednesday. It’s my only day off this week, but it’ll give me plenty of time to move everything and get any paperwork that you have out the way.”, she takes a couple of steps towards the door then abruptly stops, “I hate to ask, but you wouldn’t mind helping me move my stuff in, would you?”

I shake my head, “Not at all.”

She walks pass me and out the door. Just as I’m about to close it, she turns back to me. “I’ll… I’ll see you later Lou.”, she says with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Alright then Riza.” I close the door and lean up against it.

I wonder why she looked at me like that. Maybe she does recognize me?