Nadi's random party (open)

[Aidan King]

Hoping desperately to himself that there would be no need for shots or blood work anytime soon, Aidan still acknowledged the offer, whether serious or not, with a slight incline of his head. It wasn’t the pain that bothered him - he had always had a pretty high tolerance for it – so it would hardly matter if he felt it. There was just something about those damned needles that got to him.

“Preferably with a good plot, yeah,” he added, knowing in the way she’d asked that she would agree. He had no problem with the occasional bloody, violence for the sake of violence movie. The ones with substance were always better though, without a doubt.

Aidan laughed, preparing himself for the “floodgate” she claimed he opened. Listening to her answer, he didn’t find himself surprised at all. “Grease?” He managed to catch the allusion, and pretty easily too. After his claim to liking gory movies, he’d have been incredibly embarrassed had he realized he missed the Zombieland mention earlier in their conversation. He’d loved that movie, but Rule 32 was a bit more obscure. Had it been “Don’t Be a hero” or “Double-tap”, it would’ve been noticed in a heartbeat. Not that those lend themselves as easily to normal conversation. But here he was, catching the quotation from Grease instead. Not entirely a chick flick, at least. And even if it was, it was a classic movie.

Not at all planning to share his occasional enjoyment of chick flicks, he shook it off. That was to stay a secret, if at least for now. He was definitely warming up to the conversation, but not that much. “Well, if you like movies so much,” he started, the right side of his mouth pulled up in a half-smile, “we might need to have some sort of movie marathon.” He let the suggestion hang in the air as he finished off the last of his drink.

[Nadeen Desjardins]

Not to be outdone, Nadi lifted her glass to her lips and started to down what she had left of the drink. Her hand tipped up in the air, signaling to Aidan she needed a moment. She was not one for chugging drinks, so ‘downing’ the drink was a surprisingly slow process. “Ah,” Nadeen gasped wiping her no longer glossed up lips with the edge of her thumb. Was it just her or did her cheeks feel a little more pink than before?

Sure enough she felt a little buzz crawling up on her, but not nearly enough for her to say no to another drink. “Cher, you say lets marathon a movie. But I can run—watch, circles around you. I am the queen of marathoning on my off days.” She announced with a bright smile. “Still, it’d be nice to not have to sing both Danny and Sandy’s parts in Grease.” Nadi had been elated he knew the line from Grease. It was a classic, wasn’t it? Him being able to point at the line, had been enough reason for her to say he could sing Danny’s lines in their movie marathon, hah.

“I’ll get us more, stay” she ushered standing up without her heals; Nadi took both their empty cups returning to the kitchen. Attentive, wasn’t she? Hurrying along, she whipped up two more long islands. Figuring after this drink, she’d do well to cut herself off if she wanted to keep her wits about her. They were tasteful and strong, a horribly wonderful combination in the drinking world.

Back on the balcony, she handed Aidan his drink, then proceeded to scoot her chair closer to his having had to move back the small table slightly. “Name a movie, that has actually made you cry.” Nadi demanded leaning forward with a playful grin, her shoulders even shimmering side to side in anticipation. The soft floral scent of her perfume wafted over on the wind from her side of the balcony over to Adian’s. It was a big question to ask a guy, but an intriguing juicy one none-the-less.

[Aidan King]

Laughing at the words “queen of marathoning”, Aidan raised a single eyebrow as Nadi took his empty cup. As soon as she came back, he made sure to address her earlier comment. “I’m definitely not a singer,” he stated, taking the refilled drink gratefully. “I’m not so sure you’d want me singing along.” Putting the drink back to his lips once more, he could slowly but surely feel the warm buzz of alcohol traveling through his bloodstream. The drink must’ve had more liquor than he’d thought, though he by no means needed – or wanted for that matter – to slow down just yet.

“A movie that’s made me cry?” he repeated, slightly taken aback by the request. He shook his head, chuckling under his breath. “You wouldn’t believe me if I said I’ve never cried at a movie?” Nearly everyone at least teared up watching some film or another, and knowing it was probably a pretty obvious lie, he moved on. “Damn, you’re really trying to emasculate me or something,” he laughed. He wasn’t necessarily a complete man’s man, but to admit crying to a girl he’d just met? That was harsh, especially after already confessing to his fear of needles and at least mediocre knowledge of Grease lines.

He decided he didn’t want to dodge the question though, so he began searching his brain for an answer. There were a few movies he could choose from. Some that most people would be hard-pressed to watch with entirely dry eyes, others that he got choked up at more because of his state of mind while watching them than anything. Hell, he might not admit it, but he even shed a tear at the intro to Up.

Humming under his breath in thought, Aidan finally came to a toss-up decision. Two entirely different movies, and with two entirely different reasons. The first was Marley and Me, and he figured it would be pretty obvious why. The final scene would be enough to wreck almost anyone’s emotions, he thought. How unmanly is it really, to cry at the death of a dog? The second would be the more obscure Donnie Darko. He would mostly be hoping that Nadi had never seen it. The ending struck him as awfully sad, but for all she knew, it could have been the most emotional movie of all time.

After a few quick moments of internal struggle, he finally settled on the latter. “Well I guess if you really must know,” he started, and leaned closer to Nadi, an elbow on his knee. He became aware of the traces of her perfume in the breeze that passed over the balcony, not recognizing the scent, but liking it nonetheless. “I did tear up a bit at the end of Donnie Darko.”

He’d only seen it once, but when he had, he bawled. It had been his best friend’s favorite movie before he passed, and having never seen it before, he’d finally made it around to watching it. Some combination of the memory of his friend, the sound of Mad World playing in the background, Donnie’s death, even Gretchen’s little wave at the end, all hit him like a freight train. Aidan was simply glad he’d been alone when it happened, and by no means wanted to share with anyone how much he actually did cry. 

“But you know… There aren’t a whole lot of movies that get to me,” he quickly covered up with a sort of silly simper. “What about you, then? D'you cry at movies often?” Aidan knew it wouldn't be some sort of shock if she said "yes", and didn't care all that much for an answer as much as getting the topic of conversation away from him again.

[Nadeen Desjardins]

Nadeen had given him a look of discontent, really was he going to dodge the question after she had just given him a drink? “Take another sip, bub.” She joked motioning towards the red solo cup. “Emasculating? Hardly. I’m figuring out your character, is all. I think a lot can be said by responses like this. How a person answer this question and what their answer is itself.” Nadi winked, giving a playful flavor to her words. Based on the rules of their game, they couldn’t ask typical questions—such as one’s major. Given her response she wouldn’t be surprised if it came across she was a psych major, which wasn’t the case at all. People were always just an interest of her.

Hearing Donnie Darko, Nadi struggled to remember the movie. She’d seen it with a friend on late night TV back in middle school. “I don’t…” She hesitated shifting in her seat. “I don’t remember the ending, I remember that rabbit and other bits, but I can’t string together the ending.” Nadi crossed her arms in thoughts, looking hard through her memory bank. Of course she remembered Mad World, that song was beautiful on its own, enough to string along tears from anyone.

“Mad world too, but I couldn’t tell you if that was at the start or end of the movie, even.” Twirling her hair between her fingers, Nadi figured have to watch the film again. If anything it’d give her another reason to talk to Aidan after this party was all said and done, the perfect ice breaker.

Without a doubt, Aidan’s assumption was correct. Nadi even tilted her head down, looking up at him with her bright green eyes, really? They said before she chuckled with a nod. “All the time, I’m a very empathic person. Not just sympathy, empathy." She emphasized, waving her hands slightly as she spoke "I put myself in that person’s shoes and really try to understand what they were going through, then who I just can't help it, I cry like a baby.”

Pausing, the girl lifted a supportive hand to her chest, it was instinct. “Have…have you ever seen Big Fish?” For a movie made by a popular director, Tim Burton, it never seemed to receive the credit it was due. If the ending was sad enough to make most people tear up, she’d never know. Like Aidan, the movie had a more personal attachment to her that pulled hard on the heart strings.

“I’m a sucker for stories of adventure, then at the end seeing how everything unfolds, how reality and fantasy came to be? Beautiful.” Her late mother, was a story teller, and her family was originally from the south. The funereal scene was one she could put herself in easily, listening to stories shared from one person to the other. If it would ever arise in the future, the pair had something in common that wasn't a particularly grounds to be excited about but had the potential to become a support system.

“That’s a bad example,” Nadi quickly added in with a nervous laugh, taking her thoughts away from the movie. “I cried all the way through, P.S. I love You.” Wrapping it back to a chick flick was easy enough.

[Aidan King]

Listening to Nadi as she spoke, the number of thoughts swimming through Aidan’s mind grew with each word. She didn’t care, or at least didn’t seem to, if he cried at any movies or not. But that one sentence, ‘I’m figuring out your character, is all,’ struck him. Like there was more to the questions than what they outwardly appeared to be. He found himself wondering just how much she was analyzing his answers, knowing full well how much could be discerned from the way someone reacted to any given question.

But maybe I need to just stop worrying about it, he thought. It shouldn’t matter that much what she thinks. Pulling himself fully back to the conversation, he figured perhaps he needed some more alcohol in his system, just to slow down his thoughts if anything. With that, he took Nadi’s joke to take another sip of his drink, and paid attention as the conversation moved on from Donnie Darko.

Aidan himself was more of a sympathetic person than an empathetic one. He could understand what she meant to an extent, though just sort of nodded. Of course, when he cried at movies, like just about anyone, it was an empathetic response – one caused by identifying with a character. But in life itself, it wasn’t the easiest for him to get into someone else’s mind or foresee how things might affect them. Like most human beings, he had a habit of egocentrism that prevented complete empathy.

“I’ve never seen Big Fish, no,” he said. His eyebrows came together in thought for a moment. He wasn’t sure he’d ever even heard of it. He reckoned it was something he should see if he got the chance, the way she spoke about it. As unaware of her personal attachment as she was of his, he couldn’t know why the movie would bring her to tears, though the ending scene would probably be enough to do the same to him.

At the mention of P.S. I Love You, Aidan quickly remember his thought a few moments earlier about how he shouldn’t worry so much about what she thought, and with a bit more liquid confidence flowing through him now, he sighed to himself. “Well I guess if we’re being honest,” he said, a humorous tone in his voice. “I might have, too.”

[Nadeen Desjardins]

Nadi sighed a sad ‘I’m not surprised’ hearing Aidan hadn’t seen Big Fish. It was usually the case with most individuals. The movie was very artistic and full of adventure; it hadn’t appeal to the masses. But for a person who loved to get lost in wonder, leaving behind the realities that surrounded them. She thought the movie was perfect, until the end. When even reality rained down on the main characters parade. In their movie marathon, if it ever happened, she’d risk her tears and show Aidan the movie, just to give the film the shining moment she knew it deserved.

Then came his deep little confession, he’d seen P.S. I love you? With hunk-a-hunk Gerad Butler movie, right?
“Shut up!” Nadeen near squealed and slapped at his shoulder—a common thing for her when she got excited. The humor in his voice said to her he may be a little ashamed, perhaps even joking, but man enough to own up to it. Her interested was piqued, “Seriously?” She questioned standing up to pull the chair in front of Aidan’s. Showing her had full attention now, the conversation was about to get 'real'.

Sitting knee to knee, Nadi spoke with one hand holding her cup and the other accentuating her words. “When you say you ‘might have’ does this mean, you might have seen it or might have cried?” The girl cocked her head to the side, leaning forward into the conversation. All great body language for Aidan to receive. Clearly, admitting he’d seen the movie had been the right thing to say to a tipsy Nadi.

“Second question,” she held up her hand, stopping him from answering, even as she took another drink from her long island. “Be honest, no judging, was this movie watched on your own, with a loved one, or when you were drunk?”

 Vital questions to be asked when finding out about someone watching a movie like, P.S. I love you. Call it stereotypical, but Aidan wasn’t the guy she peg to watch the movie, and was waiting for him to say he was drunk and that he didn’t cry when watching the movie, just that he’d seen it. Still she was excited to have something in common with him.
His smile was still far and in between, but when he did…Nadeen found it contagious.

In most settings, she wouldn’t drill someone with questions nor slap them in delight. But Nadeen had said she was a lightweight, the buzz was tingling in her and for a moment she felt a numbness to her knees (her own personal tell when she was drinking) —it was brief, so it was safe to keep drinking.

[Aidan King]

Although unprepared for the little slap on his shoulder, Aidan was relieved by the reaction his confession had gotten. Nadi’s response seemed to be one of excitement, and even if it was fueled by the alcohol, it appeared to be a genuine one. If anything, it definitely wasn’t the worst reply he’d ever gotten admitting something like that.

Aidan started to answer the first question as Nadi scooted closer, though was quickly cut off by a second one. He once again became aware of the scent of her perfume as she leaned forward, asking her questions. It was all he could do to stifle a bit of a laugh. This was the most excited he’d seen her so far, and all because he divulged that he’d seen P.S. I Love You.

As the second query was voiced, it was obvious the expected answer would be that he’d seen it while he was in a drunken state, most likely alone, and that it just happened to be on TV. Maybe even that he was so smashed he couldn’t find the remote? So it stayed on, and he watched it. And of course he didn’t cry, he definitely, absolutely did not cry. Maybe he’d shed tears at some movies, but a chick flick? Never.

Much to Aidan’s chagrin, that wasn’t true. Oh, he’d probably been drinking that night, sure. It was hard to remember completely, but there was a few months spread out over the last couple of years that he spent pretty much consistently buzzed. But the fact he even remembered the movie lent to the conclusion he hadn’t been drunk.

Despite some embarrassment at the whole ordeal, he’d already made it this far, might as well go all the way. “I might have cried,” he admitted. “Just, you know. A little bit.” He motioned with his fingers, his pointer and thumb about an inch apart, as if there was a tangible amount to how much he did in fact cry. Before she was able to dissect that fact, he added, “I was alone, and I more than likely had been drinking that night.”

He leaned forward, searching Nadi’s eyes for any early reaction. With an elbow on his leg and chin resting on his fist, he knew he’d only have to wait seconds before she had taken in his answer.

[Nadeen Desjardins]

The most important piece of information she gained for this? He had been alone, did that mean he was single? Hardly. If the man would watch a chick flick on his own, why not with a girlfriend? Nadeen had promised not to judge but from this she could ‘figure’ he had been single.

Alone? Drunk? Watching P.S. I Love You?

“I love it,” the girl professed with the same excitement in her eyes. Angling her body, Nadi reached passed Adian, their sides briefly grazing each other while she gently placed the cup on the table. “Let me explain,” Nadeen continued on, sitting back in front of him, tucking her legs to the side.

“For example, I went to see Something Borrowed with a guy, who is now my ex. A girlfriend of mine tagged along with her boy, okay?” Briefly, she sat up straight, pulling her shoulders back, rather proud of herself for getting in that little piece of information. If she were a bird, Nadi would be ruffling her feathers in conceit. “It was a big heart break scene.”

Slouching back in the chair and extending her legs out so they went between Aidan’s legs and under his chair. Nadi started to recreate the image of that night. Her hands gripped the front of the dress and carefully tugged it up in the direction of her chin, letting go before the fabric stressed too far.

“I was wearing a hoodie, so it went all the way up. I hide during movies.” She chuckled waving away the extra bit of information.
“I look to my right, he was just watching. I look to my left and there Abby is looking at me at the same time, same position, both with tears in eyes.” Her voice fluctuated attempting to convey the emotion the girls had shared. Breaking back into her normal tone, Nadi sat back up straight, with her legs tucked to the side once more.

“Aidan, we, the girls, held each other’s damn hands.” She laughed, hiding her smile behind the back of her hand. Maybe it was only funny to her, but it had been a quirky memory. “Now had he admitted to crying, like you, just even a little” Mimicking Aidan, Nadi too held up her fingers to a fraction of how far Aidan held his apart. Giggling, she didn't seek to finish her sentence, instead turning the conversation back towards Aidan.

Quietly, hesitantly she dared to ask, “…You see that one?” Now Nadi mirrored his position, elbow on her knee chin on her knuckles. Eye level with him,  in anticipation she narrowed those bright green eyes.Was P.S. a fluke or did we seek out chick flicks?

[Aidan King]

“I love it.”

Aidan was becoming more and more relieved, even grinning a bit at her reaction. She only seemed to get more excited, and once again, he was amazed it had come from such an admission as the one he’d made. Finding enjoyment in the irony, he nodded a bit, “Okay, yeah, explain.”

Aidan couldn’t help but notice the few words she’d slipped in – the guy she had seen it with was now her ex. He wondered at the reason for it. Maybe that was her way of letting on she was single, but then again maybe she had just said it, no reasons at all.

Making a mental note to find out sometime in the future if she was unattached or not, he watched as she attempted to recreate the scene. It was easy enough to picture; Nadi with her hoodie pulled up, her date, and her friends, the dark movie theater. He jokingly considered that if he imagined hard enough, he could even catch the smell of buttery popcorn filling the air.

Then came the end of the story, and Aidan laughed for a moment as well. If he’d been able to picture the rest of it, it wasn’t hard to see the girl in front of him and an unknown one, holding hands and crying. Despite moving on without finishing her sentence, it seemed like Nadi wished her then-boyfriend had admitted to crying.

“Seen Something Borrowed you mean?” With a playful cringe, he shut his eyes for a moment, ruffling his short hair. “That’s the one with Kate Hudson, right?” His eyes opened again, meeting hers, the look in them clearly saying, ‘yeah, yeah, I saw it’. He shook his head to himself, chuckling. What have I gotten myself into? he thought.

“Yeah, well,” he said, and put his hands up as if in surrender. “You got me. I don’t remember crying at that one though…” He trailed off a bit, thinking. It really wasn’t that often that movies, especially romantic comedies, would bring him to the point of tears. It would just depend on what actually happened and what state of mind he was in as he watched them. But to say he didn’t at least enjoy them would be a lie.

[Nadeen Desjardins]

Little things, like someone laughing at you being a dork, really did do the heart good. Nadi was the type used to telling irrelevant stories, usually being the only one interested and to laugh. She was also the girl who laughed at her own jokes, get her laughing hard she would literally start to fall to the ground and feel light headed. A person’s laughter could be an immediate bridge to getting her attention.

“Oh sugar, thank you for laughin’.” She said putting her hand to her chest her giggles trailing off. Her excitement dwindled for a moment but was soon ignited at seeing Aidan had also seen that movie. He’s playful cringe and bashful ruffle of his hair, made her jump in her seat and clasp her hands once together with a cute "Ah!" and soft laugh. Her bright smile shinned on the poorly lit purple light balcony. “Oh shit you even know the actress' name,” Nadi cooed nodding in approval.

Crossing her leg legs, Nadi smoothed out the fabric of her dress. “Now didn’t someone tell me they just watched horror movies?” Shaking her head the girl made a tisk, tisk, tisk and held her hand out pointing towards the half empty cup. “If you would,” she asked quietly then offered a sweet thanks, their fingers grazing only brief—but enough to put the smile back on her face.

“Now Aidan, despite us just having met, I’m pretty sure you know you’re not leaving this party without at least being my friend on facebook.” Her lips were slightly pursued and eyes narrowed, attempting to give him an intimidating look. Mostly it came across as her thinking really hard with a goofy smile.

Before coming to college she would have never been so bold to be the first person to ask for someone’s number, their facebook, or if they wanted to hang out again.
Nadeen had once been the type to quietly wait, during the first half of her freshman year of college those habits carried over. Come winter break she felt defeated and as if she was already being left behind her class.

With a new found source of motivation she put in that extra effort, even if it was in subtle ways. Casually ask for a facebook as opposed to directly getting their number. Even offering to cook something, the next time they got together—who didn’t love a home cooked meal?

Hosting this party had been on the fly (a big step for her), a desperate attempt to gain quick company instead of settling for a movie or video game. Ironically, her she sat talking about movies, which wasn't a bad thing, not in the least.

[Aidan King]

Once again, Aidan found himself grinning at Nadi’s reaction to the few words he had said. It wasn’t hard to see, with the little jump and sudden exclamation, she was an easily excitable person. Not being the most prone to those random moments of enthusiasm himself, it was refreshing to see, somewhat contagious even.

“Hey, now,” he said, a fake tone of reproach in his voice. “Don’t go twisting my words. I just said I had an appreciation for a good, gory movie.” Aidan obliged her request, handing her drink back to her, and went on to take another quick sip of his own. It was definitely starting to go down easier than before, which said a bit, having already been a smooth drink to begin with. It didn’t seem to matter as much to him though, the need to get wasted having faded considerably.

The turn in his day was unexpected, he had to admit. Maybe the conversation wasn’t the deepest – then again, he was opening up more than he tended to do – but it was good. Even having just met the girl in front of him, for whatever reason, Aidan was having an easy time just relaxing. He had a feeling if they ended up friends, she could be good for him. It wasn’t often he just completely relaxed, and the longer he stayed at the party, the more glad he grew for showing up.

He nodded at the mention of being friends on Facebook, smirking at what he guessed to be a look of intimidation. “Well I figured I could at least get your number,” he said, aiming a little higher, meeting her narrowed stare with his own bright blue eyes, an almost roguish glint in them. “After all, that movie marathon is starting to sound really good. I’ll definitely need a better way to get in touch with you than Facebook.”

Undeniably, it’d been a while since he had asked a girl for her number, but the statement just sort of rolled off his tongue, easy as anything. Maybe there was just something about admitting to a fondness for chick flicks that led to a rise in confidence. Or rather, maybe it with the liquid in his cup. Whatever it was, you’d never know by the look on his face his surprise at how simple it’d been to make the request.

[Nadeen Desjardins]

Nadeen bobbed her head from side to side and waved her hand in the air, tomato-tomato. Close enough, right? “Horror, gory, appreciate, like. I bet you only appreciate chick flicks, hmm?” She teased sipping at the drink then added in “I mean relationship documentaries.” Her head rolled back against the back of the chair with a small laugh, shaking her hand as a ‘kidding, kidding’ motion. A rose by any other name, right? She let the quote slide, figuring there would be another time to pull that one out.

Her ‘hardened’ stare failed to last for very long, against those deep blue eyes. Nadi could feel her eyes pop, giving away her surprise entirely and her stomach flipped. A warm sensation swelling inside of her to which she was positive was not a result of the alcohol. Aidan continued on and Nadi gripped her cup, the plastic making a notable crunch sound. Now that was perfect. His confidence, the transition, she could have sworn she was physically paling in comparison. Nadi surprised herself she didn't shriek with delight at his question and oh how she wanted to! Aidan was entirely correct when thinking Nadeen was easily excitable, but just as easily embarrassed.

“Y-yeah,” Nadi stuttered for a moment, lifting the cup closer to her face covering a laugh. Not that she found this funny; it was her nerves escaping in a humorous manner. Cluing herself in, Nadeen realized her own sudden change in demeanor. “Aidan,” Nadeen spoke trying to manage a serious tone. Uncrossing her legs she then leaned forward trying to regain the cool that those eyes had stolen from her. “I’m just going to say it, I’ve had quite a few guys ask for my number and I’ve given them the pizza delivery number for a place back in New Orleans.”

Holding the cup out towards him, it looked like she was about to give a toast, “you my friend, with your tact and liquid courage, have just earned my actual number. No pizza required. However, as an added bonus because this is double jeopardy’s secret double money box, for our first movie marathon…I will atone for my facetious acts towards men and order us pizza, on me.” Not that this was anything new, she always bought or made her friends food. It was the hostess in her, but Aidan didn't know that (yet).

Admittedly, she was a little baffled he asked for her number. Here she was thinking Facebook had been a grand step and he over shadowed her in the best way possible. Could she, Nadi worried, be thinking too much into this? Just because a cute guy, asked a cute girl for her number didn’t mean anything more than wanting to be movie buddies, right? They had just met and that was jumping the gun! Unconsciously, with her free hand, Nadeen twirled a bit of hair around her index finger—but it was a start. Got to first load the gun to make it go, bang!

“Cheers, cher.”

[Aidan King]

Waving off the comment, Aidan had a look on his face that read as ‘alright sure, whatever you say,’ along with a slight eye roll, though with a hint of amusement, especially at “relationship documentaries”. He’d never heard that one before, but thought he might remember it. “Yeah, sometimes I watch relationship documentaries” sounded a bit better than “I watch chick-flicks”. Regardless, he could tell she was joking, and she’d find out soon enough his appreciation of gory films. Maybe he’d even pull out 30 Days of Night, definitely one of the more gruesome he’d seen.

Aidan watched as Nadi’s manner seemed to change. He was almost completely oblivious to the reason why, but it seemed for sure that something was up as she noticeably tightened her hold on the red solo cup in her hand. The quick stutter, what almost seemed to be a nervous laugh. He wondered for a moment if asking for her number had been too far, but then again perhaps she just wasn’t expecting it at all.

Whatever the reason, he acted like he didn’t notice any change there might have been now that Nadeen continued speaking with a seemingly serious tone. He couldn’t help but laugh at her statement. A pizza place in New Orleans? That would definitely catch him off guard, if he called a number he assumed to be hers and got a restaurant. He might have even been a bit unnerved if not for the claim that he earned an authentic number.

“Well I’m glad I won’t have to get your number the hard way,” he joked, lifting his cup as well, a quick nod to acknowledge the cheers. “But I don’t think you really need to do any atoning.” So she gave a few guys a faulty number. Worse things were done every day. “I wouldn’t expect you to get us pizza,” he continued on, not really aware of her tendency to being a hostess.

[Nadeen Desjardins]

Glad he didn’t have to get it the hard way? Nadeen appreciated his would-be efforts, even if she had dodge the ball the game wouldn’t be over. She liked men with a bit of a fight in them, being bashful at times, her hesitancy could be mistook for being uninterested in a person. With a little fight in a person she wouldn’t have to worry about losing them, the first time she screwed up.

After the lips of their drinks touched, the raven hair girl tipped back her cup gulping down a third of what was left. Her head felt a rush after that one, not the smartest move tipping back long islands but it was habit to toss drinks back after a toast. “Whoo—“She hummed a moment focusing her eyes on Aidan’s knee, centering herself. “I’m good,” she affirmed resting the cup back in her lap.

Modest about her buying him a pizza, appreciated but doubtful. “No, no, no. Let me stop you right there, I’m not sure where you’re from but I’m going to assume here.” Nadi pointed at her feet, as if this exact spot represented all of California. “People here wouldn’t know good food if it bit them in the ass. I know some of the best restaurants in town, that don’t get the credit they deserve.”

Pointing her finger at his chest then back to herself, “I pride myself on my taste for food.” That didn’t help her slim down her hips any but that had been a problem for years and she finally gave into saying—it’s my bones. “I work out a lot but this girl here can eat and I will show you the best pizza joint in town.” Pizza was one of the few items she wouldn’t boast about cooking, it just wasn’t in her arsenal of cooking abilities. But it was a lazy food anyhow; having the pizza arrive at your door was half the fun.

“Now that I know your dirty little secret, about relationship documentaries, I think you’re justified in asking me another question.” That was not getting her number of course, that was already a part of the deal. After this party they would order a pizza and marathon a few movies, each of their choosing. It wasn’t a date, she figured, but an opportunity to better their friendship.