Apartment 22

She heard the door slam and the boots thump thump against the hardwood floor. She waited for a moment to hear the slow heavy footsteps up the stairway. The walk continued, as she heard the bathroom door open and close and then silence.

She smiled to herself. It had been raining all day, and she so hated dreary  days such as this one. The rain hit the window pane with drummer like precision beating out a melody upon the glass, running down to join the other droplets  before scattering off onto the side of the building.

She had gotten to his apartment early, wanting to surprise him with a visit. She had appointments to keep, but it seemed just so damned easier to be here than it was trying to find the Hanson Building on 33rd street. She knew it was a cop out, but denial sounded so much better in her mind than just saying fuck it she had no intention of going to begin with.

His room was minimal. A bed, dresser, chest, night stand and t.v. That was it. No rug no manly statues of naked goddesses, just a t.v. on the chest. She did love the slate gray that was on the walls, and the crème color of the old ceiling. The tall windows that reached from floor to ceiling were bare, save for the thick black curtains that were pulled back and held in place by thick velvet ropes.

His bed was covered in a black comforter, a duvet at the bottom and the shams done all in gray with black piping. It was truly a bachelors’ pad.

She rested lazily on the bed, hearing the water start to run. The music came on quietly at first, then louder as the shower got longer. Finally she heard the music stop and the water cut off. She smiled to herself wondering if he would be pleased or not that she was there.

She heard him whistling a cute tune that he’d probably remembered from the studio session that day, as she’d not recognized it before.  

Footsteps echoed down the hall as her heart began to beat faster. She grinned, and undid her long trench coat to reveal a black and pink lacy bra and panties. It was silk and lace, and felt luxurious against her skin. She knew he would love it, as she thought about how she would tease him at first before giving in.

She licked her dry lips, and waited, jumping when she heard the phone ring. She went to pick it up and hang up right quick then turn it off so they wouldn’t be disturbed, but he had gotten to it first. Dammit…forgot about the hallway phone, she thought. 

She slowly raised the phone receiver, putting her hand over the mouthpiece as her heart began to sink….

She knew the other voice on the phone. The soft low tone that gave away to high pitched shrills at times. ..

“Well, I don’t know, I just got home why?” she heard him say.

The person on the other end giggled, and it made her cringe at the very thought of the conversation that was going to be played out.

“Well…” she drawled slowly, “ I thought I might come over and cook you dinner if you wish.” She sighed that long irritating sigh that totally annoyed the hell out of her.

There was a pause. “Um…not tonight hon, I’m tired, and I really need to get some sleep.”

She grinned.

“Awww, then what if I just come over with a nice bottle of wine? Would you enjoy that?”

Her hackles began to rise again, as the thought of that woman in his bed made her blood boil.

He yawned, perhaps a little too loud to be convincing “I…I just really need the rest love. Maybe some other time?” he explained.

The woman on the other end said nothing for a minute and finally consented. “All right. I know long day at work, rain and all…but remember, I’ll take a resched any day this week.” She tried to hide her disappointment, but the crack in her voice was plain.

“Okay I’ll try to how’s that?” He said halfheartedly promising.

“Okay, see you next week.” The woman purred as the phone went dead in her hands. She slipped the receiver back and lay there not knowing what to do.

Maybe she could just…slip out on the balcony and down the fire escape to the next floor and then catch the elevator. She started to get up when she heard him walking yet again down the hall. She froze, in between that fight or flight emotion as the door opened to see him standing there in nothing but a towel, wrapped around his waist.

He stood there, not blinking an eye as she laid there not breathing a breath.

A big smile suddenly spread over his face, as he put his hands on his hips, showing his firm muscular body.

She could feel the heat rise up in her face as she tried to think of something to say. “I…wanted…” was all she could stammer out.

He looked her up and down, her long tan legs peeking through the black trench coat she had on. He could smell the scent of her perfume waft up as the air conditioner kicked on low in the window. The rain was really coming down in sheets and torrents now, the sky as dark as twilight with the exception of an occasional streak of lightening.

She lay there on his bed, tears welling up in her eyes as she thought…what a stupid stunt she’d pulled. So much for impulse moves and they never turned out the way she imagined them anyway. Not that she’d ever done anything like this before. Last impulse move was on the ski lift, jumping too soon and cracking her tibia.

He slowly approached her, a grin beginning to show on his face. He couldn’t keep the happiness out of his eyes to know that she would surprise him like this. 

She noticed his dark hair was still wet from the shower, and his cologne was short of intoxicating as she breathed deep his scent. He came around the bed, bare feet padding on the floor. Her voice caught in her throat as she fought to try to explain, nothing would come out.

He gently sat on the edge of the bed, and brushed her long brown hair from the lapel of the coat. He could see the pink and black lace top from his vantage point and could feel himself reacting.

As he bent down toward her, her arms came up wrapping around his neck, pulling him closer to her. His lips met hers in a passionate kiss, his tongue opening up her lips to explore her willing mouth. He caught her off guard, her senses exploding within her, emotions rising as her breath stopped all together.

He slid his hand in the coat, cupping her breast in his hand, as she moaned at his touch.

Finally he broke the kiss, gazing upon her goose bumped body; he removed the towel from his waist and let it fall into the floor.

“You know, I’ve never had a burglar look quite as nice as this.” He said as he bent to kiss her stomach.

Her breath caught again, as she tried to speak “I…just meant to surprise you..I didn’t mean to…” her words and thoughts trailed off as his kisses became more ardent upon her skin.  

He raised up and smiled at her “Surprise me you did love, surprise me you did in deed.” Bending back down, he continued his trek toward the top of her silk panties. Her hands ran through his hair, as she felt the tingling within her begin to get stronger.

“But, you had a phone call!” she suddenly said, regretting the words as soon as they had escaped her mouth.

He looked up, thoughtful for a moment, then smiled at her, lovingly, more than she’d ever seen in his eyes. He licked her stomach back up to the middle of her bra before he said “I had a phone call. It was Felicity. She thought she was coming over tonight. She thought wrong. She thinks she’s coming over this week, she needs to think again. I didn’t want to be rude to her. She’s an old friend and I’d prefer friends to enemies but I’d prefer to keep them as friends and not with benefits.”

“And besides, I knew you were coming over.” He said to her astonishment.

“How did you know?” she asked, relieved from what he had said.

He scooted back up, and kissed her tenderly on the lips, his hand trailing down her leg.

“I called you at home, there was no answer. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight, or…maybe a bottle of wine..” he grinned.

She finally smiled, feeling the tension fall from her body, just as the towel fell from his.

“Now, are you going to take that coat off or am I going to have to take it off for you?” he inquired.

She stood up, shrugged the coat off and let it fall to the floor. He lay on the other side of the bed admiring the woman he loved.

She lay back down next to him, and as the lights went out all over the city, they made love.