I lay in bed awake for a few hours after the sun began to rise. I tap the screen on my phone to check the time. 8:04 a.m. There is no way Austin is awake. I'm terrified to walk out of this room and face him.
After our kiss last night, I sat at the edge of my bed contemplating my life for at least an hour. Do I want to stay friends? Of course. Do I want to sleep with him? Absolutely. Do I want to bear his children one day? Possibly. I'm not ready for a relationship. Maybe he's different? Maybe he won't even remember in the morning?
I slowly open the door trying to not make a peep. Of course the hundred year old wooden floors squeak with every step I take, no matter how softly I try to step.
The couch is empty.
A sigh of relief leaves my body. Thank God I don't have to face him. Maybe he realized last nights kiss was a mistake and he never wants to hear from me again and blocks my num-
I hear the toaster go off releasing two pieces of white bread that I can smell are now nearly burnt.
Shit.
"Good morning Alina! I hate to go through your kitchen but I'm super hungry and super hung over." Austin says with his head poking out of the door to my kitchen and his mouth reaching for the bare toast in his hand.
I offered to make Austin a real breakfast and he did not hesitate to say yes. I've made his third pancake now and he still has not mentioned our kiss last night. He's telling me everything about the new role he has been studying for to play Elvis Presley in his upcoming biopic.
"There are so many people out there who have their own Elvis voice, and you realize that most of those are caricature — the way that they curl their lip, or they deepen their voice deeper than his voice ever was. For me, I'm just trying to find out who he was as a man, to humanize him and connect to him on that level."
I admire his hard work and his ability to be so passionate about something.
"I know you have ways to go until you actually get to start filming, but picturing you with jet black hair doesn't sound too bad." I say as I sit down with my fresh stack of pancakes.
"Hm. That's a good idea Alina."
So far, so good. He has not mentioned the kiss. I'm just gonna try to forget about it.
"Oh shit - I should probably start heading out. I've got to meet with some people this afternoon." Austin says as he collects his belongings. I follow him to the front door to say my goodbyes.
"Thank you again for last night. It was lots of fun. Let me know next time you wanna hang out." I say opening the front door to let him out.
"Anytime Alina." He wraps his free arm around me quickly giving me a tight embrace.
************************* I continued my normal Saturday routine, a little hungover. I drank my coffee, called my mom to gossip about our family members most recent Facebook posts, and cleaned around my apartment.
I hear a ding come from my cellphone across the room.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
