Faces of Bucky Barnes - More One Shots

12. First Date

These next three stories are still one shots but they are connected.

Holly

I stepped out of the elevator and stopped as soon as I saw the box leaning on my door. Another package. Great. This made four packages delivered to my address instead of the other address which was printed on the shipping label. Another package I had to physically take to the post office to deliver to the correct address. Another hour out of my day standing in line then having to explain that James Barnes didn't live at my address, was unknown to me, and that he had an unlisted phone number so I couldn't phone him to pick up his mail. Looking at my watch I sighed. It was already too late to take the package in if I was going to make it to my evening dance class. That meant I would have to take the package to work with me tomorrow then drop it off on my way home.

"Why don't you just keep it?" my sister suggested when I mentioned it to her at the dance studio. "Obviously the guy keeps putting something wrong on the shipping information whenever he orders whatever he's buying."

"You know I can't do that," I replied as I started in first position. "If it was my package being misdirected, I would hope that whoever received it would be honest enough to return it. They don't come back so they obviously make it to him eventually."

"Or he cancels his order," said my sister as she mimicked my actions.

"Ladies, less talk, more focus," said Madame Elise, the ballet mistress.

We both made a face at her when she turned, then both tried to stifle our giggles after. For being in our early thirties we both had our juvenile moments. After class we dried off the perspiration before pulling our sweats on. We never showered at the studio as the facilities bordered on disgusting plus there was a core group of women there with perfect dancer bodies that made us feel inadequate. I'm not into body shaming and although they never said anything out loud it wasn't hard to see their opinions about our figures in their eyes. Neither of us needed that kind of judgement especially when we were in between boyfriends. On our way out we stopped and picked up an iced cappuccino at the coffee shop then walked to the subway. Finishing our drinks just before the train arrived, we boarded.

When it came to my sister's stop, she stood up, did a little pirouette and performed a jeté out the door onto the platform. Grinning at her I waved then settled back into the seat ready to get off at my stop, the next one. Joining the others who were also getting off we walked up the stairs towards the exit. I had to stop at the bodega as I was out of milk so by the time I was walking up the steps of the apartment building, it was already dark. Pressing the button for the elevator I waited and waited but it didn't come, and I groaned as I really didn't want to walk up five flights of stairs. It had been working well when I left. One of my neighbours came down the stairs with their garbage bag for the dumpster out back.

"It was working earlier," I stated, gesturing to the elevator.

"Yeah, it was but someone pressed all the buttons as a joke, and it got stuck on four," he said. "It's sitting there with an open door. The super called a repairman, but they won't be in until tomorrow." He headed towards the door to the alley. "You have someone waiting for you at your door. A big guy. I think he used to live there before you. Something about his mail still being redirected to your address."

With a sigh I began the long climb up to the fifth floor. There was a man leaning against the wall outside my door. He must have heard me coming up the stairs as he looked in my direction as I exited the stairwell. Even from that distance I was aware of his size, tall and broad shouldered. His dark hair, just long enough to kiss the collar of his jacket, framed a very handsome face highlighted by a pair of incredible blue eyes.