Unexpected

Chapter 8

After they had finished eating they sat talking and finishing the bottle of wine. Melanie had paced herself and had limited the amount she consumed so she would be able to drive home.

When the check came Brian grabbed it immediately and took out his wallet, leaving enough cash on the table to cover the bill and a tip. He looked at his watch and was surprised to see it was nearly 9:30.

"Do you want to come back to my house?" he asked. "We could watch a movie, listen to music, talk..."

"Sure. That sounds nice."

While they had been at dinner it had started to snow. Even though they were seated next to a window neither of them had noticed, too wrapped up in the conversation.

"Be careful", Melanie said to him as they walked outside. "If you injure your other leg I don't think your coworkers will be too happy."

"Eh. I can handle those knuckleheads."

By the time they reached his house the snow had stopped. When they got inside Brian called for his cats, as he did every time he came home. This time all three cats appeared. Before even taking off his coat he sat down on the couch and they all jumped up to vie for his affections.

"Sit down," he said, patting the cushion next to him.

Melanie took off her coat, placed it on the end of the couch and sat down. Chessie cat climbed onto her lap and nudged her with his head. She stroked his fur and scratched his ears and he purred contentedly. After a few minutes Brian took his coat off and tossed it to the end of the couch with hers.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked.

"Oh, I don't know if that's a good idea. I have to drive home in a while."

"Do you?" he asked, flashing a devilish grin. "You already told me you don't have to work tomorrow."

"Yeah but..." she started to say.

"But what? It's not like we haven't already spent the night together."

And there it was. The look that made women's panties drop around the globe. The Brian Quinn puppy dog eyes. It was the first time she had seen it. She suddenly felt a knot in the pit of her stomach and her mouth was dry.

"OK," she finally managed to spit out. He smiled widely at her, getting to his feet.

"Great! What would you like? I have beer, whiskey, vodka, maybe some wine."

"What are you having?" she asked, getting up from the couch and following him into the kitchen.

"Uuuuuhhh...I think I'll go for the Jameson."

"Sounds good. Where are the glasses?" she asked, as he was pulling the whiskey out of a cupboard.

Once the drinks were poured they returned to the couch. She looked around the room and noticed he had a lot of trinkets, mostly related to movies and comic books.

"You have so much cool stuff in here," she said, getting up and heading over to a book case.

"Thanks. I'm like a big kid," he chuckled.

"Nothing wrong with that," she smiled at him. Just then she noticed his collection of vinyl records. "No way! This is awesome! May I?" she asked, indicating she wanted to look through them.

"Absolutely. What kind of stuff do you like?"

"A little bit of everything. Rock, pop, 70's, 80's, old stuff, new stuff, a little country, a little rap. What about you?"

"Two of my favorite artists are Elvis and Wu Tang."

"Well that's certainly opposite ends of the spectrum," she smiled.

"Well, ya know, Wu Tang is from Staten Island. And Elvis...Elvis is the King." He chuckled, knowing his reasons for liking them made no sense. "I mean, those aren't the only reasons."

"I get it," she said.

"Who's your favorite?"

"Probably The Stones. But there are a lot of artists who have a lot of songs I like."

"Like who?"

"Guns N' Roses, Billy Joel, David Bowie, Journey, Van Halen, to name a few."

"Alright, alright," he said. "Those are all good choices."

"I'm sorry to say but I'm not familiar with a lot of Elvis music. Do you want to put one of his on? What's your favorite?" He got up and walked over to her.

"I can put on a greatest hits, to get your feet wet."

He grabbed one and fired up the turntable. He returned to sit next to her on the couch. For the first couple of songs they just sat and listened and drank their whiskey. Melanie leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes, taking it in. It was relaxing. And comfortable. She felt like she could have sat like that for hours.

Once she opened her eyes he started telling her about Elvis' life. His face lit up as he spoke, at times getting very animated. She listened with rapt attention. She was genuinely interested. He could sense that and it attracted her to him even more. He thought he might be starting to have real feelings for this woman. 

When the first side was over he immediately got up and flipped it over. As he put the needle down he looked at her.

"Oh, do you want to keep listening to this or do you want to listen to something else?"

"No, no," she said, shaking her head. "I'm enjoying it."

He smiled and sat down next to her. By this time they had each had a few drinks and Melanie was feeling tipsy. And suddenly frisky.