As Fate Would Have It

Two

          "My name's Courtney," she answers.

     Hearing that name has the impact of a thousand bricks landing on me.  My foot hits the brakes so hard that the tires make a screeching noise against the asphalt and my car jolts to a stop.  My breathing gets really heavy and I break out into a sweat.  I should've known!  Why didn't I know?  Courtney Barlow is in my car!  Ten years.  It's been ten years since I've seen her, heard her, and been drawn in by her like a magnet.  What am I going to do?

     "What the hell was that for?!?" shouts Courtney, snapping me back into reality.  Her hands are gripping the side of the car and she is breathing heavily. 

     "I-I-I'm, um, sorry.  I just didn't know I had Courtney Barlow in my car," I say as smoothly as possible at the moment.  I'm gripping the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles are turning white. 

     "Wait a minute..." Courtney takes me in as if she's peering into my very soul.  "I never told you my last name..."  She leans closer and then all of a sudden jumps back.  She's close to hyperventilating.  She looks me directly in the eyes as if she's seeing me for the first time and mutters, "No no no!  This cannot possibly be happening right now!"

     "Are you okay, Court?" I ask, a little worried.  She looks as if she's about to throw up. 

     "Duncan?" she asks with uncertainty in her voice. 

     "Yep.  It's me.  Like you said, 'What are the chances?'" I say in a tone to try and lighten the mood.  Courtney's not the only one freaked out right now. 

     "I can't believe I'm sitting in Duncan Nelson's car..."

     "Well you better believe it 'cause you are," I respond with a laugh.  She's clearly not amused.  

     "I-I should've known it was you when you called me 'Princess.'  No one else ever called me that.  Same with 'Court.'" 

     "I should've known when you told me not to call you 'Princess.'"  We both laugh and look at each other, with smiles on our faces. I love her smile; I've always loved her smile. Also, her scowl. Honestly, I loved everything about her. But, ya know, we've both probably moved on...

"I still don't love that nickname." Courtney says with, I wanna say, flirtation in her voice.

"Some things never change, sweetheart," I joke. Suddenly she grabs me by the shirt and pulls me to her, so our lips touch. A fire is kindled which I haven't felt in many years. It's her flame that I've always been addicted to, drawn to, like a moth to a light. Something I just can't resist. As I begin to fall deeper into the kiss, Courtney pulls away abruptly. We're both breathing heavily. She's completely flushed and I can only imagine that I am too.

"I-I-I'm so sorry. Um, I don't know what came over me..." Court stutters. I straighten out my shirt and lean back with my arms behind my head and I just stare at her. She starts gathering her bags.

"Woah, Court! What are you doing?"

"I'm just going to find another way to get home..."

"Look, Courtney. I'm not going to let you walk out there in that storm by yourself. Just let me finish the drive to the apartment and I'll fix your car. I promise I'll get out of your hair." I really don't want to get out of her hair at all. This one girl that I dated ten years ago has just now reappeared and I realize how badly I've missed her. I've got to let her figure it out though... Aw damn...

"Okay, fine..." Court mumbles.

The rest of the drive is completely silent and all I want right now is to taste her sweet, full lips again...

We eventually arrive to our apartment building. By then the rain had died down a little, but many of the roads are still closed due to fallen trees.  I park in my reserved spot and turn the car off.  Courtney starts to get out of the car. 

     "Wait, Prin- uh, Courtney!" I say, jumping out of the car and meeting her at the other side. 

     "What?" She won't meet my eyes.  Aw man...

     "Which car is yours, so I can fix it?" I ask, my voice laced with concern. 

     "The dark green one right there," Court says, pointing to a Honda right beside my own car.  She digs around in her purse and brings out what I can only assume are the keys to the Honda.  "Here's the keys.  No funny business, Duncan."

     "Don't worry, Princess.  Now what apartment are you, so I can return your keys?"  I can tell by her stern expression that she's not too happy about telling me where in the building she lives. 

     "It's 403, on the fourth floor obviously," sighs Courtney.  "Just hurry up."  She's already to the door of Maple Leaf Apartment Homes before I can say anything else. I begin to examine the car to see what's wrong with it and see that the battery terminals are corroded. That shouldn't be too hard to fix. I grab some of my repair equipment and start to clean out the terminal and get rid of the corrosion. After about an hour and a half, all the corrosion is gone and I'm able to start the car without any problems. I use one of the rags I have with me to wipe some of the grease and sweat off my forehead. Finally, I make it inside the building and make my way towards the elevators.

"Eh, Duncan, you might wanna take the stairs," slurs the landlord, Bill.

"Why's that?" I ask. All I want is to just return the keys, take a shower, and relax.

"The power's out 'cause of that big ol' storm from earlier." Bill points to the staircase and says, "That's your best bet on getting to your apartment."

"Thanks, Bill." I let out a heavy sigh as I begin my long trek up four flights of stairs. What's worse is that some of the apartments are two stories, so it just adds to the amount of steps I've got to climb. Almost like some of it is a spilt level. By the time I make it to the fourth floor of apartments, I'm sweating like a pig. Great, now I'm going to see Courtney while I'm all greasy and dirty. I scan the numbers on the doors and luckily 403 is one of the first ones I come across. I knock lightly on the door. After what feels like forever, she answers.

"Here are your keys. The car's battery was corroded, but I fixed it up, so it should run smoothly now." I say, handing her the keys with my hands covered in grease.

"Uhh, thanks," she answers as she delicately takes the keys between her pointer finger and thumb to avoid as much contact with the grease as possible.

"No problem at all," I say with a smile. Courtney just looks at me before she closes the door in my face. Is that really all that'll happen? I take a few steps away from the door and search for my keys in my pocket. Just then, I hear her door open again and I turn around.

"What are you still doing here?" she demands.

"What do you think?" I answer with a giant smirk on my face. "I'm going to my own apartment." I unlock the door to apartment 404 right across from hers and grin at her bewildered expression one last time before entering my own place.