As Fate Would Have It

Three

     Ahh yeah.  A nice, hot shower always feels good.  Well in this case, better.  My Princess is not only living in the same apartment building as me, but across the hall from me!  Technically, I guess, she's not really my Princess.  Not yet anyways...  I get out of the shower and wrap a towel around my waist.  The mirror is foggy from all the steam.  As I start to dry my hair off, I hear a knock at my door.  I set down the towel I was using to dry my hair and head down the hall and open the door.

     "Hey, sorry to-" Courtney starts, but then stops and looks over me.  I realize that all I have on is that towel around my waist and smirk.  Her face is completely red and I notice my own face heat up a little bit.  Nice to see that I still have that effect on her.  And she still has that effect on me...

"You were saying, Princess?" I ask as I run my hand through my wet, long black hair. 

     "Um, well, I seem to have lost my, uh, my phone..." she manages to stammer out.  "I was wondering if you'd seen it because I need some of the abs on it..."  She finally meets my eyes and I raise an eyebrow.  Her face slowly changes.

     "Omigosh!  I meant apps!  Not abs..."  Courtney is getting all flustered and I can't help but chuckle.  Her voice takes on a more demanding tone.  "Well, have you seen it or have any idea where it could be?"

     "I might have a clue to where it could be," I say, gesturing for her to come in.  "I know how badly you need those abs..."  She gives me the deadliest glare I think she can muster at the time.  I wink at her and say, "What, Princess?  I said apps..."

     "Will you just help me find my phone, Duncan?" she huffs.  Court crosses her arms over chest and raises her eyebrow.

     "Yeah, yeah, just a minute."  I head back to the bathroom and get dressed in some jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and red converse.  I walk back into the main room and see Courtney looking around at all the pictures on my side table.  She turns around holding a frame. 

     "Duncan?  Is this a picture of us?" she asks, her eyebrows knitting together. 

     "Yeah," I answer, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand; something I always do when I'm embarrassed or nervous.

     "Why do you still have this?"

     "It was a good memory, just like the rest of the pictures I chose to put there."

     "Then why isn't there a picture of Gwen?" she inquires.  There's something behind her eyes, but I just can't tell what it is or what she's thinking.  Why isn't there a picture of Gwen?  I don't even have an answer to that myself.  There's not a picture of any of my other girlfriends either.  Just Courtney...

     "Weren't you looking for your phone?" I ask, attempting to avoid her question.  Gwen never had the effect Courtney had on me.  I was stupid to ever let her go and I'm not letting that happen again.  She sets the frame back and straightens up. 

     "Yes, I was.  Do you know where it is?"

"Follow me, Princess." I lead her down the stairs.

"Isn't the power back on? Couldn't we just take the elevator?" asks Courtney after two flights.  It was obvious that she was getting tired of walking down all these steps.

     "We'll take the elevator when we come back," I said, continuing down the stairs.  These steps really were a burden, but if it got me more time with Courtney, so be it.

     After lots of complaining, we made it down all the stairs and headed out the door towards the parking lot.

     "Okay, so where are we going exactly?" Courtney asked, giving me an annoyed look.  She was still beautiful with her dark brown eyes squinting, her perfect eyebrows scrunched together, and her lips forming that pouting expression.  Sometimes even wrinkling her nose, which brought all of her freckles together to look like a little flower resting right on the length of her nose.  Oh how I loved her nose.  It was so small and perfect.  "Um, hello?!"

     I'm taken out of my daze and realize I've just been standing in the middle of the parking lot, staring at Courtney.  I feel my face heat up again.

     "Oh, right.  Sorry.  I have the feeling that you might've left your phone in my car after th-"

     "Yeah, you can stop there," she says, cutting me off and raising her hand to stop me from saying anything else.  We get to my car and sure enough, her phone is on the floor of it almost under the passenger seat.

     "Oh, thank you for finding it!" Courtney happily sighs of relief and reaches to take her phone from my hand.

"Not a problem," I say, rubbing the back of my neck.

The elevator ride back up to the fourth floor is silent. We make our way back to our apartments.

"Well, see ya," I say before going inside my place.

"Yeah, see ya..." she answers. Right before we both make it inside I hear her mutter, "I don't know if I'll ever get used to this..."

I know I will. A smirk makes its way to my face. Finally, I shut the door behind me and sit down on my black leather couch. I grab the remote and turn on the TV to watch some Netflix. After searching my list for a long while, I settle on something I never would have thought I'd ever watch again. Before it starts, I get up and make sure to make myself some popcorn and sit back down with a 2-liter of Coca Cola. I put my feet up on the wooden coffee table and sit back. All I have on my mind is Courtney as I start season one of Total Drama...