Alaina Clark

Chapter 2

"Um... Mr. Cooper?" I ask confused by his reaction. After a few moments of silence he finally replied "Yeah, sorry please take a seat". I sit in the chair directly in front of his desk. My confidence begins to wither under his gaze. He's obviously trying not to stare. And is failing miserably. Wow he's too busy staring he hasn't even scolded me for being late. He clears his throat then continues "You're late". Spoke too soon. "I apologize for that-". "No need". He quickly adds. Interrupting me in the process. "So, I was going over your transcript and so far everything seems good Miss Clark". "You could just call me Alaina". I said immediately, not wanting to be called something as formal as Miss Clark. For some reason my statement makes Mr. Coopers overly tense shoulders slightly relax. Alright I got this I went over all of the potential questions with my mother (even questions that were remote possibilities, if it could be asked I could answer it). "Well everything seems in order for now, thank you for coming in we'll give you a call once the decision is made". He finally replies. "Wait, you're not going to ask me any questions?" I ask confused by his reply. "Well I do have one question, Do you really want this internship?" He asks. "Yes" I reply without missing a beat. "Great, that's all I needed to know". He replies smiling. Wow, he's really handsome with his blonde hair and pearly white teeth. "Alright well, have a nice day" I bid him good bye. "You too" he says as I step out of his office. Weirdest interview ever. I'm not even sure it counts as an interview, since he completely failed to interview me. Oh well, at least it was easy. Dean's words immediately come to mind "Of course you're not what they're expecting, you're much better than anything their entitled asses could imagine." I sure hope he's right, what am I even saying Dean's always right. Although I'd never tell him that. Before I know it I'm standing in front of Slutty Crystal's desk, I quickly hand her the visitor's tag and exit the building. As soon as I step outside a cool breeze sweeps by me. Seattle weather in November is usually extreme cold but lucky for me today was the exception. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I immediately call Dean. He picks up after two rings "Hey Sparkles, everything alright?" he sounds worried. "Yeah everything is fine, my interview went by super fast." I say trying to ease his nerves. He lets out a relieved sigh "I'll say, I just dropped you off a few minutes ago". "Oh yeah about that, do you think you could pick me up?" I ask even though I already know the answer. "Of course" He replies without a second thought "I'll be there in a bit" he says and I can hear the smile in his voice. "Thanks Dean" I say with a smile of my own. "Anything for you". He replies in a soft voice making my smile widen. Minutes later I am once again riding shot gun in Dean's Camaro. "So what happened at your interview? Why did it break the record for world's shortest interview?" Dean asks raising an eyebrow at me before returning his attention to the road. "I don't know, Mr. Cooper was acting weird and he wouldn't stop staring at me." "He probably thought you were hot." Dean says casually. "Dean, I'm serious!" I say playfully smacking him on the chest. It only made him laugh "So am I, look you're clearly agitated did you not drink your coffee?". "Nope, I accidentally spilled it on Noah?" I say, clearly sparking Dean's curiosity. "Who's Noah?" Dean said after a few moments of silence. "Some hot guy I literally bumped into and covered in coffee." I say slightly embarrassed. "Well then it sounds like you need some more coffee... just don't spill it on me." He said in a teasing tone making me laugh loudly. When we arrived at Starbucks again Dean immediately placed our order, then lead me to our usual seats. "So, do you want to watch a movie later?" Dean asks clearly trying to distract me from thinking about that disastrous interview. "What I want is to get that stupid phone call that confirms what I already know, I didn't get the internship." I say snapping at Dean. "Hey, you need to calm down." Dean said in soothing voice, resting his elbows on the table and holding my hands in his. Inhaling and exhaling deeply I focused on his hands. They're rough yet somehow soft, just like his voice. Much larger than mine, his touch has always been able to comfort me like no one else can. A barista calling out Dean's name breaks me out of my trance. Dean offers me a smile and reluctantly lets go of my hands. He quickly returns with two cups in his hands, handing me one. "Thanks" I mutter and take a sip, immediately regretting it. "You're welcome" He says laughing at the fact that I burned my tongue. "So, do you want to go to the movies later?" He says staring at me intently. "I'm just not in the mood to go out." I say apologetically. "Then we can watch it at my house." He says trying to compromise. "Hmm" I hum while biting my lip, pretending like this is the most difficult decision I've ever had to make. "Come on Sparkles, you know you want to Netflix and chill with me." He says in a flirty manner, smirking at me. "Well if you insist." I say finally giving in. "I'll even make you some pizza." He says with a smile. "Wow you really know how to make a girl feel special." I say with a wide smile. "I try." He replies with a wink. My eye is caught by someone behind Dean. My smile quickly fades and Dean immediately notices. "What's wrong?" He says with his eyebrows knit together, concern overtaking his face. Ugh she's walking this way. "Hey Alana" Slutty Crystal says eyeing Dean. "It's Alaina" I rudely reply. "Oh" She says briefly making eye contact with me before shamelessly staring at Dean. "Wait what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at work.?" I ask itching to throw my coffee at her. "After your interview, Mr. Cooper totally freaked and sent everyone home, so thanks for the day off." I opened my mouth to make a mean comment when Dean interrupts. "Well it was nice seeing you but we have to go." He says standing up and gripping my hand. He pulls me to my feet and I mutter a goodbye to Slutty Crystal which she returns. Then Dean leads me out of the coffee shop and to his car. Talk about Deja Vu, I'm reliving this morning . Dean opens and closes the passenger door for me and once he's in the drivers seat he speaks up. "Who was that?" He asks buckling his seat belt. "Crystal, she's a receptionist at Cooper Inc a rude one." I reply buckling mine. "Crystal? More like Slutty Crystal if you ask me." He says huffing out a laugh. A smile replaces my frown. "My thoughts exactly!" I exclaim laughing. We quickly finished our coffee then went to Dean's house. "I'm going to home change into something more comfortable." "Alright, well I'll get started on the snacks." Dean says dismissing me. Having your best friend live right next door to you is extremely convenient. You always see it in movies and think well that's never going to happen. Well it happened to me, Dean and I grew up next door to each other. He has a sister that's just a few months younger than me, but she graduated early and is away at collage. I unlock the front door and quickly close it behind me, running upstairs. Once I enter my room all hell breaks loose. First I drop my purse then I remove my earrings and my necklace, placing them back in my jewelry box along with my watch. Clothes start flying everywhere as I kick off my wedges. I strip down to my underwear and walk up to my dresser, opening a drawer and pulling out a pair of black yoga pants. Once I slip into my yoga pants, I walk up to my closet and pull out an oversized black t-shirt with the words "ACDC Back in Black" written in white on it. As soon as I slip it on I realize I stole it from Dean long ago. Some how after all those washes, it still smells like him. A perfect musky scent I can't quite describe. It's unmistakably Dean. I slip on my black Toms and I let my hair loose from it's bun. Grabbing a black headband on my dresser and slipping it on, it pushes my hair out of my face. Facing the full body mirror I notice that my outfit is completely black. Who cares? Black is my favorite color after all. I grab my phone and keys from my purse then I head downstair and out the door, locking it behind me. Not a minute later I'm walking into Dean's house. "Dean!" I call out heading straight for the kitchen, since he did mention snacks. "In the kitchen!" He yells back. Confirming my assumptions, I walk in on Dean pulling flour out of a cupboard. The kitchen counter was covered in snacks, different types of chips, gummies, and all sorts of sweets. This was not unusual for our movie nights. He placed the flour on the kitchen table, along with all the other ingredients for the pizza. I mixed in all the ingredients for the dough into a bowl, while Dean made the sauce. Then I shredded the mozzarella and sliced the pepperoni, while Dean kneed the dough. I took a seat on a stool near the kitchen table and placed my elbow on the table, resting my chin in my hand. Watching Dean put together a pizza that with out a doubt will be delicious. "Enjoying the view?" Dean says with his classic panty dropping smirk. "Definitely" I smirk back, watching as Dean places the pizza in the oven and sets a timer. "Alright well, now we wait." Dean says smiling at me. "Great" I say smiling back. I stand up and walk up to Dean, who is now directly in front of me. He releases a deep chuckle as he stares at my face. "You got some flour on you" "Where?" I ask absentmindedly wiping at my right cheek. "Here, let me." Dean says extending his right hand to wipe at my left cheek. His bright blue eyes burning into my bright green ones. I'm too busy looking at his eyes that I don't notice the cup of flour in his left hand. I fail to notice it, until he's pouring it on my head. Dean's deep laughter is the first thing that is heard. My hands shoot up in surprise as I yell "Dean!" It only makes him laugh harder. Try as I might, I can't keep a smile of my face as I reach over and grab the bag of flour. Pouring it's remains all over Dean's body, which is still shaking with laugher. "Hey, no fair! I only poured one cup on you!" He says once he's able to calm his laughter. He opens his arms, offering me a hug. "Come on, you need to even the playing field." He says cheerfully. "Nope." I state firmly, turning around and running around the table. In order to escape from his embrace. "Sparkles!" Dean yells in fake annoyance, chasing me around the table. It didn't take long for him to catch up to me, immediately tackling me and tickling my sides. I beg him to stop in between fits of laughter, but being his stubborn self he doesn't listen. "Dean please!" I yell in a final attempt to make him stop. Lucky for me he does and then helps me to my feet. "Fine, but only because you're cute." He says in a playfully threatening voice. "Great now I need a shower." He mutters after a few moments of silence. "That's your fault, you started this." I say in an accusing manner. I run a hand through my hair, and quickly realize I lost my headband during the struggle. My hair immediately falls in front of my face once again, making Dean laugh. He pushes a strand of flour covered hair behind my ear and his hand lingers as he speaks up once again. "I'm going to hop in the shower and you should go home and do the same, then come back and we'll watch a movie and eat some pizza." He says with a smile. "Alright." I say with a smile of my own. "I'll be back soon." I say as I wave goodbye and he waves back. I rush home and jump in the shower, the warm water soothing the taut muscles in my back. Making sure to get all of the flour out of my hair, I shampoo twice. Once I get dressed in gray yoga pants and an oversized Led Zeppelin t-shirt which I also stole from Dean. I still can't understand how after all this time his smell still lingers, although I can't complain it does smell amazing. Once I'm all dressed I grab another headband from my dresser, remembering to retrieve the one I left at Dean's. I quickly rush to his house. Walking into his living room, I notice Dean sitting on the right side of the couch directly in front of a giant flat screen. Netflix written in big red letter covers the screen. He has a huge blanket and snacks covering the left side of the couch. I take a seat in between Dean and the snacks. "What movie do you want to watch?" he asks as soon as I sat down. "White Chicks." I say without a second thought. "Again?" He exclaims in an overly dramatic manner. "It's a classic" I scoff defending one of my favorite movies. "No argument there, White Chicks it is." He says giving into my demands. He plays the movie and wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. We watch the movie like that for a while, eating and laughing until the timer beeps reminding us about the pizza. We pause the movie and head to the kitchen. I take a seat on the stool in front of the table while Dean pulls the pizza out of the oven and places it on the counter. He pulls the pizza cutter out of a drawer and slices the pizza into eight perfect slices. Opening a cup board he pulls out two plates, serving a slice onto each one. Placing a plate in front of me and one right across from me. He walks up to the refrigerator and pulls out two water bottles, handing one to me as he takes a seat in front of me. I moan dramatically as I eat, showing how much I was savoring the pizza. "I love how when I cook for you, you always sound like a porn star." Dean says breaking the silence. "How could I not when it's this good?" I ask releasing another moan. Dean laughs in response. "Don't all those girls you cook for sound like porn stars?" I ask when I finish my slice. "I don't cook for anyone else." He says casually. "Really?" I say completely shocked that he doesn't share his gift with anyone else. "Well, other than my mother you're the only girl I'd cook for." He says as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. My jaw drops "Wow, I really am special aren't I?" I say thinking out loud "Damn straight!" Dean says answering my question. "Let's go finish the movie" I say placing our dishes into the dishwasher. "You read my mind" Dean says with a cheeky grin, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the living room. He clears the couch by removing all of the snacks and placing them on the coffee table, dropping the blanket to the floor. Laying down he opens his arms, a silent invitation for me to join him. This has become routine over the years, us laying together watching a movie. I lay on top of him, his arms around me, resting my head on his chest facing the T.V. He pulls the blanket over us, it's warmth swallowing me. I begin feeling sleepy and I know Dean can sense it. "When are your parents coming back from visiting Jane at collage?" I say with a yawn. "I'm not sure, they might decide to stay a little longer." Dean replies. Feeling the rise and fall of his chest soothes me as I allow the sound of his heartbeat lull me to sleep. The next thing I know I'm waking up in Dean's bed.