Along Came Oliver

Chapter 2

I peeked over at him from behind the kitchen island, a mischievous smirk pulling at my lips.

"So, are you a coffee guy or a wine guy?" I held out a bottle of Merlot in one hand and a bag of ground coffee beans in the other.

"Well it is a weekend, i think today I'm a wine guy." I put away the coffee and set down the bottle to grab the wine glasses from the cupboard.

"Merlot, Chardonnay, or Rosé?" I inquired.

"Love me a good white wine," He replied with a cheeky smile. I poured him a glass of Chardonnay and a glass of Rosé for myself and brought them over to the coffee table where he was sat.

I watched as he took a sip of his wine, admiring his looks mostly. He had a sort of bad boy vibe to him, he looked more like the lead bass player of a rock band than a high school music director.

Wow he has big hands.

"I'm gonna be honest here," I took a sip of my wine, "You sound so classy and you hold yourself in a very prestige manner, but you look so... not, you know? What I'm trying to say is you don't look like someone who should be directing high school band, you should be out there, owning your own record store or playing bass for some alternative band," I ranted.

"So what are you really saying?"

"I'm saying that I think you've got this act going on right now, and I want you to stop, let go, be you! Otherwise, I have no intention of working with you."

"Wow, okay that was a little out of nowhere..."

"I needed to get that straight before this went any further."

"You're kinda blunt, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

He smiled at me and downed the rest of his glass.

"I like you already," he commented, "okay, you're right, I come off as very stiff, but that isn't me, as you've already figured that one out, and I'm not gonna explain myself, because I think that I'm gonna leave that one up to you, I want you to figure me out, and meanwhile, vice-versa, I'm gonna figure out who you are Whisper." I stared at him in awe, the way he said my name sent chills down my spine, I found myself entranced.

"Say my name again..." I mumbled.

"Whisper," he spoke, "Do you want me to get you some more wine?" I broke out of my trance like state and shot up.

"Oh no-" I gasped as my glass of wine knocked over onto my white shirt, "-I'll get that... Whoops," I smiled a cheesy grin and picked up the glass, in a millisecond, there he was, dabbing my shirt with a damp hanky.

"Let me help you with that," he dabbed my shirt, "we should probably get this into some stain remover before it stains forever," he mentioned.

"Oh right, yes!" I unbuttoned my shirt in a hurry and rushed to get the shirt into the wash.

After I'd saved my shirt I walked back out to apologize, when I stepped back in, he just stared me in the eyes.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Um yes, but uh, you're not wearing a shirt so I don't want to come off as a pervert, therefore I am looking you in the eye to avoid looking at you uh, you know..." Oliver looked a bit awkward and embarrassed.

"Oh no need to worry, you can look, I don't mind at all," I consoled him, "besides, if you continue to look me in the eyes like that, I might get the wrong idea," I winked and he blushed.

"Oh okay then," he cleared his voice.

"Why don't you grab me another glass of wine and follow me to my room to look for a shirt, I'd hate to leave you out here alone."

I walked to my bedroom hastily, searching all my drawers and every inch of my closet for a decent top to wear, a clean one.

"You've got a nice room," He mentioned from the doorway. He came in, sitting the glass of wine on my night stand, and placing himself on the edge of my queen size bed as I sifted through my drawers. I let out an exasperated grunt and a heavy sigh as I plopped my still topless self next to him on my bed. He handed me my wine glass and I took a large gulp, handing it back.

"Let me guess, is it laundry day?" He asked and I looked up at him with a puppy dog face and nodded.

"Well it could be worse, I suppose..."

"It's not like I can unsee your chest now, so I mean if you're comfortable, I'm comfortable with you hanging out without your shirt," he handed me my glass again.

"You're right, I mean what is the worst thing that can happen?" I spoke too soon. Two glasses of wine later, we were sitting on the floor of my bedroom talking about our careers.

"So why do you do what you do, I mean did you actually aspire to b a school counselor?" He questioned.

"Yes actually, I know it sounds crazy but at first I was really interested in the psychology thing, but you know, what can you do with that other than being a therapist or a psychologist? No hate on them, but I want to make a real difference, and I know that high school is like the canon shooting us into the real world, and while teachers prepare you with knowledge, it's the counselors that show compassion and help you choose what you want to do, where you want to go, who you want to be. I wanted to be the person who helped troubled teens make something of themselves, I want to launch them into a happy and successful life."

"Well that's very selfless. You know in my whole life, I don't think I'd ever imagined a high school counselor, with blue hair..." He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, "You really are something Whisper Allen." There was a long silence as he stared at me, his face inched closer to mine, and before his lips could touch me, I slapped him lightly.

"Woah there, maybe you should get going."

"Oh yes, it's pretty late." We both got up and awkwardly, I walked him to the door.

As I shut the door on his retreating figure, I grabbed both of the glasses and downed them before placing them into the sink, the feeling of regret lingering.

There was suddenly a knock on the door.

I rushed to open, and when Oliver was stood there, breathing heavy, my heart fluttered.

"I forgot something," he said breathlessly.

"Me too," I said before we launched ourselves onto each other, our faces melting together in perfect harmony.

And in that moment, I slammed the door and led him back to my bedroom, our lips molding together in the perfect kiss.