ELECTRIC FEEL ↝ Schmidt

CHAPTER EIGHT

  ELISE WOKE UP alone on the couch, but as soon as her eyes opened, she vividly remembered falling asleep next to Schmidt. He had offered her a comforting hug, which eventually lulled her into a nice slumber, and the thought of it caused her to smile widely. Now that she was temporarily living in 4D, and she saw more of Schmidt, she wasn't sure for how long she could keep her feelings at bay. But, as long as nothing drastic would happen, Elise believed that she would be able to control herself, even if she spent the first five minutes of her morning grinning underneath the duvet.

  "Hey El, want some leftover pizza and tea?", Winston asked from the kitchen once the woman got up from the couch, and covered her gray top with a red sweater she pulled from the suitcase resting against the coffee table. Elise nodded as she got dressed, and thanked Winston in advance, before heading towards the bathroom and ruffling her fairly short hair along the way. Before she could reach the door of the bathroom, Jess stopped her and Elise immediately smiled at the woman, happy to see her, and feeling at home already.

  "Ellie! I set a mattress in my room so you don't have to sleep on the couch anymore. Or change your clothes in front of everyone", Jess stated, and Elise thanked her as well, for the hospitality and kindness. Once they parted ways, Jess went to have breakfast and Elise headed into the bathroom, and the latter began humming along a rock song she had introduced Schmidt to, which caused her mind to wander to the man himself. She hadn't seen him yet, but expected to find him at breakfast if not bump into him in the hallway.

  Elise opened the door of the bathroom, and stepped in only to be yelled at for intruding someone's personal space, and in horror, her eyes widened at the sight of Schmidt, standing in the center of the room with nothing but — well, nothing on. Elise froze entirely, and tried to look Schmidt in the eyes, while the man continued to scream like a teenage girl in the school's locker room and tried to desperately cover his bare body with both hands. Elise parted her lips to let out a sincere apology, but nothing came out except a small whimper as she looked at Schmidt, unable to not glance at the impressive muscles and the flawless skin.

  "Elise!", Schmidt shrieked, and made Elise realize what had to be done, and therefore she lifted her hands in the air in defense, and repeated I'm sorry until it sounded weird to her, and backed out of the room and into the hallway. Shutting the door of the bathroom, Elise took in a deep breath and rested against the wall, unsure how to feel about what she had witnessed. In a way, the sight was amusing, but then again, she had just seen the man of his dreams naked and that was something that caused Elise to feel dizzy.

  Attempting to not overthink it, Elise exhaled heavily, and pushed herself off of the wall to walk into the kitchen, where Winston had made her tea and set out a slice of cold pizza. All three — Nick, Jess and Winston looked at Elise questioningly, but instead of giving any answers, the woman just smiled in response and when no one asked, they silently decided to ignore the fact that Schmidt had screamed like a girl and Elise was the only one who knew why. To stop any words from coming out of her mouth, Elise stuffed her face with the tuna pizza, avoiding conversation and causing a very awkward silence to rule the room, until Schmidt finally strided out of the bathroom with a red towel hanging low around his waist.

  "Schmidt, I am so sorry—", Elise began after drawing a careful sip of her tea, and shot the man a pleading look whilst lowering the mug onto the counter. The rest of their roommates followed the situation intently, intrigued by the evident tension between the two and waiting for something exciting to happen. However, instead of igniting an argument, Schmidt just waved his hand in the air and sighed with the desire to move past the embarrassing situation they had faced merely moments earlier.

  "It's fine, Elise. I'm willing to forget that you walked in on me undressed, if...", Schmidt began, and once he got the words spoken, Nick erupted into loud groans at the mention of naked Schmidt, something they had all witnessed at some point, and apparently it had been Elise's turn. "If you agree to go with me to a party at the office tonight", Schmidt finished, and scared away everyone but Elise to avoid being trapped into something they didn't want to do, leaving only Schmidt and Elise in the kitchen. Elise swallowed thickly at the suggestion, as she wasn't one for parties or social situations of any kind — yet she had ended up in one of the most embarrassing ones — but how was she supposed to say no to the charmingly smiling man, who was also wearing nothing but a towel?