Time for Livin'

Chapter 7

I know it's been a while but college is really stressing me out. To be honest I'm only writing this chapter right now because I'm the queen of procrastination, haha. Anyway, enjoy.

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The following day Pauline tried everything to pass the time until her date with Mike. But no matter what she did, the hours went by painfully slow. She even tidied up her room and eventually ended up cleaning the whole flat but when she checked the time barely one hour had gone by. On the bright side however, their flat had not looked that neat in a while. It was not only the nervousness she tried to suppress. Ever since her little argument with Christine the doubts in her mind became louder and louder. At heart she knew she should have gone back to her real life long ago and that by now she was in way too deep. Moreover, the fact she could not talk to anyone about her problem began to eat her up inside. On top of that, she was aware that going out with a Beastie Boy in the late 80's was not exactly the smartest thing to do as a sensitive young woman and that it most likely would not improve her situation. Pauline kept telling herself that it was going to be a simple, innocent date and that she would not allow it to turn into anything else. A likely story.

She pushed all the nevative thoughts aside as 8 o'clock finally came closer and it was time to get ready. At 8 o'clock sharp she was standing in the corridor of the flat anxiously shifting from one foot to another.

"For fucks sake Pauline, relax!" Christine suddenly appeared right behind her. "What are you doing here anyway? You don't actually expect him to be punctual, right?"

Pauline sighed. "No. But I can't think of anything else to do right now." She explained truthfully.

"Why are you so nervous about this? You don't like him, do you?"

Pauline chose to not answer that question and awkwardly looked down on her shoes to avoid her roomates gaze.

"Pauline, you can't have feelings for that guy! He's literally gonna rip your heart out." Christine proclaimed.

"I thought we've talked about this and agreed you would not butt into this anymore!"

"Yeah, that was before I realized how serious you are about him. I had no idea you're fallen for him." Her friend shook her head in disbelief.

"Oh, give me a break! You're clearly exaggerating things here." Pauline argued.

"Am I?" She demanded provocatively.

Just before Pauline could respond, the doorbell rang. In a heartbeat she held the doorknop in her hand and opened the apartment door with dash. And there he was.

"Hey, sorry for being a little late. You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go." Pauline scurried out of the flat.

"Have fun then." Christine remarked sarcastically and slammed the door shut.

"Woah, what's her problem?" Mike asked.

"Ugh, we just got into a fight." She sighed and rolled her eyes as they made their way down the stairs.

"Oh, about what?" He probed, almost as if he had an idea the fight had been about him.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." She quickly clarified.

"She doesn't approve of you going out with me after what happened between her and Yauch, right?" He seemed amused.

"Yeah, you got it." Pauline giggled. "But it's not like I need her approval so let's just forget about that. Where are we going anyway?" She tried to change the subject. They had reached the sidewalk by then and Mike appeared to have a destination in mind.

"Let's just go to White Castle."

Pauline had to hold back laughter. In her head she instantly heard him rap "We got to White Castle and we got thrown out". Even though she was not a native, she knew that White Castle was anything but fancy but quite frankly she did not care. As a matter fact, if a few months prior someone had asked her what her dream date would be, she probably would have replied: 'Having dinner at White Castle with Mike D in the late 80's'.

"Sounds good." She agreed.

A few minutes later they were sitting in a booth opposite of each other. Throughout the next hour and a half she listened to him talking about which bands had influenced him the most and how the Beastie Boys were founded. He told her all kinds of stories about the band but thanks to the internet and their biography she already knew most of them. Nevertheless it was something entirely different to hear it from him rather than reading it in a book. Pauline let him do most of the talking but every now and then he would ask her about her personal history. Those questions unsettled her and she gave her best to somehow dodge them. At some point however he became suspicious and slightly narrowed his eyes.

"I kinda feel like you don't like talking about yourself."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, I just find it a little awkward. Plus, I really enjoy hearing about your band." She professed and internally hoped she had not sounded too corny.

"That's a pity. I kinda wanted to know more about you." After a short pause, he added: "But it's alright. I don't wanna pressure you into it. Let's just talk about something else then."

Needless to say, Pauline was relieved he did not question the situation any further. They went on to talk about bands. Both of them were avid fans of The Clash and Mike told her how he went to see them live in the early 80s. Altogether Pauline was having a fun time and enjoyed his company. Later on, he offered to walk her home which she gladly accepted. The thought of walking through New York around night time all by herself scared her, to say the least. Soon they arrived at the doorstep of the apartment building she lived in.

"Okay, here we are. Thanks for walking me home. And thanks for tonight, I had a good time." She smiled.

"No problem. So did I." He returned her smile.

"Good night!" She waved goodbye and just as she was about to go inside, she suddenly felt him grabbing her wrist.

"Wait."

Before she knew it, he had pulled her into a kiss that sent chills down her spine. All too fast he broke away from her and an impish grin spread across his face.

"Good night. I'll see you around."

With that he walked off into the night. A bit down the street he turned around again, apparently to check whether Pauline had safely gotten into the house. But she still remained standing outside of the building staring after him. When their gazes met they shared one last smile before she finally went inside.

Holy. Crap.