third floor ➳ post malone

twelve

I stared at the blue door that was like the rest of them on this floor. Except this one was special, it was Mrs. Duncan's. I knocked three times and heard shuffling on the other side as she slowly made her way to it. The door opened and Mrs. Duncan stood in front of me with a huge smile on her face.

"Hello, Georgia!" She said to me, still smiling her beautiful smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, I just wanted to stop in and see how you were doing," I smiled back at her because it was just so infectious. I held up the brown sack I had in my hand. "And I brought snacks!"

"Ooh, good! I hope you made them!" She clapped as she stepped out of the way and let me in. "Austin brought me one of your donuts. You're very talented."

"Thank you so much," I chuckled at her and pulled out two pieces of zucchini bread wrapped in saran wrap. "I did make them! Fresh this morning."

"I'll go get us some milk," she said, turning towards the kitchen. I walked over to the living room area and sat down, waiting on her. She soon emerged into the room and handed me a glass.

"Thank you very much!" I said to her as I sat it on a coaster she had. "So how have you been? Austin told me you haven't been feeling well."

"Oh, you know, a little head cold gets me feeling weak these days. Nothing serious," she waved me off. "It felt nice to lay in bed for a few days but I'm glad to be back up and going. I still feel a little down but overall fine. I'm glad you and Austin are here to keep me company."

"We think very highly of you, Mrs. Lorraine," I smiled at her as she took a bite of the bread.

"You know, Austin talks about you an awful lot," she gave me a sly smile.

"Oh, really?" I asked her as I picked my glass of milk up and took a sip. "Well, why does he do that?"

"I hate to be the one to say it but I think he might have a small crush on you," She giggled at me. "Don't get me wrong, he has told me about many girls, but I haven't heard him use a girl's name ever. But you? All I hear is Georgia!"

"Oh, well, probably because you know me," I shook my head at her. Why did he talk about me a lot? We barely know each other.

"No, honey," she said, sipping her milk. "This is something different. Have you went on a date at all?"

"We haven't," I shook my head again. "I-, well, we haven't even really talked about much."

"Then it's strange," she looked at me. I sat the crumb-filled saran wrap on the coffee table and gave her my full attention.

"What is?" I questioned, turning my body towards her.

"How fondly he thinks of you," she smiled. "I see why, but I don't ever think I've seen Austin be so bashful over a lady."

"Well," I chuckled. "Maybe he's just excited to have a new friend."

"Whatever it is, I'm glad you're around, Georgia," She smiled, putting her hand over mine.

"I'm glad, too," I smiled at her.

————

I finally left Lorraine's after four hours of visiting. I hadn't stopped thinking about what she said about Austin. Why was he interested in me? And was I interested in him?

I was highly convinced the only reason I cared about maybe liking him was because I hadn't focused on relationships in so long. A guy hadn't paid attention to me romantically in forever and Austin's small sliver of it sent me into one big spiraling thought.

To channel that thought, I decided to go into the bakery tonight and make some things for in the morning.

I turned the stereo on and played The 1975 as I rolled out dough. Baking really did take my mind off of everything. Except somehow not Austin.

The bell rang on the door but I didn't look up.

"Sorry! We aren't open," I said as I continued with what I was doing.

"I just wanted to come by and say hi," a familiar voice spoke as they approached the counter. "I was on my way home and saw the light on. I was hoping for Ricky, though."

"Shut up," I chuckled as I looked at him smiling. "Well, hi."

"Hi," he said and I rolled my eyes playfully. "Why are you working?"

"Just getting some things ready for tomorrow," I said as I wiped my floury hands on my apron.

"Maybe I can help," he shrugged. "I'm really bored."

"I mean, if you're up for it," I told him with a shrug as well. He walked around the counter to the side where I was.

"Just tell me what to do, boss," He smiled at me and my heart beat a little faster than usual. I threw him an apron that was hanging up and he tied it around his waist.

I handed him the flour and told him what to do. I began making a frosting as he continued his task.

"I had a dream where we had kids. You would cook, I'd do the nappies," I sang along to the music playing. "We went to Winter Wonderland and it was shit but we were happy."

Austin looked over at me as I sang and I stopped to look at him as well.

"What?" I asked him with a slight smirk.

"Nothing," he chuckled. "I like this song."

"It's my favorite right now," I nodded as I continued the pink frosting.

"What was that Winter Wonderland lyric?" He asked me and I thought for a second.

"We went to Winter Wonderland and it was shit but we were happy," I told him without singing. He nodded and then started back on the bread dough.

Suddenly, all I saw was white and all I tasted was bitter. Flour. He had thrown flour at me.

"Is that Winter Wonderland enough?" He asked me with a laugh as my apron was saturated with an ivory powder.

"Oh, you are so dead!" I yelled at him as I grabbed a handful of flour and threw it on his head.

"Not the hair!" He yelled as he threw it on my head. I laughed and threw more on him, him doing the same.

"Austin, stop!" I laughed at him as he rubbed it on my arms. "We need that!"

"Not as much as I need to win this fight!" He laughed at me, rubbing the flour across my face.

For a second, I felt time move in slow motion as his ocean eyes locked with my plain ones. The corners of his mouth fell as he looked at me. I didn't know what this moment was going to turn into but I didn't care.

His hand made its way to the side of my cheek, pushing my now-white hair out of my face. I had flour everywhere now except for my ears, lips, and eyes. His eyes cut to my lips and then back to my eyes again.

He moved in closer to me, not closing his eyes until our lips were finally touching. My stomach erupted into a million fireworks as our lips pressed firmly together, moving in sync. I brought my arms up and wrapped them around his neck.

His tongue slipped into my mouth as he lifted me up and sat me on the counter. He began unbuttoning the buttons on my dress and I was quickly brought back to reality.

"Austin, wait," I said, grabbing his wrist to stop him. "I don't want to do this."

"Okay," he said, backing away. I could tell he was embarrassed, though. "I- uh, I need to go. It was good hanging out with you, though. Wait, uh, I can help you clean this up."

"No, I got it," I shook my head. "Bye."

He nodded thankfully and walked out of the bakery as I hopped down from the counter and grabbed the broom. I watched him walk away as I began to sweep.

What the hell just happened?