Never Been Kissed

Ch.12 ↬ M

Noah was picking me up promptly at six from the bottom of the building.

I suppose that was going to be our official introduction. Though Mandy had passed on my number to him and he'd instigated the first means of communication between us, we'd chatted here or there via text messages all week, but this would be the first time we'd be seeing each other face to face. Notwithstanding that, I admit to searching him up on various social medias to fathom out what he looked like.

He was attractive.

Not so much to the level of Josh, admittedly, but he was attractive. In his most recent photo that was dated only a few weeks back, he had messy dark auburn hair, shaved close to his scalp at the sides and fashionably longer on top. His eyes—the photo may have been edited—were such a dark blue they appeared almost teal. With a long nose and a fair dusting of freckles, his youth was clearly on his side.

There was nothing in our texts to write home about, but I enjoyed the feeling of having someone at the end of the phone. Someone who asked about my day and was genuinely interested in knowing about my ownership of the community hall. It was a nice change, though I suspect I could say the same for Josh.

Okay, I berated myself, I had to stop thinking about Josh while on the date with Noah.

A few minutes after six, I was ambling down the stairs to meet Noah outside considering he had no access to get inside the building. Donning small black heels to complement my black and white plaid skirt with a strapless long-sleeve white shirt tucked into the waistband, I held onto the strap of my handbag over my shoulder, feeling the vibration of my phone that was nestled inside. Plucking it, I almost sighed at Josh's name stamped across my screen that accompanied a message.

Josh: You're not wearing the leotard, right?

I could have sworn I'd perceived frantic shuffling from inside his apartment when I slammed my door shut, so maybe he'd not had the chance to check out my outfit through the peephole I know he uses. I'd caught him gawking through it once and I swear he jumped right out of his skin.

Madeline: Wouldn't you like to know?

Josh: I fucking would like to know, that's why I'm asking

Madeline: Don't wait up

With an appeased smile, I dropped my phone back into my handbag and continued the descent. As I stepped out into the downstairs hallway, I spotted Noah outside immediately. The hair was immediately recognisable to me as his back was facing me. His hair, though I couldn't view the front, was the same as his most recent photo that had been uploaded to one of his social media accounts.

As I pushed the building door open, Noah spun on his heels, eyebrows raised. When his gaze settled on me, a slow smile blossomed across his lips and I swear it was so contagious I couldn't help myself but reciprocate it. And then I realised something.

The photo had not been edited. His eyes were that dark and alluringly blue.

"Hey," I greeted, overwhelmed with sheepishness and a mild case of wordlessness.

"Hey," he said, his voice deep and calm. "I would have bought you flowers," he confessed, "but when I looked up your address, I realised you'd have to walk up several flights of stairs again after just coming down. So I'll buy you some after the date for you to take back up."

Wow. That was... thoughtful.

"You don't have to."

He shrugged one shoulder, the smile still etched across his lips. "I know, but I want to."