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page 34

Cadence
Elliot

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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
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   Cadence sat on her couch, Cleo cuddling her as she watched American Horror Story on the TV. She was trying to text an apology to Elliot while watching, but words seemed fleeting at the moment. Tossing the phone on the cushion beside her, she pet Cleo's head and sighed.

   Why am I such an idiot?

   She regretted ever asking Elliot to the club and peer pressuring him to drink so much with her. Elliot was right, what was she expecting to happen? She knew she got a little personal when she got drunk, yet she led Elliot straight onto that dance floor and practically told him to throw his hands on her. Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall just beside the TV, she felt her stomach growl.

   "Why does it take so long to deliver a pizza?" She asked herself, watching her show still. Working out a plan in her head to work things out with Elliot, she heard a knock on the door and watched as Cleo shot up to go bark at it.

   Groaning, she pushed herself up and walked over to the door, grabbing her wallet on the way. "Hold on!"

   She told Cleo to sit as she muddled in her wallet for a twenty, reaching for the door to open it slightly, just enough to keep Cleo in the apartment.

   "Alright, so I have a twenty, that'll be enough, ri—?" Cadence's words were cut off as she looked up to see Elliot standing there, a pizza in arms.

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   "I'm sorry about earlier by the way. I was angry with myself, I guess I took it out on you a bit." Elliot apologized, sitting on the couch and petting Cleo as she laid her head on his lap.

   Cadence was busy stuffing her face full of pizza in the dining area, the pizza box being her plate. "It's fine. I should be the one apologizing."

   "I think we're both to blame. I clearly wasn't in my right mind to stop the situation, or even when agreeing to go along with you in the first place." He shook his head at himself as he watched the muted channel of commercials on the TV, still petting Cleo.

   "Yeah, I shouldn't have invited you. Or even told you to drink with me. Drunk me has literally no self control." She made a gesture and raised her eyebrows, taking another huge bite of her slice of pizza.

   "Can we just... forget about the whole thing then?" He said, looking over to her.

   Cadence chewed more slowly in thought and shrugged, then nodded. "I don't see why not."

   Elliot smiled at her and looked back to the TV as the show came back on. "What are we watching?"

   She tossed the crust into the box and closed it, walking it to the fridge to put inside. "We are not watching anything. I am. It's American Horror Story."

   "Oh, yeah! My sister-in-law loves this show." He said, reaching to unmute the TV.

   "I just started it, but I've been binge watching it all day." Cadence walked over to the couch and sat a foot away from him, patting the couch so Cleo would jump up to cuddle.

   "I see." Elliot watched it, obviously really interested in it. He grimaced at a couple parts while Cadence just laughed.

   "Yikes!"

   "Niiiice!"

   They both said at the same time at the one gruesome part. They spent the rest of the evening watching the show, Elliot ended up staying later than expected. He originally thought he would have gotten shoved out immediately or just had the door shut in his face. But he was glad it didn't turn out that way.

   "How did you get ahold of my pizza, by the way?" Cadence asked him, turning to glance at his face.

   "I ran into the guy in the elevator and we ended up walking to the same door together. I took it from him and paid him." Elliot said, not taking his eyes away from the screen.

   "I'm sure he isn't allowed to do that. How'd you get him to comply?"

   "I may have doubled the price of the pizza for him to actually hand it over." He said, taking a quick second to look over at her before returning to watching the show.

   Cadence laughed a short laugh and shook her head in disapproval. "Never would I have taken you for a criminal, Elliot Austin."

   "Please. The boy needed it. I'm simply a good citizen. I did his job for him while donating some extra money to him." He shrugged and smirked. "In the end it worked out for everyone. Got me into your apartment, didn't it?"

   "Gosh, you're ridiculous."

   "Why, thank you. I prefer clever more though."

   They both smiled at eachother and continued watching the show, brushing off all the previous pressure hanging in the air.

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