the girl on the bench

Chapter 11

She drives us back to my house and we sit in the car for a beat. She parks and turns the engine off. "Do you want to come in?" I ask her. She stretches her hands over the steering wheel and looks towards the house. Is she figuring out a way to say no? I really have to remind myself to ask her who she was with at the bar the other night. Maybe it's that girl or I did something to screw this up. She turns to me and I brace myself for the rejection. "Yeah, I do" she says. A smile takes over my face. She gets out of the car while I fumble for my keys waiting for her to open my car door. I can feel my heart beating out of my chest suddenly feeling anxious of what might happen once she's inside my home. She opens my car door and the rush of anxiety rushes to the surface. Instead of lingering while she closes the door I head straight for the front door. I suddenly feel so awkward with her. She walks slowly behind me as I manage to ungracefully open the front door and take my shoes off. She does the same. I throw my belongings on the kitchen counter and head to the fridge. She takes off her hat and places it next to my keys "Drink?" I ask her. She nods as she sits on the stool at the kitchen counter. "This is cute and quaint" she says looking around the open plan kitchen and living area. "This is a normal sized townhouse, G. Just because you live in a mansion" I say handing her a beer. "Share house" she reminds me.

I lean my upper body over the counter and take a sip of my beer. She watches me and takes a sip of her own beer. "I have to confess something" she says looking at her beer bottle and starts picking at the label. My face drops. Is this the part where she tells me she's in a relationship already? "I, uh... I stalked you too" she says. I become somewhat relieved yet also confused. "You stalked me? Do you even know my last name?" I ask her. She nervously takes another sip of beer. "You can, um, I just put your phone number into Facebook and searched you" she explains. I laugh and it makes her smile. "Huh. Find anything interesting?" I ask her smirking and glad that I can make her as nervous as she makes me. She shakes her head. "Just the usual drunk half-naked photos, photos of you and your ex, and inspirational quotes" she says smiling. I drop my head and sigh whilst she laughs. I lift my head to look at her. "Seems like you went pretty far back into my Facebook page" I say. "Oh, no. That was just Instagram. I found out much more on Facebook" She says and my mouth drops. "Georgia Flipo! And you didn't even add me?" I say and she cringes at the sound of her name but laughs because she knows I've looked her up as well. Lucky for me, she has a Wikipedia page and several in-depth articles from over the years. I haven't gotten the guts to search her Instagram and Facebook yet though.

I stand up and move past her to the couch. I pick the remote up off the coffee table and switch the television on as she sits down next to me. She's not facing the screen though, she's facing me. "The footy's on" I say pointing my beer bottle towards the screen. She turns to look at the TV "Meh" she says shrugging and turning her attention back to me. "At least it's not Collingwood, right?" She says teasing me. I put a hand over my face trying to hide my embarrassment. "Actually..." I start saying as I try to work up the courage to ask her about her maybe girlfriend. "You know when you came to see me at the bar?" I ask her. She raises her eyebrows as she takes a swig of beer and nods. "Who was that person you were with?" She smiles and takes a moment to swallow. "That would be my cousin, Charlotte. She's my personal assistant and kind of like a best friend" she says and I sigh. She sees me visibly relax and laughs "Did you think...? Oh my god. No!" She says almost doubled over now in laughter. "How am I supposed to know? You guys looked close and you paid for her" I say defending my thoughts. "OK, I'll give you that but I'm not into incest" she says regaining her composure. I nod and shrug sheepishly. "Since we're asking... Likewise... was that your roommate I met the other day?" She asks me. "Yeah, that's Alex. She's my best friend and roommate but she's hardly ever here" I say. "She seems... nice" she says and I raise my eyebrows at her. "She's a bitch and can admit it. We've been friends for so long and she gets me. You know?" I say and she nods. "So we've met each other's best friends? What's next? We meet each other's parents?" I joke. She puts her beer on the coffee table and moves towards me. "How about our first kiss?" She asks.