I was settled on the couch, my legs tucked under me as Leena went into the kitchen to grab beverages. Her apartment was very similar to mine, although hers was more of an open concept. I really liked it. She had paintings lined up along each wall. Each one was full of emotion. There was one of a waterfall in a forest, mist filling up the empty space between the lake below and the tall walls of mountain that surrounded it. It brought a strong sense of peace within me.
The one next to it was the silhouettes of a couple holding hands, walking into the sunset on a beach. I couldn’t help the small smile that spread across my face, imagining that being me some day. On the wall to my left, a weeping willow tree with its branches being tossed by a storm. I continued down the wall. A door surrounded by black. A snake with deceiving eyes. A rainbow shining through the clouds. A baby with a giant smile and bright eyes. Any emotion you could think of, it was on a painting somewhere on her walls.
Leena came out with two large glasses filled to the top with blackberry margaritas, the rims coated in a layer of sugar. I laughed as I saw the glasses and she grinned. “Isn’t that a bit much?” I asked her.
Leena scoffed. “Puh-lease, someone obviously needs more Leena in their life if you think this is too much.” She sat the cups down on marble white coasters on her glass table and took a seat next to me, hugging her knee to her chest while clearing her throat. “So.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “So?”
She let out an exasperated sigh and threw a pillow at me. “So! What are the deets, girl?” She nearly screamed in my face and I laughed harder, catching the pillow coming toward my face, my face flushing. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Leena had already gotten into the alcohol. Her personality was so bubbly and outgoing. It was refreshing.
Leaning forward, I grabbed my margarita and took a long sip. Leena began bouncing impatiently, nearly making me shoot margarita from my nose as I held back more laughter.
“It was a really casual date, although it got kind of awkward in the middle,” I started off.
Leena crossed her legs and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, chin in her hands. “How so?”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “We ran into a girl he used to know and they were acting awfully flirty. I got a little jealous and it might’ve shown a teeny bit.” I took another sip of my margarita and she gasped.
“Oh that’s so not cool! You don’t flirt with other people when you’re on a date, what was he thinking?!” She threw her hands up and tilted her head back with a groan of frustration.
“I know right?” I laughed and set my drink back down, shaking my head. “Anyway, he got us out of that environment and away from her. I was so thankful too; her voice…” I cringed both mentally and physically at the memory. Her high-pitched squeak of a voice was drilled into the back of my mind.
Leena took a long drink from her margarita, knocking back nearly a quarter of the cup in one sip. “That bad?”
I nodded. “Very. And how did you not get a brain freeze just now?”
She stared me in the eyes, taking another long guzzle. “Lots and lots of training,” she whispered dramatically. I scrunched my nose in response and shook my head with a chuckle.
“I’ll match you one day. But to continue, we went down to that cute fountain in the middle of town and we spent hours talking. It was really refreshing.” I sighed softly. “It had been a while since I’ve had a real conversation with someone, you know?”
Leena put a hand over her heart. “That’s so adorable,” she said, faking a happy crying sound. I smiled and rolled my eyes, sipping my drink.
“Wait, it gets even more adorable.” I paused for dramatic effect. She leaned forward even more, constantly sipping on her straw. “He walked me back to the coffee shop… and he kissed me.”
Leena released an impressive closed mouth squeal and quickly gulped her mouthful of beverage, setting it back on the coaster. “No freaking way!”
My cheeks heated up once again and I tried to hide my giddiness. It only lasted a few seconds before I freaked out with her, matching her squeal. “Yes freaking way!” We both screeched in excitement and she grabbed my shoulders.
“So it was good?! How did you feel? How did it start? Did it get,” she paused and winked, “saucy?”
“Oh my god, Leena!” She laughed as my free hand covered my face, groaning at her forwardness. I shook my head for a while before looking at her over my fingers. “It was a little saucy…”
“Mm-mm girl! Get it!” She flipped her hand up in a sassy fashion and gave me a suggestive look. This made me burst into more giggles that was short lasting as I recalled another thing that happened on the date. Leena noticed the change and tilted her head in concern at me. “What’s up?”
I looked her over, questioning if I should open up to her about this. I just met her, how could I know if she was trustworthy with how deep these feelings go. And not just her, but Garrett too. How can I know that the bad feeling I’d been getting is concerning? But then again, Leena had been making me feel better than I have in a long time, even better than how Garrett made me feel on our date today. I took the straw out of my margarita and chugged the rest, ignoring the painful brain freeze that accompanied it. Leena’s eyes widened and coughed in surprise. “Girl, what’s going on?”
I sighed heavily, somewhat from the swirling emotions within and somewhat to relieve the pain in my head. I set my empty cup aside, hugging the pillow I caught earlier to my chest, leaning into the back of the couch. “After the encounter with his little friend and while I was waiting for my latte… There was something off in his eyes.”
Leena frowned. “What do you mean ‘something off’ in his eyes?”
“I mean like,” I sighed again and shook my head. “I can’t explain it, but it was like this dangerous look in them. The first time I ran into him at the bookstore, I got this odd feeling in my gut. When I saw that weird look in his eyes, I got that same feeling again.” Leena listened intently, never taking her eyes off me. “I keep thinking it’s just jealousy, but that look…” I shook my head. “I probably imagined it though, it was there for literally half a second.”
She nodded in understanding. “That’s… definitely complicated. And it would make sense that it would be a jealous feeling. I’ve never met the guy, but you’re GORGEOUS,” she emphasized with hand gestures toward me. I cracked a smile in response, the dread and uneasiness fading into the background. She returned her hands to her lap. “But if what you saw was really an off putting look, I’d be cautious. You only just met the man. Don’t rush into it, girl.” She grabbed my hands and gave them a squeeze. My smile grew and I gave her a grateful hug.
“Thank you, Leena.”
She grinned. “Don’t mention it. I will mention, though, that your glass is empty and that’s not acceptable.” She clicked her tongue in disapproval and grabbed my glass. “I’ll be back! Find us a movie, you’re staying over tonight.” With that, she disappeared into the kitchen.
I took a glance at her entertainment center and saw her collection of DVD’s in the glass cabinet doors. Climbing off the couch, I planted my butt in front of the center and opened the cabinets, looking at the options. She had them all organized by genre and it made it easier to know where I wanted to look. What’s a better way to kick off a girls night than a rom-com?
And she had just the one I wanted.
“Alright, full cups are back in the circle!” Leena came strutting back, placing the cups in their proper space. “What movie are we going to indulge in?”
I held up the case to my favorite rom-com ever. “The Proposal.” She grinned in response.
“Great choice. I think we’ll be the greatest of friends, Sophie.” Leena gave me a wink and took the case from me, placing the DVD in the player and turned on the impressive size of a TV.
“You know, Leena, I really hope so.” I smiled up at her and she returned it with one of her own. Once the electronics were up and running, she plopped back down on the couch, working on her second glass of the icy blackberry drink. At the first sip, her face scrunched up.
“Oh gosh, I made this batch a little strong.” I laughed as she burst into a fit of coughing, setting her glass down.
“Good! The first one definitely wasn’t strong enough. I can still sit up straight,” I said sarcastically while I leaned into the entertainment center and looked back at the paintings. Leena followed my gaze.
“You like?”
I nodded. “Did you do these yourself?”
She shrugged. “A while ago, yeah. I don’t paint nearly as much as I used to. It was fun while it lasted.”
“Why’d you stop?” I pushed myself up off the floor and sat down next to her, grabbing my drink in the process.
“I guess… I just ran out of inspiration. I settled down and started a career, stopped traveling so much.” There was a sadness in her eyes as she said this. I had no idea that this perky girl could even show sadness. It explained some of the paintings though.
“Well, maybe we should change that,” I chirped in. She looked at me incredulously.
"What?”
I shifted in my spot and rested the stem of my glass on my knee.“Yeah! We’re friends now, right? Let’s go on adventures together, build up this connection we have.” Leena seemed to think about it for a bit and I took a sip of the drink, nearly spitting it out as soon as it touched my tongue. “Oh my god, Leena, just a little strong? It tastes like nothing but tequila!”
Leena began dying of laughter as I tried to rub the taste off on my sleeve, scrunching my face in disgust. “Girl, get a grip. It’s not that bad!”
I placed my hand on my hip, giving her an intense stare. “Not that bad? It even made you cough.” Incredibly, she somehow managed to laugh harder, tears falling down her cheek. I couldn’t help but laugh along with her.
“Okay, you might have a point. I’ll go make some virgin margaritas to add to it.” She wiped the tears away and shook her head, and I could’ve sworn she mumbled something about me being no fun as she walked away. I chuckled to myself.
“While you do that, I’m gonna go put on my jammies. Maybe even grab some bedding,” I shouted in her direction.
“Kk!” She shouted in response and I grinned, getting up and walked out of the apartment. I turned to make sure the door was fully shut before moving toward my door, holding back a scream as I nearly smacked into a figure.
There stood Garrett in front of my door, his fist up like he was going to knock. His cheeks reddened when he caught sight of me, shoving his hands in the pockets of his black leather jacket. “I uh,” he coughed awkwardly. “Uh, hi.” He offered a sheepish wave.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “How do you know where I live?”
Garrett dragged his fingers through his hair, ruffling it toward the end. “I might’ve looked it up… I kept thinking about you and I wanted to see you again.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s creepy as hell, FYI. Next time, text me.” I chuckled to try to take the edge off my words, the nervous feeling settling in my stomach. He offered his own chuckle in response, looking down at his feet that tapped nervously. I cleared my throat. “Well, you’ve seen me and I was kind of in the middle of something. So…”
Garrett nodded, his eyes darkening a bit. “Right, of course. I should have called first. This is my bad.” He held up his hands in surrender and laughed almost humorlessly, yet the darkness lifted from his eyes. He gave me a wink. “See you, Sophie. Let’s plan something soon.”
Confusing thoughts swarmed my head as I watched him turn away. “Sure, text me tomorrow and we’ll start planning.”
That was really weird, but it was also kind of sweet. He couldn’t wait to see me again, even though it’s only been a few hours. Although I didn’t get why he couldn’t have just texted me. Internet stalking is extra work. Scrunching my nose, I pushed my thoughts away and unlocked my own apartment, walking inside. Humming quietly to myself to fill in the silence, I made my way to my bedroom and grabbed my sweater and cat pajama pants. I slipped my sweater over my torso and wiggled into my pants. I looked in the mirror and smirked. Damn, my booty looking good!
I dug through my sock drawer and picked out my kitty sock slippers, sliding them on. Can never have cold feet with these beauties. Just for fun, I wiggled my toes and giggled at how their ears moved. I paused for a moment and frowned. I may have been 21 years old, but man, I was a child.
Exiting my apartment, I double checked to make sure the door was locked and I had my pillow and a blanket shoved under my arm. Once I was satisfied that the door was secured and I had my items, I pranced my way back into Leena’s apartment and found her chilling on the couch with the movie paused.
“Well that took you long enough!” She froze as she caught sight of what I was wearing. “Are you a crazy cat lady or something?”
I laughed and struck a catlike pose, my hand up and fingers curled into pretend claws. “Mreow!”
Her face twisted in playful disgust. “Wow, I might have made a mistake initiating this friendship.”
I rolled my eyes and grinned, plopping next to her. My things dropped to the floor below me and I picked up my margarita. “Did you put the non-alcoholic stuff in here?” Leena shook her head.
“Nah, we have to make room in the cups first. So you better chug.” She gave me a challenging smirk and glanced at our cups. “Race you? Last person to get down to half a glass has to fill them back up?”
I could feel the reciprocating gleam of a challenge in my eyes and lifted my cup in acceptance of the race. “Let’s go.”
Leena gave me a wink and lifted her cup up to mine. “One.”
“Two.”
“Three!” We screamed the last number at each other as we threw our cups back, chugging the frigid liquid as if our lives depended on it. I felt the brain freeze creeping up the back of my neck and I cringed. I kept chugging though. Leena was having the same problem as I, slapping her hand against the black fabric of her couch. She pulled back and looked at her cup, raising it up high.
“I WIN!” She was panting hard, cringing at the pain at the back of her head. “And thank goodness I did, this brain freeze is almost not worth it.”
I set my glass down and shook my head. “No, no it was not.” My hands cupped around the pained area and I rocked on the couch. Leena laughed at my misery and glanced at my cup.
“You put more down than I did though, I’m slightly impressed.” She slapped my back and I fell over and looked at my cup as well.
“Shit, how did that happen?” My hands dropped to the front of the couch and I pushed myself forward, getting a closer look between our glasses. According to my mental measurements, I downed an extra two ounces than she did. “Does this mean I win instead?” I looked back at her. She scoffed.
"Girl, no. The challenge was who could do it first. I stopped first, I’m keeping my victory,” she explained sassily, snapping her fingers in a zigzag. So much attitude, this woman.
I laughed. “Fine, fine. I got it.”
“I’ll come with you though if it makes you feel better.” She grinned and grabbed her glass, offering a free hand to help me up. I took it in appreciation and grabbed my own glass. I followed her into the kitchen and we placed the cups on the counter. A frown took over my smile as I looked around. “The fridge, silly.” Of course. Why didn’t I think of the most obvious place to look for the margarita mix? I must be buzzed already.
This was confirmed the moment I started to pour.
My eyes crossed and some of the slush poured out onto the counter. I mumbled an oops and Leena lost it, falling to the floor from the impact of her laughter.
“Someone can’t handle her alcohol!” She pointed and continued to laugh as I stumbled to grab a paper towel to clean up my mess.
“You're the one on the floor!” I threw the slushie soaked towel at her. She dodged sloppily, hitting her head into the cabinet.
“Ow, what the fuck!” She scrunched her nose, cupping the side of her head as the laughter took over my body.
“You can swear!”
“Girl, shut the fuck up!” Soon, we were both on the floor laughing. We were drunk. There was no denying it at this point. Slowly, I got on my knees and grabbed our drinks, sliding hers over and we sipped on them, talking about our lives. I found out she graduated from my university last year, majoring in accounting. She currently worked at the Northwest Estate Company in their accounting department. From how she was talking, I could tell Leena loved what she did and was really hoping to move up the ranks. Her dream was to become their chief financial officer and do great things for the company. She had so many ideas on how to benefit them.
I hope I can be as successful as her someday.
Hours passed. More drinks were consumed. More laughs were shared. More details about our lives are exposed. We were loose, happy, and completely free to be ourselves. We didn’t keep track of time, and we had no desire to. Only when the yawns started coming did we decide to look at the clock.
I was the first to stand up, my body creaking and cracking in protest. “Ugh, we’ve been sitting down here for a while now, huh?” Even though I hadn’t had a drink with alcohol for the last hour, I still needed to support myself against the counter. Leena, on the other hand, could barely stand up. She was probably on her tenth drink by now.
“Probably, but who,” hiccup, “cares.” Her words slurred as she rested her head against the cabinet. I giggled and looked at the time. Two in the morning. I shook my head and sighed.
“Let’s get you to bed, crazy woman.”
“Girl, noooo,” Leena whined and swatted at me with no success. I laughed and hooked my arms under her own, dragging her toward where I suspected the bedroom was. “But why…?” She pouted as another hiccup came from her mouth.
“Because it is late, and you are drunk out of your mind.”
I piled her onto her bed and she rolled over. “If I can still… talk… I’m not drunk,” hiccup, “enough!” She pointed an angry finger at me and I patted her head.
“Sleep, my child, I will see you in the morning.” Draping a blanket over her, she got quiet. I chuckled quietly to myself and shook my head. I have never seen someone so drunk before. She was going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning.
If I were painkillers, where would I be hiding? I looked around and checked her nightstand. Lucky guess. She must get drunk often enough to know better. But I shouldn’t judge. Maybe she has chronic pain and keeps this close by for that. Either option seemed likely.
I set out a couple pills on the lid and went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water for her. As I was filling up the cup, I looked at the pictures hung up on the fridge. There were some of younger kids, a few family photos, and one of Leena at prom with a group of friends. I smiled at how happy she looked there. She was still gorgeous as ever. I didn’t know how I got lucky enough to get such a wonderful person as a neighbor, and now a friend.
I returned to her bedroom and placed the cup beside the pills, taking one last look at the snoring, delicate woman cocooned in a bundle of blankets. Another small smile crossed my lips and I walked out, preparing the couch for my own sleep. Once I was satisfied with my makeshift bed, I grabbed a glass of water for myself and pressed play on the movie that’s been sitting frozen for the hours we were in the kitchen. Gulping down about half of it, I laid down and covered myself up with my fuzzy, twin sized throw.
A sigh of content released from my lips and I closed my eyes, letting the alcohol take over my consciousness, dreams of future plans with Garrett and Leena wrapping themselves around my soul, allowing me to fall asleep with a smile on my face.
