A Lifetime
Author: Janet (SkyGirl5)
Genre: S/V, AU
Summary: Both Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn have recently terminated their respective long term relationships. Neither relationship ended in a good way and both of them are hesitant to get back into the dating world, but they might just be able to change each other's minds.
Disclaimer: Sydney, Vaughn, etc are properties of JJ Abrams and ABC.
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Chapters 1-10 // Chapters 11 - 20 + Epilogue
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Chapter 1
Sydney Bristow bit her bottom lip, analyzing her reflection in the mirror. She tilted her head to the left, then to the right, trying to see her appearance from every angle. Finally, she groaned and shook her head, unsatisfied with her appearance. She yanked the clips out of her head and threw them down onto the counter where they bounced off and clattered to the floor.
“Ugh, what is wrong with me?” she grumbled. She had been trying to get her hair to look perfect for twenty minutes without success, so she was giving up. She raked her hair flat with her finger tips and then tucked it behind her ears. “What do you think, Brutus?” she asked while turning around to look at the black lab on the floor. He looked up at her and beat his tail against the ground.
“Okay, I’m officially crazy. I’m asking a dog for hair advice...,” she sighed as she walked out of the bathroom and back towards her bedroom. “It’s just... this is like a date, right? I haven’t been on a date for three years! Well, a first date. I’m crazy, aren’t I? Of course I am because I’m having a conversation with myself!” she groaned. Brutus walked over to her and nudged his forehead against her hand.
“Yeah, yeah,” she sighed as she scratched one his ears for a moment. “Okay, I have to go... kitchen Brutus, kitchen!” she commanded. Brutus slowly walked towards the kitchen and once he was inside, she pulled a gate across the entry way, penning him in. “I shouldn’t be too late... I doubt I’ll last the whole time. Be good,” she told him before grabbing her purse and keys and heading out the door.
It was Friday night and instead of hanging out with one of the two friends she had, she was going out to ‘speed date’. How her sister Nadia (one of her two closest friends) talked her into doing this, she’d never be sure, but she was going. One of the main reasons she had decided to go was more of a way to force herself into ‘moving on’ and to prove to everyone else in her life that she could move on. After all, it had been over nine months. Moving on was necessary and a good thing. Besides, it’s not like she was going to marry a man that night, she just needed to put herself out there, open up her mind to the idea of dating someone new.
Still, as much as she wanted to be ‘open to the idea’ she wasn’t sure that this was the way to do it. After all, ‘speed dating’, how weird was that? She wasn’t even sure how it worked and was very afraid that the men there would be less than desirable, which was exactly why she had her fool proof ‘bail at the first opportunity’ plan.
When she arrived at the coffee shop where the speed dating was to occur, she hung in the back, away from everyone else, sticking close to the wall like she usually did in unfamiliar situations, cursing her sister the whole time. If this was Nadia’s idea then Nadia should have come along instead of abandoning her to hang out with her boyfriend. So what if she already had a boyfriend? Supporting your sister was much more important, especially when it was her idea in the first place.
From her spot in the corner, Sydney casually observed the people who filtered in through the door. Most of the men were at least somewhat normal looking, except for a few that were definitely questionable.
“Okay ladies and gentlemen, listen up! If you’re here for tonight’s speed dating please follow me to the back!” a man called above the dull murmuring of the crowd. A group of twenty people followed him to the back and stood along the edges of a room full of tables to wait for further instructions. “Now ladies, have a seat at the tables and you will not be moving tonight. It’s the men that will be moving around. Once a man and lady are partnered, I’ll set the timer for three minutes and the lady will talk about herself, then once it goes off, I’ll reset it and it will be the man’s turn. Once it dings the second time, we switch partners. Got it? Simple enough, right? Okay ladies, take your seats!”
Three minutes? Sydney thought. How could you possibly say anything about yourself in three minutes? That was ridiculous. As she sat down at one of the tables, she was having serious second thoughts about coming that evening, as well of thinking up ways of retaliation against Nadia. But, when the first man sat down in front of her, her trepidation lessened slightly. He was well dressed and had a nice smile. Maybe this could be alright after all. “Hi, I’m Bob,” he extended his hand to her.
“Sydney,” she smiled as she shook his hand. Then, the timer began so she started to talk, though she wasn’t sure what exactly to say. “Well... I’m 28... I was engaged but it didn’t work out. I’m the manager of a bank... I love dogs... sorry,” she laughed. “I’m not sure what else to say, this is harder than I thought.”
“First time here?” Bob asked. She nodded, slightly embarrassed. “Ah don’t worry, I’ve done this... I think this is my twelfth time.”
“Wow,” she laughed wondering what exactly was wrong with this man that he had done it twelve times with no success.
“Yeah well... I don’t know what it is...,” he sighed as he brought his left arm, which had been resting in his lap, up to the table. When he did, Sydney’s eyes widened in horror and she realized exactly why this man had never had a date. He was missing his entire left hand.
Sydney gulped nervously. It wasn’t that she was so superficial that she would never date someone like that; it was more of just total shock. “So, um,” she gulped. “What do you do?”
“Well I’m retired actually. Living off a lawsuit settlement.”
“Really,” she croaked. “Interesting...” She was about to make up a lame excuse to run to the ladies room and thus flee the building, but the timer went off and her time with Captain Hook was over.
After two more less than normal men, Sydney was ready to bail, but someone sat down in the seat across from her before she could. “Hi, I’m Eric.”
“Sydney,” she smiled back.
“So, what do you do Sydney?” he asked.
“I’m a bank manager.”
“Wow, that sounds boring,” he laughed.
“Um... yeah it can be, I guess,” she shrugged, not really having any interest in anything but making a bee-line to her car.
“I work in advertising. It’s fun and always different. You know that billboard for the Air Walks shoes?”
“The one with the naked people?!”
“Yep,” Eric grinned. “That’s mine.”
Sydney laughed. “Wow, that must have been a fun photo-shoot for you.”
“Actually, they didn’t let me go, it really sucked.” He sighed.
Sydney laughed. “It must have.”
“Yeah... well, it was nice talking to you,” Eric said as he got up from his chair and moved to the next table. Sydney groaned as she stood as well; she was definitely done with this night.
“Hi, I... oh, were you leaving?” a man asked as he took Eric’s place at the table. With one look at him, Sydney sat right back down in her seat.
“No, no I was just... fixing my chair,” she said quickly.
“Oh,” he laughed softly. His laugh made her heart flutter like it hadn’t in years. She rested her elbow on the table and her chin in the palm of her hand as she looked at his perfectly green eyes and sandy hair. “I’m Michael.”
“Sydney,” she sighed dreamily. Then she realized that she was behaving like an idiot and quickly composed herself, clearing her throat and tucking her hair behind her ears.
“So Sydney... what brings you here?” he asked.
“Excuse me?” she laughed.
“I mean... why do you need speed dating.... I mean I would think that you’d have to hold one of these to choose between the millions of guys vying for your attention,” he smiled.
Sydney blushed deeply and giggled girlishly. “Well... actually my sister made me come.”
“Oh you’re supporting your sister, that’s nice,” he told her.
“No, no, she’s not here. She has a boyfriend. She made me come for me,” she told him. He nodded. “To be honest.... I sort of just got out of a long term relationship...well, not just got out of, but... she wanted me to prove I could move on so...,” she shrugged, not wanting to reveal her whole life’s story to this stranger, even if he did intrigue her.
“I know exactly what you mean,” Michael said. “Same with me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah... I mean, it’s been almost a year but... well, you understand.”
“Yeah,” she sighed knowingly. “So what do you do?”
“I’m a CPA... I do people’s taxes,” he told her.
“Sounds... exciting,” she said sarcastically.
He laughed. “Thrilling. How about you?”
“Bank manager.”
“Ohh speaking of thrilling...,” he grinned. She laughed.
“So why are you here?” she asked him.
“My friend Eric dragged me because he refused to come alone.” Michael smiled.
“Eric as in, that guy, Eric?” Sydney asked, pointing over her shoulder.
“Yep. Please don’t tell me you’ve fallen deeply in love with him. I’d be crushed,” he said with sincerity.
“No definitely not. No offense to him, of course. I’m sure he’s a great friend.”
“Liar.”
“No, I’m serious!” She laughed. “I-” But she was cut off by the dinging of a bell signaling partners to switch. “Oh...,” she said sadly.
He smiled at her. “You wanna get out of here?”
“Yes, please,” she sighed.
“Come on then,” he grinned.
Chapter 2
While making their escape, Sydney and Michael laughed until they were back out in the main coffee house. “So... I’d suggest going for coffee but we’re already here,” Michael laughed.
“Right,” she laughed.
“So what can I get you? It’s on me.” He smiled.
“Oh no, you-”
“I insist,” he told her.
“Well... I guess it’s late so... decaf is fine. Thanks.” She smiled.
Michael walked over to the counter, ordered and then paid for their two drinks. Sydney took a seat at a secluded table for two along one wall while she waited for him. “You know, it’s funny,” Michael laughed as he brought their drinks over.
“Thanks,” Sydney smiled at him.
“Sure, but it’s funny... I haven’t bought a drink for a woman since Alice, my ex-fiancée....”
“Ohh and you said her name without breaking that cup you’re holding. I’m impressed.” Sydney grinned.
He laughed softly. “Yeah... I guess. I suppose I was more crushed than angry...,” he sighed. She looked intrigued. “You wanna hear my sob story?”
“Only if you’ll hear mine.” She smiled.
“Deal.” He smiled. Then, he took a deep breath, wondering where to begin. “Alice and I met senior year of college, and we dated for like a week, broke up, and went our separate ways. Then, when I was twenty five we met again... hit it off... moved in together... you know the deal... so, about a year ago, I proposed; she accepted.”
He paused and took a deep breath. “As a CPA you have to attend so many hours of continuing education a year to keep up your certification... so... about a month or so after we were engaged, I had to fly out to Chicago for a class. Just an overnight thing... no big deal. It’s funny... I called her that night and she was telling me how she was just going to watch a movie and look at some bridal magazines,” he laughed bitterly.
“Next morning, I took an earlier flight... I came and I found her and Alex in the middle of trying to break the world record for number of times having sex in a twenty four hour period....”
“Oh god.” Sydney sighed.
“Here’s the kicker. Alex... he was my best friend since high school,” Michael told her.
“NO!” Sydney gasped.
“Gets worse – as it turns out, Alex and Alice were fooling around before I proposed and she accepted anyway.”
“Oh my god Michael, I’m so sorry,” Sydney sighed as she reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “Sorry that probably doesn’t mean much...”
“Actually, it kinda does,” he laughed softly, squeezing her hand back. “So, needless to say, we broke up and... I curse her very existence.”
“For good reason,” Sydney told him.
“Yeah...,” he sighed
“So my turn, hmm?” she laughed nervously. “Well, Danny and I met three years ago... it was a blind date set up by one of his friends. Neither of us wanted to be there... but we went and something just clicked, you know? We started hanging out... hanging out turned into dating and... well, you know the deal.” She laughed softly. He nodded. “Anyway about-”
“DUDE, there you are!” Eric exclaimed when he finally found his friend. “I thought you like died or something.”
“Eric... kinda in the middle of a conversation here,” Michael grumbled at his friend.
Eric looked cautiously at Sydney. “Fine,” he sighed. Then he leaned his face closer to Michael’s and whispered. “Just don’t go anywhere with her- she might kill you!”
“Would you get out of here?!” Michael shoved his friend away. Eric threw up his hands and sulked off. “I’m so sorry,” Michael apologized to Sydney, though it appeared that wasn’t necessary since she was laughing.
“It’s fine and I promise I won’t kill you.”
“Good to know,” he laughed.
“Anyway, so about a year ago Danny proposed; I accepted and my parents freaked. You see, Danny is the foreman of a construction company which, to them, is a low class job, as stupid as it sounds. They like Danny as a person, they just don’t think he’s marriage material, since I make more money than him.”
“Oh that’s awful.” Michael sighed.
“I know... but it’s his father’s company... so, well, whatever, I just ignored my parents because Danny’s such a great guy....,” she paused and took a deep breath for a moment. “About nine months ago Danny was working... they were building a new high rise building... he was at the site, wearing one of those stupid yellow hats... have you ever seen one of them up close? They’re ridiculous. A thin, tiny piece of plastic that’s supposed to protect you from something falling... absurd,” she shook her head as she looked down towards her hands that were resting in her lap. Michael swallowed hard, sensing the fact that her story wasn’t heading in a good direction.
“He was walking in the building when a beam they were lifting up using a crane slipped somehow... I’m not sure, but it plummeted down....”
“Oh god,” Michael sighed.
“It didn’t kill him instantly, probably because it didn’t hit him directly – it bounced off part of the building first... He was in surgery for hours... His skull was shattered and some vertebra in his neck were crushed. Amazingly though, as far as the doctors could tell, he hadn’t been paralyzed. He just had severe brain damage. Once they were finished, he had survived the surgery but was in a coma. The doctors told us that there was no way he would ever regain consciousness because his brain functioning was so low,” she said sadly as she looked back up at Michael, glad she hadn’t cried at all.
“Ohh that is just horrible, Sydney I am so sorry,” he told her.
“Gets worse,” she smiled softly. “He’s still alive. His parents refuse to take him off life support even though the doctors swear up and down he will never wake up and it’s only a matter of time before his heart stops. They hate me now – his parents, because I chose to move on. They think I’m abandoning him... but what am I supposed to do? Just sit there for months and months and months on end and wait for his heart to finally stop and then move on!?
“I mean, this is a horrible situation with no fairness at all, but is that fair to me? Just to wait there when I know he can never come back?” she almost shouted, then shrank slightly, realizing the volume level of her voice.
“No, Sydney, you shouldn’t have to wait – and I’m not just saying that because I kinda want to ask you out on a date,” he smiled. She cracked a small smile as well. “You shouldn’t have to cause yourself more heartbreak just to appease them. And you’re not abandoning him.”
“They think I am.”
“What do you think?” he asked her.
“I think... I think he’s already gone... like his soul isn’t in that body, it’s just a shell. I’m sorry, I sort of dragged down the aura here.” She laughed softly.
“It’s ok,” he smiled.
“Yeah I – OH NO BRUTUS!” she screeched as she stood.
“What?! Who?” Michael asked.
“My dog... well, he’s Danny’s dog but his parents are allergic so I took him in and he’s in my kitchen and he’s probably peed everywhere!” she said woefully.
“Oh god, I’m so sorry. This is my fault, I shouldn’t-”
“No!” Sydney said quickly, not wanting him to feel guilty for her inability to keep track of time. “No it’s not. I should have been looking at my watch but I was having too much fun talking to you,” she smiled. He smiled back. “I should go though.”
“Right... do you think we could... do this again sometime?” Michael asked.
“Yeah,” she smiled broader. “I’d like that, a lot. Here let me give you my number...,” she said as she reached for a napkin and a pen from her purse. She scribbled down her name and number and then handed him the napkin.
“Thanks,” he smiled. “Want me to walk you to your car? I’m not a killer either, I promise,” he winked.
She laughed softly. “Thanks, but I parked right out front so it would be a really short walk.”
“That’s ok, I happen to be going right out front as well,” he told her. She laughed softly as she followed him out of the coffee shop, noting that he held the door open for her, which she loved. “Well, goodnight Sydney.”
“Goodnight Michael,” she smiled at him before watching him walk away and disappear into the parking lot.
Chapter 3
The next morning, Sydney had every intention of sleeping in until forever. It was after eleven by the time she arrived home since on the way she was stuck behind a traffic accident. Once she got home, she spent another hour scrubbing her kitchen floor. She couldn’t blame Brutus though, it wasn’t his fault she failed to keep track of time and thus, was over two hours late. So, after walking him at seven a.m., she crawled back into bed and fell back to sleep until ten, when her phone rang. “Hullo?” she grumbled.
“SO?! How was it?” her sister asked in an excited manor.
“Go away Nadia,” Sydney grumbled.
“What’s the matter? You sound asleep.”
“Because I was asleep.” Sydney groaned.
“Oops sorry... but hey, since when do you sleep in past ten?” Nadia asked, knowing her sister was a habitual early riser.
“I was up late scrubbing pee off my kitchen floor.”
“Ohh, that damn dog – I told you to get rid of him.”
“Nadia, I can’t. He was Danny’s. What would I do with him?”
“Take him to the pound,” she suggested harshly.
“Can’t.”
“Well, whatever, how was the speed dating?” Nadia asked.
“Completely horrible and I was about ready to kill you for suggesting me even going – did you know there was a guy there with only one hand! He had a stub, Nadia, a stub.”
Nadia burst out laughing. “Sorry sis, but that is hilarious.”
“Yeah, yeah, so I was just about to leave when he sat down...”
“He? Oooo,” Nadia said, sounding intrigued. “Does ‘he’ have a name?”
“Michael,” Sydney sighed.
“Whoa sis, slow down there.... wait oh my god, is he in bed with you?”
“Nadia that’s sick.”
“Well... you sound all dreamy.”
“I do not sound dreamy,” she defended.
“Do to.”
“Do not! For god’s sakes, we talked about Danny last night,” Sydney told her.
“Oh no,” Nadia gasped in horror. “You talked about Danny?! WHY would you do that?”
“Because I have to explain who I am and why I’m this screwed up! Besides, he recently got out of a relationship too – his fiancée was cheating on him.”
“So he has baggage. Maybe there’s a deeper issue there... hmm, is he ugly?”
“Definitely not.”
“Maybe he’s bad in bed... maybe his thingie is really small!” Nadia suggested.
Sydney groaned and slammed her face down in a pillow. “Um, who was it again that was trying to get me to date?”
“Oh it’s still me, but I want you to date the right guy, not Mr. ‘It’s so tiny I can’t even see it’.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“NO! DON’T!” Nadia said quickly. “I’m serious Syd.”
“Sadly, I know you are. But did you ever consider that maybe Michael did nothing wrong and this Alice chick was a horny whore or she was just a bitch.”
“It’s possible...”
“See, so don’t judge him before you know him,” Sydney told her.
“Fine, fine, fine... but Syd, seriously, don’t get too attached to this guy.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Nadia sighed. “You may not be ready.”
Sydney sighed and looked down as she squeezed the phone a little tighter. “I know that. He was just.... nice to talk to.”
“Well talking is fine, just don’t-”
“Be like you, got it,” Sydney smirked.
“HEY! I take offense to that.”
“I know you do, sweetie. Love you, bye.” Sydney sighed. Then, she tossed her phone aside and tried to get back to sleep. She had only been laying down a few minutes when her phone rang again. “Hello?” she grumbled.
“Oh god, sorry, did I wake you?” a man on the other end sounded embarrassed.
“Who is this?”
“Sorry, this is Michael, from last night.”
Sydney sat bolt upright in bed. “Michael... ohh I, no you didn’t wake me. How are you?”
“Good,” he said. “I was just wondering... if maybe you wanted to grab some lunch. I know it’s short notice, so if you have other plans, that’s cool.”
“No, I don’t. I’d love to have lunch,” Sydney said with a grin.
“Okay, great, twelve thirty?”
“Sure, where?”
“Joe’s Bistro, do you know it?”
“I love that place,” she told him.
He laughed. “Me too. I’ll see you there, ok?”
“Okay,” she sighed, then she hung up and bounded from bed and into the shower, suddenly feeling much more awake.
At 12:30, Sydney practically skipped into Joe’s Bistro, anxiously wanting to see Michael again. She saw him wave to her with a smile from a booth in a corner and her heart fluttered slightly. She quickly tried to compose herself and stop the impending giggles as she walked over to him. “Hey.”
“Hey, glad you could come.” He smiled and stood as she walked over. “Wanna get something to eat?”
“Yep, but lunch is on me,” she told him with a smile. He hesitated. “Michael, please, I insist. It’s my thank you for last night. It was the best time I’ve had in a while.”
“Well... okay then,” he said rather reluctantly. “Thanks.”
“Of course, after all you did save me from being forced to turn down an impending dinner invite from a man with one hand.”
“Excuse me?!” Michael laughed.
“Didn’t you see him?” she asked. Michael shook his head. “Yeah... it was...,” she shivered.
He laughed. “I can imagine.”
They ordered their lunches and instinctively, Michael pulled out his wallet, but Sydney beat him to it, throwing a twenty on the counter before he had a chance. She flashed him a grin and he put his wallet away while laughing slightly. “Not used to letting women pay?”
“No,” he laughed. “I’m old fashioned, I guess... or it comes from being raised by my mom since she beat good values and manners into me.”
“Your mom?” Sydney asked cautiously as they grabbed their sandwiches and walked back to the booth Michael was sitting at.
“Yeah, my dad died of lung cancer when I was eight. If I’ve learned only one thing in my life, it’s that when the Surgeon General says that smoking kills he’s not kidding,” Michael joked.
Sydney gave him a sympathetic look. “That must have been hard.”
“It was. My dad was a great guy; everybody’s friend. I can’t remember as much as I’d like to and I sort of feel guilty about it sometimes... I mean, twenty years is a long time but it’s not that long, right?”
“Yeah,” Sydney sighed. “Do you have only siblings?”
“Nope, it was just me and my mom for a long time... of course a few years ago she got remarried which is... totally weird,” he shook his head, almost disturbed.
“Why? She’s happy right?” Sydney asked.
“Well yeah... it’s just... nah, I can’t tell you.” He shook his head. “It’s too creepy; you’ll run away.”
“I promise I won’t.” She smiled.
He laughed softly. “Well... she married my uncle, my dad’s brother.”
Sydney’s eyes widened in shock and she couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s different.”
“You mean it’s creepy and wrong.”
“No... well maybe a little,” she added at the skeptical look on his face.
“Yeah... I assume nothing was going on while my father was alive... it’s just once he died, my uncle was always around, since he promised my dad he’d take care of us and I guess.... I dunno,” he shrugged. “Please, no ‘taking care of’ jokes – I hear enough of them from Eric.”
“I would never,” Sydney smiled.
“Yeah, so we’re a very psychotic family but oh well, normal is boring, right?”
“Right,” she grinned.
“You said you had a sister, right?” he asked.
Sydney nodded. “Nadia, she’s a year younger... she’s... well, a mess is a bit strong of a word, but she’s got troubles I suppose. She’s always been a partier... she barely graduated college, doesn’t keep a job. Not because she gets fired, mind you, but because she quits. She always says she gets bored easily or something...”
“I know what you mean. Eric’s the same way. He drives me nuts.”
“Yep.” Sydney nodded. “She drives me nuts but I love her,” Sydney told him. Michael nodded.
They continued to chat while they ate and even an hour after that. Finally, Michael told Sydney that he had to leave because he promised he’d meet Eric. “I had a great time though,” he told her as he walked with her back to her car.
“Me too,” she said.
“You busy tomorrow?” he asked. She laughed. “Sorry... am I being annoying?”
“No, not at all actually,” she told him. “I’m having lunch with my parents and sister, but I’ll be free by two.”
“Wanna catch a movie?”
“Sure. Want to just meet at the theater?” she asked. He nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you at two then.”
He leaned in and kissed her cheek softly. “See you then, Syd.”
Chapter 4
“Hey buddy, what’s up?” Eric greeted his friend.
“Just had another date with Sydney.” Michael smiled.
“Another?” Eric asked curiously.
“Yeah well, I figure Friday night was like a date so...”
“Ah ok,” Eric nodded. “So you like her then?”
“Yeah, I do. She’s really great to talk to... I don’t know if anything’s going to come of it... I dunno,” Michael shrugged and looked down as he scraped his feet against the floor.
Eric, sensing his friend’s peculiar attitude, took a step forward. “Hey Mike, you wanna talk?” he asked seriously.
“It’s just...,” Michael sighed. “Alice really fucked me up, you know? I just... I’m so freakin’ paranoid.”
“I know,” Eric sighed. “Not every girl’s a bitch like Alice, man. This Sydney chick could be totally different. For starters, she’s not blonde... and from the few minutes I spent talking to her I could tell that she clearly is smarter than a stapler, which is more than we could say for Alice,” Eric said.
Michael laughed softly. “Yeah, you’re right. Sydney is definitely different.”
“And different is good, so it’s all good. When are you seeing her next?” Eric asked.
“Tomorrow afternoon we’re going to see a movie,” Michael told him.
“Have you kissed her yet?” Eric asked.
“On the cheek.”
“Kiss her during the movie.”
“Um.... because we’re 12 and we need a dark theater to make out in...?” Michael asked in confusion.
“No, because you need to get over that little fear you’ve got and that is the way to do it,” Eric told him.
“How do you figure?” Michael asked.
“Have you kissed a girl since Alice?”
“...No...,” Michael admitted quietly.
“Thus my point. Jesus Mike, it’s been almost a year. How can you not kiss someone in a year?!” Eric practically shouted. Michael just shrugged. “Kiss her, please, or society will shun you.”
“What?!” Michael half laughed, half gasped.
“Just kiss the woman.”
“Fine,” he groaned.
~*~
On Sunday at noon, Sydney went to her parent’s house with every intention of getting out of there as quickly as possible so there was no way she would be late to her date.
“Hey, hi, hi,” she said quickly as she ran into the house.
“What’s with you, freak?” Nadia asked.
“Nadia!”
“What?” Nadia asked. “She acting all weird... Ooooooo, is it that guy?!”
“What guy?” Jack asked suspiciously.
“Nobody,” Sydney said evasively.
“Sydney, did you meet someone?” Irina smiled at her.
“Yeah... sorta...”
“Sorta?! She’s been on like two dates with him,” Nadia told them. “But I think there’s something wrong with him.”
“Nadia!”
“What? I do.”
“Why?” Irina asked.
“Dunno,” Nadia shrugged.
“Whatever.” Sydney rolled her eyes. “There is nothing wrong with Michael.”
“And what does this Michael do?” Jack asked.
Sydney sighed heavily, knowing they were only asking because of Danny’s profession. “He’s a CPA.”
Jack’s face actually looked brighter. “Well, that’s a good job.”
“I know,” Sydney said.
“When are you seeing him again?” Irina asked.
“I’m meeting him for a movie at two,” Sydney told her.
“Ohh well then, let’s eat so you won’t be late.” Her mother smiled. Sydney couldn’t help but sigh. Her parents seemed to like Michael, but considering the fact that they only liked him because of his job, that was incredibly unfair to Danny.
~*~
“Hey,” Michael smiled when he saw Sydney walking towards him up the sidewalk in front of the theater. “How was lunch?”
“Eh,” she shrugged. “Not too painful.”
He laughed. “That’s always good. So, what movie do you want to see? There are three options.”
“Which are?”
“Romantic comedy, action comic bookish one and horror death slaying movie,” he told her.
“Please not the last one,” she grimaced.
“Not a fan of massacres?” he smiled.
“Not summuch,” she laughed.
“Alright then, which of the other two?” he asked.
“The comic bookish one. I’ll spare you the suffering of a romantic comedy.” She smiled.
“Gee, thanks.” He laughed. “Actually, they’re not that bad. They’re a nice hour and a half nap.”
Sydney laughed and smacked him lightly. “That’s horrible.”
“But true,” he grinned. “So you want some popcorn or something? Or are you still full from lunch?” Michael offered after he purchased their movie tickets.
“Nah I’m good, thanks,” she told him.
“Okay,” he smiled before taking her hand and walking with her back towards the theaters. “Where do you wanna sit?”
“Towards the back if you don’t mind,” she told him. He nodded in agreement and they slipped into an empty row in the back of the theater. “Ew, I hate it when the floor is sticky,” she grimaced.
“Yeah, that’s gross.” He cringed. They sat down in their seats and Michael slipped his hand in Sydney’s as they watched the commercials before the movie. She smiled at him.
A few minutes into the previews, a couple came in and sat behind them. Before the move even started, Sydney could hear loud kissing noises from them and was immediately disturbed. She and Michael exchanged glances, both knowing they were thinking the same thing, and almost burst out laughing. “That’s disgusting,” Sydney whispered in his ear. Michael nodded slowly, immediately banishing any ideas of following through on what Eric told him. Not only was making out in a theater cliché and high school, but the couple behind them proved it wasn’t exactly a comfortable experience for those surrounding you. Besides, he wanted their first kiss to be special.
About fifteen minutes into the movie it was clear that it wasn’t exactly going to be an Oscar winning piece. The acting was lame and the sets weren’t exactly realistic, but it was at least tolerable entertainment. Unfortunately, for the couple behind them, the movie wasn’t all that interesting and their kissing only continued. “Oh my god, was that a zipper?” Sydney whispered.
Michael gulped, praying that it wasn’t but knowing that it sounded like one. “Dunno.”
Sydney braced herself for the worst and glanced behind her briefly. “Oh god Michael, I think they’re having sex!”
“Okay, we’re moving seats,” Michael told her as he grabbed her hand, stood and slid six seats away from the disgusting couple behind them. “Ok I think we’re safe,” he said. As they sat, Sydney started giggling uncontrollably. “What?”
“It’s just so gross!” She laughed. Michael rolled his eyes. A few moments later Sydney had contained her laughter and they watched the rest of the movie in silence. As they were making their way out of the theater, they were stuck behind the making-out couple who had their hands crammed in each other’s back jean pockets. Sydney fakely stuck her finger down her throat and pretended to gag while Michael laughed. “I was sooo tempted to tell them to get a room next time,” she told Michael once they were outside the theater.
He laughed. “I would have died and run away from embarrassment,” he told her.
“Why?”
He shrugged. “That’s just wrong.”
She shrugged. “Well I had fun... but I should go because I need to clean,” she frowned. “Want to have dinner sometime this week?”
“Wish I could, but I can’t. I’m leaving very early on Tuesday for one of those continuing education things and I won’t be back ‘til late Friday. But next weekend,” he told her.
“Sure,” she smiled. “Just give me a call.”
“I will,” he nodded. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.” Sydney smiled and stepped off the sidewalk towards the parking lot. The whole time Michael was following her, he kept thinking about kissing her. He was going to do it.
“Well, uh, this is me,” Sydney said when she stopped at the driver’s side of her car. “I had fun.”
“Me too.” Michael smiled as he leaned his face closer to hers. She shut her eyes and leaned in as well, but at the last minute he chickened out and kissed her cheek instead. “See you...,” he said rather awkwardly.
“Oh... yeah... see you...”
Chapter 5
When Michael kissed her cheek, Sydney was stunned. She thought he was going to kiss her lips, no, she was sure of it. But he didn’t... so what happened? She had no idea, but she obsessed over it the entire drive home. When she got to her apartment, she saw her door hanging open and almost panicked, until she saw the keys still in the door with a pink fuzzy keychain, meaning it was her sister Nadia. “Nadia how many times have I told you not to leave your keys in my door!” Sydney groaned as she walked inside.
“Sorry sis, I was just returning those pants I borrowed. Don’t worry, I washed them,” Nadia told her.
Sydney sighed and nodded as she scratched Brutus’s ear. “He didn’t kiss me,” she grunted.
“What?” Nadia laughed.
“He didn’t kiss me!” she exclaimed.
“Ohh Michael.” Nadia sighed. Sydney nodded. “Well I-“ she was interrupted by Brutus’s loud barking. “Damn dog, shut up!”
“Nadia, he just wants to go out.” Sydney sighed as she grabbed his leash. “Come for a walk with us and we can talk.”
“Fine,” Nadia sighed. “Seriously though, there has to be some deeper issue here.”
“Deeper issue?” Sydney asked.
“Yeah, as to why he won't kiss you. Hmmm, this combined with the cheating ex... oohh, maybe he’s gay!” Nadia exclaimed.
“Mmm, probably not, considering he was at a speed dating thing to pick up women and he asked me out,” Sydney told her.
“Denial,” Nadia shrugged. “Ohh OR! He recently got a sex change and he was a woman and he’s still getting used to his man parts!”
Sydney stared over at her sister. “What the hell Nadia?! Have you been smoking pot again?”
“NO! I was kidding anyway. Seriously though, there has to be something wrong.”
“Maybe he’s cautious...,” Sydney suggested.
“Um, it’s just a kiss. It’s not like he was cautious about throwing you in the back seat of your car and doing you.”
“Thank you for that graphic description...,” Sydney said dully.
“Sure,” Nadia grinned. Sydney rolled her eyes. “Okay, give him one more try and then, if he doesn’t kiss you, dump him.”
“What?! Why?” Sydney asked. Nadia gave her a look. “Yeah, yeah... but he could still be my friend.”
“Sure, but then you can’t want to kiss him.... which clearly you do,” Nadia told her.
“Oh god... I want to kiss him,” Sydney gasped and stopped walking.
“And...”
“I want to kiss him! Shouldn’t that be bad... or something?” Sydney asked.
“Uh no... Syd, it’s not cheating,” Nadia sighed. Sydney looked away. “Syd, it’s been over nine months. Danny’s not coming back and you cannot live the rest of your life alone.”
“I know that,” she said quietly.
“Good,” Nadia sighed. “If Michael isn’t the one, then that’s fine but... you need to know it’s ok.”
“I do,” she sighed. “It’s just... actualizing it is hard.”
“I know,” Nadia gave her a sympathetic smile.
~*~
Michael cursed himself for the entire drive home. Why was he such an idiot? Why hadn’t he just kissed her? He grunted and grumbled his way up the stairs to his apartment and when he went inside, he found Eric raiding his fridge. “Don’t you have a home?”
“Yeah, but yours is cleaner and I wanted to see how your date went,” Eric told him.
“The movie sucked and this couple behind us were committing some serious PDA’s,” Michael told him.
“Did you kiss her?” Eric asked.
“No...”
Eric groaned loudly. “Get some balls man.”
“I do have balls! I just....”
“Lost them?” Eric suggested.
Michael grumbled again. “I was so close... so close! But I chickened out and kissed her cheek. I just... I’m hopeless.” He sighed.
“That’s true, you are,” Eric told him. “But it’s seriously just a kiss.”
“No, it’s not. If it’s a bad kiss then I have to start over finding someone, but if it’s a good kiss then it means so much and if it’s a really good kiss... I dunno what I’ll do.” Michael sighed.
Eric shook his head in disapproval. “You sound like a chick. It is just a kiss!”
“No, it’s not,” Michael insisted. Eric stood silent for a moment before walking over to his friend, grabbing his face and planting a kiss squarely on the lips. Michael jumped three feet back. “WHAT THE HELL!!!” he shouted while spitting and furiously rubbing his sleeve over his lips.
“See, it’s just a kiss,” Eric told him.
“DUDE, you just kissed me, AHHHHH!!” Michael screamed as he continued to back away from Eric.
“To prove a point,” Eric told him.
“GET OUT!”
“What?!”
“Get out and never come near me again!” Michael told him.
“What’s the matter? You feel something?” Eric smirked.
“GET THE HELL OUT ERIC!” Michael insisted.
“Jeez, ok fine... somebody isn’t secure with their sexuality,” Eric muttered as he left Michael’s apartment. Once he was gone, Michael went to the bathroom and rinsed his mouth out with Listerine five times while contemplating whether or not it would be safe to use Clorox to rinse instead. Upon deciding that would be a bad idea, he brushed his teeth twice and then scrubbed his lips with a washcloth until they were bright red.
Once he was satisfied that all Eric-germs had been removed, Michael went to the couch to sulk. What was the real reason why he hadn’t kissed her? If he was being honest with himself, he would have realized it was because he was scared; scared of feeling something; scared of getting involved with someone who could hurt him.
Chapter 6
While Michael was away, he called Sydney and invited her to go with him the following Saturday to a 4th of July special event in the park, which was basically a carnival with fireworks at the end. Sydney agreed to go, but she was even more nervous about this date than the previous others combined. Her nerves stemmed from the fact that she knew if Michael didn’t kiss her, it meant that he didn’t want to be with her in the boyfriend/girlfriend sense and only in the friend sense, which would make her sad, but there was nothing she could do to change it.
Michael arrived at her apartment shortly after noon on Saturday, just as they had planned. “Hey, come on in. I’m just trying to pen Brutus up, then we can go,” Sydney told him as she tried to drag the large dog into the kitchen, but Brutus had no desire to obey. He broke free and ran over to Michael, barking, before he jumped up and put two paws on Michael’s chest. “Oh god, I’m so sorry!” Sydney cringed. “He’s harmless, I swear.”
“It’s ok,” Michael laughed as he pet the dog’s head. “How ya doin’ Brutus?”
“He’s being a behavior school drop-out. Brutus down!” Sydney commanded. Brutus obeyed and Sydney grabbed onto his collar, dragging him towards the kitchen.
“Syd, why don’t you bring him with us? I mean, we’re going to a park,” Michael told her.
“Well...,” she sighed, looking down at Brutus. Brutus stood and wagged his tail, almost asking to go. “He couldn’t stay very long...”
“It’s ok, we’ll bring him back. It’s only a ten minute drive. That way he can get some exercise and maybe he’ll just fall asleep when we bring him back,” Michael told her.
“Yeah, okay, thanks,” she smiled. “Come on Brutus!” Brutus began barking and jumping up and down while Sydney tried to leash him. “We can take my car if you don’t want him inside of yours,” Sydney offered.
“Nah, it’s ok. I have an SUV; we’ll just put him in the back,” Michael told her.
“Thanks so much,” Sydney said again.
“No problem. I love dogs... I just don’t have enough time to take care of one,” Michael told her.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Sydney rolled her eyes. “I was never a big fan of dogs... but then Brutus here... and I couldn’t just leave him after Danny...”
“Yeah, I understand,” Michael smiled. They walked down to his car and Michael opened up the back so that Brutus could get in. Once he was secure, they drove away while Brutus was barking the entire time.
“Sorry, he does this,” Sydney blushed with embarrassment.
“The whole time?” Michael asked.
“The whole time.” She nodded. “He just gets excited, I guess.”
“He’s amazingly loud.” Michael laughed. “But it’s ok. It’s kinda cute.”
“Cute as in intensely annoying, yeah,” Sydney laughed.
Once they arrived at the park, Sydney had to practically tackle Brutus, since the moment he jumped out of Michael’s SUV, he began to run. “Oh my god, he needs like, drugs to calm him down. He’s gonna kill me,” she groaned as she put her full bodyweight against the leash but Brutus still managed to drag her a few inches forward.
Michael laughed. “I take it you two don’t go out much.”
“Not summuch,” Sydney groaned.
“Here, I’ll take him,” Michael said as he reached out for the leash. He took it and wrapped it once around his fist, making sure it was tight. “Okay we’re good,” he laughed as Brutus continued to pull on the leash. Sydney rolled her eyes and slipped her hand into Michael’s free hand as they walked.
Though most of their time was spent trying to keep Brutus under control, they managed to look at a few of the carnival’s highlights including a stand with different glass sculptures (which they kept Brutus far away from). After about an hour of walking around, Michael froze stiff in shock while Sydney kept walking until her hand was yanked backwards. “Whoa... why’d you stop?” Sydney asked.
Michael gulped. “That’s Alice,” he whispered.
Sydney’s face fell. “Oh no, where?” Michael gestured straight ahead where about a hundred feet in front of them a small, blonde woman was gigging beside a taller, darker complected man. “Don’t tell me that’s...”
“Alex,” Michael grunted. Then, he turned away, gripping Brutus’s leash tighter. “I’m sorry... I...”
“No, it’s completely fine,” Sydney assured him, knowing that if she had been in a similar situation and run into her ex, she most likely wouldn’t have been able to resist herself from kicking him someplace where it hurt. “They’re coming this way... do you want to hide?”
“Not exactly.” Michael sighed, looking around the crowded walkway and seeing no place to hide in sight.
“We could mess with her,” Sydney suggested half-seriously.
Intrigued, Michael raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
“Well... um...,” Sydney sighed, trying to think on her feet. “Um, we could make her jealous! Um... like what was one thing she didn’t like about your relationship?”
“She hated that we never showed affection in public. At the beginning of our relationship she thought it was because I didn’t like her, where as really I just don’t feel like going at it in front of other people,” Michael told Sydney.
Sydney smiled. “That’ll work. But you’re going to have to trust me,” she said cautiously as she glanced over her shoulder and saw Alice and Alex quickly approaching.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because,” she sighed before smashing her face into his, grabbing the sides of his face with her hands and pretending to kiss him. In reality, her lips were resting right underneath his nose, but because her hands were blocking the view, it looked real and she was going for it, all the way. She let out a fake pleasurable sigh and backed up just at the right moment, ‘accidentally’ stepping on someone. She let out a loud giggle and turned around. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you!” she fake-gasped at Alice.
“It’s okay I – Michael?!” Alice gasped.
Michael, who wasn’t acting quite as well as Sydney and still recovering from the feeling of her lips so close to his, gulped. “Hi Alice... Alex.”
“It’s... been a while...,” Alice said awkwardly as she looked from Michael to Sydney, who had her face pressed against Michael’s shoulder and was running her hands across his chest.
“Yeah... it has...,” he said. Sydney pinched his back lightly and he almost jumped. “Oh, this is Sydney, Sydney this is Alice and Alex...”
“Oh my gosh!” Sydney gasped fakely. “You’re Alice? The Alice? Michael has told me so much about you!” She giggled.
Alice looked almost nauseated for a second, but she regained her composure quickly. “Oh?” she asked with surprise. “He has?”
“Yeah, he told me about how much of a bitch you were. OOPS!” she gasped with a giggle and covered her mouth. “I’m sorry, 'bitch' was my word. Michael would never say that. But you know, I should really thank you, I mean, now Michael’s mine!” She grinned. Alice nearly choked. “Well, I’d love to stay and chat but we’ve got to get the dog home. Toodles.” She giggled as she pulled Michael away, still clinging onto him. As they were walking away, she peaked back and saw Alice looking at them, so she took that opportunity to cram her hand into one of Michael’s back jean pockets.
“Hey!” he gasped quietly.
“She’s watching,” Sydney whispered. Then, in another few feet they had turned a corner and were no longer visible by Michael’s ex. “Okay,” Sydney sighed as she removed her hands from Michael’s body. “I think my IQ dropped about fifty points, but I think we got her.”
Michael laughed. “You’re insane.”
“What? Was that too much?” Sydney asked cautiously.
“No, that was perfect!” he exclaimed. “Did you see the look on her face?! It was priceless.”
“Well, I’m glad I could help.” Sydney laughed. “Although, I thought the bitch thing might have been over the top... especially since my original choice of words was going to be cheating whore.”
“Probably would have been harsh,” Michael said.
“Thought so.” She laughed. “By the way, I agree with you on the whole PDA thing.”
“You mean like those people in the movie theater?” Michael asked with a laugh.
Sydney shivered. “Oh that was just WRONG! But no, I mean, who needs to see people like, licking each other in public? Handholding is fine, hugs are good and maybe a simple kiss but don’t maul each other for everyone to see!”
Michael laughed softly and put his arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad you agree.”
“So... is it just me or did we walk through the whole carnival?” Sydney laughed.
“Um, yeah, we did,” Michael laughed. “And considering it’s 3 o' clock, the fireworks don’t start for another six hours.”
Sydney grimaced. “I don’t feel like staying here until then.”
“Definitely not. Wanna go take Brutus back, watch a movie, grab some dinner and then come back?” he asked.
“Sounds good to me,” she smiled.
Chapter 7
The whole time Sydney was watching the movie with Michael, all she could think about was how she had behaved earlier that day. Replaying it in her mind, she became progressively more embarrassed. Normally, she would have done nothing like that, so why had she? She knew partly it was because she wanted to help Michael feel better about the Alice situation but, was there another reason? Almost kissing him like she had... perhaps it was a subtle hint to him that she wanted to kiss him for real. But still, she had trouble controlling herself from actually kissing him, especially since they were so close.
She decided that she had to take things in her own hands. Perhaps give him some signals. She slid down slightly on the couch and softly rested her head against his shoulder. He responded by putting an arm around her and pulling her closer. Good. Definitely good. Throughout the movie, they kept getting closer and closer until Sydney’s head was resting against the side of his face. Sensing an opportunity, she lifted her head up so that her lips were even with his. All one of them had to do was more towards the other about three inches and their lips would meet. But, instead of moving towards her, Michael cleared his throat, stood from the couch and excused himself to the bathroom. Sydney fell limp down onto the couch, grabbed a pillow and contemplated screaming into it. He definitely did not want to kiss her.
In Sydney’s bathroom, Michael rested his palms flat against the counter, cursing himself and his stupid fear. She had tried to kiss him and he walked away. Stupid. What would she think of him now? “That I’m gay,” he muttered under his breath as he washed his hands. Shaking his head at the fact that he was a moron, he tried to give himself a pep talk before returning to the other room. It was just a kiss. Just a kiss. Just a kiss. Yes, he could do it. He had to do it.
When he returned to the couch, Sydney was sitting off to one side, her feet tucked underneath her, hugging a pillow in her lap. Great, he thought, I upset her. I’m a jackass.
Once the movie was over, Sydney stood up immediately. “So um, what do you want to do for dinner? You wanna order something?” she asked.
“Um, yeah sure. Whatever you’re in the mood for is fine with me,” he told her.
“Pizza?” she offered. He shrugged and nodded. “What do you want on it?”
“I usually just get plain cheese,” he told her.
She smiled at him. “Me too.” Then, she reached for the phone. “Do you want to pick it up or have it delivered?”
“Well... it's Saturday night... delivery will probably take like two hours,” he told her.
“True, picking it up it is then.” Sydney sighed.
~*~
After eating their pizza, Sydney and Michael took Brutus out for a walk. They were on their way back to Sydney’s apartment with Brutus practically dragging them, trying to chase after a squirrel when his leash snapped and he took off. “SHIT!” Sydney screamed as she ran after him. “Brutus!” Michael was close at her heels but Brutus was too fast for them both. Apparently, he thought it to be a game and spent the next twenty five minutes dodging them as they tried to catch him. Finally, Michael tackled him and grabbed tightly to his leash.
“Oh my god, Brutus!” Sydney groaned as she tied the broken leash tightly to his collar. “You’re horrible! I should take you to the pound!” Brutus looked up at her and whined. “I’m serious,” she told him.
“Aww, but he loves you,” Michael laughed.
“Yeah right,” Sydney scoffed. “Stupid dog, come on.... I’m sorry about that,” she told Michael.
“Nah, it’s ok. I needed a run,” he told her.
She laughed. “Ohh, I feel awful. You want to go home and shower or something before we go to the fireworks?” she asked, looking at his grass stained and sweat covered shirt.
“Probably should, right?” he laughed. “Alright... I’ll be back in like half an hour.”
“Sure... sorry again!” she called after him.
“It’s okay,” he assured her.
~*~
An hour later they were headed back to the park, armed with blankets, ready to camp out for the fireworks. “Oh! I forgot bug spray damnit...,” Sydney groaned.
“I’ve got some,” he told her.
“Really?” she asked.
He nodded. “A few years ago I went to one of these things with my mom and uncle slash step father...”
“Is that what you call him?” Sydney laughed.
“No, I call him Greg,” Michael told her.
“Oh,” she laughed. “Continue.”
“Anyway, we were like eaten alive. I swear my leg was just one giant red welted mosquito bite,” he told her.
She cringed. “Ouch.”
“Yeah, I was convinced I was dying of Malaria,” he said; she laughed. “Anyway, since then I’ve been prepared for outdoor functions.”
“Right, wouldn’t want to catch Malaria... it’s so common too.” She winked.
“I know!” he exclaimed as if he was serious. She just laughed.
Once back at the park, they had trouble finding a spot for their blanket since it was very crowded. Finally, they found one and sat down next to each other as the sky grew darker, waiting for the fireworks to begin. “It’s so strange...,” Sydney began. “How we all get so excited over fireworks... but we see them every year.”
“Yeah, I know,” he laughed.
Just then, one firework went off and Sydney screamed when it exploded. “Sorry, I forgot how loud they were,” she told Michael.
“It’s ok,” he laughed as he put an arm around her. Once the show began, they didn’t speak since their voices could never have been heard over the loud banging of the fireworks, but Sydney rested her head on Michael’s shoulder, watching the colorful lights above, flinching from the noise and feeling sad that he hadn’t kissed her, didn’t want to kiss her and their potential relationship was over before it began.
Finally, when there was a break in the blasts, Sydney, thinking it was over, began to stand, but Michael pulled her back down with an arm around her waist. Then, completely out of the blue, he leaned over and kissed her. Completely stunned, Sydney just stared at him. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Sorry it took me so long.”
Immediately, a massive grin spread across her face. “I thought you didn’t kiss people in public.”
“Eh,” he shrugged. “It’s dark.”
She laughed softly and leaned in close to him. Just as they were about to kiss again, a firework went off and Sydney let out a piercing scream, and then covered her mouth with embarrassment. Michael laughed loudly. “Sorry it scared me,” she told him. He just laughed, kissed her cheek and put an arm around her as they watched the rest of the fireworks display.
~*~
“So um... why did it take you so long?” Sydney asked cautiously as Michael was walking her back to her apartment.
“I um,” he began with his head lowered. “I guess I was scared.... I haven’t kissed anyone since Alice and I...,” he let his voice drift off.
Sydney squeezed his hand. “Neither have I... since Danny, I mean.”
He looked up at her and smiled softly. “Can we... take things slow?”
She nodded. “I want to; I need to.”
“Okay,” he sighed. Then, he kissed her softly. “Goodnight Syd.”
“’night.”
Chapter 8
Early the next morning, Sydney was awakened by someone bursting in her bedroom and turning on the light. “What the freakin’ hell?!” she asked frantically as she saw her sister.
“I need clothes!” Nadia said frantically.
Sydney looked at the clock and groaned. “You need clothes at seven thirty on a Sunday?! When in the hell was the last time you were up this early on a Sunday?!?!?!”
“Well, Walt is making me go to brunch with his parents,” Nadia told her while leafing through the closet. “Can I have this?”
“Whatever,” Sydney groaned, not even looking at the item in question. “Just don’t spill on it.”
“I’m not four... oh how was your date? Did he kiss you?” Nadia asked.
“Yes,” Sydney smiled up at the ceiling.
“OO!” Nadia squealed as she flopped down on the bed and grinned towards her sister. “And?”
Sydney shrugged. “It wasn’t like a kiss, more like a peck.”
“Cop out,” Nadia grumbled.
“No, it’s ok. We’re taking it slow,” Sydney told her. “It wasn’t bad or anything... I just...,” Sydney sighed. Then, she explained to her sister what had happened with Alice at the carnival the previous day.
“Sydney, you’re an idiot!” Nadia exclaimed.
Sydney sat up. “Why?”
“HELLO?! You could have made out with him!” Nadia shouted.
“But it would have been forced and wrong. I don’t want to kiss him just to kiss him. I want the kiss to mean something,” Sydney told her.
Nadia shook her head in disapproval. “It’s a kiss. I didn’t say strip him and go at it.”
Sydney rolled her eyes. “Thanks for that clarification Nad.”
“Whatever, I gotta go. I still maintain there is something wrong with this man, though,” she told her sister.
“Thanks for being the queen of sunshine as usual,” Sydney said fakely.
“No problem sis,” Nadia grinned back.
~*~
Sunday afternoon, upon hearing a knock at his door, Michael opened it to find Eric looking rather sheepish. “You still pissed at me?” Eric asked.
“Oh Eric, I was never pissed at you, I just never wanted to see you again,” Michael told him while slamming the door in his face. Eric caught the door and walked inside.
“You’re making too much out of this,” Eric insisted. “My god, it was just a kiss! There wasn’t even tongue!”
“Thanks, I just threw up in my mouth.” Michael glared.
“Okay, okay, that is gross,” Eric shivered. “But did you kiss her?”
“Yeah,” Michael grumbled.
Eric beamed. “See what did I tell ya? Huh? Huh?!”
“If you’re fishing for a ‘thank you’ you’d better go to another stream,” Michael told him. Eric’s face fell. “YOU KISSED ME!”
“Are you ever going to let that go?” Eric asked. Michael growled. “Okay, clearly not. What can I do to make it up to you?”
“Kill Alice?” Michael suggested.
“Gladly... but what brings her up?”
“Syd and I ran into her at the park.”
“Uh-oh....,” Eric said. “What happened?”
“Actually, it was funny,” Michael laughed. Eric was stunned. He had never seen his friend smile, let alone laugh at the mention of Alice’s name. “Syd decided it would be good to make Alice jealous, so she was all kissy and stuff and then she called Alice a bitch. Alice’s face was priceless.”
“So that’s when you kissed Syd?” Eric asked with a laugh.
“No, no... that kiss was fake. She was pretending to kiss me but really she was kissing right here,” he pointed to right below his nose.
“Cop out,” Eric muttered.
“Eric that would have been weird and messed up if she kissed me for the first time in front of Alice,” Michael said.
“Hmm... yeah I guess.” Eric sighed. “But at least you finally did it and you’re no longer a wuss.”
“Thanks,” Michael rolled his eyes.
“And it was no big deal... right?” Eric asked. Michael gave a non committal mumble. “Oh Michael... Michael... Michael...”
“It’s just.... I didn’t really kiss her.”
“Why the hell not?” Eric asked.
“We’re going slow.”
“Slow is for losers. You’re getting too old to do things ‘slow’,” Eric told him. Michael ignored him. “Take me for example...”
“Oh lord, here we go.” Michael sighed.
“If I took things slow with a woman, you know where I’d be?”
“Alone and a virgin because no woman would last over two dates with you?” Michael suggested seriously.
Eric’s face went stern. “No, I’d be a loser.”
“Um that’s essentially what I said, Eric.”
“Right, so I go out, and...”
“Find girls that put out, excellent way to live your life,” Michael said sarcastically as he patted his friend’s shoulder.
“I resent that. Besides, it’s not like I haven’t tried to be in a longer relationship.” Eric sighed as he looked down to his feet. “I mean... I wanna get married some day.”
“Really?” Michael asked in total shock.
Eric looked up and smirked. “Hell no.”
Michael rolled his eyes. “You’re hopeless.”
“Probably... but anyway we’ll take what we can get in this pathetic relationship – a little kiss is better than none,” Eric told him.
“Great,” Michael sighed.
“See Mike, what would you ever do without me, your moral support system?” Eric smiled as he rested a hand on his friends’ shoulder.
Michael looked down at the hand before looking back up at Eric. “I wonder that every single day Eric, every day.”
Chapter 9
On Wednesday, Michael invited Sydney over to his apartment for dinner. She arrived slightly early and when she knocked on his apartment door, she heard arguing inside. A moment later, the door burst open and she saw Eric. “Hi...,” she said awkwardly.
“Oh Sydney... hi, come on in. Nice to see you again,” Eric told her.
“Nice to see you too.”
“I was just leaving... Mike’s pissy today so watch out,” Eric whispered to her. “By Mikey, love you, muah!” Eric called with a kissing noise before exiting the apartment. Sydney had to admit she was slightly stunned and concerned by his behaviors, curious as to what type of argument she had walked in on. Slowly, she made her way into the kitchen.
“Hi...,” she said slowly.
“Oh hi Syd.... sorry about Eric, he’s a jackass.”
“Oh,” Sydney laughed. “It’s alright. I hope everything’s alright.”
“Oh... yeah... he’s just being... Eric. I’d explain more but ... honestly, I don’t want to relive it,” he shivered.
Sydney laughed. “Gotcha. What’s this?” she gestured towards a box on the counter.”
“Oh, Eric brought that,” Michael groaned and rolled his eyes. “It’s his idea of a good game to play. I apologize in advance.”
Sydney walked over to the box and opened it curiously. “Did he make this up himself?” she laughed as she leafed through the hand written index cards.
“No, a friend did in college. Theoretically it’s supposed to be the ultimate get to know you game. I, however, am skeptical,” he told her.
“Hmmm ‘have you ever kissed a person of the same sex and was it good?’” she read one of the cards while laughing. “Is this a joke?”
“I wish it was.” He sighed.
“Well, in case you were wondering, I have not kissed a girl,” she told him. “Unless you count my sister and it definitely wasn’t in that way.”
He laughed. “Good to know.”
“So what about you?” she smirked, expecting him to freak out and deny furiously, but instead he turned pink and walked away. She nearly died laughing. “Oh my god, you kissed a guy?! Please, please, please tell me it was some sort of sick dare.”
“I did not kiss a guy,” he snapped. “Eric kissed me trying to prove one of his psychotic points.”
Sydney snorted and grabbed onto the counter for support. “What did you do?” she laughed.
“You mean aside from try to kill him and make it look like an accident? I almost brushed my teeth with bleach.” He shivered.
“That stuff is poisonous you know,” Sydney told him.
“That was the only thing stopping me, trust me,” Michael grumbled.
Sydney walked over to him and kissed him softly. “Better?”
He smiled and kissed her again. “Better.”
“Good,” she laughed. “Now what other fun things can we dig up,” she grinned, walking back to the box. “Oh my god... these are horrible. Do any of them not have to do with sex?”
“Probably not.”
“Ummmm ‘Have you ever had sex with something not human?’” Sydney grimaced at the card in front of her.
“WHAT?!” Michael screeched as he walked over to Sydney. She handed him the card. “Unbelievable...,” Michael muttered as he tore up the card and threw it away.
“Yeah.... oh here’s an interesting one... ‘If you were in a relationship with someone and they wanted to have a list of three celebrities they could sleep with no consequence to their relationship, would you let them?’” she read.
“Hmm interesting... but I never understood those... I mean, first the odds of you running into the person in the first place are like insanely small, then you’d have to get them to sleep with you.... completely unlikely,” he told her.
“I think that’s the point of the list.” Sydney laughed.
“Well... doesn’t matter. Cheating is cheating and sleeping with someone else is cheating,” he said adamantly.
Sydney nodded. “I agree. Besides, why would you want so sleep with someone you didn’t know anyway?”
“Also a good point.” Michael laughed.
“Hmm oh! I love this question and shockingly it’s not about sex. ‘If your house was on fire and your wife/husband was inside along with a child and you knew you could only save one of them which would you choose?’” Sydney asked.
“Ohh man, that’s so hard. I’d probably try to save them both,” he told her.
“Ah, but then you’d all die.”
“Well aren’t you a bright ray of sunshine,” he said sarcastically.
“Sorry,” She laughed. “I’m just trying to force you to choose.”
“Well, who would you chose?” he asked.
“Right now I’d say my husband, but that might change when I have kids,” she told him honestly.
He nodded slowly. “I think I’d agree with that but.... damn that’s a hard question. Stupid questions that make you think,” he grumbled.
“You don’t like to think?” she smiled.
“Not when I don’t have to, no,” he told her. She laughed.
For the rest of dinner, they continued to discuss Eric’s ‘game’ and the more normal questions in it. “Okay, okay last question, but this isn’t on the cards,” Michael told her. “If you had to choose which would you pick: a lifetime being only satisfied or one year of ultimate happiness?” he asked her.
She thought for a moment. “Is this in reference to romantic life... or life in general?”
He shrugged. “Either or.”
“A year of happiness,” she said.
“Why?”
“Because if you were never truly happy in your life, how sad would that be? And once that year was over you could always look back and know how great it was.”
He nodded. “I agree.”
“Good,” she smiled.
After dinner was cleaned up, the two of them moved to Michael’s couch as he flipped through some TV programs. “Ohh I don’t want to go to work tomorrow,” Sydney sighed with her head on Michael’s shoulder.
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I’d rather sleep. Plus, I have to have a meeting with a really, really annoying bank client.”
“Oh that sucks... I know what you mean though. This one lady... GOOD LORD I swear... she’s like 89 and I cannot wait till she dies. That’s bad, right?” he asked.
She laughed. “Yes, very.”
“Damn... but it’s true. If she comes in my office with her freakin ugly hat one more time whining at me and calling me a ‘whippersnapper’... I swear...,” he muttered.
“That’s such a great image.” Sydney laughed.
“It’s true!”
“Oh I believe you, it’s just hilarious.”
“Yeah... yeah...,” he mumbled. She lifted her head and kissed the side of his mouth softly. Then, he turned his head away from the TV and kissed her again. Sydney went to deepen their kiss, but Michael pulled back.
“Sorry,” Sydney said quickly as she turned slightly pink and looked away.
“No, it’s me.... not you,” he admitted shyly.
“It’s ok Michael, don’t worry about it,” she told him. He grumbled and leaned forward on the couch, resting his forearms on his knees and rubbing his face with his hands. “Michael,” Sydney said quietly as she rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I’m really, really sorry she hurt you, but... well, I’d never, ever do anything like that. That might not mean anything but-”
“It does,” he cut her off. Amazingly enough, what she said actually did make him feel better and more at ease since she sounded so sincere. He leaned over and kissed her fully. Sydney had immediate butterflies in her stomach and pulled back with a giggle and a massive dimpled grin.
“I guess I should go.”
He nodded. “Want to do something Saturday?”
“Yep, call me.” She smiled as she stood.
He stood as well and kissed her once more. “I will.”
Chapter 10
For the next few weeks, things progress similarly for Sydney and Michael. They ate dinner together a few times a week and spent their weekends together talking, laughing and getting to know each other, growing closer by the day.
During the second week in August, Michael came home early from work and had the TV on while preparing his dinner. At 5 p.m., the local news broke in with their top story of the evening. “Good Evening, a hold up at a local bank has left one person dead and several injured this evening. At one p.m., two armed men entered the Savings First Bank on-”
At the mention of the bank, Michael dropped the spoon he had been holding and bolted to the TV. Sydney managed the Savings First Bank.
“... the men presented a note to the teller, asking to see the bank manager and demanding an unknown sum of cash. When the men didn’t receive what they wanted in a timely fashion, they opened fire, injuring a teller and a customer of the bank. The suspects were then fired upon by the bank security, injuring one and killing the other....”
“Oh god,” Michael sighed. His heart was pounding and he was nauseated just thinking about the fact that Sydney could have been harmed. He reached for his phone and immediately dialed Sydney’s cell phone number. It rang three times before she answered in a ragged voice, making it quite obvious that she was crying.
“Hey...,”
“Syd, I am so sorry, I just heard! Are you alright?” he asked.
“I.... um... still talking to the police, can I call you back in a few?” she asked with a ragged sigh.
“Sure Syd, bye,” he told her before hanging up. Then, he quickly rushed to the stove that was pre-heating and turned it off. He was fully prepared to rush out the door and do whatever she wanted or needed him to do to make her feel better.
For almost fifteen minutes he paced his apartment until his cell phone rang again. “Hi,” her voice was short.
“Syd, are you ok?” he asked very seriously.
“I... am,” she said rather unconvincingly. “Just a little shaken up.”
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked.
“N-no... I don’t think so,” she sniffed. “Unless,” she added timidly. “You... you want to come over...,” she spoke with the last word sounding very shaky.
“Sure, absolutely. Do you want me to bring you something to eat?” he asked.
“Not hungry.”
“Well, I’ll bring something anyway. I’ll be over in fifteen minutes max, okay?”
“Okay... thank you.” She sniffed.
“Absolutely,” he told her. Immediately after hanging up, Michael gathered all his things and raced out the door. On the way to her apartment, he stopped and picked up some sandwiches for them, then he raced to her place as quickly as he could get there. When he arrived at her door, he was panting from running up three flights of stairs as he knocked on the door with his elbow since his arms were full.
Sydney opened the door a moment later wearing pj pants and a tank top. “Hi,” she sniffed.
“Syd,” he sighed. He walked in and set the bags of food he had down on her kitchen table before pulling her into a hug. She buried her face in his chest and held onto him tightly. They stood there while he stroked her hair and kissed her head softly for over five minutes before she finally let go.
“Sorry I’m such a mess,” Sydney sniffed as she wiped her cheeks dry with the back of her hand.
“You have every right to be a mess,” he told her as he tucked some straggly hairs out of her face. “Do you want to eat something? Just a little bit?”
“I guess...”
“Turkey or beef?” he smiled.
She shrugged. “Whatever you don’t want.” He reached into the bag and pulled out the first sandwich he felt and handed it to her. She sat at the table and brought her knees up to her chest as she unwrapped the sandwich. “Oh... can I have the turkey?” she asked timidly.
“Sure,” he laughed as he switched her sandwiches. They ate in silence, Sydney more staring at her sandwich than eating it. Finally, she gave up, wrapped the sandwich back up and put it in the refrigerator. “You wanna talk about it?” Michael asked quietly as he watched her walk to the couch. She simply shrugged.
He put the rest of the food in the refrigerator before joining her. He sat down beside her and put an arm around her back, rubbing it softly. They sat in silence for almost ten minutes before Sydney spoke. “I was... I was just so scared... I mean, they had guns.... their guns were pointed at me,” she croaked. “I just... I thought they were going to kill me.”
“Oh Syd,” he sighed as he hugged her tightly and rocked her gently back and forth. “I’m so glad you’re ok.” He sighed. She nodded slowly and nestled her head in the crook of his neck.
“I just keep replaying it,” she croaked. “What if he.... what if I... what if...”
“Shh baby, it’s ok. You’re ok,” he told her as he rocked her and kissed her head. She just curled up tighter and cried. He held her and rocked her for almost twenty minutes until her trembling stopped and her sobbing subsided. She stayed there though, she didn’t move an inch.
At seven, Michael thought she was asleep, so he picked her up and carried her into her bedroom. He pulled her covers back and placed her gently in bed. When he tried to tuck her in, she stirred. “Please, stay a bit,” she whispered.
“Of course,” he told her before he walked around to the other side of the bed. As he was walking around, Sydney pulled back the covers to her bed and Michael slipped inside, pulling her close and stroking her hair as she fell back to sleep.
~*~
The next morning, Michael awoke to find Sydney completely curled up with his left arm which was, unfortunately, asleep and tingling painfully. Slowly and very carefully, he slid it out of her grasp and began to shake it out, trying to regain feeling. This movement caused her to stir and snuggle up to her pillow again. “Whattimesit?” she mumbled.
“Little after seven,” he whispered.
“Don’t have to work today,” she told him.
“Me neither,” he whispered.
“Mmm?”
“I called in sick last night. Is that ok?” he asked quietly.
“You gonna stay with me?”
“Yes, if you want.”
“Then s’ok,” she mumbled as she took his arm again to cuddle with.
Later that morning they finally awoke and made their way to the kitchen for coffee. “Thanks for staying last night... I really appreciated it,” Sydney told him as she tucked her hair behind her ears.
He smiled. “No problem. It was my pleasure.”
“Oh yeah? Get your kicks, did you?” she smirked. He choked on a mouthful of coffee. “Kidding,” she giggled.
“Thanks,” he croaked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.
“No problem... so you’re playing hooky today, hmm?”
“Yeah, I guess. I’ve never done that before.” He laughed.
“Me neither... ‘course I’m not playing hooky so much as my work is a crime scene...”
“Right... so what do you want to do today?”
“I get to pick?” she grinned. He nodded. Her grin turned wicked.
“I don’t like the looks of that...,” he said cautiously.
She giggled. “We could do makeovers!”
“Do I look like your sister?” he asked seriously.
She laughed. “No, she’s less bearded.” He rolled his eyes. “Come onnnn,” she whined.
“What do you want to do to me? It’s not like you can braid my hair.”
“I want to get rid of this,” she pointed straight at him.
“My... face?”
“NO!” She laughed. “Your unibrow.”
“Ok, I soooooooo do not have a unibrow,” he defended.
“No you don’t have a full on one you just have these little hairs that-”
“Okay you soo cannot wax my eyebrows,” he said, backing away.
“I’m not gonan wax ‘em, I’m gonna pluck ‘em.” She grinned as she walked towards him.
“Nooo back, back! Get away from me!” he threatened as he grabbed a pillow and held it out as if to defend himself. She pushed the pillow aside and lunged at him, tackling him onto the couch. “Now what are you going to do to me?” he asked in a deep, sultry tone.
She giggled. “Well, after I pull these hairs out I’m going to give you a manicure and thennnnn a shave definitely,” she said as she ran her fingers across the stubble on his jaw.
“Excuse me... when did all this happen?” he laughed.
“When you let me decide what to do today,” she grinned.
“I take it back.”
“Noooooooo you can’t take it back!!!!”
“I can and I did,” he told her.
“Fine.” She sighed. “Have a unibrow... see if I care.”
“Fine,” he grumbled. “You can rid me of my unibrow but you cannot touch my nails.”
“YAY!” she grinned as she kissed him then raced to the bathroom for her tweezers.
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Chapters 11 - 20 + Epilogue