Nerves, Flurries, and On Demand

Yawning I reached over to silence the ringtone that had robbed me of my sweet dreams. I heard a loud “huff” then felt a furry tuft of hair rub up against my foot followed instantly by a long, wet lick. Cringing I yanked my foot back into bed and rolled over to see my hound’s large brown eyes pleading up at me to let him out to potty. Rubbing my tired eyes, I lumbered out of bed, throwing on my pants and slippers. I snapped the dog’s leash into place and pulled the door open to be greeted by a swoosh of icy, fresh air colliding with my half-dressed body. Shivering and clutching my bare chest I peered around the corner of my apartment building and noticed a blinding white array of glistening cars blanketed by a thick layer of snow. Donning more clothes for my bare chest I slipped once again outside and let my old hound gingerly do his business in the snow while I muttered to myself “don’t eat yellow snow.” I hurried quickly back into my apartment’s warmth and shook out of my cold, wet jacket and boots. My body switched to autopilot, completing my usual afternoon routine which allowed my thoughts to drift to her. Was she loving the snow? She loved snow, right? I mean she grew up with at least four months of snow. Wait, tonight’s shift may be cancelled! Then I could ask her out! I topped off the dog food in Sherman’s bowl and found my phone. I slid back into my sheets and listened to a voicemail waiting for me. Yes! Tonight’s shift is cancelled and now I know her night is free! I found her number saved in my phone and before I could overthink it, I punched in ““Night shift is cancelled! What are you going to do with all this free time?” Jumping out of bed in excitement and with a fresh breath of inspiration I did a little happy dance on my way down the hall to cook myself a hot breakfast.

-

Squeezing my eyes tight to hold onto the last remnants of my sleep I noticed a sharp coldness in the room and clutched my comforter closer to my face. Knowing I wasn’t going to get any warmer until I turned up the heat I groaned and slid my bare feet out from under the comforter and onto the cold hardwoods. I yelped at the sudden shock of cold and sat upright, noticing that the late afternoon light filtering around the edges of my blinds was an unusual grey today. Peering through a gap in the blinds I gasped in delight as a blinding white blanket of snow gleamed up to greet my tired eyes. Fat drops of snow splattered against the windows and settled over the already white ground fattening up the soft blanket. Thrilled at the prospect of my shift getting cancelled I threw open the blinds, cranked up the thermometer, and jumped back into bed to nestle in the warmth from where I previously laid. I gazed out my windows, mesmerized by the quiet symphony nature had prepared for me during the day, a masterpiece I knew this hot southern city got to witness on rare occasion. I reached over to yank my cellphone off the charger, hoping for a voicemail from work verifying the cancellation of my shift. Thumbing in my passcode I noticed instead that I had a text waiting from him! My heart skipped a beat and the sudden giddiness in my throat shook my hands and I almost dropped my cellphone. I opened the text to read “Night shift is cancelled! What are you going to do with all this free time?”

-

After my usual breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast and a piping hot cup of Folgers I settled down on the couch to check the news. Glancing out the window I noticed the blanket of snow lining my porch railing was even deeper than before breakfast; it was coming down heavy and everything in town would be shutting down early. Dang it! I glanced at my phone but there was no reply. She was probably still snoozing soundly, knowing work was cancelled. Maybe I could invite her over for a movie on demand? No, I told myself, it’s too soon; we have only been hanging out for a couple of weeks. On the other hand, we are both adults and she should know by now whether she likes me or not, right?! I mean, I knew I liked her before I asked her out! Starting to work up a sweat I shook my head and knew I was overthinking things again. I switched the channel on the TV and tried to focus my attention on what the reporters were saying instead of overthinking what she might be thinking. All the news channels kept saying the same things: schools closed early, school was cancelled for tomorrow, all the plants had cancelled their night shifts, and a bunch of businesses had already shut down for the afternoon, sending their employees home early. I couldn’t help feeling antsy about wanting a reply. Grabbing my phone, I felt it vibrate and “ding” loudly as if in reply to my impatience. “I know, I’m so excited!” she replied.  “I love this snow! Didn’t have any big plans tonight. Probably just going to snuggle in a blanket and catch up on some movies I’ve been wanting to see.” Sweet! She didn’t make other plans. Trying to play it coy I typed back “Ah, you don’t want to watch a movie alone! How about coming over and catching a movie on demand with me?”

-

I sat cross-legged on my over-sized couch, wrapped in a Sherpa throw, clutching my cup of French-pressed coffee, and clicked through Netflix’s offerings. I made sure and glanced out my windows every few minutes to make sure I wouldn’t miss the charade of glittering snow. I felt my phone vibrate in my lap and opened a text to read that he wanted me to come over for a movie on demand. A movie on demand? What did that mean? My background of little TV time and limited movie access kept me illiterate to modern movie lingo; I was lucky enough to know that Netflix was accessible by internet now instead of having to rely on snail mail. I figured he meant a movie at the theater and we would car pool at his place. “Sure!” I texted back, willing to hang out in a public space but a little apprehensive about meeting up at his place. “Carpooling will be good in case the roads are bad.” I couldn’t help but notice my heart was beating fast again and I had to admit to myself I was excited about hanging out with him. “What’s wrong with me!?” I thought as my inner independent self struggled with the idea that I could like someone who had an interest in me. I only liked guys who were unavailable; that was part of the plan. I would find someone I could never get with and then not have to commit to. Shaking these thoughts out of my head I decided a fun time was better than sitting on my couch sipping cold coffee wishing I could be sharing the snow with someone else. My cozy blanket, fluffy couch, and well-painted walls all the sudden seemed boring and I got up to find something warm to dress in.

-

“Carpooling will be good in case the roads are bad.” Huh? I read it again and tried to understand her text. She was coming over here for a movie; where were we carpooling too? I scratched my head, shot her my address, and decided I better start cleaning up my bachelor pad in case she was the picky, overly clean type. Didn’t want her first impression of my place to be bad. I kept glancing at the clock, the long shadows the overcast skies created on the ground bellow, and wondered if she was really going to come over. I finished vacuuming and decided it was time to evaluate my hygiene situation; to shower or not. Sniffing my pits, I decided a quick rinse was definitely in order. I grabbed my phone to play some shower music and saw I had missed a call from her. I listened to the voicemail and heard her sweet, childlike voice drift out of the speaker “Hey, so um the snow is pretty deep and I was worried about getting to the theaters and not being able to leave the parking lot after the movies. So I called the theaters to see if they are even open anymore and no one is answering. Shoot me a text or call me to let me know what you want to do. Ok, uh, talk to you soon. Bye!” Haha, she thought we were going to a movie! It all made sense now. Not wanting to waste the precious hot water running down the shower drain I shot her a text, “Hey, got your voicemail. How about you just come over and we can figure it out when you get here.” I pressed “send,” then jumped in the shower to get my smell good on.

-

I typed in his address and almost spit. He lived less than two miles away from me in another apartment complex! How many times had our paths crossed and we hadn’t even noticed each other!? Or had he noticed me before? My skin pricked at the coincidence and my head felt funny. This was all almost too weird. Was he a stalker! What if he was a sex offender!? But no, my predator sixth sense had never gone off and I felt like this guy was really cool. Just for safety I grabbed my 380 and slipped it into my jacket pocket, which was no easy task because it weighed a million pounds and had the bulk of a small Chihuahua. I made sure to text my little sis that I was headed to a man’s house in case I disappeared or anything and then I carefully made my way across the slippery, white parking lot. Forcing down a million thoughts that kept popping up in my head I drove slowly, not necessarily because the snow was bad (I was a pro at driving on ice and in snow), but because I had less than two miles to talk myself out of going to this guys apartment. My heart was pounding, my hands were gripped hard to the steering wheel, and the gun in my pocket felt uncomfortable in my bulky jacket. Pulling up to an apartment complex I realized I drove past every day, I decided to leave the gun in the glovebox; it was maybe a little too dramatic. I found his apartment number, found a parking spot as close to the building as I could (you know, in case I needed a quick getaway), and found his door. Knocking gingerly on the door I noticed my heart pounding so hard I thought even the muted snow could not hide the sound.

-

Drying myself off quickly I sprayed a little cologne on my neck, threw on comfy but good-looking clothes and just in time! I heard a quick, light tap on the door and knew she was here. Sherman was already excited and wiggling in delight by the door at the unexpected visitor. Suddenly I was nervous again. Was she going to like me? What would she think of my hound? What would she think of my place? Maybe I sprayed too much cologne and she would think I’m too smelly! Wait, did I even have popcorn for the movie? Who was I kidding, this awesome girl probably thinks I’m a sad, old loser!? I forced my mind to shut up and worried about keeping her in the cold I put on a brave smile and threw open the door. Before me stood a bundle of jackets and scarves and peering out of a massive scarf and slumped beanie was two of the widest brown eyes I had ever seen. I could tell she was just as nervous as I so I put my most welcoming smile on, ignored my beating heart, and stepped to the side to let her in.

-

Slipping past his timid smile and nervous stance, I stepped into the warm, modestly decorated apartment and was instantly greeted by a big, fluffy, white and copper spotted hound dog who jumped up in my face to lick and sniff me. “Oh my gosh! What’s your name, buddy! How cute!” Instantly I felt at ease and knew anyone who owned such a floppy, dopey-looking, adorable creature had to have a big heart and a sense of humor. His dog obviously loved me and that just made me feel even warmer in my oversized jacket and clompy boots. After we got his hound to settle down, I piped up, “So I am ninety-nine percent sure the theaters are closed. Don’t know what you want to do about that.”

“Oh, about that. I meant a movie here at my place, you know ‘On Demand.’” He replied. My face burned as he explained to me about live movie streaming and I felt like a fool. He wanted to hang at his place this whole time! My mind instantly went through a flurry of thoughts again. What does he want from me? What if he tries to kiss me!? Oh, my gosh! What if he tries to take my clothes off!? Sensing my obvious discomfort, he sat down next to me on the couch, at a good distance, and said, “I am not going to try and make you do anything you don’t want to do and I am not going to talk about anything that you are uncomfortable about.” Whew! He has respect for me. Ok, I can get behind that. I eased back into the couch and let him offer me coffee and popcorn while we clicked through the movies, trying to find one we could agree on. This was turning out to be one of the most interesting snow days ever.

-

“Whew, she is going to stay!” I thought as my own beating heart kept trying to push nervous questions into my already crowded brain. I just wanted to get to know her, just chat and talk. I already liked her so much and I hoped she would take a chance at getting to know me. Hopefully being upfront with her had put her mind at ease; she did seem comfortable now. Sweet, this was turning out to be the best snow day ever! Now to choose a movie.