After taking a few extra shots of us on the couch for the show’s sake, Alex headed off to his hotel room a few blocks over so that he could get ready for the wedding. Sadie was curled up at the end of the couch, watching the TV with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her feet were pressed to mine and I looked away from The Mummy to watch her as she breathed softly, her chest rising and falling. Rain pattered gently outside, and the wind whistled over the windows of the apartment, though the cold couldn’t reach us inside. The warm smell of coffee was in the air and a sense of peace had fallen over me in the atmosphere of the late morning. I stretched out my legs after a little while, resting my feet on the coffee table. Sadie sat up, tucking her feet underneath her and then yawning. Her eyes were falling shut and when I slid over the tiniest bit, Sadie let her head fall onto my shoulder like she had wanted to all along. I held my breath as she did, waiting for her to realize, but she never did. After a moment, I felt her soft breath tickle my neck as she began to snore quietly. A strange contentment settled over me, and I never wanted to leave the hushed tranquility that rested between the two of us. It was so domestic and wholly right to be sitting there with her and I didn’t want to move from my warm spot on the couch. I had never felt such comfort or ease with any other woman. I let my body slump on the couch cushions and thought about skipping the wedding altogether. Just as my eyes were drifting closed, Sadie jolted up, wiping at her eyes. I moved away from her quickly, but she left her hand on my leg, squeezing my knee as she stood.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she told me, yawning. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were bleary. “Let me get a shower and I’ll get ready quickly.”
I just nodded, watching her grab clothes from her shopping bags and head into the bathroom. The credits of the movie played over the screen and I sighed, lamenting the loss of peace at her departure from my side. We barely knew each other and yet it seemed like I had been close to her for years now, not days. It was something I had never experienced before with anyone else, and it scared me even as it thrilled me. I didn’t let myself think about it anymore. It didn’t matter and it wasn’t real in the first place. In a few months, Sadie would be gone from my life and we would probably never speak again. I didn’t want to think about it.
I stood up from the couch, putting on another movie to play in the background while I got ready for the wedding that I didn’t even want to go to. I remembered the last time I saw Laurel. Her mother and my father had always been fast friends as cousins because they were so similar, though Laurel and I had been enemies since we were before I could remember. She thought I was spoiled, and I thought she was entitled. It wasn’t much of a feud, but it definitely made for some interesting family get-togethers. I shook my head, throwing on some slacks and a nice white sweater over my collared shirt with the emerald green tie Sadie had bought for me. I pulled on my loafers and ran a brush through my golden hair, pulling out little snarls and knots. By the end of it, I looked presentable enough that my father couldn’t complain much about it.
“You really look nice, Connor,” said Sadie’s soft, familiar voice from behind me where she had finally emerged from the steamy bathroom. I was sitting on the edge of my bed, rubbing a scuff from my shoe with a handkerchief. She stood in the low light of the hallway and my chest ached at the sight of her. Sadie was waiting for me in the doorway, looking like every wet dream I’d ever had, dressed in a long, emerald gown that hugged and curved in all of the right places. Her auburn hair tumbled soft and dark down her neck, glimmering like the gently falling rain outside of the windows. Her cheeks were pink, and her lipstick was dark, her lashes fluttering long over her round cheekbones. She smiled at me with warmth and a little confusion, putting a long, glittering earring in one ear. “What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I… there’s nothing wrong,” I stuttered, clearing my throat. My god, man. Get a hold of yourself. I’d seen pretty women before, and it was never a problem. What in the hell was wrong with me? “You uh, you look good too.”