Darcy had awoken early to work through an important feature for her project as well as some coursework that was due in for one of her classes. On top of that, she had completed some reading on the train prior to both of today's classes.
It was definitely a morning well-spent.
She could spend the evening doing absolutely nothing and she wouldn't feel guilty at all. In fact, that was the exact plan. Darcy had full intentions of getting tipsy at a sleepover later that evening at her friend Delilah's dorm room. Alice would be there too so they would be making a mini-party out of it since they hadn't been able to spend as much time together lately as they were accustomed to.
Life just managed to get in the way.
At the current moment, she had placed all her things in her bag before filing out of the lecture hall, making small talk with a few of her class mates.
That had been her second and last class of the day.
"I'll see you on Monday," she smiled at the classmate she was talking to before walking up behind a certain dark-haired, tall, male janitor whom was currently organising the janitor's closet, his back facing her. As she got closer to him, she noticed he had earphones in and was swaying his head slightly to the music as he bent over to pick up some cleaning products he had clearly knocked down.
Her eyes flitted left and right slightly before she stepped into the janitor's closet, pulling the door close behind her but not completely as that would alert him and would take away the element of surprise.
Thelonious' eyes watched the shadow of light begin to diminish. Standing up straight, he turned around, ready to verbally attack the trespasser. When his eyes fell upon the curly red-hair that today, was pulled back in a high pony tail, the sun-kissed skin and rosy tint of her naturally pouted lips, his demeanour instantly relaxed and a lazy smile crept up onto his face as his eyes continued to appreciate the beauty in front of him.
"What do I owe this pleasure?" He quirked a quizzical brow.
She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned against the door frame, mindful that the door was not fully closed behind her. If she so much as leaned against it the she was sure that she would go toppling backwards and land as a pile of limbs in the hallway.
That would be a prime example of first hand embarrassment at its best.
"I thought I'd swing by and say hi." She shrugged, her demeaner cool.
"You swung by and said hi yesterday," he teased her, his smile only widening as he gazed upon her.
"You want me to leave?"
"Never." He smirked, taking a few steps closer to her, only stopping when there remained a mere hair-width between them. "What are you doing tonight?"
"Why? Are you asking me out?" Darcy wasn't sure what had come over her but she was tired of waiting around and wandering what exactly was going on between them.
She craved stability.
His smile faltered momentarily. "I am," he assured her. He gulped nervously, hoping she wouldn't notice.
Darcy pursed her lips for second before she reached out and placed her hand on the door handle behind her. "That's too bad. I've already got plans tonight," she replied honestly, though didn't miss the opportunity to tease him. Applying some light pressure, the door swung open behind her before she turned around and walked away from him.
He wasn't able to see the wide smile that sat on her face as she walked away from him with her head held high.
She merely spared him a glance over her shoulder before she disappeared from his sight.
The curious stares and glances of those around him didn't bother him. He stood and watched her, even when he couldn't see her anymore.
-
Her nose turned up at the glass of champagne that hovered in front of her face, courtesy of her friend, Alice. She accepted it nonetheless and threw it back almost immediately.
Darcy stood up and placed the empty glass in the kitchen sink before helping herself to some beer in the fridge. She was never good with any of the fancy stuff.
"I don't know how you drink that stuff," she gestured towards the glass of red wine that Alice was chugging back as if it was water as she returned to the seating area. Opting to sit on the floor, she leant back against the sofa that Alice was spread out on, enjoying her beverage of choice.
Delilah was sat on the other sofa, separated only by a small, glass coffee table.
Alice's nose crinkled together as she eyed the dark coloured bottle her friend was so fond of. She had gone out specially to purchase some for she knew Darcy hated the fancy stuff. "It's better quality than the cheap stuff you drink."
"Touché." Darcy smirked before knocking back some of the cheap stuff.
"We haven't seen much of you this semester." Delilah smirked from over the rim of her glass.
Delilah and Alice had talked about this earlier, and they both had their suspicions. They just wondered which one of them was correct.
Darcy shrugged and sipped on her beer, feigning complete relaxation despite the thorough scrutiny. She didn't blame her friends. She had been spending a lot of time at the hotel which meant that she hadn't seen them as much as she used to. "I've just been busy."
"Bullshit!" Alice called out, a sly smirk on her face. "Your semester has never been less hectic than what it is now." She quirked a questioning brow, squinting her eyes in suspicion when Darcy avoided eye contact with both her and Delilah.
Delilah sat up straighter, visibly perking up. It seemed as if the conversation was sobering her up. "You're seeing someone, aren't you?"
"What? No." She tried to brush it off but was highly unsuccessful. In fact, she probably just asserted their suspicions further.
"You totally are!"
She winced before taking another sip of her drink. "Is it that obvious?"
"So, it is true?" Delilah asked, perky. She had won the bet.
"Yes," she confirmed. Reaching forward, she placed her empty beer bottle on the coffee table before leaning back against the sofa and pulling her knees up to her chest. "His name is Thelonious."
"That's one sexy name."
"For one sexy man!" Darcy finished with a smile and chuckle, clearly tipsy. Her words were nothing but truthful, though.
Alice shook her head, a small smirk on her face. "I can't believe you've been keeping this from us."
"There wasn't anything to tell you guys."
"Oh, whatever." Her blonde friend rolled her eyes playfully. "Tell us all about him."
"There isn't much to tell." She denied, not because she was brushing it off but because it was true. It was difficult to talk about what was going on between her and Thelonious when even she wasn't sure what was going on exactly. He had seemed keen to go out with her earlier, but that still didn't put them in a relationship even though she so badly wanted them to be in one.
Perhaps it would be easier to just come clean to him.
"Now isn't the time to play coy."
Darcy ducked to the right to avoid the pillow that Delilah had thrown in her direction from the other sofa, just narrowly missing it. "Okay, fine." She sighed, but her lips curled up nonetheless. "What do you want to know?"
"Is he a student at University?"
"No," she shook her head. "I don't think he's been Uni. He's 28." She clarified.
"Who knew you'd be into older men?" Delilah chuckled at herself, too drunk to even care. The girls all indulged in more drinks as the conversation flowed. It felt good to open up to her friends and just talk about Thelonious, especially since she hadn't mentioned him to anyone else.
A second and third opinion always helped, even if she was very fond of him already.
Darcy rolled her eyes and helped herself to another bottle even though she knew she probably shouldn't. "He owns a hotel just a little away from uni."
Delilah smirked as she downed the rest of her drink. Instead of pouring herself another glass, she just grabbed the bottle. That should be enough to last her the rest of the night. "So that's where you've been spending all your time?"
"Yes." She nodded, her cheeks heating slightly.
"You could have just told us earlier. We would have understood."
"I know," she nodded and sighed. "I just didn't want to jump into things. I'm not even sure if we're exclusive."
The surprise was evident on both her friends' faces. It was clear Darcy really liked him. "You haven't talked about it?"
"No," she shook her head. "We haven't even kissed."
"Damn," Alice stretched it out as she sat up on the sofa and swivelled around so she was facing Darcy. Her eyes widened in surprise. "You haven't even kissed yet?"
"No."
"He hasn't been making a move?"
"He has." She affirmed. "We just seem to always get disturbed."
"I would do something about that if I were you."
"What would you do?" She asked, genuinely. She had never been very good at the relationship stuff.
"I would just kiss the man."
"It's not that easy," she sighed. The idea of making the first move terrified her. Or perhaps it was the idea of rejection.
Leaning back against the sofa, she cradled her bottle in her arms and pouted her lips. Even she knew that she was just making excuses now to cover how nervous she was.
"It is that easy," Delilah stressed, willing her friend to go after what she wanted. "Don't make simple things overcomplicated."
Darcy sighed and nodded. "You guys are right. Let me give him a call."
"Now?"
She nodded.
"Okay," Alice sounded aloud, visibly more excited now than she would have been if she had been sober.
Darcy didn't even bother getting up and leaving the room for some privacy as she searched for his name in her contacts. It didn't take long and before she knew it, the phone was already ringing.
She cradled the phone against her ear as she waited for him to pick up.
The other two girls got off the sofa and huddled around her as the phone rang once, twice and then a third time.
Darcy let it ring a few more times before she was ready to hang up. Luckily, before she did, a voice sounded on the other end. "Darcy?"
"That's me." Her words slurred together slightly, but not enough that he wouldn't be able to make out what she was saying.
A deep, throaty chuckle sounded as Thelonious laughed. "You sound different. Are you drunk?"
"Maybe a little." She admitted honestly.
"So, you blew me off today to get drunk with your friends, huh?" He wasn't annoyed. In fact, he found it rather funny. Plus, she had been spending a lot of time with him and his friends at the hotel the past few weeks. It was important that she got to see her friends as well.
He didn't want her to get sick of him any time soon.
"I didn't blow you." She giggled along with her friends. A part of her wished she had though.
"You really are drunk." His words were slow and deliberate as he pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated. Not with her, but with rather her choice of words and how quickly he had fallen into that one.
"I'm not that drunk." She attempted to defend herself. And it was true. She was only buzzing slightly but there was no way that she would admit that talking to him made her giddy; more giddy than usual.
"I find that hard to believe."
"What are you doing now?"
"I'm at the hotel. One of the staff called in sick so I'm covering for him as well as working at the desk."
Darcy hummed aloud. Why? Even she didn't know. "I called to tell you that I really like you."
"That's good, because I really like you too." He chuckled, clearly amused.
"No." She pouted. "I really, really like you."
"Trust me, you vixen. I really, really like you too."
Both Delilah and Alice audibly 'awed', both become with Thelonious already.
"Really?"
"Of course! I thought I made it more obvious."
When she didn't reply immediately, he continued. "We need to do something about that then. Text me your friend's address and I'll bring some food round in 15 minutes."
She sat up straight then, sobering slightly. "I thought you were busy."
"I'll never be too busy for you."
And in that moment, Darcy felt herself melting utterly, and completely.
-
NOTE - not edited!
The next chapter will be uploaded on 31/01/2020!
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Layla Knight
04.09.19