CHAPTER SIX
Lucy picked up her flat iron and pulled it through long, auburn hair. She usually pulled it up for work, but she was going out with Indya tonight. They were meeting at a bar, a short five-minute walk from the apartment, then they'd decide what to do from there. Once she'd finished with her hair she applied a layer of mascara and some lip gloss and she was ready to head out. The one day and two nights she had off, wasn't nearly enough and was determined to make the most of them. She sighed as it dawned on her that when Indya moved in with Mateo, it might be a long while until she got out again.
Before leaving she popped her head into the living area, where Sylvia Delago was sitting with a glass of water, catching up on a TV program. "Hi Sylvia, I'm just heading out. I've got my key and won't be too late."
"Have a great time, Lucy. I'm just waiting for David to get back from work, hopefully with some Chinese food," she chuckled as she paused the TV program she was watching. "Thanks for putting Tristan and Olivia in bed. I know he feels terrible about not spending more time with them but he's having issues at work. Hopefully not for much longer."
"Have a nice night," said Lucy as she headed out the door. For the past couple of months, David had been working later in the evenings and even some weekends. She knew he had an important job at some financial company and the stress was getting to him. She tried to avoid him, when she could. He used to be so laid back and fun, spending any free time with his wife and children but now ...
While waiting on the elevator she pulled out her phone to send Indya a quick message to say she was on her way. She frowned when she saw Indya had sent her a message canceling this evening as Mrs Franklin had asked her to stay on at the last minute. She let out a loud groan just as the elevator doors opened and her new neighbor stepped out.
"That didn't sound good," he smiled. "Everything alright?"
No everything wasn't alright. She'd gone to all this trouble for nothing.
"My friend just messaged me to say she had to cancel our night out," she explained, "and I was really looking forward to it as this is my night off from nanny duties." She couldn't believe she was telling him about her ruined plans, usually she never said two words to strangers, but for some reason he was different. A grin quickly appeared on his face.
"Where were you off to?" he asked as he stepped out of the elevator and let the door close behind him. The closer he got to her, the taller he seemed. She needed to crane her neck now to look at him.
"Just a bar nearby then we were going to play it by ear. She'd canceled the last time we were going to go out so ..." She sounded so pathetic, even to her own ears.
"Would you like me to go with you?" he asked as he took another step towards her. She didn't take a step back. Weird.
She finally registered what he'd said and looked up with her mouth wide open. She certainly didn't expect that. He grinned at her and then the thick dark hair of his bangs fell over his left eye, as if he was nervous for her answer. Why he was nervous she had no idea, he was gorgeous. He must be over six feet of yumminess and had an athletic build that filled his dark green henley very nicely. He had the deepest brown eyes she'd ever seen, with longer lashes than she had, even with her mascara. She could get lost in those eyes, and at the moment she could only see one, which was raised in expectation of her answer. Definitely nothing to be nervous about.
"Do you not have other plans?" she asked, because she couldn't really believe that he would want to drop them for her. He didn't even know her.
She could see the tension slip away from his body as he gave her a light-up-the-room smile. "Is that a yes, or a no? I'm not quite sure," he said as his eyebrow raised. "You'd be saving me from a boring night of eating leftovers and watching mindless TV."
What did she have to lose? She needed to make new friends anyway and that meant stepping outside her comfort zone and why not do it with her new neighbor?
"Okay then, I'd love to," she said, returning the smile.
He leaned over to call the elevator back, "Great, where are we headed?"
"Murphy's, over on Everly? I usually meet my friend Indya there and then we decide from there where to go next. We don't have to go there, we can go wherever you want. I usually just go where she suggests as she knows the city more than I do and she's been to more places to know if they're good or not, y'know?" she rambled. She knew she was rambling, but she couldn't help herself, she always got like this when she was nervous, and she was certainly nervous.
She hoped he wouldn't regret asking her out now.