Carlos

I couldn’t stop smiling like a fool. I shouldn’t be, had no real reason to be, but my lips refused to do anything else but curl upwards towards my eyes.

The woman next to me moved and I stilled like it was going to matter if I moved an iota. I didn’t want to wake her, enjoying just watching her sleep for a time. It wasn’t something that I usually did, but nothing about Eve was usual. If she had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have found myself being so protective of her. I wouldn’t have brought her upstairs to my bed and laid her down still clothed. If she was anyone else but her, I suppose I would have been feeling a whole lot better than what I was right then.

My body needed Eve, but it wasn’t the right time. I wasn’t the type to take advantage and it was easy to see that she had been far too drunk to give any kind of answer. So now she was lying next to me and I was trying to tell my body that she wasn’t for me. It was hard, every part of me was, but I knew that I was going to have to settle for just looking at her now.

When that wasn’t enough and I was agitated with the wait, I got up and decided to make her some breakfast. It was something that I never did, but wanted to do for her. I wanted her to look at me differently, even though she had tried her best to be something else, I knew that she was a gentle woman. I didn’t have much experience with her sort, but I was willing to try. She was worth it.

Getting up, I looked back one last time to the woman in my bed and felt a surge of something in my chest. I wasn’t used to feeling this way. I was used to telling the woman to leave so I could get some sleep. It didn’t matter that Eve had stolen the blanket while she slept and her knees stayed in my back half the night, I would never tell her to go away.

There was a skip to my step, another new addition that I wasn’t sure how to handle. I wanted her to want me, a feeling or desire that I never had to worry about before. What was it with her that made me feel this way? I was up before noon and had a clear head for once.

I was just getting to the small store down the road when my phone rang. I saw who it was and I sighed to myself. There was many people that I wanted to talk to, but the one on the phone wasn’t one of them. I was sure I was going to hear about last night and I didn’t want to sour my mood. After he called three times in a row, I knew that I would have to answer or he would be at my house soon.

“Joel, you are up early.”

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Where is Eve, dammit!”

“I took her home last night. I don’t think you remember how drunk you were. That is why you went and laid down in the store room. What was I supposed to do, but take her home?”

“You didn’t take her home Carlos, so where is she?”

Looking back towards the apartment, I couldn’t tell if he was still out front or not. Had he went and checked on her and found her missing?

“I took her home.”

“She isn’t answering her door and I have pounded for five minutes. What did you do with her?”

“What are you getting at?”

“Did you sleep with her last night?”

I had technically, but I knew that he wasn’t worried about actual sleep. He was asking me if I had had sex with her and though I would like to have said yes, I couldn’t. I had been good and I didn’t like the reminder in the way of him trying to imply that I had.

“No, I put her to bed. She was too drunk to drive and you were passed out in the back. What was I supposed to do? If I had left her, I never would have heard the end of it.”

“She was too drunk to go with you.”

“We didn’t do anything. What kind of man do you think I am?”

I was getting more and more upset and offended by the minute. I was doing the right thing and all I was getting was shit from him. I had wanted to take her, badly, but I wasn’t into that kind of thing. She would be with me because she wanted to be. There was no other alternative to that.

“I didn’t mean it like that Carlos. I just, I don’t know. I woke up and was worried because I don’t remember much.”

“Well you need to get a hold on your drinking if you are going to take a girl like that out. What were you thinking taking her to the bar? That is not the kind of place for her. Something could have happened if I hadn’t been there. Every man in that place was watching and waiting for you to slack off, which you did.”

I was angry when I thought about what could have happened if I wouldn’t have been there. Eve had acted like she was trying to fit in, but the more she tried, the more painfully obvious it was that she was a square.

“I don’t know what happened. I started matching her shots. Who would have thought that she could put down drinks like that? As tiny as she is, I don’t know how she was still walking.”

There was a bit of admiration from me as well. I don’t know what made her want to drink in the way she did, but it was a surprise to say the least. I hadn’t expected that from her, but I wasn’t going to get sidetracked.

“Yeah I don’t know. She was pretty sloshed when we left the bar.”

“Well where are you at?”

“I’m at the corner. Why, what’s up?”

“I was going to go to your house and drink a beer.”

“No! I uh, I mean you need to get home and get some sleep. Last night is something that you are going to have to sleep off.”

There was a non-committal sound on the other side and all I could hope was that he didn’t knock or use his key to get in. I didn’t want him knowing that Eve was there. I didn’t want her to get woke up and then I wouldn’t be able to spend some time with her. I wanted to be the first thing that she saw when she woke up, not Joel.

“Alright man. I guess I am going to go home. I just wanted to make sure that she was alright. I can’t believe that I got so drunk last night.”

“Wait until you see your tab for the night.”

I chuckled before I hung up, but I wasn’t without all guilt. I knew that Joel liked Eve, a lot, but I couldn’t just stand aside when I thought I had met the girl of my dreams. She could be a good girl in the day time, but there was a wild part of her that I rather enjoyed. It was that part of her that I wanted to see more of, see where it related to the bedroom.

Going in the store, my mind was elsewhere and all I could think about food wise was some chocolate sauce and whip cream. I wanted to make Eve my dessert, but I put the items back, reminding myself that she wasn’t a girl like Cassie or the others. I was going to have to go slow, no matter how hard that was going to be.