Finally, she was going to do it. She'd waited almost a year for him to become available, a very very long year. Now he was single and bringing over wine to go with her dinner. Krista checked her reflection in the mirror one last time, adjusting the long teardrop earrings so that they sparkled when the light caught them. She ran to the bathroom. Her hair was standing up in one spot, one very noticeable spot. It reminded her of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals. She dug under the sink, looking for her extra strength hairspray.
Three minutes later, she still hadn't found the hairspray, but had found an ancient aluminum styling case decorated with a billion stickers. Frustrated, Krista tossed the case back under the sink and was satisfied to hear it thud against the sink pipe. She stood up and settled on water. Carefully, she dabbed water on the errant hairs, forcing them down. They popped back up. She stomped her foot hard against the floor, breaking the heel on her high-heeled sandals. Cursing, she stooped down and grabbed the heel. That's when she noticed the can of AquaNet on the floor next to the toilet.
She sprayed her hair into place while dashing to the closet to replace the stupid broken shoe. The doorbell rang as she buckled the last strap into place. She smoothed her slacks down and went to the door.
Krista unlocked the dead bolt and with a flourish yanked open the door. The door hit the extent of its chain and slammed back. She heard it connect with something, then Mitya cursed and something glass crashed on the hall floor.
"Oh god," she mumbled, removing the chain and opening the door.
Mitya stood, well sort of stood, on the other side. He was holding his face, particularly his nose. He was half stooped, blood dripping between his fingers.
"I fink est brooken." He muttered to her.
"Oh god, come in." Krista grabbed his arm, jerking him into the apartment. "Have a seat, I'll get you some ice."
Carefully she filled a bag with ice and wrapped it in a hand towel. She also grabbed the roll of paper towels and rushed to him. This was not going as planned. She was supposed to feed him and then seduce him, not send him rushing to the emergency room with a broken nose.
Mitya took the ice and paper towels. He held the ice to his nose. The bleeding was slowing.
"I think you're burning dinner." He said to Krista as the pan on the stove boiled over.
"Oh shit!" Krista rushed into the kitchen. It wasn't burnt, just very done. She placed the pan on the counter and turned to look at him. "I'm sorry, if you don't want to stay for dinner, I understand. I can take you to the hospital if you want."
"No, it's ok. It's almost stopped. I don't think it's broken after all." Gingerly he removed the ice pack and touched it. It was sore, but he'd gotten worse from playing soccer. It would be all right.
"If you're sure." Krista's heart was doing cartwheels in her chest. She couldn't believe he was going to stay. "I fixed Broiled Oysters for dinner."
"Um, I'm allergic to shell fish."
"Oh, I didn't know." Krista thought for a moment. "No matter, we'll just order something and have it delivered."
"Pizza?" He asked sounding hopeful. Pizza was the last thing on Krista's mind. It wasn't very romantic and oysters were supposed to be an aphrodisiac, that's why she had fixed them. She didn't even really like oysters all that much.
"Yeah, that's fine." She smiled at him but wanted to pull her hair out. Nothing was going right. "Are you sure you don't want to do this another time?" She half hoped that he would say yes.
"Hey, don't worry about my nose. It's big and gets in the way." He joked. When it wasn't swollen and angry red, Krista thought his nose was pretty cute. "Look, why don't you order the pizza and I'll go clean up the glass from the hall."
"Ok," Krista grabbed the phone book. She had no idea what kind of pizza to order or where to order it from. Finally, she settled for a chain restaurant and ordered a large with everything. This would allow them both to pick off the stuff they don't like while getting the stuff they do like. She thought it was a pretty good idea.
Mitya came back in, the remains of the bottle carefully wrapped in the worthless hand towel. He tossed all of it into the trashcan and joined her in the living room. Krista searched for something to say but couldn't come up with anything.
"Want to watch a movie? I rented the new Samuel L. Jackson movie." She offered.
"Yeah, I haven't seen that yet." He moved next to her on the couch.
Krista grabbed the box off the table. Her DVD player had broken the week before. She was stuck watching everything on VHS. The movie had just started when there was another knock on the door.
"I'll get the pizza." She sprung from the couch, grabbing her wallet.
"Don't injure him; he might not be as nice about it." Mitya called after her.
