"Oh, it's YOU again," Emma groaned as she opened her apartment door to her best friend, Matt. And his case of Budweiser.
"I think what you mean, Dear Emma," he clutched his chest in mock offense, "Is 'Oh, Matt, I'm so glad to see you again!'"
"Yeah, yeah," Emma growled, "At least you brought beer this time."
"Believe it or not," he teased, you weren't my first choice of companions for this evening, either."
"You mean you aren't just
dying
to get all up in this!?" Emma gestured up and down herself, referencing her baggy sweatpants, grey tank top and wispy ponytail.
Emma flopped back down on the sofa, while Matt unloaded the beer into the fridge. "So I take it Blondie Britches didn't put out?" She called into the kitchen as she half-heartedly flipped through the cable guide.
"Ugh," Matt groaned as he came into view, "She has to be the dumbest person I've ever met. Literally."
"You met her at a midnight showing of
Sex And The City
, Matt." Emma pointed out, "Were you expecting a biochemical engineer hiding in there somewhere? And more importantly, what were you doing at a midnight showing of
Sex And The City
!?"
Matt ignored her as he sat down with both beers, taking a long, dramatic pull off of the first one, followed by a theatrical, 'Aaaaaahhhhhhh'.
"Um,
excuse
me," Emma bitched, holding her hand out.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Matt feigned confusion, "Did you want a beer?"
"Fuck you," Emma laughed, tossing a pillow as hard as she could in the direction of Matt's head.
He handed her the other beer and kicked off his shoes, propping his feet up on the second-hand coffee table. "What are you watching?" he inquired.
"I just finished The Notebook, and Dirty Dancing is about to start," she replied.
"Oh,
hell
no!" Matt said, swiping the remote from Emma's unprepared grasp, "I'm not watching that crap."
"Ex-
cuse
me!" Emma declared loudly, "Who's TV are you watching? Who's sofa are you sitting on? Whose 'Chick Flick Friday' are you fucking with?!"
"Again, I'm going to assume you mean, 'Thank you, Matt, for saving me from another night alone watching terrible movies that should be banned from television.'"
"Yeah, the lovey shit does get tired after a while," she lied, "Why don't you go rent us something?"
Matt downed the rest of his beer before responding, "Ok, what are you in the mood for? Blood and guts? Something funny?"
"How about one of each," Emma reasoned, "My guess is your ass will be sleeping on my couch again tonight, anyway. We might as well keep ourselves entertained."
Matt faked a seductive stance and flirtatious wink, "I'll keep you entertained, baby..."
"Oh, don't make me puke," Emma replied, although she couldn't help noticing how nice his butt looked in those tighter-fitting jeans, "Just don't pick movies that suck. And hurry back. I'll be drinking while you're gone and you're gonna have a lot of catching up to do!"
"Yes, Ma'am," he saluted, "Back in a flash."
Emma downed another beer on the sofa shortly after he'd left, and already felt the need to break the seal. As she washed her hands in the bathroom sink, she couldn't help but notice how ragged she looked. She momentarily contemplated putting some jeans on, and maybe a bra, but quickly decided against it. Instead, she simply splashed her face, brushed her teeth and regathered her hair into a neater ponytail. She didn't need Matt thinking she'd gone to extra trouble to impress him. That was just not the nature of their friendship. Not that she gave a damn how Matt saw her, but it was the principle of the matter. He was a guy, after all, and he happened to look rather put-together tonight. Clean-shaven, pressed shirt, matching belt and socks.
Maybe he was really into this girl,
she thought,
Maybe he's more disappointed than he's letting on. Maybe I should go easy on him...
She made her way back down the hallway, and into the kitchen where she grabbed herself a beer β and one for Matt, whom she figured would be back any second. Like clockwork, just as she sat down with the two beers, Matt opened the apartment door and tossed his keys on the entry table.
"I scored us
Dude, Where's My Car
and
The Ring
," he reported triumphantly, "Which one do you want to watch first?"
"Let's go with funny first," Emma suggested, "Scary will be more fun the drunker we get,"
"Sounds good to me," Matt agreed.
"I just opened you one," Emma pointed, referring to the drink on the coffee table, "Drink up, Sir, you're a beer behind me!"
Showing off his inner-fratboy, Matt grabbed the bottle and chugged it down in a few seconds. He encored his showboating with a loud belch, and tossed the beer bottle aside.