"Hello," came Veronica's slightly tired voice through the intercom of the apartment building.
"Hey you," said Harry, shuffling on the spot in the cold.
"
Harry
?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"
"Surprised?" he asked.
"No, it's just..." she said. "How did you find me?"
"I have your address on file," he said. "Is that okay?"
"Oh, sure..." she said. "What's up?"
"Not much," he said. "Say, can you let me in? It's cold out here."
"Oh, yeah," she said hurriedly, and the buzz sounded out. Harry let himself in and went straight for the elevator, more than eager to get to the room just to get her reaction to his idea, blowing into his fingers to warm them up as he waited for the elevator. It was a tall apartment building -- over a dozen stories, which was about as big as they got in Hellespont -- and she lived right near the top. He was afraid of heights, but when he found out her floor part of him liked the idea of her being high up, thinking it might make for some good visuals. After the elevator took him up to her floor -- a ride that, in his excitement, seemed to take way too long -- the doors parted, and he walked briskly down the hall to his right, getting a couple of doors down before realizing he had to double back because he'd gone the wrong way. The frustration bugged him -- he wanted to be in Veronica's place now.
The door was slightly ajar when he got there, and Veronica was standing there with her hair completely mussed, dressed in nothing but a long sweater and kicking on some slippers. She looked up at him and smiled tiredly, opening the door to step out and receive his kiss. "Hey gorgeous," she said. "Sorry about my state. I like to sleep in on Saturdays."
"That's alright," he said, kicking off his own shoes before stepping into her apartment. It was a good place for a university student, with a large living room, wall-to-wall white carpeting and nice furniture, a decor fashioned with the aesthetic of someone who was both living frugally but also blessed with superior taste. "Your place is really nice."
"Feng shui," she said. "Want some coffee?"
"That'd be great," he said, walking into the living room, over to the table by the balcony, whereupon sat a large number of law textbooks. Part of his heart melted at that -- she worked so hard for him in the office, harder than most of the other secretaries there, and yet here she was with her own goals to meet. He decided at that point that one of the first things he'd do if he got that job would be to ensure a nice raise for her.
"What brings you here? Where does Trish think you are?" she asked, with the sounds of coffee-related kitchen manipulations in the background.
"At my office, taking photographs of it just in case I have to move out in a hurry," Harry said.
"Taking photographs?" she asked. He heard her finish pouring the water before coming out to give him a strange look. "Why would you be doing that?"
"I don't know," he said, turning around. "I just needed a reason to borrow this." He held up his wife's digital camera, giving it a little shake.
Veronica crossed her arms, stuck out her hip as she shifted her weight, and grinned in mock disapproval. "I hope that's for the view. I'm not decent."
"Oh come on," he said. "It'll be fun. I thought you liked to play."
"Pass it here," she said, walking forward with her hand outstretched. Coffee trickled in the kitchen as she studied it, pressing a few buttons and examining the screen on back. "This is pretty nice."
"Isn't it?" he asked. "I've got the manual right here, too." He patted his coat pocket. "I bought a couple of new memory cards on the way here, and the thing says it'll be able to hold a ton of photographs. It even does video."
She looked up at him, wide eyes. "What did you have in mind?"
"How about that coffee?" he asked grinning.
"Get it yourself, jackass," she said. "It's Saturday, and I want to see what this thing can do."
He laughed, and walked past her towards her kitchen. She quickly snapped a photo of his back, and when he turned to her, he saw she was examining the photo on the screen, and smiling. "Hey," she said, looking up. "Throw me your manual, will you?"
"Alright," he said, pulling it out and tossing it towards her. She caught it adeptly in her free hand, and went over to the sofa.
"How do you like your coffee?" he asked from inside the kitchen after fishing out a couple of mugs from her cabinets. They were meagerly stocked as well. It seemed almost unfair. This was the first time he'd had to accept her as someone with a life separate and distinct from the office, but she seemed like the sort of person who ought to have parties at her place on a regular basis. Not that he was fond of the idea of the male law students getting drunk in her house, but at the same time, she was young and deserved that sort of life, if she wanted it.
"Like I like my men," she called out.
He peared around the barrier separating the kitchen from the living room. "I hope you mean white and sweet."
"Oh," she said, pretending to be flustered. "Sure! That's right. White. Sweet. Absolutely." She laughed. "Actually, I'd like it black, but please don't be offended."
"No, that's alright," he said. "Hussy."
She laughed, and when he came out of the office with their coffee she looked up at him. "This thing is pretty neat. We can set the timer for up to a minute if we want, and it'll give warning beeps." She looked around the living room. "I think I've got a few places in here that would make for good angles, and the light from outdoors is okay."
"That's cool," he said. "How do you feel about black and white?"
"Nice..." she said, nodding her head thoughtfully. "Of course, a minute might be a long time, so I hope you have a fluffer."
"Oh, I don't need one of those," he said, handing over the coffee. "If I'm having trouble keeping it up, I'll just think of my wife."
She bit her lip scornfully, but then she just nodded and said, "Actually, the fluffer would be for Glenn. He's the one posing with me, right? Which reminds me, I should go wake him up."
"I hope Glenn can fly," Harry said, leaning in close to give her a nibble on the ear. "Because he's leaving via the balcony."
"Neanderthal," she said, before giving a giggle and squirming away from him. "Okay, okay, seriously... if we're going to do this, what are the ground rules?"
"Ground rules?" he asked. "No clothes, for one."
"Ha ha," she said. "Although I think it might be sexy if we got some photos before we undressed completely. But I mean it. What are the ground rules?"
"I don't know," Harry said. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well," Veronica said. "You're married. This means they can't go up on a website, am I right?"
"Oh,
those
ground rules..." he said, leaning back in the sofa. Veronica curled up next to him, lifting her legs and putting them on his lap, while she continued to glance back and forth from the manual to the camera. Harry put his arms around her, and he felt a sudden tenderness for her, that he decided to be impulsive.