Author's Note: Continuation of a story that pretty much requires reading the first two chapters for the plot to make much sense.
"Thank you!" to all who have favorited my story so far and/or left encouraging comments. I find myself getting caught up in my own words at times and knowing that others are connecting to them makes it more fun and exciting to continue.
I hope you continue to enjoy!
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Those Eyes (Ch 3)
From the moment we left the park until arriving at her door, Mary Beth's sense of purpose and determination didn't seem to waver. She did, after about a half block, look back and see me smirking at her and before she could even ask why, she recognized the situation for what it was. She was almost pulling me along like a dog on a leash.
Once she realized this, she slowed herself down to where she was again walking by my side just holding my hand. I glanced down briefly and saw that same rosy color in her cheeks along with some mottled, red splotches starting to creep up her neck from underneath her collar. The darker background it created really highlighted the dainty little silver Cross she was wearing around her neck on an equally delicate chain.
The contradiction in that observation wasn't lost on me. How the Cross actually presented better against a background of flushed sexual excitement. Sort of added to the turn-on. I guess I'm going straight to Hell and not collecting $200.
I didn't want to risk saying anything to dampen her enthusiasm so I returned my attention to our path. It wasn't long before it became clear that Mary Beth was leading us back past the bistro where we'd begun our evening. A block further and she turned us down Vine Street which is the same direction I would've taken us to get back to my condo.
Intrigued to learn where this journey was to end, I kept the proximity to my condo to myself. Less than a hundred feet away from where I would have taken her had we been going to my place, Mary Beth turned into the alcoved entryway of a quaint, brick building with a sign, "Vine St. Lofts" mounted over the door. It wasn't very noticeable and I didn't recall being aware this place existed even though I've walked right by this very entrance literally dozens of times to go to the coffee shop.
A small warning bell was ringing in my head telling me that I needed to disclose the closeness of my residence to her apartment. This didn't seem like something you spring on a lady after an intimate encounter (hopefully) played out.
"Fun fact," I started to say as she was about to enter the passcode into her building's main door, "that entry right across the street in the Thompson Tower is where I would've taken you had you gone home with me instead."
I said this as lightheartedly as possible just to get her attention and reveal the coincidence but I got a little more serious and followed with, "That's a pretty strange coincidence and I'm kind of stunned...is it going to be a problem for you?"
She looked at me for about 3 seconds, blinked, then turned to face my building with me. She looked up at the 18 story structure and said, "That's a nice place. I toured the model and really liked it there with all the amenities but I couldn't afford it as a single. It's really expensive." Then she warily asked, "Do you live there alone?"
"I do," I answered, "I got pretty lucky landing a job right out of college and once my income stabilized, I kinda splurged. The work-out center and pool really excited me but it was having a full size washer and dryer right in my unit that ultimately forced me to pony-up."
Mary Beth was still standing looking at the building. She seemed distracted but replied with, "Lucky you. I'd kill to not have to schlep my laundry down to the facility in our basement." But I could still sense a hesitancy in her that wasn't there just 2 minutes before.
Remembering what she'd told me about the situation with her ex-husband and some residual trust issues she might rightfully be dealing with, I hoped to ease her mind by addressing it head on.
"What do you say we go across the street and you give my ego a boost by "oohing" and "aahing" at my matched laundry set? Kind of show you around my place. I can't imagine you're going to get a better offer than that in this entire city. I mean, they're barely two years old for goodness sake. Hardly broke in and not a scratch on them."
I was goading her, but lighthearted with my tone, when I finished with, "I may even have cold drinks in my full-sized, residential fridge."
Offering to be an open book to her seemed to crack the valve because the breath she'd been holding was released with enough force to melt away whatever anxiety she'd had creeping up and over her. "I'd like that," she said, "but about coveting your washer and dryer, jealousy doesn't look good on me. Or so I'm told."
I'm sure there was a deeper meaning to that last comment but she delivered it pretty playfully, and with some sexy as hell side eye, so I gave her hand a quick squeeze and said, "Let's go."
The walk across the street was quick and for this shortest leg of our journey she actually let me lead.
The lobby to my building really is pretty nice and this was the first time since moving here that I was actually a little proud of things like the decor, cleanliness and even the modern bank of elevators. It really is put together well and is a contemporary, sleek and well-maintained building. I'd never really had a reason to consider or appreciate these things before. It's funny how things can seem so different when a different context is applied.
Like from day one, I haven't been a fan of the inside of our elevators. The contemporary aspect of them means that when the doors close, the inside surface is a chrome or some type of polished metal. To the point they seem like a full length dressing mirror, except you're not in your bedroom or the bathroom of your unit. It's not a problem if you ride up or down alone but whenever someone is with you, there is invariably an awkward stretch of not knowing where to train your eyes because everyone on the elevator feels like they're looking right at you. Riding elevators with strangers is awkward enough so I'm not sure what brainiac decided to basically make a mirrored 'House of Horrors' with these cars.
But then you change the context, like stepping on the elevator with Mary Beth instead of a stranger, and my heart leapt into my throat the moment the doors slid closed and I saw her looking at me in that same mirror. Those eyes. I felt immediately dry in the mouth and a noticeable tightness crept back into my groin.
"My God you are beautiful, Mary Beth," just tumbled out of my mouth, "It scares me how incredible I feel when you look at me like that."
She did a slow blink with a little broadening of her smile but she didn't audibly reply. She did seem to grow a little in stature as her shoulders straightened and her head was held a little higher. Her aura in that moment was much larger than her 5' 5" frame normally allowed her to appear.
She really did have that fairly plain but fresh faced, "girl next door" look even as a mature woman. And that's a look that can't help but be attractive to men if the lady owns it and wants be seen that way. Where they seem comfortable and confident enough with who they are and how they look to not go overboard with clothes and make-up trying to be someone else. That can be sexy as hell.
Kind of like that old, "Ginger vs Mary Ann" debate my dad and his buddies used to have when I was young. I'd read that studies show the more mature a man gets, the more drawn he becomes to a Mary Ann type over Ginger. What we're attracted to evolves.
There is a reason or term for this that escapes me right now, but I guess I'm an "old soul" because even in my late teens when I'd Googled them to see what my dad was talking about, I was immediately 'Team Mary Ann', no questions asked.
Huh. Even the Mary Beth/Mary Ann coincidence seemed to fit the comparison.
Especially since Mary Beth turned out to be the "girl next door" to me. Literally.
Whatever. The lump in both my throat and pants meant Mary Beth clearly had earned my undivided attention right here, right now. Back to the present.
It's crazy how the elevators always seemed too slow until just now. Now, looking at Mary Beth's reflection, seeing those blue eyes locked-in and boring into me from that mirrored wall, I wanted to reach out and push the emergency stop button. Not to jump her bones or anything, just to prolong one of those special moments when you feel connected to someone through something as simple as eye contact.
But rather than reach for the stop button, I instead reached behind her and grabbed the beltline of the back of her slacks and pulled her gently, but firmly, into my side. I wanted that connection and closeness to be given back to her in a physical manner that would hopefully repay the feeling her eye contact was giving to me. The gesture must have hit it's mark because Mary Beth smiled so sweetly and leaned the side of her head against my arm.
Yeah, I hoped that moment would never end. The reflection just felt right. Were I a 3rd passenger in the elevator, I would've been jealous of the couple staring at me in that reflection.
The tower that makes up my building is actually three different towers joined into one. This means that when you get off the elevator on my floor, you don't step into a long hallway leading off in both directions. You step into a foyer that gives access to doors of four separate units. Like the sitting area of a quad at many colleges and universities.
My unit is the closest one on the left which means I don't look out the front of the building over Vine Street and toward Mary Beth's place. My unit looks the opposite direction, which from the 12th floor gives a pretty good view of the downtown skyline. My balcony also looks down to the 6th floor roof of my building's amenities wing which includes the rooftop pool and sundeck.
The tour with Mary Beth was pretty quick. Open concept living and kitchen, powder bath and front guest bedroom with ensuite bath (which I use as my home office area) and then a back hall leading to the master suite and adjoining laundry. Nicely appointed but pretty straight-forward and efficiently laid out.
I noticed Mary Beth shied away from the balcony, stepping out only briefly but then retreating back inside. That was one of my favorite spots in the condo but I could tell it wasn't her thing.
"Not big on heights, huh?" I commented.
"Nope," she quickly replied, "not at all."
"I hear ya'," I said with a little tease in my voice, "Luckily, there's no better view from this unit than the one out over the top of the laundry machines to the back wall of the utility closet. I can pull a couple of chairs in the hallway back there if that's what does it for you. I may even let you talk me into running a load."
She playfully slapped my upper arm and said, "Not the thing to tease me about! Seriously! Our machines are basically in a dungeon and I hate doing my laundry. I'm thinking of taking my clothes to the laundromat a couple of blocks over rather than going into our basement anymore."
