"And??" Nathalie asked.

"Well, you kissed my neck, drove me even crazier than before ... and then you passed out on my stomach," Grant said as he finished washing the dishes and utensils. "At first, I wasn't sure, so I called out your name. When you started snoring, I carefully moved you onto the bed and tucked you in. Then went to take a very necessary, extremely cold, very depressing shower," he chuckled.

Remaining silent, she nervously clasped her hands together as he spoke.

"I cleared your shoes from the floor, put your dress in the closet, took out what I'm wearing and slept on the couch. That's it." He shrugged while drying his hands on a towel.

"So, I passed out." She said thoughtfully and blinked. "Wait, I don't snore!"

"You did, but only for a moment."

"Damn, I don't know which is worse."

"Oof!" Leaning against the counter, he hung his head, then looked at her wide-eyed. "Ouch? Hurting my feelings over here."

"Oh, no-no! I'm sorry, didn't mean to say that out loud! Last night was great, really. At least the parts I can remember, that is. I liked talking with you and getting to know you." She sighed deeply. "It's just ... I don't go around sleeping with people I've just met. Know what I'm saying?"

"I get it. It's not something I normally do—," he looked at his watch. "We have to go. You don't live that far from the hospital; I'll drop you off."

She raised an eyebrow. "How you know where I live?"

"You told me last night," he winked. "During the car ride, you also sort of muttered that you had to work at eight."

A question shattered the silence during the car ride.

"Will I be seeing you again?" His eyes remained on the road.

"I don't know, will you?"

A smile tugged on his lips. "Is this about the snoring? If you think that's going to deter me, you're wrong. But ... I'd really like see you again." He briefly glanced at her.

Conflicted thoughts ran through her mind, she didn't know how to respond. She turned her head and gazed out the window. Palm trees lightly swayed with the wind. Their cascading fronds momentarily unfurled from on top of one another, twitching in the direction of the breeze and nestling again to their initial positions.

Scattered gray clouds, some feathery, others bulky, mottled a blue sky stained with red and orange hues in the horizon. She thought about how her family would react if they found out she was seeing someone like Grant. Shrinking into herself, she released a heavy sigh. He didn't fail to notice that his question seemed to carry more weight than he had anticipated.

The car gently rolled into a parking space in front of her apartment complex. Reaching for the center console, he pulled out a card and handed it to her when she stepped out of the car.

"No pressure. Here's my number, if you decide you want to see me again. Well," his eyes slowly scanned her face and paused at her lips. "I do hope you call me though. Have a nice day, Nathalie." He smiled at her and drove off.

She hurriedly dressed for work. As she was leaving, she stopped for a second to look at the card on the counter. Shaking her head, she grabbed her keys and left it laying there.

While eating at Uncle Joe's Diner, her phone rang. She dropped her BLT sandwich onto the plate, quickly wiped her hands and retrieved the cellphone from her pocket.

"Sooo, how'd it go?" Susan asked.

"Alright. Don't you work today?"

"I'm on my break. Don't change the subject."

Nathalie groaned.

"It must've been better than just alright," Susan gasped. "Unless ... he's like really, really awful."

"I didn't sleep with him!"

"Oh." Susan remained silent for a moment. "Uh, why not?"

"I was done in and passed out. Besides, I don't just go around sleeping with random men."

"Hmmm."

Nathalie rolled her eyes and grabbed a pickle from the plate. It made a loud crunchy noise as she chewed on it. "What?"

"You like him."

"Puh-lease, girl! I barely know him."

"Uh-huh."

They remained silent for a minute.

"Okay, maybe I like him a little. So what?"

Susan cheered victoriously. "You'll be seeing him again?"

"Probably not."

"This is about your family, isn't it?"

"Maybe."

"You moved out of the 'rents to live your own life without them breathing down your neck. Have some fun!"

"Makayla would flip if she heard you."

"Well, she's not here." Susan sang the words into the phone.

Nathalie huffed. "Why are you all up in my biz? And what's it to you, anyway?"

"He likes you, you like him. Pretty simple. Also, if I have to listen to you gush and fantasize about another soap actor, I'm gonna kill you. Or myself. Whichever comes first." Susan groaned.

"I DO NOT!"

"Oh, yeah? Last week, you talked about one for like an hour, like you lived through the episode yourself!"

"I really hate you, right now." Nathalie aggressively bit into the sandwich.

"I'll just mentally erase that and imagine that you said something else. 'Susan, you're such a caring sister-in-law, I really love you.' Awww, really? Thanks, Nat! You're so sweet!"

"Are you done with your schizo self?"

"Break's over, gotta go. Live, Nat. LIVE!" Susan said dramatically and ended the call.

Nathalie shook her head. "Crazy."

Three days after, she stood in the kitchen staring between her phone and Grant's card. Running her thumb over the lettering and considering Susan's words, she decided to text him.

Hey, it's Nat. This is my number.

He called her an hour later. They spoke for fifteen minutes before he asked her if she was available to go out the next day.

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