22. At the Stroke of Midnight

On Friday, Krislynn finally worked her end of the deal and cleaned Chase’s house while he was busy at work. Although his house was gigantic to say the least and it took every bit of effort to scrub it down, she had it sparkling by the time he was home at five with dinner fully prepared. She jumped him the minute he walked through the door and quickly slipped a blindfold over his eyes before he could do anything else.

“What the–”

“I know what you want to eat,” she cooed into his ear.

Dirty thoughts ran rampant in every corner of his mind until his entire body was rigid and stiff. “Oh really?” He murmured, feeling just a tiny bit uncomfortable where this might lead him.

“Want to know how I found out?” She bubbled, almost to an unbelievable amount of innocence. Her hands gently massaged his shoulders as she pushed him inside the house, guiding him wherever she saw fit as he mindlessly followed her directions. “Why are you so hard?”

Her finger touched a muscle beneath his shoulder blade and Chase instantly shuddered in response. “Why don’t you stop massaging me,” he muttered. “It’s only making me harder.”

“Really? That’s weird. Don’t massages usually–”

He interrupted her with an awkward cough before changing the subject. “Where are you leading me anyways?”

Krislynn laughed. “Just hang tight. We’re almost there.” She stopped him abruptly and a second later, he made out the faint sound of the patio door sliding open before he felt her hands behind him once more. “Alright, now take one big step forward and then you can take the blindfold off.”

When Chase stepped through and took his blindfold off, he smirked at the sight in front of him. Krislynn had set up dinner outside – which he had figured as much when he heard the patio door being opened, but what he hadn’t guessed was the large and rather extravagant display of food. “Wow. You went all out tonight, didn’t you?” His brief smile slipped off his face as he spun around to face her. “Okay. What do you want?”

She wrinkled her nose at him, which he found undeniably adorable, before she crossed her arms in front of her in defence. “I don’t want anything from you. Why would you say something like that?”

“Because you’re being nice to me all of a sudden,” he reasoned. “When women who have a tendency to kick you in the balls magically start being nice to you, they want something. It’s basic female 101.”

Krislynn scowled at him before moving past him and taking a seat across the table. “I’ve only ever fantasised about kicking you in the balls,” she countered, “I haven’t done it yet!” She looked up at him innocently, but saw the cynical expression he was giving her and decided to throw in the white flag. “Okay! Okay! So I maybe broke my phone today.”

Chase sighed before sitting down on his chair. “And you want a new one.”

“I just feel so naked without one, you know?”

“Don’t worry,” he teased. “It’s not like anyone would want to see you naked.”

Krislynn’s face scrunched up until little wrinkles formed on the corner of her eyes. “Ha!” She hollered. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Says the guy whose dick reacts to a telephone pole. Oh look, a telephone pole! Oops! I’ve got another boner!”

In one swift movement, Chase reached across the table and pinched her cheek mercilessly. “You are just so fucking cute,” he grunted, sarcasm dripping off his every word. He released her cheek after a moment before taking a look down at the food she made for the evening. “Well, I’ll think about it.” He decided, trying to restrain from breaking into a smile. “Depends on how amazing dinner is.”

Her hand was still cradling her cheek in her palm, but she smiled affectionately up at him. “Try the soup. It’s really good.”

“The yellow thing?” Chase touched his spoon to the golden color liquid in his bowl and briefly stirred it. “What the hell is it?”

“Organic Butternut Squash soup,” she declared. The smile on her face was worth at least a million bucks, but Chase wasn’t convinced.

“I’ll pass,” he said, looking for the next attraction on the table. “What’s that?”

“This is coleslaw made with organic vegetables, dried cranberries and organic apples in a special organic sauce that only yours truly can make. It’s to die for!”

Chase narrowed his eyes at her and felt his appetite slowly diminishing. “Is there anything here that doesn’t have the word organic in front of it?” He stared at her expectantly and she pushed the plate of meatloaf towards him.

“It’s turkey loaf,” she said. “Turkey is your absolute favourite, right?”

He nodded his head vigorously as she served him a slice of meat. “Yeah. I love it. How did you know?”

Krislynn flashed him a pompous grin as he watched her suspiciously. “Something Michelle casually mentioned the other day while we were out for lunch. She wouldn’t shut up and forcefully gave me some tips on you. It ended up being sort of useful though, don’t you think?”

Chase shrugged and without another word brought a piece of meat up to his mouth. He was starving to be honest, and not only did the food Krislynn make look good – even the organic stuff – it smelled amazing too. Unfortunately, the meat only lasted a few seconds in his mouth before he grabbed a napkin and spat it out.

“What the hell is this?” He screamed. “This isn’t turkey. I mean it looks like turkey, but it’s not turkey!”

“You’re being dramatic.” Krislynn rolled her eyes at him before taking a two-bite vegan burger from one of the silver trays and taking a small nibble out of it. “It’s 100% turkey. Tofu turkey.”

“That’s not turkey at all!” Blood furiously pumped through his body and he quickly pushed his chair back before standing up. “You are so not getting a new phone tomorrow!”

Krislynn’s face fell and she glared at him bitterly as she stood up herself. “You can’t do that. I worked all day to make you dinner. I even made you turkey!”

Chase couldn’t help but laugh hysterically at her claim. “You don’t get it do you?” He grumbled. “It’s not turkey Krislynn, when its turkey made out of tofu damnit!”

“It all tastes the same!”

“No it doesn’t!” Frustrated by the blind alley argument, Chase shook his head sluggishly as he ran a hand through his hair. “You know what? Screw this. I’m going back inside and ordering pizza.”

As if her flip-flops had little wings attached, Krislynn raced over to the patio doors and blocked him from going inside. “Don’t Chase,” she pleaded desperately. “You don’t have to buy me another phone, but please help me eat it. I don’t want to waste all this food and I can’t eat it all by myself. Think of all the little starving kids in the world!”

Chase gritted his teeth. “No,” he mumbled. “Now get out of the way.”

“Then I’m not going to move,” she said stubbornly. “I mean it’s not like it tastes bad. You just don’t want to eat it because it’s healthy for you and it isn’t real meat. Stop being such a guy!”

“I’m starting to think this is why all your boyfriends dumped you!” The words flew out of his mouth before he knew it and Chase was reluctant to stop himself. “I mean, all the guys you picked up off the street are literally dirt. You should be the nicest catch they’ve ever landed, but as soon as they get back up on their feet, they leave you like you’re the plague. Why?!! Because you’re psychotic and hard to get along with!”  

His words must have struck a sensitive nerve because Krislynn’s eyes glared up at him like he had never seen before. Her nose flared slightly as she took deep breaths and her hands curled into hard fists as if she was ready to fight him. “Take. That. Back.”

“No,” he said persistently. His heart clenched and he was well aware that he was feeling remorseful for what he said. Sure Krislynn was a little on the chaotic side and drove him nuts from time to time, but it wasn’t always like that, and she had grown on him considerably over the last few days. Still, he wasn’t going to back down from what he said earlier and he certainly wasn’t planning to admit he was wrong. “Anyways. Move.”

When she didn’t respond to his command, he shrugged and started down the patio steps. “Whatever. I’ll just walk around the house.” Chase only made it pass six metres before Krislynn charged and shoved him into the outdoor pool. His head bobbed up to the surface five seconds later and he immediately cursed her before wiping the water from his eyes. “You stupid bitch. You’re going to get it once I get out of here!”

“Oh I’m so scared,” she whimpered before grabbing a purple noodle float and bashing him in the head with it. “Go suck my balls asshole! This is for the little kids!”

Needless to say, the tension in the house for the rest of the night was extremely high. Neither of them was willing to back up or step down for the other and they both retired to their rooms extra early to escape the confrontation.

Chase was completely restless when he went to bed. Los Angeles rarely ever rained, but when it did, it poured and the annoying pitter-patter of water hitting his windows and roof top agitated him more than it usually did. Then there was the fact of how much he wanted to make up with Krislynn.

Chase didn’t even understand why, but unlike every girl he’s ever encountered, Krislynn had that odd effect on him. He didn’t mind it when they bickered and fooled around, but he hated it when they fought for real. It wasn’t anything emotional – more of the fact that it always felt like he had heartburn or indigestion when she was pissed off and not speaking to him. It was such unbearable torture, nothing like if it was his conscious, which then he could just mindlessly blow off.

For hours, he twisted and rolled in his bed, but around midnight a gentle knock rasped on his bedroom door. Chase couldn’t hide the excitement even if he tried. Like an overzealous puppy, he jumped up on his bed and walked to the edge before hopping down.

Sure enough, Krislynn stood on the other side of the door when he opened it and he ever so casually leaned against the doorframe before glancing down at her. “What do you want?” He grumbled, adding in a yawn to make it look like he had been sleeping. “This better be good.”

From the dark, Chase couldn’t make out the finer details of Krislynn’s attire, but he noted that she was wearing an incredibly big T-shirt and wondered if she was again, wearing nothing underneath besides another flimsy pair of lace underwear.

Another glance later, Chase noticed that she had taken her pillow along with her and was tightly enveloping the plush material around her arms as her eyes stared fixatedly at the ground. Her figure stood stiffly in front of his bedroom door and realizing that she in fact wasn’t here to apologize to him, he straightened himself up.

“Can I...” Her voice was weak when she spoke and he had to lower his head in order to hear her speak. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”

His heart thumped inside his chest and all he could muster out through the mixed signals his body was both receiving and sending out was a loud, highly embarrassing, “What?!”