‘You can’t sleep there,’ I say, ignoring his question yet again.
‘That’s totally the reason,’ he surmises, rooted in his place.
‘Noah,’ I say, shooing him lightly with my arm.
He opens one eye lazily and crooks his neck to make eye contact.
‘Can’t I just have five minutes? That call took it out of me.’
He yawns as he says it, I assume for dramatic effect. The movement stretches his body, his muscles tightening and the towel shifting ever so slightly... I turn my head away so quickly I nearly give myself whiplash, then start barking orders at him.
‘Off! Now! And put some clothes on!’
Or at the very least, I try to bark. It comes off as less of a bark and more of a frantic and desperate squeak. His eyebrow raises at the sound.
‘Easy there, Squeak,’ he says, teasingly.
‘Don’t call me that,’ I say, bringing my voice down an octave. ‘And move. Now.’
His grin grows tenfold, lapping up my frustration but listening nonetheless. His abs ripple as he rises and I pry my eyes away as fast as they’ll go.
‘Of course, anything for my totally platonic roommate.’
. . .an indecent proposal
‘Another coffee, ma’am?’ the waiter asks.
Upon doing my research, I assumed that this was your typical low-stakes work-friendly café. It only took showing up to realise that it is actually the table-service-and-scowl-at-your-open-laptop type. This is perhaps the fifth time the waiter has passive-aggressively circled my table this hour, but, unfortunately, I have commitments that I must stay for. I shake my head briskly, averting my eyes back to my screen.
‘How about the food menu?’ he asks.
I go to say no again but am startled as I check the time.
‘Yes, two please, actually,’ I reply.
He stares back at me in shock, but hands me two of them nonetheless. I half-heartedly scan over the items before I go back to typing.
‘Amorie?’
I glance up at a man, vaguely timid and hunched over with somewhat greasy hair. As we make eye contact, his thin lips spread to reveal a toothy smile.
‘You look even better in person! How are you?’ he gushes as he sits down. ‘How long you been in Budapest now?’
‘Just a day.’ I smile meekly, closing my laptop.
Timothy slid into my DMs back in Berlin, a couple of days after the first set of articles went out.
If you’re ever in Budapest lmk... I’m studying abroad & I’d love to show you a real man.
I immediately ignored it, obviously, but then he commented on every picture I posted alerting me to his message. Eventually I felt like I had no choice and since we were on our way to Budapest anyway, I figured I may as well up my date numbers. Although I, of course, had Paige perform a background check first.AndI had Noah agree to station himself a few tables away from me on high alert. I look back over my shoulder and see him three tables back, tucking into a burger as he works away on his laptop. He steals a glance my way and flashes a reassuring smile. My breath loosens with the knowledge he’s got my back.
‘And how long are you staying?’ he asks, grabbing one of the menus.
He looks normal enough – thin build, clean clothes, bushy eyebrows and a boyish face that makes sense at twenty-two. Nothing particularly screams ‘creepy internet stalker who would wear my skin as a suit if given the chance’. That does not, however, mean that he’s trusted enough to know how long I’ll be in the city.
I shrug politely. ‘Don’t know yet.’
He smiles. ‘You play things so carefree! That’s what I love about you. Or, erm, your column anyway.’
