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“You'll always be welcome if you bring more of that incredible dessert with you,” Tania interjected as she plonked herself onto one of the spare dining chairs, her bleary eyes gazing longingly at the mugs of coffee on the table. Allee poured her a cup, which Tania took gratefully. With caffeine now coursing through her system, Tania continued.
“Y'know, we should really take you shopping. I mean, you've got some beautiful clothes, but I have to say, you don't really have a lot of casual gear, do you?”
“No, not really. I have one pair of jeans, and I only got them recently. Same with my new bathers.”
Tania and Allee shared a soft chuckle, knowing where she had got her swimsuit.
The three women continued to talk and make future plans, waiting for the men to wake up. The first was Sammy, who sat up on the couch, looking around as if he had no idea where he was. Unfortunately, Sammy seemed to have forgotten he was in a sleeping bag, and when he made to get up, he tripped and landed on top of Mark. This rude awakening had Mark yelling and swearing at Sammy, leaving the women in peals of laughter. This, in turn, jerked Andre awake, who fell onto Mark, which brought Noah emerging from the office. Darryl then came stumbling down the stairs, wondering what on earth had happened. Luckily, Allee had gotten up to start preparing the other coffees, so everyone had a mug in front of them within minutes.
After a leisurely breakfast, they had enough energy to face the day. Within the hour, the others had packed up their assorted bits and pieces and had said their goodbyes. Allee went back upstairs to shower and change and give Piddle some extra food as a treat for being well behaved with her guests before heading out to surrender the apartment key-card, and her hire car.
Noah's Arden blue Astra was parked out the front of the office. She waved at him, feeling a little nervous, as she was uncertain how to act with her growing attraction.
“So, next stop Bed, Bath and Table, right?” Noah asked as she settled into the passenger seat. She nodded in agreement, and he set off, manoeuvring the car with skill. Her Astra had never been as quick as this, and she commented.
“You owned an Astra?” he asked her in return.
“Yes, but it was nothing like this one.”
“Yeah, well, this isn't exactly a standard Astra. This one, the OPC, was only on sale for a few months in 2013 before they packed up shop and left."
"OPC?" Allee hadn’t heard of that before.
"That's Opel's version of HSV."
"Oh, so they fitted a bigger engine?"
"They also fitted a load of handling parts too, which really helps it in the corners,” Noah spoke confidently as he negotiated the busy roads. “Plus, this one's had some aftermarket love too.”
Allee liked Noah’s honest enthusiasm. Stuart had always bragged about his Monaro, about how much money he poured into it, the size of the engine and how powerful it was. It was like his car was a status symbol to be admired and flaunted rather than a machine.
As they drove, Noah and Allee chatted about various topics, discovering that they had interests in common, not in the least their shared love of science-fiction.
Even once they had arrived at the store, they continued to discuss the various merits and flaws in Peter F. Hamilton’s Night's Dawn trilogy. At the checkout, the lady behind the counter smiled, noting the pillows and duvet, commenting on how they were such a lovely couple. Allee blushed, and Noah fidgeted, but neither of them corrected her mistake. Leaving the store, Noah carried the bags to the car, then leant against it, a serious look on his face. Allee waited, sensing he wanted to say something.
“So, I was wondering. I mean,” Noah took a breath and started again, “I don't want to push you into anything you're not comfortable with, but, well, I like you, and I think you like me too. So, I was wondering, did you want to go out with me to dinner or a movie or something?”
Allee was s torn between gladly accepting and wanting to run away to hide. She wasn't sure she was ready to take this next step. Noah went a dull red at Allee's hesitation, turning and saying, “Never mind, forget I asked.”
At that moment, Allee realised how badly she had embarrassed Noah. She quickly went to him, her light touch on his hand halting him.
“I'd love that. I really would. You need to know something, though. You've already guessed that I've been through a really rough patch recently, and you're right, I have,” Allee shook her head to clear the bad memories. “I will tell you about it, but I can't do it right now. But if you're willing to be patient, I'd love to go out with you. We'll just need to take it slowly, that's all.”
Noah turned, his face beaming with a mixture of relief and excitement. He took her hands in his and lowered his mouth to kiss the back of each of them.
“I'm happy to wait. I'm not the type of guy to rush into things. Besides,” he smiled, “something tells me that you’ll be worth the wait.”
Chapter Eleven
It had been a couple of months since Allee had moved into her new life, and a lot had happened. Allee had held off on having a house-warming party as work had ramped up due to the upcoming launch of Guardians III: Return of the Warrior. Everyone in the QA and Programming teams were working around the clock, with people coming and going at all times of the day. Even the weekends were being taken up with last-minute updates and bug fixes, and an exhausted Noah had taken to napping on the couch in Allee's office when he needed a break. Due to the activity, Allee had also spent most of her time at the office, providing food and keeping the overtime logs up to date to send off to Melbourne. She had been fielding telephone calls and emails regarding the release, and it was with a great sense of relief and joy when, on the Thursday morning six weeks after she'd moved, the Guardians III expansion went live. Craig told everyone to go home after lunch and get some sleep, as most of them would need to be back on action stations the following day to look at any new bugs.
Since they hadn't spent much time alone since they had started dating, Allee asked Noah to have dinner at her place on Thursday. They ate early, then sat on the couch watching Netflix together, Noah's right arm around Allee's shoulders, his left hand holding hers. Piddle was curled up next to Noah, her eyes closed, her paws kneading his leg, while she purred in contentment. It had only taken Piddle half an hour after first meeting Noah before she had staked her claim. Whenever Noah came over, Piddle would be winding around his feet within moments of his arrival. Then for the duration of his visit, the cat could be found curled up on his lap or lying next to him wherever he sat. Allee took Piddle's acceptance of Noah as a sign of his trustworthiness, as the cat had never taken to Stuart and hid whenever he was present.
Allee leaned into Noah's side, feeling so safe and content in his arms that she was beginning to get drowsy. Noah looked down at her and smiled; he looked tired himself.
“I suppose I better get going. It's been a long month, and I'm beat,” he yawned. “See you tomorrow at the office, yeah?”
Allee nodded and sighed as she up and stretched, jumping slightly as Noah stood behind her and embraced her, resting his cheek against hers. She was still getting used to Noah and was startled if he moved or touched her unexpectedly. Allee leant back into Noah's chest before turning and facing him. He slowly bent his head and lightly pressed his lips to hers, then released her and walked out the door.
