Quite Quitting

Never Crossing the Line

A loud, continuous honk rang through my apartment. I stuck my head out my living room window and screamed at what appeared to be a black-tinted car making that sound. "Shut up!"

Alex stuck his head out the back window and yelled, "hurry up!"

Alex kept his promise and showed up 10 minutes after I hung up on him. I slammed my window shut, grabbed my purse and jacket, and ran down my apartment steps mainly to stop the honking.

When I got to the car, I first got to the driver's side window and knocked on it. "Please, stop!" I said to the driver, who was undoubtedly doing as he was ordered. Finally, the noise stopped, and the car driver shrugged apologetically. I then moved toward the backseat and got into the car. Almost empty, besides Alex sitting on the far left looking up at me.

"Good morning?" It wasn't a greeting but a question.

"The best I've had in a while." I smiled sinisterly as I sat next to him, and the car started moving forward.

"Whatever," he said, looking down at his phone.

"No, not whatever. You ruined a perfectly good morning!" I screamed.

"I didn't give you a day off for that...." He snapped.

"Alex, can I ask you a question?"

"No."

"Why do you not want me dating or seeing other people?" I blatantly asked. I had had enough of the guessing game.

"Charlotte, what makes you think I am going to answer such a baseless accusation." He answered, well, non-answered, my question.

"Baseless. Okay, next time I am with Ben, and you call me, I will make you wait till we are done." I said.

"Yeah, do that. Sorry did I not let you guys finish?" He projected the same sinister smile I was displaying a few seconds ago.

"Do you want me to give you a play-by-play of everything we did today?" And that wiped the smile right off. The satisfaction I got from this was out of this world. My heart felt light and heavy at the same time, but I enjoyed it. So when he said nothing, I added, "I'll take that as a no, shall I?"

"No, go ahead. Tell me." He angrily said. "I bet you I can guess. I know you too well. You stopped whatever you were doing at my call and kicked him out. I'll guess one more thing. You let him do nothing more than kiss you."

"Sure, if that's what helps you sleep at night." I shrugged.

"Oh, you know what, and who helps me sleep at night? Unlike you, I have followed through." Now the smile was off my face. "Why do you hate it when I talk about my..." he cleared his throat. "Let's call it my extracurricular activities."

"Ugh, you are so disgusting." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't hate the player. Hate the game."

"I would if you ever let me play the game!" I shot back.

"You want to play the game with me?" Alex said, leaning his face a little toward me. I was caught off guard, so I didn't move back and just blinked at him. His familiar smell intensified, and I felt the endorphins release in my brain.

Once I shook off his effect, I chuckled. "What are you talking about?" I played dumb.

He cleared his throat again and moved away from me, not taking my bait. I wanted him to tell me what he meant. Since our kiss all those years ago, the conversation about us has always lingered. We drank, we kissed me, he walked out, and then it was like it never happened. Sure, there were days we flirted and got close to talking about it, but Alex always stopped before hitting that line.