Teach Me To Love

Chapter 14

Two evenings later, moonlight flooded through the half-opened windows of apartment number forty-seven, faintly illuminating the rooms within it. Suzanne and her two friends made themselves comfortable in the seats facing the television in the living room, each with a movie disk in their hands. A huge bowl of popcorn sat on the table before them and Suzanne's friends argued over which movie they should watch for their traditional Friday movie night.

"Come on, Allie, let's watch Hitch," Kate tried.

"No. I want to see Mechanical Resurrection," Allison said.

"We've seen that twice, Allie, just because you like Jason Statham. I don't want to see a guy going around snapping people's necks again," Kate asserted.

"Jason's cute, admit it," Allison argued.

"Yeah, whatever, but I still don't want to watch the movie," Kate said, throwing her hands into the air.

Suzanne leaned over towards the table, pushed her right hand in the bowl of popcorn, took out a handful and looked at her friends. "I don't need to put on a movie, you guys are entertaining enough," she commented.

Allison narrowed her eyes at Suzanne. "Why don't you choose between the two?" she asked.

"You know I will not pick sides, so let's get this over with. Close your eyes, shuffle all of the cases on the table and pick one," Suzanne suggested, as she continued to munch on her handful of popcorn.

"Okay, Killjoy, I'll do it," Kate volunteered. She closed her eyes and shuffled the disks scattered on the table, then pulled out one. She raised her hands and handed it to Suzanne."Okay, Anne, see what we've got."

"The lucky one is, This Means War," Suzanne announced, then she inserted the disk into the DVD and hit play. "Let the show begin!"

Only a few seconds into the movie, three consecutive knocks on the apartment door disturbed the girls. The girls all groaned in frustration and Suzanne rolled off her seat and walked towards the door, ready to get rid of whoever was on the other side. She turned the knob and pulled the door open.

"Hey there, sweetheart," Lenard Valentin greeted with a sly grin.

"What are you doing here?" Suzanne hissed.

"We have a deal and it seems like you're already having fun without me," he said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Suzanne questioned.

Lenard leaned against the frame of the door and pushed his hands in his pockets. "Well, I wanted to hang out, but your phone number is like diamond to find around here, so I just decided to stop by."

"Oh. Okay, but I still can't hang you tonight," Suzanne said apologetically.

"Why not?" Lenard asked curiously.

"I have plans with the girls," Suzanne responded, then she self-consciously pulled on the ends of the t-shirt which hung loosely on her body.

"Anne, we're about to continue haven't you managed to get rid of whoever that is yet?" Allison shouted from the living room.

Lenard raised a brow at Suzanne. "So that is the plan," he said.

Suzanne shrugged and smiled brazenly at him. "I'm working on it!" she shouted back.

"Who is it?" Kate asked.

"Nobody important," Suzanne answered shortly.

"Really?" Lenard whispered to Suzanne. "I beg to differ. Especially with what I have in mind for you."

"Okay, then just shut the door in their face, maybe they'll get the hint then!" Kate suggested.

"I might do just that," Suzanne joked.

"We both know you couldn't shut me out even if you wanted to," Lenard said smugly.

'Can you not go a day without being egoistical?' Suzanne wanted to shoot back, but her voice faded when she heard footsteps drawing closer to where they were.

"What is he doing here?" Allison inquired slowly as came to stand next to Suzanne in the doorway.

"He wanted to know how I was doing," Suzanne responded nonchalantly.

"Okay, but that sounds rather strange. Lenard Valentin, the manwhore, coming here, to check up on my best friend," Allison commented.

"This shouldn't be such an issue, he's my friend now," Suzanne informed Allison. She then turned to Lenard and gestured. "Allison, meet Lenard. Lenard, this is Allison." 

Lenard stretched a hand forward and shot Allison one of his disarming grins. "Its a pleasure to meet you, Allison," he said.

"I couldn't say the same," Allison grumbled, then she turned back to Suzanne and whispered."I seriously hope you know what you're doing," she said and walked backed into the apartment.

"That was one awkward encounter," Lenard said. "I guess we will not be hanging out tonight, I surely haven't made it in you or your friends good graces."

"Did I not tell you that only moments ago?" Suzanne asked.

"Tell me what?" Lenard questioned.

"That we couldn't hang out tonight," Suzanne replied with an eye roll.

"Yes, you did, but I was hoping to change your mind," Lenard responded truthfully.

"That didn't work in your favor tonight, Valentin."

"Definitely not. Can you give me your phone number? It will surely save moments like these in the future."

"Sure. Just give me your phone," Suzanne said.

Lenard opened his phone and handed the device to Suzanne with the dialer open. She entered her phone number, then give the phone back to him. "We are all set," she said.

Lenard hit send, when the device landed in his palm and moments later they both heard Suzanne's phone went off inside. He shot Suzanne a sly smile.

"You thought I would give you a wrong number?" Suzanne asked impassively.

"I just wanted to be sure," Lenard answered.

Suzanne nodded. "I guess that's fair enough."

"I should get going," Lenard said.

"Yes, you should. You're taking away my time with the girls," Suzanne said pointedly. She tugged the ends of her t-shirt once more and instinctively Lenard's gaze followed the movement. "Goodnight," she whispered.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Lenard said and without warning, he leaned in swiftly dropped a soft kiss on Suzanne's right cheek, then he was gone. 

As the sound of his agile footsteps faded slowly from the hallway, Suzanne stood in the doorway of her apartment and stared stupefied at the space he'd just occupied and wondered had what transpired in those few minutes.