Succulents on the Window Sill

Chapter 9

The bass was heavy, thumping around the front of the car as they pulled up to the traffic lights. Zach's fingers were tapping out the beat of the song on the steering wheel. 

When the silence had become too much for him, he'd put the radio on, settling on a station playing non-stop 90's-00's trance. It was nostalgic, and Corinne couldn't help but nod along to the familiar tunes. 

"You used to play this kind of stuff all the time, remember?" Zach's eyes were alive with colour as he glanced at Corinne. They were in a busy part of town, and the car and street lights blurred into chaos by the heavy rain that had begun to fall. 

From where Corinne sat in the passenger seat, Zach looked like a model in a music video. The windows were foggy around him, alive with reds and whites. He was a strong silhouette one second, a lit vision the next. He looked good, hotter that Corinne liked to admit, for this was no time to be checking him out.

"My sound of the summer, huh. Made me think I was in Ibiza or something."

"Oh, I remember it. Your orange fake tan, bikini's, paper umbrellas in your coke glass. Sunbathing between the rain showers. Non-stop Cascada all summer long." Zach winked, and Corinne couldn't help but smile.

"Tease me all you like, according to Jake, you were the one wanking over it." Zach's eyes grew wide, and he burst out laughing with a nod. She'd teased him so much about it over the weekend that they'd reached a point where he couldn't deny his teenage attraction for her any longer. He'd been the shy, nerdy guy lusting over the wannabe party girl across the way. 

"Come on, your dancing around your bedroom was the only interesting thing going on all summer."

"You saw me dancing?" 

"Oh yeah." He grinned wide. "Hairbrush in hand, shaking those hips in front of your mirror." 

"Oh no, Zach." Corinne's head fell to her hands in hopes of hiding her reddening cheeks. "Please tell me you're teasing me."

"Nope. You'd the bad habit of doing it your tiny pyjama shorts too."

"God, no, please." She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so embarrassed. "Did you just live by your bedroom window or something?" 

"Pretty much." He shrugged, still laughing. "Don't worry though, I'm pretty sure I was the only one who could see. My room was the only one in the cul-de-sac at an angle to see into your room."

"Thank goodness you're my husband, otherwise..." Otherwise, her teenage ass-shaking would have been on full display, locked in the mind of some other creep.

"Otherwise, I'd punch that Zach kid's face in." Zach playfully shook his fist before moving it to the hand-brake, easing it off as they finally slid through the traffic lights and turned right. 

"Yeah, total creep, that kid."

"Sure was." 

"He hasn't changed much." 

"Aw, now, come on, Corinne. These days I am checking your ass out like a gentleman, by averting my eyes when you're looking my way." Corinne reached over, lightly slapping his arm. 

"You dick! What was it like back then, hands and face squashed to the window pane?"

"Yeah, mum was forever telling me off with how much cleaning she had to do."

"Poor Fiona." Corinne shook her head, settling back into her seat with a chuckle. 

"You probably thought I was a complete loser though, huh?" Zach's laughter was fading. This was a serious question, and Corinne knew he wanted a serious answer, preferably not one that fed his insecurities either.