Dates, Duds & Mistletoe

seven

Not wanting to overthink things, Hailey pushed the kisses at the end of his text to the back of her mind. Yes, she'd invited him over, and yes, they'd likely fool around a bit, because as much as she wanted to say she wasn't that type of girl, she knew it'd be hard keeping her hands to herself.

Elliott seemed to be her sexual kryptonite, because when he'd dropped her off after skating a few days prior, she'd had to use every ounce of will in her body not to invite him up to her place. The make-out session they'd had on her building's doorstop bordered on indecent, but she couldn't seem to care in the moment. Or at all, really.

She was living her life, and if she wanted to sleep with the insanely attractive man who seemed to have taken an interest in her, god damnit, she would.

The waiting, however, drove her a little bit crazy.

She did her best to focus on work, digging into the research that'd been done into each company to finalize the proposals, but every so often, acknowledging the hours were counting down until Elliott's arrival veered her train of thought off track.

When the clock struck four, Hailey simply couldn't ignore it any longer, and put her work aside for the day, knowing she'd gotten enough done to warrant a bit more of a chillaxed snow day. Plus, not having set a definite time to meet, Elliott could realistically show up at the door at any time.

Luckily, she wasn't super rushed, because while there was no point dressing to the nines when they were just going to be eating take-out and watching a movie, she still wanted to look better than she did in her pajamas. Throwing on a cozy sweater and a pair of leggings, she pulled her hair out of its ponytail and quickly french braided it before dusting on a bit of makeup, sticking with concealer, mascara, blush, and a bit of lip gloss.

And when the buzzer sounded throughout her apartment, she stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, and headed towards the door to buzz him in.

"Elliott?"

"It's me."

"Come on up."

It took maybe thirty seconds for Elliott to emerge from the elevator, snow covering his shoulders and hair, but as Hailey's nerves acted up, it felt a lot longer. Though when he smiled at her and held up a brown paper bag, she felt most of the nerves fade away. Or at least hide for the time being.

"Wanna take a guess?" Elliott asked as he stopped in front of her.

Looking down at the unmarked bag, a moment of silence passed between them as Hailey pondered the answer. "Burgers or Chinese?"

"Chinese," he replied, leaning in for a quick kiss. "Good guess."

Hailey opened the door to her apartment wider and let him pass. "More hope than guess," she said, watching as he took off his jacket to reveal he was still wearing his work clothes. A suit. He was wearing a suit and didn't seem to find anything strange about it. Taking off his suit jacket as well, he then tried to shake the snow from his hair. When he didn't fully succeed, she took a step closer and brought her hand up to brush the snow away. "It's really coming down out there, isn't it?"

"Sure is, though nobody seems to care that much. I swear, there are just as many people out today than any other day."

"Well, they don't call it the city that never sleeps for nothing," Hailey quipped. "It just so happens it's also the city that doesn't take a break."

Elliott chuckled. "Too true."

"How do you feel about eating on the sofa?" Hailey asked, nodding towards the living area as she led him into the kitchen to grab plates. "We can eat in here if you want, but we could also put on a movie and just chill."