Page 19 of The Expiration Date

I pick up my dripping clothes and tiptoe back down the hall toward the living room. I can smell coffee brewing. On the kitchen island, a candle flickers. It smells like fall–my favorite time of year. The rain is still coming down hard outside. I watch Aidan reach for a couple of mugs out of the cabinet. As he sets them down, he turns his head and his eyes wander down the length of my body. I involuntarily pull the shirt down further. I feel so exposed.

Aidan clears his throat. “Um, I made some coffee. Help yourself to some creamer in the fridge. I know how much you love a little coffee with your creamer,” he adds, smirking, exposing his prominent dimples. He reaches for my wet clothes I’m still holding . “I’ll go put these in the wash for you.”

“Thanks.” I hand him my clothes and when he disappears down the hall, I throw up my hair into a messy bun to try and tame whatever frizz is going to develop in the next few hours. I open his fridge and notice my favorite creamer in there: oat milk creamer, specifically the oatmeal cookie flavor.

When Aidan walks back into the kitchen, I hold up the carton of creamer. “Oatmeal cookie is your favorite flavor, is it?”

Shrugging, he says, “So what if it is? Are you judging?”

I snort. “Not at all. I also happen to love the oatmeal cookie flavored creamer.”

“Well you know what they say, great minds.”

I filled my mug a little over halfway with creamer and add a little bit of coffee to top it off. I hand over the creamer to Aidan so he can pour whatever stingy amount he wants to put in his own mug. Sure enough, he pours in just a splash and fills the rest with coffee. I shake my head as I take a sip of mine. Oh my god this is the best coffee I’ve ever had. “Tell me: why is it that I am the one fetching you coffee every day when you are perfectly capable of making coffee all on your own?”

“Well, you are my assistant. Isn’t that kind of the whole point of your job?”

I walk past him and bump into him slightly. “Who’s the smartass now?” I say as I plop onto his couch. Good lord this is the most comfortable couch. I guess being a world famous movie star has its perks.

“I’m kidding. I honestly just don’t have the time in the morning.” Aidan sits next to me. Uncomfortably so. “You know how L.A. traffic is, and I like to get in a workout in the mornings if I can. I just don’t have the luxury to sit and make coffee and a good breakfast. I’m almost always on the go. Especially with early call times.”

“Oh I know all about those.”

A flash of lightning illuminates Aidan’s apartment. Thunder claps, and suddenly the lights go completely out. The only thing that is preventing it from being completely dark is the flicker of the candle on the island. The city was black.

“Shit. Hold on.” Aidan places his mug on his coffee table and darts off the couch. As I pull one of his blankets over my legs, I watch his silhouette move across the room. Every curvature of his body is emphasized in this light. There is no hiding anything. There are glimpses of his statuesque figure. All the hard outlines of his muscles. I want to give all the kudos to his personal trainer. Did I mention he has a lot of muscles? I guess he has to be that built to portray a superhero with superhuman strength on the big screen. I am thanking my lucky stars that he can’t feel how hot my ears are getting. I’m sure my cheeks match the color of cherry chapstick. He reaches towards the middle of the island and grabs the only lighting we have in this entire apartment.

11

Shit. This cannot be happening. I carefully bring the candle over to the coffee table so we can make out each other’s faces in this blackout. Without the humming of the fridge, my apartment is eerily quiet. The only sounds are horns blaring from the frustrated drivers below. It’s probably chaos out there, which is why I am immensely happy that I am stuck inside with Haley. She always disrupts the chaos with her presence. Part of the reason I love her as my assistant. Like her as my assistant.

When I sit back down, I see a slight shade of pink on Haley’s cheeks. “Are you hot or something? You looked flushed. Hopefully this blackout doesn’t last too long and the AC will come back on.” I look down and notice that Haley has also draped the blanket from the back of the couch over her bare legs, which is a shame. No one should cover up legs like hers. Why am I fixated on her legs? “Um, maybe taking off the blanket might help, too.”

“I’m fine.” She secures the blanket over her legs and drinks more of her coffee. I could swear she turns even more red. I love that she can’t hide the way she feels around me. I can read her like an open book.

“So…” I start.

“So?” she responds.

“Maybe since we don’t have any other form of entertainment and we’re stuck in this apartment, we can get to know each other a little better before we drive out to the Hamptons tomorrow afternoon.”

Haley adjusts slightly into the couch. “Okay, what do you want to know?” she asks hesitantly.

“Where did you grow up?”

“Cold Spring. A small town outside of Manhattan.”

“Any nicknames I should know about?”

“Um, well Hales, but you already know that. My mom calls me Haley Girl.”

“Just your mom? What about your dad? Does he have a cute little nickname for you?”

Something shifts in Haley’s demeanor. She breaks eye contact with me. I don’t know why but when she does that, it aches me to my core. “Um, my dad used to call me Haley Girl, too.” Her eyes become very watery as she grazes her slender finger around the rim of her mug.

“Used to?”

“Yeah, he died about four years ago. Inoperable brain tumor.”

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