Seeing Shadows (16 page)

I arched an eyebrow to mask my discomfort. "Famous last words." I looked at Simon's plates and saw that he had finished everything except his pancakes. "You didn't finish yours. I'm disappointed in you," I joked.

"I've found that I've lost the taste for pancakes unless they're blueberry and served by a specific someone," he said. Before I could reply, he held his hand up to catch the attention of Crystal to get our check.

I swallowed and said nothing, watching Crystal hurry over and lay the check abruptly on our table. As Simon picked up the check, I grabbed a corner of it. "We're splitting it," I said, not wanting to make this seem like a date. I pulled on the bill, craning my neck and trying to see the total amount, but Simon snatched it out of my hands.

"No can do," he said lightly. "My mother would be horrified if she knew I let a girl pay. Anyways, I'm the one that brought you here and you're helping me out by showing me where to go today."

I raised slightly off my seat, reaching for the check futilely as Simon held it under the table. "Simon," I warned. "Seriously, let me pay my half. It's not like you really need my help. It seems like you know how to get around just fine."

"Ah, ah," Simon said, grinning and shaking his finger at me. "Don't throw my chivalry back in my face. It's not ladylike." He pulled out his wallet and pulled out a few bills.

I sat back down and crossed my arms. "Who said I was a lady?" I said grumpily. At Simon's look, I sighed and gave a small laugh of surrender. "Fine. But I'll pay next time."

Simon grinned. "I'm just happy there'll be a next time. Come on." He left the money on the table and slid out of the booth, standing in front of my side and holding out his hand.

I looked up at him and gingerly placed my hand in his. Simon was just being gentlemanly as usual, I told myself. He pulled me up, not stepping back so that I was standing right against him. I held my breath, not daring to look up. The sounds of the restaurant faded away as I was acutely aware of my pounding heart and the warmth of his body. I felt Simon's hand gently tuck my hair behind my ear, grazing his knuckles against my cheek. "Caitlin," he whispered.

I jumped at the sound of his voice and pulled my hand out of his grasp, stepping away. When I finally got some distance between us, I glanced up at him. Simon looked disappointed.

I pasted on a smile, feeling a little sick to my stomach at his expression. Disappointing him hurt a lot more than I thought it would. "Practicing already for the hordes of girls tonight?" I joked lightly.

Simon pressed his lips together with displeasure, so I grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the entrance of the restaurant, trying to ignore how the warmth of his hand made me feel. "Come on," I said, striving to sound upbeat. "Your apartment isn't going to furnish itself."

Simon resisted at first and then let me pull him outside. He gave me a faint smile and swung his arm around my shoulders as we walked to his car. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked, almost to himself.

"Put me to work, of course!" I exclaimed. "I have to earn my brunch!"

Simon laughed, and we spent the drive to the home store in easy camaraderie, talking about nothing important and reinstating the relaxed atmosphere that we had been able to achieve earlier.

At the massive home store, we were able to get everything that Simon needed. It felt very domestic picking stuff out, especially since Simon deferred to my taste. He just nodded his approval at the sheets and towels I picked out. When I kept telling him it was important that he liked what I chose since he would be the one living with it, not me, he would just smile and say, "Sure."

Simon wheeled the cart to the kitchen department and asked me to pick out all the stuff he needed.

"What do you have right now?" I asked. "Do you have plates and stuff?"

"I have plates and utensils, but that's about it," Simon replied. "I used to just order out most of the time, so I didn't really need anything else."

I frowned. "Unless you're planning on taking up cooking, you probably don't need much besides maybe a pot and a pan and a few cooking utensils like a spatula."

Simon gave me a thoughtful look. "Maybe I'll take up cooking. The only thing I can make is that chili dip so it wouldn't hurt to learn," he said. "Just pick out everything you would want in a kitchen."

"Why?" I asked suspiciously. "I doubt you'll have much use for all the stuff that I would pick out if it was my kitchen."

Simon grinned. "Let's just say I have aspirations."

I narrowed my eyes. "Aspirations for what?" I asked.

"To start cooking, of course," Simon said innocently. "Why? What did you think I meant?"

I laughed and shook my head. If that's what Simon wanted, I was more than happy to oblige. I loved shopping for kitchen supplies. Walking down the aisles full of shiny gadgets excited me more than any fancy clothing store. After heaping the cart full of what I considered essentials, we turned to go to check-out when I suddenly remembered that Simon had mentioned he needed a shower curtain earlier.

"We almost forgot your shower curtain!" I exclaimed. Simon wheeled the cart over to the bathroom section, where there was a whole row of shower curtains on display. I smiled deviously to myself as I started going through the shower curtains. Simon hadn't disagreed once with any of my selections, and it was starting to make me wonder if he would just agree to anything I picked out. I decided to test it.

"What about this one?" I asked, pulling out a shower curtain with large brown puppies cavorting around with each other, their faces scrunched up in different expressions of adorableness. "It's so cute!" I cocked my head, watching him, waiting for him to retract in horror at the emasculating display before him.

Simon grinned and looked at me. "Sure, why not," he said. "Who doesn't love puppies?"

I laughed in horror. "You're kidding me!" I said in disbelief. "You can
not
be okay with this shower curtain."

"Why not?" Simon shrugged. "You like it, right?" He reached over and grabbed a package with the puppy shower curtain inside, throwing it in the cart.

"Simon!" I said, aghast. "You can't get that! That's not a
boy
shower curtain!"

Simon raised an eyebrow. "What happened to the feminist movement?" he asked with a smirk.

"But-but..." I sputtered. I threw up my hands and laughed. "Fine. But don't blame me when you regret it the first time you take a shower and you get freaked out by some big-eyed puppy staring at you."

Simon winked at me. "I'll take the chance."

After Simon paid for everything, not even blinking at the exorbitant total, we packed the trunk of his car with his purchases and drove to the supermarket which was close by.

Once inside, we wheeled the cart around the grocery store as Simon threw in an insane amount of junk food.

"Simon," I said, shaking his head. "We're really going to need to revamp your eating habits. Don't you eat anything besides junk food?"

"Is pizza considered junk food?" he asked

I laughed. "I guess it depends on what you put on top of it. I like junk food just as much as the next person," I said. "But you have to eat healthy stuff, too."

"Let's make a deal," Simon said. "You pick out some healthier food and help me make it, and I promise not to subsist solely on Cheetos and Ring Dings."

I paused. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to promise to spend more time with Simon, especially in his apartment. And doing something as domestic as cooking together. But I figured that things were going so well today as friends that it was harmless. The rest of the gang would be spending time at Simon's as well, so it wasn't like it would just be me and him all the time.

"Deal," I said with a hesitant smile. Simon grinned happily and my heart beat funny at the sight. It amazed me that my acquiescence of a simple request could make him so happy.

I picked out groceries like chicken, pasta and vegetables and added them to the overflowing cart. "Well, this should be enough food for a month," I stated. "But knowing how you eat, you'll probably have to go grocery shopping again next week."

Simon laughed. "We'll see. There's one more thing I need to get." He wheeled the cart into the condiment aisle and grabbed an oversized bottle of ketchup.

"Hey," I protested. "You don't even like ketchup."

"But my personal chef loves the stuff," he said, grinning. "I have to make sure I have a constant supply to keep her happy."

I rolled my eyes and laughed, but I couldn't help but feel a tingle of happiness that Simon seemed to remember so much about me.

After the supermarket we headed back to Martin Street. The closer we got, the more nervous I started to feel about going inside his apartment so I tried to circumvent the issue. "You don't need to drop me off," I said. "I can just walk home from your place since it's so close."

Simon frowned. "Aren't you coming over?" he asked.

I checked my watch. "Don't you want to get ready for the show tonight? You guys probably have a lot of stuff to do."

"Nah," Simon said, pulling into his driveway. "Grant went crazy yesterday posting up promotional fliers for the show and we've practiced to death. There's nothing left to do but play. Besides, I need your help putting everything away. I have no idea what most of the contraptions you got are for. I don't know where they go."

I hesitated momentarily and then relented. I didn't want the day to end either. I was having way too much fun in Simon's company. I told myself it was okay, we were just becoming good friends.

Simon opened the trunk and we started carrying the bags inside. His building was two floors like ours, but his was a single occupancy apartment. When I walked in, I understood immediately what Sarah meant about it seeming like a grown up's apartment. Instead of the mismatched furniture that cluttered other students' apartments, Simon's apartment had nice furniture that matched. He had a large dark brown leather sectional in the living room, with an expensive looking walnut coffee table. At least, I thought it was walnut. I really had no idea what type of wood it was made out of, but I immediately thought walnut since it sounded expensive.

A large flat screen TV was mounted on the wall, above a glass cabinet full of an electronic geek's dream. A plush leather chair with an ottoman was in the corner along with a side table that matched the coffee table.

"Nice," I said, looking around. "Are you sure you're not thirty?"

Simon laughed as he lugged the bags inside. "My mother has a thing about furniture. It made her happy to pick out this stuff so I let her." I nodded, understanding that he must be this way with everyone. Simon wasn't particular so he let other people pick out his stuff. This made me a little disheartened but I pushed the feeling aside.

Most of the bags went in the kitchen, and I admired the large space. All the appliances were stainless steel and gleaming like new. I doubted Sherry had ever turned on the stove unless it was to light a cigarette. There was an island in the middle with a couple of stools by it. It was a cook's dream and I couldn't help but look forward to putting it to good use.

From Sherry's parties, I remembered that there was a half bathroom on the first floor, and the second floor had two bedrooms plus a full bathroom and another small room for a washer and dryer. It seemed like a lot of space for one person.

We spent the rest of the afternoon putting everything away and washing Simon's new sheets and towels. I howled with laughter when we hung up the shower curtain and Simon just grinned like a madman.

As we were snacking on a bag of Cheetos, feeling pretty proud of ourselves for having put everything away, I heard my phone beep, signaling a text message.

"I bet that's Sarah," I said, reaching for my purse and taking out my phone. It was indeed Sarah, and I saw that I had missed an earlier text from her as well.