Routes to Romance Page 4

  The bell on the front door rang, followed by Anna's surprised laugh. "Oh wow, nice hat! If you're looking for Maggie she's around the back there." A small pause, she must have been gesturing to the menu. "Can I get you anything?"

  "Uh, just a latte. Thanks." Her mystery date's footsteps echoed as he started to walk towards her, a small greeting being thrown towards Aisha before he stepped around the corner.

  Her eyes went wide. "Gareth?"

  Gareth stepped forward, taking off his beanie and holding out his hand. "Hey there, you're Maggie, right? Nice to meet you."

  "Uhh, right." She shook his hand, tilting her head. "We've met before Gareth, don't you recognize me?" His stare was blank, his eyes narrowing in confusion. She sighed, "Sarah's best friend?"

  "Oh!" His face lit up in realization, his hand covering his eyes in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I don't usually pay attention to anyone. That's not an insult I just... Don't really think about other people."

  She chuckled, "Don't worry about it, I guess we'll just have to get to know each other again then."

  Gareth raised an eyebrow, hesitating for a moment before chuckling to himself. He took a seat across from her, stretching out his shoulders and relaxing back into the material of the chair. "So, you're Sarah's best friend huh? What's that like?"

  "It's pretty good, she's fun to be around." She smirked. "What's it like being Keith's best friend?"

  "Pretty good, doesn't bother me much." He huffed, "Well, he didn't, until this came up."

  "I take it this wasn't exactly top of the list of things you wanted to do?"

  "Oh." His eyes widened as he realized how that sounded, not able to stop the grimace that overtook his face. "Oh, I didn't mean... You seem like a great person it's just-"

  Maggie laughed, clutching at her stomach as she doubled over. Gareth watched her laugh, and yet he didn't feel like she was laughing at him, rather he just felt... Happy that she was enjoying herself. Considering that he had been looking forward to this being over when he walked through the door, the feeling was strange to say the least. Even still, he rolled his eyes at her antics, scoffing lightly to himself. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up."

  "I'm sorry, it's just..." She wiped a tear from her eye, still shaking with giggles. "I didn't really want to come here either." She smiled, the warmth of the sight taking him by surprise. "But so far I'm enjoying this."

  "Yeah it's... Surprisingly not so bad so far." Gareth looked over his shoulder as Anna arrived with their coffee, her lips twisted in a surprised smile.

  "Of all the people who Maggie would be meeting for a date you were nowhere near the top of that list." She placed the coffee on the table, looking at him with her brow cocked. "I thought you made it a point to not date."

  "Well normally I don't. But you know who I live with after all."

  She laughed, "Oh you poor boy, did Keith not get the message again?"

  "He did not." Gareth shrugged, looking over as Maggie sipped at her coffee, waving a hand in front of her mouth when it was too hot. "Though he might not have done such a bad thing this time, there's worse ways I could pass my Friday."

  "Yeah, you could be like me. Sitting around serving coffee while everyone else who comes in has a date."

  Maggie looked over the rim of her cup. "Who's Aisha here with?"

  Anna rolled her eyes, scoffing fondly, "Oh she's attached at the hip to Dave and Chris, it's only a matter of time till she gets with one of them."

  An indignant voice floated around the corner. "I can hear you! Dick!"

  "Well, that's my cue to leave you two be. Enjoy your date." Anna winked at them, walking back around the corner to talk to a belligerent Aisha.

  Maggie and Gareth looked at each other, staring for a few seconds before they started to laugh. After a few minutes they managed to calm themselves, content to sip at their coffee and discuss whatever subject they could think of, discovering that there was a surprising amount to like about one another.

  "So wait, you really didn't want to come today?" Gareth hummed as he leaned on his hand. "What do you normally do on Fridays then?"

  Maggie leaned back, stretching her legs across the seat. "My Fridays are normally filled with a whole lot of absolutely nothing. If I don't have to do anything, generally I don't want to do anything."

  He placed his hand over his heart, almost swooning. "Oh dear, you're a woman after my own heart!"

  "I mean not to say that I won't do anything, but there had better be a good reason to bother me when I could be sleeping."

  "Right? Just because I have a day off doesn't mean I should suddenly fill it with something to do." Gareth shrugged. "Sometimes I just want to do nothing, what's wrong with that?"

  She shook her head. "Some people are just too active, I don't get it."

  "So aside from nothing, what else do you like to do?"

  Maggie leaned forward, putting a finger on her chin and pouting in thought. His eyes were drawn to the swell of her lips, the way her tongue idly flicked across them before the corner perked up as she found an answer. "I really like to cook, experiment with new foods, ingredients, all that." She smiled fondly. "I've been teaching Sarah how to cook actually, it's... Not exactly going well."

  "Compared to me I'm sure she's a model student, I'd be fucking useless."

  "Not exactly good in the kitchen, are we?"

  "To put it lightly, no I am not." He said, "To the eternal confusion of my parents."

  "Oh?" Maggie widened her eyes. "Are they good cooks or something?"

  "You could say that." He waved his hand. "Dad's the head chef at some high-scale place in New York, I think they just won an award. Mom makes her living going round the country and tailoring menus and sorting out staffing issues to get everything running properly."

  "Oh wow...Sounds like they would be pretty good."

  "And here's me, can't use a knife without cutting my hand open and studying anthropology instead of going to culinary school. Which is probably for the best - honestly, you do not want to be subjected to my cooking."

  "Fair enough." She nodded, smirking. "How about we go out somewhere to dinner then?"

  "Now see that would be a better..." Gareth's eyes went wide with surprise. "Did you just ask me on another date?"

  She nodded eagerly. "I don't see why we shouldn't, I had a really good time today. Didn't you?"

  "I..." He thought about it, surprised at how warm the feelings he was getting were. He slowly nodded, his smile growing with each movement. "I did actually. I'd love to go on another date."

  Maggie almost bounced with happiness before getting herself under control. She brushed down her front, before clearing her throat, "What day works for you?"

  The answer was obvious.

  "How about Friday?"

  Four

  —

  Gareth and Maggie

  Friday came sooner than they could ever have expected. Rather than dinner, both Gareth and Maggie considering it to be rather old hat, they opted to go and watch a film. Neither of them particularly cared what they chose to watch, in the end choosing the latest horror film that had come out, something not too story-intensive so they could still get to know each other.

  Gareth felt like he was in his element, pointing out tiny details and explaining how certain shots had been achieved. To his delight, she was utterly invested in his explanation, chiming in with questions and theories of her own on how certain effects were created, easily holding her own in a conversation she had never had before with someone who was experienced in it. By the end of the film she felt like she'd actually learned something, not generally a feeling one gets from seeing a run of the mill slasher. Gareth, for his part, was over the moon that she had enjoyed herself that much, even more so when she said that he seemed like a real expert on the topic.

  "No," He chuckled, "I'm no expert."

  "You could've fooled me!" She wound her arm through his, leaning in against his shoulder. "Why aren't you studying it?"

  "O
h, I am. Did I not tell you that?"

  She looked up at him with furrowed brows. "I thought you were studying anthropology?"

  "I am." He clarified. "Double major. That's how I know Aisha."

  "That explains a lot. I just thought she knew everyone."

  He laughed, pulling her closer into his side. "She does honestly, total social butterfly. Sat next to me on my first day and wouldn't stop talking my ear off. Same with Chris and Dave, once they plant themselves on you there's no getting rid of them."

  "What's the deal with those three? Is there something going on there?"

  "Oh, welcome to the betting pool, it took long enough." He shook his head. "They say that there's nothing going on, but no one really believes them. A bunch of people are betting she's with Dave, a few more that she's with Chris. Chris and Dave has a few dollars riding on it but not many."

  She tilted her head at him. "And you?"

  "Hm? What about me?"

  "What's your bet?"

  He shrugged. "I'm betting it's all three. I mean, just look at them, you really think one of them would be excluded in something like that?"

  "That makes a lot of sense actually. You pretty much never see any of the three of them by themselves..."

  "And every time you do it's because they're going to meet the others."

  She stroked her chin, nodding slowly to herself. "Your bet sounds pretty good, I might have to put a few dollars on it."

  "Alright..." He leaned in, whispering, "But not too much, I don't want it to get too popular, I'll win so much if I'm right."

  "Don't worry, I won't reveal the little racket you've got going on." She giggled, leading them towards the inner part of town. "Come on, I wanna get a burger."

  • • •

  They sat on opposite sides, both eager to stay close but not enough to have to maneuver around each other to eat their food. That would just be strange.

  Currently Gareth was focused on the mouthful of food he had just eaten, the burger paling in comparison to the ones he had grown up eating, but a comparison like that wasn't exactly fair. As it stood, it was one of the better ones he'd eaten in the last few months, though perhaps it was just the company that he had right now that made everything taste sweeter, richer. If every time he felt the flavor explode against his tongue he was staring across at Maggie's lips, well if you asked him he would deny it. Not without hesitation though.

  "So, anthropology and film huh?" Maggie swallowed her own mouthful, looking across at him curiously. "That's a weird combo, why'd you choose it?"

  His answer was simple, as though it was obvious. "Indiana Jones. I liked the cultural aspect, and it started off my interest in film, so it's always stuck with me."

  "I thought you'd rather be an archaeologist if that's the one that got you started."

  He laughed, "No way, I'll stick with the theory. Archaeology is cool but I'm not hoofing my way out to some field in Greece to find out that ancient civilizations didn't shit the way we thought they did."

  "Wait..." She leaned forward, looking around before whispering, "Did they really not do it like we do now?"

  "I dunno, ask an Archaeology student." He smirked, taking another bite from his burger. "What about you?" He asked after swallowing. "Why are you studying?"

  "I'm mainly taking Anthropology as an elective, I just wanted a class where I can sit with Sarah. My actual degree is in English."

  "Ooh, very nice. Are you studying to be a Librarian?" He braced himself as she reared to throw one of her fries, before getting herself under control.

  She chuckled, "Yeah, never heard that one before. Honestly though I think I'd rather write, get my stuff put into a library instead."

  "You write?" He quirked an eyebrow. "What do you write?"

  She waved a hand dismissively. "Some short stories, some poetry, nothing noteworthy yet. I'm still in university, of course I haven't got anything good."

  "Just because you're in university doesn't mean you don't have anything good. Bret Easton Ellis wrote his first book when he was nineteen."

  Maggie scoffed, "People in my class would debate on whether or not that was a good thing." She looked over at him, spacing her words out slowly. "Though I'm surprised you know that."

  "What can I say? I'm filled with trivia. Ask me anything."

  "Alright, who painted 'The Kiss'?"

  Gareth was silent for a few moments, before hanging his head slowly. "Ask me anything else."

  Their meal progressed rather peacefully, their curiosity regarding each other being sated question by question, and with each one they could feel themselves warming more and more to their new companion. By the time their meals were gone and they were ready to leave, another two hours had gone by without either of them truly realizing.

  "Time flies huh?" Gareth hadn't been able to stop smiling for hours, and he sure wasn't going to stop now. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

  They stepped out into the night air, Gareth silently thanking the chill as he took off his jacket and threw it over Maggie's shoulders. The amused smile he received in response was something he wouldn't be able to forget for a long time. "My my, how chivalrous of you."

  He groaned in disgust, "Oh god, don't call it that."

  "Call it what? Chivalry?"

  "Yeah, the only dudes that call it chivalry now are gigantic assholes." He fixed a sideways look at her. "I know I can be a little rough around the edges, but I like to think I'm not that gross."

  She giggled, leaning into him. "You are far more tolerable than those guys. How about... Cool Guy Stuff? What if we call it that?"

  He rolled his eyes. "Alright that's... Marginally better."

  "Well then, Cool Guy, my apartment is in this direction." She pulled him along, weaving through whatever people were in their way in a rush to get out of the cold. They came to a stop in front of her door, taking shelter in the alcove by the door to try and warm up. Gareth stepped closer, lightly taking her hand in his. "I uh... I had a really nice time tonight." He smiled a little shyly. "You're a really cool person to hang out with."

  "Well..." She stepped closer herself, their noses almost touching. "I'm glad I passed the test."

  And then her lips were on his, pressing lightly but with purpose. After a moment of surprise, he was kissing back, threading his hand through her hair and pushing himself deeper into the kiss, a small groan emerging from one of them, they weren't sure who.

  Her lips tasted like cinnamon, like the air after a lightning strike. His hair stood on end, his lips molding effortlessly to hers as they pressed together, both of them locked in their own little world. After what could have been a minute or an eternity, they had to pull back, sucking in a lungful of air. They looked into each other's eyes, their foreheads resting against each other as they breathed heavily. Their faces slowly cracked into smiles, happy laughter floating between the two of them as their fingers wound together. "So... I take it this means you want to go out again?"

  "Given that I'm kissing you, yes Gareth I think you can assume that." She giggled, pressing a kiss to his nose before tucking her head into the nook of his shoulder. "I'm guessing you want to as well, considering that moan just before."

  "That wasn't me, that was you."

  Maggie waved it off. "Sure sure, it was cute though just so you know."

  He kissed the top of her head, before looking towards her front door. "Sarah's probably waiting up for you, eager to hear how your big night went." He pushed her lightly. "Best not keep her waiting."

  She opened the door, still clutching his hand even when she was halfway through the doorway, not wanting to let go. Eventually she had to however, Gareth walking slowly back down the stairs as their eyes remained locked, Maggie's lips pursing and blowing a kiss towards him. As the door shut between them they were left with a myriad of feelings in the wake of the night. Chief among them was happiness, the feeling that they'd finally found someone to really connect with, a happy surprise that neither of them were looking for
but were glad they'd found.

  Neither of them could deny the seed of guilt in their mind though, the ugly, gray feeling that was going to grow more and more until it became unbearable. Each felt like they were betraying the other by not being honest, not being completely upfront with how they felt, not just to each other, but to the other people in their lives.

  These feelings were like a dark cloud intruding on their sunny afternoon, the water on their fireworks. As they took each step away from each other they could feel it intruding more and more, until all they could feel was a gnawing, empty sense of regret.

  They had to speak about this.

  • • •

  Gareth sat with his feet up on the table, an untouched bottle of beer that had long since lost its chill clutched in his hand. He didn't look up as he heard Keith enter the room, he knew that he'd come and speak to him in no time anyway. Sure enough, that's what happened, his friend bounding over with all the glee of someone expecting good news about something they were involved in.

  "So, Gareth..." Keith said, smiling as he sat down next to him. "How'd the second date go?"

  He shrugged. "It went fine, she's a really nice girl. You actually didn't fuck up here. For once."

  Keith rolled his eyes. "Well I'm glad to know that I'm not a total fuck up. So..." He tapped his shoulder. "Are you gonna see her again or what?"

  Gareth sighed, willing himself not to look to his side. "Probably, yeah."

  "You don't sound sure about that."

  Gareth exhaled harshly, wondering exactly how he was going to put this. He couldn't really think of any good ways, so he just said, "She's nice. Really nice, you know? But I just... What if I'm not right for her?"

  "Oh, come on." Keith rolled his eyes. "Sure, you can be kind of a prick about a lot of things but that doesn't change that you're my best friend." A pang shot through Gareth's heart at hearing the term. "I'm not just gonna sit here and let you think that you're some piece of shit unworthy of someone who cares about you."

  "You sure seem invested in this, don't you?"

  "Why wouldn't I be?" Keith turned on the couch, staring right into Gareth's eyes. "Why wouldn't I want you to be with someone who could make you happy? Who can be there for you in a way that I can't?" He ran a hand through his hair, sighing to himself, "I know I've been spending a lot of time with Sarah lately, but I don't want you to think that I'm moving on from you. This could be a way to spend more time together you know? Go out and... Be happy together."