Poison

Chapter 5

I get out of the car and follow her to the sidewalk. "Sure I am," I respond as I retrieve my bag from the backset. When we reach the apartment, we set up shop in the living room after Maya changes out of her coffee scented clothes. She sprawls out on the living room floor and I put my belongings on the table.

"You ready to get some work done?" she encourages as I open my laptop.

"Boy, am I?" I retort with a forced grin.

We work on our project, talking occasionally but mostly researching the decade we decided to present on. The roaring twenties and the dirty thirties were taken so we went for the 1950's. We work for nearly two hours before the sound of the door opening interrupts us. My head perks up curiously as I stare at the meeting point of the living room and hallway. Maya, on the other hand, continues to work diligently, not at all disturbed.

Asa arrives in surprisingly fancy attire. His light blue button down is tucked neatly into his well fitted slacks, which end just before a pair of black dress shoes. He doesn't spare us a glance as he pulls his shirt from the depths of his pants. I watch as he successfully removes it just as he shuts the door to his room.

"Don't get distracted," Maya mumbles as she peers at me with a smirk.

"I'm not," I dismiss quietly as I return to my task at hand. I wonder what he does for work.

A few moments later, he exits his room in gray sweatpants. Just sweatpants. It's hard to not get distracted when just a few feet in front my laptop, Maya's good looking roommate is walking around half naked. She surprises me by darting up from her spot on the floor. "Do you want something to drink?" she questions and I give a weak nod.

Asa looks over at our little study set up. I watch as he squints at the slides on Maya's screen. His eyes eventually land on me and he tilts his head curiously. "We've met before, right?" he asks, which stings just a little. Am I that forgettable? At least he doesn't remember my wandering eyes and stuttering speech.

"Briefly," I answer as he rests his forearms against the back of the recliner, rocking it slightly. He continues to stare at me before slowly nodding.

"Yeah, you couldn't keep your eyes off me," he recalls casually. My face immediately reddens at the fact that he remembers. "Ivea, was it?"

At least he was close, I credit him. "Ivy," I correct, which gets a slow nod from him.

"Oh yeah, that's the only word you managed to say," he says with a short nod. I let out a low sigh. "Well congratulations, Ivy." He taps the recliner once as he raises to his full height. I keep my eyes locked on his face, repressing the urge to admire the tattoos travelling down his arm.

"On?" I ask in a state of confusion.

"Being the only girl to come around here twice," he informs me with something of a smirk. "You must be doing something right."

"I heard that!" Maya yells from the kitchen.

"That was the point," he retorts loudly before joining her. I stare at his back with a frown as he leaves. All I want to know is if I'm really not memorable.

When Maya returns with my water, I wait until Asa disappears back into his room to ask her the question that's been bouncing around my mind. "He's a student, right?" I query in an attempt to be casual.

"Yup," she says as she distractedly scrolls on her laptop. Before I can ask a clarifying question, she cuts me off. "I just finished the slides for 1955."

"I'm almost done with 1959," I respond as I scroll through the list information I compiled.

"Maybe you'd have finished by now if you weren't so distracted," she sings with a small, knowing grin.

"I'm used to working in complete silence," I excuse awkwardly.

"With no half naked guys walking around either, right?" she quips with a tilted head. I feel the heat rise from my neck and I swallow nervously.

I glare at her but her smile is contagious. "Shut up," I snap with narrowed eyes. "Let's keep working before you have to go to work."

We do just that, stopping at 6:30 so I can drop Maya off at Food Mart. "You don't have to bring me," she insists.

"I really don't mind," I reply. She lets out a strong grunt as she tosses her backpack onto her bed.

She dances back into the living room, removes her shoe, and throws it at Asa's door. A few seconds later, he appears with a pair of semi-rimmed glasses. I'm pleasantly surprised at the way they look on his face. If possible, they make him more attractive. "We're leaving," she tells him as she retrieves her shoe from the floor.

"You couldn't just text me...or yell?" he questions with a flat expression on his face. I stand beside Maya silently, watching the interaction as if it's a television program.

"Too traditional," she responds with an innocent smile. "I'll see you later."

"Whatever," he replies as he closes his door. I follow her out, feeling a multitude of questions pour into my head.

"What year is he?" I ask her as soon as she shuts the door. Again, she doesn't bother to lock it. Her eyes fall on me as she lets an amused grin extend across her lips.

"Why don't you ask him?" she responds curiously.

"No," I dismiss immediately. "I don't think he likes me very much."

"It takes some time but he'll warm up to you. When that happens, you can ask him all the questions you want," she replies as we wait for the elevator.

"I don't even have that many," I lie quietly.

She stares at me with a smirk. "I have one for you," she leads and I nod at her to continue. "Do you think he's cute? Asa?"

"What? No," I dispute with a quick shake of my head.

"You were staring pretty hard..." she trails suggestively as the doors to the metal contraption open.

"I was just wondering how you guys became friends," I attempt to cover up.

"That's a very long story," she says as she lets out a slow breath. "I'll tell you another time."

"I'll hold you to that," I reply with a small finger wag.

"You don't want to be my friend just because you think he's cute, right?" she asks after staring at me for a few seconds.

"No!" I reply immediately. I thought we moved on from that topic. "I told you: I don't think he's cute!"

She leads the way out of the elevator and tips her head back to release a loud laugh. "I may wear glasses but I'm not blind," she scoffs at me.

"Clearly you are if you're seeing things that aren't there!" I insist as my cheeks go red. I lightly rub them in an attempt to make it go away.

"If it makes you feel any better, he hasn't caught on yet," she attempts to comfort with a small pat on my back.

"He doesn't even know my name," I inform her with a loud sigh.

"Does that bother you?" she wonders as a girlish grin escapes. I shoot her a glare as I head in the direction of my car. She swings her bag and it hits me in the back. "I can formally introduce you two."

"No!" I decline with a quick shake of my head.

"Why not?" she asks, clearly getting a kick out of my discomfort. "You'll probably be around here a lot, with the project, all of our future friendship endeavours, your sexiled sleepovers... You'll have to interact with him at some point."

"No, no, no," I insist with another quick shake of my head.

"Fine," she relieves me so I sigh in relief, which only gets a dark chuckle from her. "It's still happening. I just won't tell you when."

I glower at her with red cheeks as I stand before my car. "I may not know you well enough to have such strong feelings but I hate you Maya Lu," I grumble as I struggle to unlock the car. She gets into the passenger seat and grins at me.

"It's a feeling you'll get used to," she assures me with a wink.