Third Wheel

Awkward.

The blaring sound of the alarm prompts Daniel to shoot up from his bed clambering to shut off the alarm that he meant to remove from his alarm settings but never quite remembers to do so.

6:00 am

He grunts at the time displayed on his phone. Regretting yet again coming home early in the morning. 2 hours of sleep is not a new concept for him, but the accompanying throbbing of his head was not at all welcome.

He heads to the bathroom to wash off the enveloping sticky feeling from the humid air of last night that lingered on him like a layer of thick syrup.

He puts on the shower. Freezing cold to shock himself back to reality.

"Damn it!" He exclaims at the sharp sensation as the cold water hits his skin.

After a few minutes of staring blankly at the marble veins of his porcelain tiles in a sort of tantric state, he snaps out of it and finishes his shower. With a towel on his waist, he inspects his face and contemplates whether to shave his stubble, but the grumbling of his stomach calls for something greasy, so he heads out to his kitchen in search of something to eat. He grabs his ice-cold brewed coffee and frozen bacon, searches for the sliced bread and plops them all on the counter. He then continues to grab all the utensils needed, clinging and clanking, moving in a manner of habit to fix himself up with breakfast to ease his grumbling stomach.

The harsh sunlight streaming from the windows wakes a very groggy Kacey. She rubs her eyes open and quickly assesses her situation. Where am I?

The question in her mind reminded her, snippets of the events that happened last night, but all she could gather was flashes of her drinking what seemed like shots of alcohol, but the problem with that picture is she doesn't drink. Disoriented, she calms herself down by taking in deep breaths, feeling the plush sofa from underneath her, she pulls the fluffiest of blankets close, forgetting for a moment that the view she's seeing is not at all familiar.

A clinging and clanking of metal objects snaps her into reality as she jolts up to the direction of the noise.

She sees a bare-backed male whipping up something behind the kitchen counter. Oh, no! What did I do? Who is this? Where am I? I need to get out of here. Slowly, let's walk to the front door. Where's my bag?

She takes a step back as she looks down in search of her bag. A wave of fear hits her after finding out she was wearing just a button down polo which causes her to hit her leg unto the center table, which sent a surge of pain causing her to scream in pain.

"Ow!"

As she falls back onto the sofa, she hears a clanging of the pan on the floor coming from the kitchen and the man letting out his frustration is equally caught in surprise.

"f**k! Who's there?"

Kacey stood as fast as she could to see who the man behind the counter was. There she saw the familiar face of her cousin's friend, Daniel.

"KACEY?!"

"PARKER?!"

Both call out as soon as the situation registers in their mind. Daniel starts to walk out of the counter when Kacey stops him.

"Please tell me you're dressed down there." Kacey points out, as she was only seeing his naked top half

"You're one to speak, is that my shirt? And why are you here in my living room?" Daniel retorts.

Kacey quickly pulls the blanket over her to cover up her less than decent number.

"I have no idea, but I'm really relieved that it's your condo and not some psycho." She plops onto the sofa.

"Do you remember why I'm here?" stupid question she says to herself as she looks at his confused expression.

"Does this mess look like I have a clue why you're here?"

"Nevermind." she recants.

"So what now?" she asks.

"Well, since you're here, breakfast? Or half of it at least." Daniel picks up the pan and shows the contents to her.

Kacey moves closer to the counter as Daniel sets up a plate for her.

"Coffee?" He holds up his brewed coffee.

"I'm good thanks, I don't really like coffee. Some milk? Orange? Or water either will do."

He grabs an orange juice box from the fridge and puts it next to her glass. He stands there observing her as she looks everywhere but avoiding his gaze, then he realizes he is not dressed.

"Eat. I'll go ahead and change." He clammers as fast as he can and heads to his bedroom.

Kacey smiles at his flustered reaction to everything. It's a side she hasn't seen him in, as they don't cross paths too often. She only knows him as her cousin's friend.

Daniel Ellis Parker is an architect by profession. He works with Kacey's cousin Spencer and fiance Adeline on some projects. The three of them have been friends since college and have been thick as thieves as far as Kacey could remember. Daniel and Kacey have never even had a full conversation with each other apart from the Hi’s and Hellos.

"So, I found your phone." Kacey jumps at the voice of Daniel from behind her while enjoying her food.

"Yes!" she says in glee as Daniel hands her her phone.

"Did you also see my glasses anywhere?"

"Sorry, but no."

She scrolls for any messages and missed calls, but surprisingly, there aren't any. Probably because her parents are still on a cruise and, well, she doesn't have anyone special apart from her fur babies.

"Expecting a message?" Daniel asks inquisitively, reveling in this very rare moment of having someone in his apartment and Kacey of all people. Wondering if they spent the night together.

"Uh- no. um there's no- I don't-" she trails and ends up letting out a giggle at this weird situation and Daniel gives out a chuckle at the novelty of it all.

" Um- you don't think we -" She starts

"I don't think so. If we did, you wouldn't be out here." Daniel says in his most convincing tone.

He stares at her blankly while trying to jolt his memory, but none comes to mind.

Kacey Caitlyn Giles, the interior designer, the introvert, non-alcohol drinker, the go-home-before-nine, caged and sheltered cousin of his best friend. He never saw her in this state and as no memory comes into mind, he just now notices her in his shirt ; disheveled hair deliciously hanging over one side, the slight blush on her cheeks, her brown eyes glowing brighter like a pool of honey.

She shifts a little, hiding her embarrassment as she feels his gaze washing over her.

In a sudden shift, the air in the room grows thick. She tries to look around to avoid his gaze as she thinks of what to say next.

"So I'd-" before she can finish, the doorbell rings, jolting Daniel as he catches himself staring. He quickly opens the door, hoping Kacey was disoriented enough to notice him staring.

Spencer and Sophie are standing in the entryway with bags of takeout on hand and the delicious smell of pastry enveloping the room.

"Good morning!" Sophie exclaims all smiley, She’s been secretly wanting Kacey and Daniel to end up together, she hides this fact ever so often but this time her gleefulness isn’t helping.

"Park." Spencer hands Daniel a baggie that smells of waffles and proceeds to head to the sofa.

"We brought food!" Sophie says while walking towards the kitchen counter, places the food down and hugs Kacey with her other arm.

"What happened last night?" Daniel asks Spencer

"The usual, eat. Drink. Bar hop." Spencer states

"Dude" Daniel exasperates

"Oh, you mean this situation? You don't remember?" Sophie catches Dan's frustration.

"Well, after the club, Kacey rode with you to make sure you came to the coffee shop but both of you never showed. I guess you ended up here." Sophie explains, seeing Dan's and Kacey's faces shocked with concern.

"Kidding." Sophie finally put them out of their misery as both Dan and Kacey grunted at her for the bad joke.

"After the club, we decided to come here because your place is nearer. When we arrived, we partied a little more and then Kacey had way too much to drink and vomited all over her dress, so I asked for a shirt that she could borrow. Plopped her on the sofa, since she was in no state to head home. " Sophie hastily explains.

"Wait, you didn't think you two-" She teases them both

"Sophie!" Daniel and Kacey exclaim as she and Spencer chuckle at the thought.

"Come now. Let's eat!" Sophie says as she sees the tension deteriorate gradually.

"You don't happen to have my clothes?" Kacey asks, still with a blanket over her.

"They're still downstairs at the laundromat."

Daniel is having such an unusual Sunday. Normally he'd sleep till afternoon and only get up when he felt the need for supplements. He sits in the nook looking at the bunch eating waffles and laughing at the stories of last night's shenanigans. He doesn't quite know what to feel at this sudden warmth that radiates from his cold man-cave.

"Sorry to superimpose ourselves on your day, Parks. I hope we're not interrupting. We'll be out of your hair as soon as I get word from the cleaners about Kacey's clothes." Sophie took the conversation to Daniel.

"Not at all. It's a Sunday after all. It's not every day you get a surprise with your breakfast." He looks at Kacey, who smiles bashfully.

"Oh, by the way, before we forget. We have a project that we'd like to talk to you about. How's your calendar looking?" Spencer asks Daniel.

"Sure, any project is welcome. I just have a few in the turn-over stages, so I'm pretty open these days." Daniel states as a matter-of-factly.

They continue on with small talk and about new materials on the market. The guys stay on the couch catching up on some social media, while the girls gossip about their upcoming events. In a short time, the laundromat is able to send Kacey's clothes up to the condo. She immediately goes to the guest room's bathroom and freshens up.

Kacey faces the mirror and cringe in disapproval at the sight of her reflection. Good God Kacey. She washes the gunk from last night out of her face to feel like herself again. Good thing she doesn't wear heavy make-up. If she did, she'd look like a panda in a polo.

The door swings as she unbuttons the shirt so she turns her back towards the intruder.

“Occupied” Kacey shrieks

“Oh, I- I’m sorry, I thought you might need some towels .” Daniel hands her the towels as she turns his way with her back against the sink.

“Might be better if you knocked.” She retorts

“Sorry, force of habit.” Daniels brushes off her reaction as he enters the

room plopping the towels on the sink.

“So you barge in on your guests in the bathroom?” Realizing her question she quickly retracted her question.

“Nevermind, I- I commend you on your towels i- it- its super soft.” She tries to save herself from the awkward conversation by focusing on the towel , she is truly pleasantly surprised by the fact that he has monogrammed towels and plush ones too. Tiny details she appreciates as she is an interior designer.

“Toiletries are just in this cabinet.” He steps closer cornering Kacey as he opens the mirror cabinet revealing the products, while Kacey is frozen, enamored by his height. She has never felt so small with him towering over her.

“Uh- thanks.” She says slowly moving aside to distance herself from him.

“Leave you to it then.”

As Daniel leaves and closes the door she quickly locks the knob. A tingling sensation pools in her stomach, she has never been that close to a guy before, his scent overwhelming her senses -

“Stop” She scolds herself in the mirror. She lets out a long exhale of exhasperation.

She quickly showers to rid herself of the electric feeling. Kacey is starting to feel like herself again as she is in her clothes and not Daniel’s. As she folds the shirt she wonders how many women have worn it. She checks the bathroom to see if she left it clean and hurries to the kitchen.

“Whoa where’s the fire?” Sophie asks

“I think we’ve overstayed our welcome, I’d really like to get home and decompress.” Kacey silently tells Sophie to not offend anyone else. Ever since Kacey and Sophie met they have acted like sisters and have been inseparable since.

“Bub, hey, let’s skidaddle. Let’s leave Parker to his peace, we’ve imposed it long enough.” Sophie calls out

“Oh no, it’s fine.” Daniel politely says

“Yeah, we gotta go. Thanks by the way for letting Kacey stay. Not that you knew anyway.” Spencer teased.

“Yeah Yeah. Thanks for the loot.”

All three head out the door and leave Parker with his peace.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Sorry I left my phone, this is the last one I promise,, and I will send this shirt back your way after having it laundered.” Kacey says all flustered. Daniel gestures for her to get in perfectly amused at how weird this day is getting.

“Thanks again. Bye” She quickly waves at Daniel and leaves.

Emptiness fills the room and Daniel feels a little pang of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach, the day started off weird but surprisingly exhilarating. He sits on his sofa facing the huge windows overlooking the city. He leans back, splaying himself on the sofa when he feels something beneath the pillows .

“Her glasses” He looks at the door thinking if he should run down to give it back, but the plushness of the sofa beckons him.

" Next time.”