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She didn't really expect a response, and she didn't get one. It was probably too early for him, or his phone had died, or a number of other reasons that would justify it. She went to the kitchen for a drink and glanced at the closed door to Titus' bedroom as she did. She couldn't hear any sound coming from behind the door, but that didn't mean he wasn't awake. Her phone pinged with a text from the landlord saying he'd be there in five minutes. Scarlett finished up her water, folded the blanket she had used and hesitated before she left, wondering if she should say goodbye to Titus or not. She'd likely see him again. She opted for leaving him a note on the kitchen counter instead, thanking him for letting her stay and leaving her number for him.
The landlord was very unhappy to have been called in so early, but he did let Scarlett back into her flat with minimal grumbling. She thanked him and quickly slipped inside before he could give her a piece of his mind. Her keys were right where she had left them on the kitchen counter. She sighed to herself and put them immediately in her bag then got ready for work. She wasn't as late as she had thought she would be, thankfully. She put her head down and got to work. Her work kept her busy but didn't do much to occupy her mind. She still hadn't heard anything from Hunter, or from Titus. She hoped that both of them would say something to her, especially Hunter. She needed confirmation that he hadn't stood her up on purpose. She thought about sending him another text but she didn't want to sound desperate. The best thing to do was to wait, as difficult as that was. She would give him until the end of the day, until she went to sleep, and if she didn't hear anything then she would consider it a lost cause and turn her attention to other things instead, namely to Titus and his flat full of dragon statues.
Titus was the one to text her first, just a simple message to give her his number, but he was busy so she didn't bother to text back. Besides, she was behind on her work for the day since she was late and didn't have a lot of time to screw around. When she finally got home, however, there was a surprise waiting for her. Titus stood outside her door, holding a casserole dish in his hands.
“I cooked,” he said by way of greeting, smiling. “Can't speak to how good it is, but I learned a new recipe today and thought I'd try it out. Wondered if you'd like to have some as well.”
“That's sweet of you,” Scarlett replied. “I'm starving, actually.”
“All the better,” Titus said. “You got your keys this time?” Scarlett jingled them and he let them both inside. “You ever hear from your date?” Titus called from the kitchen as he sorted through cabinets looking for plates.
“Not yet,” Scarlett replied. “I'm giving him until the end of the day. Just gonna get changed.”
“Yup.”
She slipped into her room and quickly traded her work clothes for something more comfortable. Titus had laid a plate out on the tray table Scarlett kept next to her sofa and was setting up another one. They sat next to each other to eat.
“What made you want to share?” Scarlett asked. “Not that I'm complaining, this is great.”
“I'm not really familiar with my other neighbor,” Titus replied. “And I thought you'd appreciate it after the shit day you had yesterday. I wasn't sure you'd say yes, honestly.”
“I never say no to free food,” Scarlett replied.
Titus laughed. “I'll keep that in mind.”
Scarlett cleared her plate quickly and leaned back against the sofa with a satisfied sigh. Titus did the same not long after, stretched, and let his arm fall over the back of the sofa behind Scarlett. She noticed, but didn't say anything. As far as moves went it wasn't very subtle, but she didn't mind it, especially since she hadn't heard anything from Hunter. Maybe Titus would prove to be a better date if Scarlett gave him the chance.
“Would you like to take me out to dinner tomorrow night?” she asked.
Titus didn't look or sound startled. “I'd love to,” he replied and let his arm fall over her shoulders, a warm and heavy weight, almost as hot as Hunter's body felt.
“Pick me up after work? I'll be home at six.”
“I'll be ready,” Titus said.
“Good.”
They didn't kiss, but Scarlett almost let it happen. Titus was standing at the door, giving her a brief hug goodnight, and when she stepped back and tilted her head up to look at his face she found her lips scant inches from his. All she would have to do was stand up on her toes and they would meet. Her heart launched up into her throat and her whole body filled with a tingling warmth that shortened her breath and made her knees tremble. Titus' green eyes had gone very dark and the arms he had wrapped around Scarlett's waist tightened just enough... but she pulled back and cleared her throat.
“See you tomorrow,” she said with an awkward little wave.
“Tomorrow at six,” Titus said in a low voice. Scarlett very slowly closed the door on him and turned the lock. She heard his footsteps as he walked away and leaned against the door, waiting for her heartbeat to slow. She breathed out hard and ran her hands through her hair, noticing only then that they were shaking. It had been a long time since a guy had had this kind of effect on her and it'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it. She only made Titus leave because she knew that a kiss would have turned into something more and she'd be breaking her own moral code if that happened. Besides, she still had a couple hours left before she went to bed, which meant that Hunter still had time to contact her before she gave up on him and labelled him as a jackass. She kept one eye on her phone but as the night passed grew surer and surer that she wasn't going to hear anything. Too bad for him, then.
It wasn't until right when Scarlett got into bed and was plugging in her phone and winding down to go to sleep that she heard the ping of a text message. She assumed it was a friend, because Titus knew when she went to bed, and Hunter had gone all day without even sending her a sorry I'm okay. She was surprised when it was Hunter's name that showed on the screen.
\\Probably not the person you want to hear from but yeah I'm okay and I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you
\\Let me make it up to you?
\\Dinner tomorrow night? Say 6?
//I've got plans. Glad you're okay though. Was gonna cut you off if you didn't text before I went to sleep, and I just got in bed
\\How about just a drink then? I'll be at the pub as usual
//Maybe, if I can. I gotta sleep
\\Goodnight. I hope there's no hard feelings?
//No, no hard feelings. Night
Scarlett sighed and put her phone down then threw her arm over her eyes. She'd told herself if Hunter contacted her before she went to sleep she would give him a second chance. Just because she had a dinner date with Titus tomorrow night didn't mean she couldn't go out for a drink with Hunter after. She wasn't exclusive with anyone after all. Thinking about it made her head hurt. She would deal with it tomorrow when the time came. She curled up in her blankets and thought about the dream she'd had the previous night upstairs on Titus' sofa. The details were fuzzy now that so much time had passed, but she did remember that it had been some vague kind of sex dream involving both Titus and Hunter. Scarlett pushed her face into her pillow. She hated making decisions. The last thing she wanted to do was have to pick between her neighbor and the stranger from the bar. Unless one of them proved to be a jackass then someone would end up getting hurt, not that either of them would admit it. Scarlett wouldn't. She fell asleep trying to figure out how she would ever choose between tall, brilliant Titus and dark, funny Hunter, with their sharp smiles and devilish good looks.