She sat on the counter chewing on the pen cap. Her legs were crossed and she had a half-finished shopping list balanced on her thigh. She gnawed further down the pen, fitting the entire cap in her mouth, and wondered where he was. Ten minutes late—she shouldn’t have been surprised, he was not a punctual kind of guy.
She got off the counter, pen still between her teeth, and began to pace. Three steps towards the sink, pivot on the left foot, five steps towards the door, pivot on the right foot, and repeat. She made it three times through and was going for the left pivot when the doorbell rang.
She rushed to the door and yanked it open.
“Hi,” he said, pushing past her and into the apartment.
“Hi,” she murmured as his shoulder brushed hers, almost knocking her off balance. She removed the pen from her mouth and began to twirl it between her fingers.
“So does Chinese still sound good tonight? I have the menu out from that place you liked that one time. And I checked the movie show times—that new action flick has about six showings tonight so we should be able to make one of them.” She twirled the pen one final time and then put it in her pocket, biting her lip as she waited for his response.
“Well, I actually just came by to grab a change of clothes. It was a long day at work and I promised some of the guys that I’d go back and help them finish up.” He said all of this without looking at her, making it known that she didn’t care if he left, and that she was lucky he returned each time he did.
The pen went back in her mouth as the door shut behind him. She sat back on the counter with her shopping list, marked off “John’s birthday cake” and added “Kleenex.”