Quench Me
      Chapter 31
 

After meeting for lunch at Company, Danny insisted on driving to the apartment complex. I readily agreed and hopped into the passenger side of his Nissan. Between shifting the gears with the stick shift, his hand rested on my bare knee, exposed by the short black skirt I'm wearing. The red blouse I chose is unbuttoned at the top just enough to expose a tiny bit of cleavage, which I caught Danny looking at several times over lunch.

I'm so lost in the marvelous feeling of his presence that I don't even notice when Danny pulls into the parking lot of the apartment complex. Immediately, I notice Mr. Mattingly, the land lord, standing outside the office door. As Danny and I step out of his car, Mr. Mattingly motions for us.

"Michelle," he says as he waves. "It's so good to see you again."

"Mr. Mattingly," I say to the grandfather-like gentleman. "How are you?"

"Fine, and you?" he asks.

"I'm doing well," I answer.

He notices Danny walking beside me, and reaches out his hand as we reach him. "Robert Mattingly," he says, introducing himself to Danny.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Mattingly," Danny says, shaking Mr. Mattingly's hand. "Michelle has told me so much about you. I'm Danny Santos."

The pleading look in my eyes is not lost on Mr. Mattingly, who pretends as if he did not hear the name "Santos", as he shows us toward the apartment. We approach a door on the ground floor that reads 122. It's a short walk from the parking lot, and a ver attractive, very pregnant young woman opens the door and welcomes us in.

"Come on in," she says. "My name is Stephanie."

"I'm Michelle," I say. "And this is Danny. Thank you for showing me the apartment today."

"Oh it's no problem," Stephanie replies. "Just don't pay any attention to the boxes. We're trying to get everything packed up so that we can move into our house once it's vacant."

"I completely understand," I say.

Stephanie leads us through the apartment, and it certainly is lovely. The kitchen is almost identical to the one in my last apartment, except that Stephanie has decorated it with matching wall paper border and accessories. The living room is more spacious, and the view from the terrace is nicer. It's a one bedroom apartment, like the one I lived in before, but the bedroom is roomier.

As we make our way back down the hallway, toward the front door, Stephanie says, "Jack and I really love this apartment, but with the baby on the way, we knew we needed to find a bigger place." She gently rubs her hand over her belly as she speaks. Then, looking from me to Danny, she adds, "But it's a really nice place for newlyweds."

It occurs to me that she thinks Danny and I are married, or at least engaged. I quickly look up at Danny, expecting to see shock in his eyes, but instead, I see only softness. He tightens his arm around my waist, and I feel a slight rush at the realization that our "couple" status is obvious to a complete stranger.

Outside in the parking lot, I say a quick goodbye to Mr. Mattingly and tell him that I'll call him in the next few days to let him know what I've decided about the apartment. When he's safely back inside his office, Danny leans over and asks me, "So, where do you want to go now?"

"Don't you have to get back to the office?" I ask.

"I don't have another appointment until three o'clock, so I've got a little time to kill," he answers.

"Well, I was going to run by school and see if grades are in yet," I say. "I'm sure that sounds really exciting to you."

"If it involves you, it's exciting," he says. "I'll drive you there."

As we walk through the main entryway of the administration building, I can sense the eyes of all the single women in the building, brimming over with jealousy. A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth, as I feel Danny's hand come to rest on the small of my back.

After picking up my computer-generated report card and refusing to open it until we are in the car, Danny and I run into Marti, my acquaintance from several of my classes.

"Michelle, hi!" she exclaims as she runs toward us.

"Marti," I answer, remembering the day she saw Danny in the lobby, and realizing that she wants an introduction. "How are you?"

"Great," she says.

"Danny, this is my friend, Marti Dawson," I begin. "And Marti, this is Danny Santos. Danny's my…" I realize that I don't really know how to tell her what he is to me. I could say that he's my friend, but he's more than that. And to call him my boyfriend seems odd, because he's so much more than that. The only thing I can think of to describe him is "my soulmate", but that's not really something I can used to introduce him.

Danny slips his arms around my waist, and rests his chin on the top of my head. Somehow, I know that he sensed my dilemma, and he saves the day.

Looking down at me, and then at Marti, he says, "I'm HERS."

Well said, Danny. And I'm yours.