Two of Us

I watched her house from across the street. Ordinarily this would be very creepy behaviour, but at that moment, I couldn't help it. In fact, chances are I would've continued staring at the house had my friend not tapped me on the shoulder.

'The party's inside Nate,' Rob said, handing me a drink.

'I know, just getting some fresh air.'

'Really? This has nothing to do with the fact that that's Miranda's house you're looking at,' he said.

I turned away from the house and looked at Rob. He too was eying it intensely as if it were the Mona Lisa. We were two guys who had been in love with the same girl, the girl who lived in that house. But we were never in competition for her affections. By the time I had met Miranda, anything between her and Rob was well and truly over. But whereas Rob had tried and failed in a relationship with her, I never had one. All I had was a crush and thoughts of "what if".

'You could just knock on the door and say hello,' Rob said.

'At 11:30 at night?'

'Why not? I would.'

'And you wonder why things didn't work out with you two.'

Rob laughed. Despite only being on the front porch, the sound of the party was quite muted. The traffic in the distance and the crickets in the garden were all that we heard. Rob tore his eyes away from the building, 3 houses down the road and across the street and looked at me.

'You two still keep in contact?'

'Nah. Fell out of touch after high school. We tried for a couple of years, but she runs in different crowds nowadays. I see her on the bus to university once in a but that's it.'

'Shame,' he said before raising his cup, 'Here's to Miranda. May she remain single and give the rest of us a glimmer of hope.'

I smiled and raised my cup to meet his. The disposable paper cups barely made a sound but it was still a nice moment nonetheless. Rob and I stood there for sometime, just watching the house. Our friend Linda, whose party it was tonight, lived less than 50 metres from Miranda's house. I rarely ever came to Linda's place, and so every time I do, my eyes always drift to Miranda's house down the street. In truth, this was probably because in the back of my mind, I still entertained some notion that something could happen with Miranda and I. Still, despite our connection and my feelings, Miranda has always just seen me as a good friend. At most, I was her confidant and sounding board back in high school. But those days are behind us now. Suddenly, a female voice from behind us caught our attention.

'My party isn't that bad is it? What are you guys doing out here?' Linda asked as she walked out onto the porch with us.

'Nothing,' Rob and I both answered at the same time.

Linda smiled but let the issue go. The three of us engaged in idle chit-chat for a few moments. We were about to head back inside after a few minutes when suddenly, a taxi pulled over on the other side of the street. The three of us paused to look. A curious reaction seeing as we weren't exactly expecting any more guests at this late hour and Linda wasn't all friendly with the neighbours. But regardless of whatever thoughts were in Rob and Linda's mind, I hoped and prayed it was Miranda. And the moment I saw a girl of average height with shoulder length, dark wavy hair exit the taxi, I knew instantly, it was her. The three of us froze as we watched Miranda move to the driver's seat and pay her fare. Rob, the former flame. Me, the one with the crush. And Linda, who also went to high school the three of us but remained relatively indifferent to Miranda.

The had taxi now pulled away and was heading down the street. We continued watching Miranda the porch, she held her shoes in one hand and was looking at her phone with the other. After several moments, she looked up at the only house in the street still bustling with life. It just so happened to be Linda's house.

'I think it's time I head back inside,' muttered Rob.

'Still bitter? High school was over three years ago. Come say hello,' Linda said, as if there was nothing awkward in meeting your ex.

'I'm fine,' Rob said, walking inside without another word.

Linda rolled her eyes before shouting loudly at across the road, 'Miranda!'

Even in the darkness, I could see the smile on her face as she slowly crossed the empty road. Linda and I slowly made our way towards her. I whispered to Linda before we had reached her,

'Do you see much of Miranda?'

'Not really. We live on the same street but that's about it. We were never close in high school, you know that.'

Despite those words, Miranda and Linda greeted each other with big hugs and warm greetings. I stood back and let the girls exchange the normal "you look great" and "I love what you've done with your hair" remarks. I looked back at the house to see Rob was definitely gone. I continued watching them compliment each other and exchange pleasantries for several long moments until there was finally a lull in the conversation. Miranda turned to me with a big wide smile and said,

'And how are you Nate?'

'I'm good thanks.'

I took a small step forwards, and for a moment, we both raised our arms as if to hug. Despite our closeness over the years, Miranda and I had never expressed any of this physically, even through something an innocent as a hug. When it became clear than this moment in time was no different, I casually reached over to laid my hand on her arm and said warmly,

'It's really good seeing you. It's felt like ages since we've hung out.'

'Yeah, we should do something soon,' she said.

That phrase had been uttered by her many times. But not once, had she ever acted on it. And it wasn't for lack of trying on my end. Somehow, things have never worked in our favour since high school. Even though neither of us would admit it, our friendship was slowly dying since high school ended.

'So what are you guys doing tonight? Party?' Miranda asked looking over at the house.

'It's my birthday,' Linda said.

This caused another sudden outburst of happiness and more hugging between the girls. The usual "happy birthday" and "I would've gotten you something if I had known" exchanges.

'You should come inside. There's still food and drinks out.'

'Oh, I don't know if I should. I'm a little tired.'

With that sentence, I looked Miranda up and down. She looked very glamorous in her green silk dress that complimented her curvaceous figure nicely. She stood barefooted with her shoes still in her hands, her hair wavy as ever and reaching downto her shoulders. She was just as I remembered her, from those rosy cheeks to her ample breasts. She was a thin girl but still maintained those lovely curves. Her skin looked natural and untouched, neither tanned nor pale. To me, she was perfection. Linda's next words distracted me from my ogling.

'Come on, one drink, what's it gonna cost you?'

'Rob's in there,' I blurted without thinking.

The smile disappeared from Miranda's face for the briefest of seconds. I had met Miranda and Rob at the death of their relationship. I knew every little detail about it. I knew how Miranda felt about it. I knew her way of distancing herself from her ex-boyfriends.

'Oh, how is he?' she asked, recovering quite nicely.

'He's well,' I replied, not knowing what else to say.

'That's good,' she said before changing tone, 'Thanks for the offer Linda, but I think I'll hit the hay. It's been a long night.'

'Oh, I don't like the thought of leaving you alone in your house while we're across the road partying,' I said almost immediately.

'In that case, why don't you could come over to my place for a nightcap?' Miranda said, clearly directing the offer at me and not both me and Linda.

I smiled widely. In my head, I had already accepted the offer. But this was Linda's birthday and I was at her party. I looked briefly to her. Linda examined my face for a moment. I wore an expression that all but read "please, you know how I feel about this girl". Linda smiled before turning to Miranda and saying,

'About time someone took him off my hands. You two have fun. I still have guests I have to try and convince to leave.'

I mouthed the words "thankyou" to Linda. She smiled and gave a slight nod. Miranda and I both wished her happy birthday once more before we parted company. Linda headed back to her party, smiling widely as if she had done me the greatest favour ever. It turned out, she actually had. Miranda and I started to walk to her house which was less than 50 metres away. In that instance, I was just happy to be in her company.

'It's really good seeing you Miranda.'

'Yeah, you too.'

That was the only exchange we had the whole time we walked back to her house. But it wasn't an awkward silence, somehow it was nice just to be able to walk side by side without spoiling it by making idle chit-chat. We walked to her house, she opened the door and we walked inside. She motioned for me to head to the lounge room. I did so obediently and leaned against the sofa, watching her disappear into the kitchen.

'What are you drinking?' she asked, breaking the silence.

'Whatever you're having.'

She came back a moment later holding two glasses and a bottle of vodka. She unscrewed the bottle and I offered the paper cup I was still holding in my hands. She gave me a bemused look and casually took the paper cup and unceremoniously threw it on the coffee table. She filled both crystal glasses and handed me one. All of this was done in silence. We both just stood there, glasses in hand with curious little smiles on our faces. I subtly looked her up and down once more. She looked even more beautiful indoors, illuminated by the bright lights. Her green dress went down to slightly above her knees. It tightly hugged her slender figure showing just a tiny bit of cleavage. It was very tasteful, it was very cute; it was very Miranda. She wore just a hint of shadow that complimented her pale green eyes nicely. She lowered her glass slightly when she saw me looking. She still had the glass pressed up against her lips, but her eyes were watching me watching her over the top of the crystal.

'You look very nice tonight,' I said.

'Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself. Very suave,' she said.

'So, I take it from the casual vodka drinking that the parents aren't home?'

'Yep. I have the house all to myself for a few days. One of my sisters is partying it up down at the bay, she's just finished high school you see.'

'She's going to be so disappointed when she finds out how much more stressful university is,' I muttered.

Miranda chuckled and continued, 'My parents are interstate visiting a sick family friend. Both brothers are with them. And my other sister is sleeping at a friend's house. We all think it's a boy but she insists it's one of her girlfriends.'

'Jesus, I sometimes forget how many brothers and sisters you have.'

'It's hell. I can't tell you how nice it is to have silence in the house for once.'

'And how nice it is to have the booze flowing freely,' I said, raising my glass.

Miranda laughed and we both took a sip from our glasses. I had finished my glass and was now felt thoroughly more relaxed. Miranda almost immediately reached for the bottle again and refilled my glass before topping up her own.

'Alright, I'll admit it. I've missed you,' she said.

'I've called.'

'I know.'

'Numerous times.'

'I know. But I've been busy.'

The last comment bothered me. I always hated when people used that excuse for not keeping in touch. It's really not that hard to find time for a quick cup of coffee or at the very least, take 5 minutes out of your day to make a quick phone call. Unfortunately, this was Miranda's greatest flaw. It was part of the reason we had drifted apart. Regardless, I decided then to let the matter go, at least for now,

'You know, in all the years I've known you, and this is the first time I've been inside your house,' I said, changing the subject.

'Don't take it personally. I'm not in the habit of bringing boys home to meet my parents.'

'But we're not dating.'

'Doesn't matter. In my parents mind, every boy I talk to is a potential boyfriend.'

'I wonder how they got that impression,' I mumbled, not really expecting her to hear.

Unfortunately, she did. But rather than get angry, she just burst out laughing. I quickly joined her. Miranda, not even attempting to compose herself, said,

'I'm not a slut if that's what you're getting at.'

'I didn't say anything.'

'I'm not that easy either.'

'I didn't say anything.'

She attempted to give me her best cold gaze, but with a smile still spread across her face, it didn't come across as very threatening. Talk quickly turned to university and old high school friends. This was how most of our meetings went since nowadays. Catching up on university and the old gang. We had always gotten a surprisingly amount of mileage from it. And so, we did our catching up, all the while, the vodka bottle began to get emptier and emptier. However, talk remained surprisingly tame and we both didn't appear drunk in the least. I'm not sure what the social etiquette is for how long a nightcap was suppose to last, but I'm quite sure we had gone overtime by the time we finally stopped talking.

We hadn't stopped because we had run out of things to say, but rather car horn had sounded on the other side of the street. Miranda and I both stopped talking and made our way to the window and peered outside. Linda's party was ending and people were beginning to leave. We watched the farewells and the final photos being taken when suddenly I spotted Rob coming out the front door. The fact Miranda stopped breathing told me she had also spotted him.

'When Linda called over to me before, was that Rob who snuck back indoors?' Miranda asked me without looking at me.

'Yeah.'

'He still bitter about everything?'

'I don't know if he's bitter. But you can't blame him for not wanting to see you. Your break up was chaotic to say the least. I mean, would you have said hello?'

Miranda had a funny little melancholy smile on her face. She turned away from the window and looked at me over her glass.

'I suppose not. It's a shame too. Rob and I use to be such good friends. Oh well, just goes to show; getting involved with friends is never a good idea.'

My face remained passive. But inside, I was reading into that last comment with all my brain power. There was no double meaning to it. Miranda didn't want to get involved with friends romantically anymore. I guess it shouldn't have surprised me, but it was still a bit of a downer. I looked back at the window, not wanting Miranda see any sign of my feelings at her remark. It was then that I spotted Rob in his car. He gave a few honks of the horn, before he began to drive off.

'Oh shit,' I muttered.

'What?' Miranda asked, turning back to the window immediately.

'Rob just left.'

'So?'

'He was my ride.'

'Linda probably just told him you were hanging out with me tonight.'

'Nightcap doesn't mean spending the night. It means a short drink.'

'And yet, we've been talking for almost an hour,' she chuckled and finished her drink.

As we continued watching the cars leave Linda's place. I sighed and turned to Miranda and asked,

'Can I get a ride home?'

She shot me a amused look. 'You do see the empty vodka glass in my hand right? I can't even say the alphabet backwards much less drive you anywhere.'

'Oh please, that proves nothing. Saying the alphabet backwards is hard, even when you're sober. Come on, I trust you.'

'This isn't the first drink I've had tonight. You saw me take a taxi home,' she said, waving the glass in my face again, 'But hey, don't worry about it, you can stay here tonight,' she added without hesitation.

'Oh no, I couldn't impose,' I replied, more out of politeness than desire. 'I'll just get a taxi.'

'Nate, taxi's cost a fortune, trust me. Not to mention it's late. It's really no problem, I have a guest bedroom, you can stay the night. We'll grab breakfast in the morning, then I'll drive you home. It'll be fun.'

I hesitated without quite knowing why. Truth is, spending the night at Miranda's is all I ever dreamt of. However, most of those dreams involved us naked and in the same bed. But with the knowledge that nothing sexual would happen between us, it might end up being more torture than a pleasant night spent with a friend. Miranda sensed this reluctance and said,

'You're the one saying we should always do something together.'

I laughed. 'Yeah, I meant coffee. Not crashing on your couch because I've been stranded here without a ride home.'

Miranda laughed and grabbed the bottle of vodka from the coffee table once more and waved it in my face.

'Who said anything about crashing on the couch? There's a guest bedroom. And seeing as you'll be staying the night, there's no point in remaining sober,' she said temptingly.

I let out an exhausted laughed while she stood there, swaying back and forth in anticipation. I looked back out the window, everyone had left Linda's house. I looked at my watch, it was past midnight. I let out a long sigh and hung my head. Miranda smiled widely, clearly knowing she had won. I looked up at her and said,

'Okay, I'll stay. But only if we finish that bottle.'

Miranda laughed and did a funny little pirouette on the spot before skipping over to the kitchen, momentarily disappearing from sight. I was about to follow her when she reappeared,

'How about we finish that bottle, and then we down this one as well,' she said excitedly as she pulled a champagne bottle from behind her back.

Despite appearing exhausted only a few minutes earlier, Miranda was now oddly alive and energetic at the unexpected turn her night just took. I paused for a moment. Looking at the near empty bottle of vodka and then the imposing unopened bottle of champagne. She raised the bottles temptingly in front of me before I finally said,

'I think I'm love with you,'

Even though I hadn't meant for the remark to be taken seriously, somehow, it felt wonderful just to be able to say it to her face. Miranda laughed loudly. She tucked one bottle beneath her arm before grabbing my hand and leading me across the house. I didn't realise until I entered stepped through the door that she had led me into the guest bedroom. It was a simple enough room. However, instead of a large king sized bed that I had expected, there were two single beds placed beside each other as if it were a hotel room.

'This is where you'll be staying tonight,' she said.

'Why are there two beds?'

'The room is mostly used by my little cousins when they come over.'

'They can't sleep in the same bed?'

'They're 17 Nate. Maybe you like the idea of two 17 year old high school girls sleeping in the same bed together but-'

'-I do like that idea very much,' I interrupted.

We both cracked up laughing and continued to do so as I slipped off my shoes and socks and collapsed onto the first bed while Miranda pretty much jumped onto the second. It was one of those longs laughs where it would begin to trail off, but then a sudden burst of laughter would start it up again.

'I shouldn't even be laughing. Those are my cousins you're talking about there,' Miranda struggled to say between laughs.

By the end, it became more about the fact that the other person was laughing than the actual joke itself. But as we finally began to trail off, Miranda sat up straight on her bed and popped the cork on the champagne bottle. I too sat up on my bed and faced her. She pulled out two champagne glasses that I didn't even know she had and begun to fill them up. She held out the glass to me and I leaned across the gap between the beds and took it.

'Thankyou,' I said.

'You're welcome,' she said with a pleasant smile on her face. 'What should we drink to?'