On Friday, just before Carmen left her lab, he summoned all his courage to ask her if she wanted to attend a party this weekend.
“Hey, Carmen?”
“Yes?”
“I wanted to know if you were free this weekend. My friends and I always have a get-together/party that I would like to invite you to,” Ethan said trailing off worried that Carmen would outright say no.
“I’m quite busy moving into my new quarters from my parents’ house this weekend. You can send me the information and I’ll see if I can go if I’m not too tired.”
“Oh, well if you need help moving, let me know. I’m pretty strong despite being a theorist.”
“I could use an extra pair of hands, my brother bailed on me last minute. We were going to start today when I got home from work, but I definitely wouldn’t be able to get enough done today by myself. If you could help me today, I could probably make it to the party,” Carmen replied a little too enthusiastically.
“Yeah, I’m free. Text me your addresses when you get home and what time and I’ll be there.”
“Okay, thanks you’re a lifesaver.”
Later that evening, Carmen texted Ethan he could come over. The two of them with some minor help from Carmen’s parents moved everything into a car Carmen was borrowing from her parents and Ethan’s car. Then they drove to Carmen’s new quarters. Her apartment was in one of the many cookie-cutter apartment buildings that young people without children chose to live in. Carmen somehow secured a single bedroom and bathroom, and Ethan was impressed. Ethan happened to not have enough credits to get a single and had to share a two-bedroom with a roommate for about a year, but it’s been a month since he had moved into an apartment like Carmen’s.
It didn’t take too long for the two of them to move all the boxes in. Ethan offered to help Carmen unpack, but she was too embarrassed if he were to see any of her undergarments, which were in one of all the boxes that looked the same and were unmarked, so she declined his offer. Instead, she offered to buy him dinner in exchange for his help after she returned her parent’s car. It would take her about an hour to return because she had to take the bus back, so she told Ethan to make himself comfortable as much as possible. After Carmen left, Ethan realized that there wasn’t anything to lounge on. There were no seats or table, no stools for the island counter, and no couch. Ethan figured it would be more comfortable to wait for Carmen in his car but thought that doing that would offend her. He tried to clear a space for himself on the floor, but with everything lying on the ground still packed, there was barely any room to stand.
Instead, Ethan decided to take a look around the apartment in the only other room, the bedroom which had a bathroom inside. The bedroom had a bed and a mattress, with no sheets, which he figured Carmen had moved sometime earlier. Ethan sat on the bed to give his tired legs a rest. Then he made the mistake to lay on the mattress to see how comfortable it was. He didn’t know how mentally tired he was because he fell asleep while waiting for Carmen. When Carmen did finally arrive, she was confused as to what was going on because Ethan wasn’t in the living space, but the lights were on and she was sure she saw his car parked downstairs. The next place she checked was the bedroom and was surprised to find Ethan sleeping on the mattress. She wondered if she should wake him up. It wasn’t that late yet and she promised him food. Plus, it was too much having Ethan laying there right in front of her, defenseless.
“Ethan!” Carmen whispered while shaking his shoulder. He didn’t wake up, wouldn’t wake up. Carmen took a step back from the bed and felt her heart beat stronger, faster. Her face flushed. She couldn’t believe that her work partner was sleeping defenseless in her bed. For a second she wanted to get a closer look at him but thought better of it and decided to go unpack her boxes, maybe even take her chance at sneaking out her undergarments into the closet while she could. Everything was unpacked by Carmen in no time and she learned that Ethan was a heavy sleeper that didn’t toss and turn. He had slept through the squeaky bathroom and closet doors opening and closing, crashing, and clanging of metal on the tile kitchen floor, and Carmen’s own screams of pain from clumsily walking into and tripping over her belongings and accidentally dropping some of them on her toes.
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