Christina pushed open the door to her apartment a little after midnight. She thought she was going to have to stay out with Dominic until dawn, but luckily, he believed her when she told him she was really tired after spending all week getting ready for her interview with Alexander. So, he took her home. He clearly knew how hard the week had been on her after a little explanation of Mindy’s schedule, unlike Mark, who didn’t know anything about women. When Christina thought about it on the car ride home, she wasn’t sure if she preferred a guy who was so inexperienced with women that he couldn’t guess how detailed her primping routine was or a guy who knew everything and therefore knew how to coddle her like a princess.

She also didn’t know what to make of Dominic’s 'almost' confession of love. She didn’t know if he meant it or if he was just playing another game with her. She’d have to put the idea on the shelf and wait to see what his behavior was like in the future. There was something appealing about being treated like a goddess. She wondered if Dominic had the ability to make her feel like that—the way she’d made so many men feel working as an escort. No man had ever made her feel like that before. Well, at least he wasn’t pushy. He hadn’t grabbed her or forced her into anything, not even when he slid five crisp hundred dollar bills in her hand when they said ‘good-bye.'

“Thanks,” she had said to him as she opened the car door.

“Good night, Tina,” he said. He was sans sunglasses and the look on his face was so tender.

Christina wanted to tell him that no one ever called her ‘Tina’ when she wasn’t an escort, but then when she looked at him, she realized he wasn’t calling her by her name. For him, it was the same as if he had called her ‘darling’ or ‘sweetheart.' She didn’t know what to say. In the end, she bit her lip, shut the car door as quietly as possible and went inside.

The TV was flickering when Christina entered her apartment. Mindy’s work must have ended early if she was home watching television. 

“I’m home,” Christina called into the living room as she kicked off her shoes.

“Have a good night?” a deep male voice called from the living room couch.

Christina froze in her footprints. If she wasn’t crazy, then Mark was waiting for her. Christina shook her head. She must be hearing voices. Mark wouldn’t actually have come to her apartment, would he? Christina unfroze herself and popped her head around the corner. Sure enough, he was sitting on the couch. He had Mindy’s afghan over his knees and he was holding the remote control.

“Mark!” Christina exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“You said I should call you next time I happened to have some spare time. Well, after Laura left, I had some spare time, so I called,” he said easily.

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re watching late-night TV in my living room.”

“You weren’t home, but your cousin Mindy was. She’s a charmer, isn’t she? When I gave her my name, she said I could wait for you to get back.”

“You mean… Mindy’s not here?” Christina gaped.

“No, she’s out.”

Christina looked at Mark. Yes, she wanted to see him, but hadn’t she suffered enough? That day had been the longest in Christina’s history. She’d been under Mindy’s care until her meeting with Alexander. Then she had her polly-wolly-crappy date with Mark and then her date/meeting with Dominic. She was fried. Even her eyebrow was twitching. Standing there, she had the impulse to throw Mark out, but as she looked at him she realized she couldn’t do that. He had gone through so much trouble to show her he was sincere. Curse him…

So, instead, Christina plopped herself on the couch next to him and said drolly, “Did Mindy leave you with any good snacks?”

“She got me a bowl of… Hey! Is that all you have to say after I went through the effort to come here?” he shouted hotly.

Christina put her finger to her lips, “Please don’t make so much noise. You’ll wake the neighbors. Mindy will be mad at me if there are complaints.”

“What! How can you be thinking about that?”

“Shhhh… Pass me those cheesies and let’s find something good to watch.”

“But weren’t we supposed to be getting to know each other on a more honest level?” he asked, actually having the nerve to get up from the couch and bring her a can of pop from the fridge even though it was his first time visiting.

“Thanks,” Christina said snuggling down with the root beer and not answering his question. 

He stood, hovering above her, waiting for her answer. 

“You read my mind. If I’m going to eat these, then I need a drink." She popped a cheesie into her mouth.

He didn’t budge.

Finally, Christina felt like she had to give in. She rolled her eyes and said, “Look, Mark, it’s after midnight. I’m exhausted. It has been such a hard day. Can’t you just curl up on the couch with me, maybe put your arm around my shoulders if you feel like it, eat junk, laugh at stupid stuff, and relax? I can’t have a serious conversation right now. I don’t even think I’m capable of coherent thought right now. Can’t you just mellow?”

“I can put my arm around you?” he asked cautiously.

“Why not?” Christina retorted. “You’ve already done more than that with me,” Christina said, thinking of the New Year’s party and their kiss.

He shook his head. “I know. It’s just I thought maybe you wouldn’t want me to touch you.”

“If there’s a reason for that, I can’t think of it right now,” Christina answered. Her mind was a complete blank. 

“Aren’t you mad at me because of what happened with Laura tonight?”

“Oh yeah,” she said. Mark had invited Laura to have dinner with them without asking Christina if she was okay with it. Christina shook her head. “Yeah, you are pretty rotten. But… that’s okay,” she yawned. “We’ll talk about it later.”

Mark looked confused. “So for now, you just want me to sit on the couch, cuddle with you and watch T.V.?”

“I’ve got too much on my mind right now to let you add more. We can talk about everything later, but right now, I’m tired." She paused. After thinking for a second more, she added, “And I want to rest my head on your shoulder and don’t you dare try to attach any strings to it.”

Mark looked more confused than ever. “Are you drunk?”

“No, I’m not drunk,” Christina fumed. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to make a joke. “I don’t drink—ever. I’m just past my exhaustion threshold. Did you know sleep deprivation is a form of torture? I’m done.”

Mark didn’t say anything else, but obediently sat down on the couch and put his arm around Christina’s shoulders. She immediately put her legs over his lap and pulled the afghan over both of them. Christina was used to sleeping with the radio playing, so the noise from the TV didn’t bother her as she rested her head half on the couch and half on Mark’s arm. 

Christina didn’t start to have doubts about the intelligence of falling asleep in his arms until it was too late for her to struggle against it. She thought to herself that she should really get up and send him home or toddle off to her bedroom and leave him to sleep on the couch, but she was too tired to talk. Her last thought before she fell asleep was of the cologne he was wearing. What was it called again?