How I Met Alyssa

"You like it?" she asked and came closer to me.

"Sure do, really accentuates your body," I kissed her on the lips, "not that your body needs it."

"Charmer," she said with a smile. "Come on, let's go to the living room and have a drink."

"Living room? I thought we were going straight to the bedroom?" I joked.

She chuckled and said, "Not yet sweetie, maybe later if you behave or if you get me a bit drunk."

"Or both," I mumbled, loud enough for her to hear.

She giggled, but didn't respond. She just moved further in the hall and said, "anyway, this is the living room, what would you like to drink?" Meanwhile she grabbed a vase and put the roses in them.

"Uhm, you got some cola?"

"Of course," she quickly went in a room nearby -- the kitchen I presumed -- and returned with 2 drinks. We sat down on the couch and started chatting.

"Nice place you got here by the way," I said.

"Thanks. I bought it with a mortgage about a year ago. I loved it, the moment I saw it. The house looks good, plenty of space, a small garden, not that far from the beach, even the neighbours are really nice."

"That's really cool. If you don't mind me asking, how could you afford it? No offense."

"None taken, well my job pays pretty good, aside from those occasional benefits I told you about, plus it also helps if one of your colleagues can put a good word for you."

"Ah yes, that's convenient. Ever get lonely in a house like this?" I blurted out.

Her face saddened a bit and I kicked myself for asking such a dumb question, "Sometimes, a bit. I mostly missed some company, someone I could talk to when I had a bad day, someone to hug tightly when I was feeling ecstatic, someone to ... share my life with."

"Aw shit, sorry Alyssa, I didn't mean anything by it. I didn't want you to think about something like that. I'm sorry, it was a dumb question." It really broke my heart to see her so sad, I sat closer to her and put my arm around her.