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Nick chuckled loudly as he slid across the wooden floor in his socked feet. Nellie, the ever spirited border collie, had one end of the knotted rope in her mouth, her tail wagging furiously and her butt up in the air, determined to win this endless game of tug of war.
“Nellieeee!” Nick whined, his voice playful yet exasperated. Despite his mock protest, he was grinning from ear to ear. “I really need to clean.” He cast a glance around the room, his eyes landing on a particularly conspicuous pile of dog hair dancing in a beam of sunlight. The floating tufts seemed to mock him as Nellie pulled harder and harder, a playful growl erupting from her.
With a sharp shake of her head, Nellie gave a triumphant tug, making Nick lose his balance and nearly tumble forward. “Okay, okay, you win!” He relented with a loud chuckle. Dropping his end of the rope, he collapsed onto the floor in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. God, he loved this dog. Nellie immediately bounded over, dropping the rope by his feet and nudging it towards him with her snout. She aggressively bumped into his toes over and over again before backing up, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth.
“Nels, you’re impossible. We’ll be here forever! You’ve already distracted me for the past hour,” Nick scolded, and yet, he couldn’t stop smiling. An hour well spent, he thought. Nellie let out her signature “Bork!” using her indoor voice. Nick had trained her to use it from when she was a puppy because his landlord was a massive dick when it came to noise. He watched as she leaned back on her hindlegs to put both of her paws up in the air, her sign for begging.
Why did I teach her that again? Nick wondered with a loud sigh.
“Okay girl, I really need to clean now,” he said, trying his best to sound stern. Nellie sat back down and tilted her head to one side curiously as she looked up at him. Nick had to avert his gaze because he knew if he looked a second more at her cute face that he’d cave. Instead, he looked at the scattered dog toys, the fur-covered furniture, and the telltale paw prints on the floor, to remind himself of the state of his flat.
Should I get dressed first? Glancing down at his sky blue boxers, complete with an attractive yellow rubber duck print, he shrugged. I’m home alone and I need to shower after cleaning anyway.
Determined to get started for real this time, Nick picked up the remote and pulled up his cleaning playlist on Spotify. The first song that came on was his niece’s once favourite tune — and she’d made sure it also became his favourite — ‘Best of Both Worlds’ by Hannah Montana. He hadn’t heard the song in a long time, but it always managed to put a smile on his face because it reminded him of their time spent together when she was younger.
He grabbed his broom, the one designed specifically for pet hair removal, and started sweeping it across the floor, collecting dog hair and dust bunnies as he went.
“Hottest styles, every shoe, every colour!” he sang as he swayed his hips to the rhythm. The energetic beat of the song filled the room, and Nick couldn’t resist getting into it. Sliding the broom out as far as his arms could reach, he pushed his butt up playfully in the air, twerking and wiggling it to the beat. “It’s really you, but no one ever discovers! In some ways, you’re like all your friends…”
Just in time for the chorus, Nick spun around, taking advantage of his socked feet, the smooth wooden floor allowing him to glide effortlessly. He twirled the broom, gripping the handle like a microphone. “You get the besttttt of both worlds!” he belted out, his voice mixing harmoniously with the catchy tune.
Nellie watched her human with wide, curious eyes, her tail wagging enthusiastically even though she had no idea what was happening. Encouraged by his audience, Nick continued dancing, moving around the room with exaggerated dance moves, putting all of his energy into it. He twirled the broom and pretended to strum it like a guitar during the instrumental break, completely forgetting about the pile of dog hair.
Instead of cleaning, he leapt up onto the coffee table and decided if he was going to give Nellie a free concert, he was going to give it his all. “You get the best of both worlds, mix it all together and you know that it’s the best of both worlds!” he sang at the top of his lungs, altering the tone of his voice until it was deep and husky.
Just as he closed his eyes when he hit the high note, arm up in the air in the middle of a powerful air grab, he heard a loud, choked laugh. Startled, Nick’s eyes flew open, and he scanned the room in confusion.
Wait… Where is Nellie… Oh god… Oh god!
Swallowing thickly, he slowly turned to face the windows, where he found Nellie nudging the blinds with her nose. They were swaying back and forth and in the large gaps and Nick could see his very attractive neighbour, Charlie, standing by his mailbox. His perfect raven curls framed his face, and his bright blue eyes were sparkling with amusement. Charlie had one hand cupped over his mouth, clearly trying to hold back his laughter.
Nick’s stomach did a nervous flip and he thought he was actually going to die. Out of all the people in the world that had to be witness to his impromptu performance in his boxers, it just had to be the guy he’d had a massive crush on since the first day Nick moved in. Although they were always kind to each other, shared pleasantries and soft waves, Nick had never built up the nerve to actually approach Charlie.
And now, all hope was lost.
Now, Nick’s embarrassment was almost overwhelming. His cheeks burned and he felt a hot flush creeping up his neck. He had hoped to make a good impression on Charlie and to win him over one day so they could live happily ever after together, but that was certainly not happening now.
Nick swallowed thickly and did the first thing that came to mind, without a single thought. He quickly dropped to the ground, the broom thumping against the wooden floor, and army crawled out of view of the window.
“Nellie!” he scolded in a whispered yell. “Shoo! Shoo!” Nick gestured with his hands in an attempt to get Nellie to move, but it was futile. The absolute menace seemed determined to play with the blinds; it must’ve been payback for Nick deciding to clean instead of playing with her. She paused her antics momentarily to look over at Nick, and he thought for a second — the shortest second of his life — that she was going to stop, but nope. She went right back to lightly tugging at the blinds, moving them this way and that way, fully enjoying her new game, completely oblivious to Nick’s mortification.
“Oh Nels,” Nick sighed in anguish. He didn’t know what to do. Had Charlie seen the entire thing? Was there any that he hadn’t? Had Charlie left yet?
Suddenly, Nick’s breath caught in his throat as he heard soft footsteps approaching his front door. Ohnohnohno.
Nick squeezed his eyes shut tight as he heard the familiar tone of his doorbell. Shit. Should I just stay here and pretend I don’t exist for the rest of my life? Maybe I should move after this...
No, I should own it and just be my confident self. Confident? Who are you trying to kid, Nelson. Get a grip!
“Nels, you owe me big time,” Nick said and, while still lying on his stomach, pointed to his meddler of a dog who borked in response, clearly very pleased with herself. With a deep breath, Nick stood up and dusted the dog hair from his body, white and brown tufts of fur flying through the air.
How is she so fluffy? I brush her everyday and yet, the hair is never-ending!
Nick looked at the door as if it had offended him. He tiptoed towards it and reached out a cautious hand to grasp the doorknob. Slowly, he turned it until he heard a soft click and opened it just enough to peer out from behind the door.
Sure enough, there on the other side of his door stood the most beautiful man he had ever laid eyes on: Charlie.
He was smiling brightly, his dimples popping out on each of his cheeks, which were tinged a light shade of endearing red. His olive skin was flawless and his eyes were absolutely mesmerising this close.
“Hi,” Nick said breathily, as his knees grew weak. No one in his life had ever made him feel the way Charlie did, and they were mere acquaintances.
“Hi,” Charlie replied, his soft pink lips twisting into a smirk. “That was quite the performance. Cute boxers, by the way.” Nick’s eyes widened and he felt a blush creep up his neck and to his face.
If Charlie weren’t right there in front of him, Nick would’ve face palmed himself so hard, he probably would’ve knocked himself out. Oh god, I’m going to actually die.
“Er, thanks, I-I didn’t think anyone was watching,” Nick said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
Charlie chuckled and it sounded like music to Nick’s ears. “I was thinking,” Charlie began, his voice warm and inviting, “would you like to go out with me sometime? Like, on a date?”
Nick’s eyes widened in surprise and he subconsciously let go of the door knob, causing the door to open wider to reveal his entire body. He was too awestruck to even notice. “R-Really?”
Charlie giggled yet again at his reaction, a light, infectious sound that only managed to melt Nick further. “Yeah, really.”
Nick blinked, trying to process the unexpected turn of events. “I-I’d love that,” he stammered, a wide smile spreading across his face.
“Great,” Charlie said, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “Are you free Friday night? I know a great little place for dancing,” he said with a wink. He actually winked. Oh, I’m absolutely done for, Nick thought as he gulped.
Nick nodded eagerly, his heart racing. “Friday night sounds perfect.”
“Perfect,” Charlie echoed, his smile growing and his dimples making a reappearance. Nick resisted the urge to impulsively reach out and poke them. “Say around seven?”
Nick’s brain decided to stop working and all he could utter out was a simple, “Uh huh.”
Charlie bit his bottom lip as his eyes momentarily fell to Nick’s bare torso. “I’ll see you then, Nick.” With that, he sauntered back to his flat.
Nick’s mouth fell open as he watched Charlie walk away, his hips swaying enticingly. It wasn’t until Charlie had completely disappeared from view that Nick managed to close the door. Leaning against it he breathed heavily and started to panic at the idea of what Friday night could hold. Never in a million years would he have thought that, on his cleaning day, he would discover that Charlie might feel the same way about him. Nellie borked, snapping him back to reality. He looked over at her and he could’ve sworn she was smirking at him.
“Okay, I’ve gotta hand it to you. I owe you one, Nels.”