Handing Logan the keys to the apartment after what must have been the fifth time saying goodbye, his mom cheerfully proclaimed "Okay honey! The apartment is all yours!"
Logan had just turned 18 and was leaving for college after the summer. The timing of his parents' first vacation in years (to Europe nonetheless!) was likely not a coincidence. Bobbing the keys in one hand while he held open the door with the other, Logan watched his parents gleefully depart on their European vacation.
"Should I be offended that they seem so happy to be on their way?" Logan wondered ruefully.
Watching his parents disappear as they turned the corner at the end of the hallway, Logan entered into the apartment and let the door close shut behind him. A strangely-deafening silence greeted him.
"I guess I'm supposed to throw a wild bachelor party now..." Logan mused to himself. Readying himself for as wild as the night was likely to be, Logan instead walked to his room, grabbed his basket of dirty clothes, carried it to the closet, and threw the clothes into the washer. Satisfied with his latest conquest over dirty laundry, he began to wonder what he should do with his night. Staring at the washer as if for answers, it eventually dawned on him: Logan could play video games without interruption from his parents.
"Sounds like a pretty fun night," Logan figured. "I should go buy a soda or two before I begin..."
Again staring at the washer, Logan reached into his pocket to verify that he had the requisite soda-money. The washer's blinking red lights seemed to judge him as he counted enough money for three sodas. "Don't judge me - I don't do this very often!" Logan reasoned with the washer.
Escaping the judgemental washer, Logan walked to the front door of his silent apartment, opened it, and bounded off for the floor's vending machine. Approaching the machine, Logan's hands reflexively began depositing bills. "Maybe the washer was right - maybe I do this too often..." Logan mused.
Pushing the judgemental washer from his mind, Logan pushed the big plastic button for his favorite soda and was greeted by three musical *clunk!* sounds. Placing two of the resulting sodas between fingers of his left hand, Logan grabbed the remaining soda in his right hand and began heading back to his now-empty apartment.
"Ya know those ain't good for ya, right?" Jessica's sweet voice sliced through him and momentarily turned his insides into mush. In most circumstances, Logan would have done (almost) anything to see Jessica's radiant beauty. Being the fitness addict she was though...he couldn't bear to see her judging gaze lock on to the sodas he now so-triumphantly carried.
Stuttering his way through a response, desperately hoping that a good excuse would eventually coalesce, Logan turned to her and replied "Umm yeah...well...my parents are gone for the weekend...and..."
"Your parents are out for the weekend, and you're celebrating by drinking - what? - *three* whole sodas!? C'mon man..." Though the words Jessica was saying were a bit harsh, her tone was playful - and her brilliantly-white smile helped take the edge off, too.
Truthfully, Logan could barely hear the words she was saying - he was too smitten with her beauty. She must have just come back from the gym, because she was wearing a cropped workout top and matching yoga pants. Beads of sweat were actively drying on her brow and muscular, ebony abs peaked out from under her top. Logan thought the rest of her was just as sexy - everywhere he looked, she proudly sported athletic-yet-supple curves.
"When you're my age, you gonna regret drinking so many of them sodas..." she teased.
"What?" Logan exclaimed, more confused than anything. "You're not that old?"
"Well, I just turned 30. You don't care of yourself at 30, it starts to show. I know you seen some crunchy 30 year olds. You pretty fine now...but you keep having them sodas and you gonna be one of them crunchy 30 year olds."
Not for the first time, Logan reflected that he liked her confident-but-playful mannerisms. Logan had had a crush on his next door neighbor for years...and he'd had more than a few vivid fantasies of her. Her athletic beauty aside, he found her demeanor quite sexy, too. She had a tendency to change her mannerisms of speaking depending on the situation. A successful lawyer, he'd seen her almost become a different person when talking business. But just now, he appreciated she was being her authentic self.
"Ummm...yeah... maybe I should cut out the soda..." Logan agreed.
"Yeah, maybe you should. Look, you can knock on my door any time and I'll take you to the gym down on the second floor. Work them sodas outta you. But just now, I gotta take a shower after my workout. Talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay." Logan simply replied.
Flashing a final, beaming-white smile, Jessica began walking the hall towards her apartment. As she walked, Logan spent almost as much time admiring her amply-athletic ass under her yoga pants as he did looking forlornly at his three sodas. Then Logan, too, began walking towards his own apartment.
Mid-stride, a thought occurred to Logan: "Wait, was she *flirting* with me? She called me pretty fine - or was it fine?" Logan reflected that the subtle differences had large implications. But then he realized that there was no way a confident, very-sexy woman would want anything to do with a barely-18 guy such as himself. "She'd said 'pretty'," Logan finally agreed.
After arriving in his apartment, Logan set the three sodas down on the coffee table in front of the TV he was about to turn on to play games on for the rest of the night. Staring at the three sodas, Logan changed his mind: Jessica had called him "pretty fine." "A big difference," Logan reflected. Still staring at the sodas, Logan told the sodas "You're just trying to convince me otherwise, so that I'll drink you. But I won't fall for it!"
Now convinced that Jessica found him "pretty fine", Logan questioned whether or not he really wanted the sodas. "Better not ruin my pretty-fineness with these sodas." Logan mused. He even momentarily considered taking Jessica up on her offer and knocking on her door tomorrow - but quickly pushed the intimidating thought from his mind.
Unsure of what else to do with the sodas now that he'd convinced himself not to drink them, Logan decided to put them in the refrigerator. Opening the refrigerator and shoving them in, Logan became aware of an acrid smell. "Is that smoke?" Logan wondered.
No sooner had Logan become aware of the acrid smell than the apartment's fire alarm pierced through the air. With the alarm rattling in his head, Logan resigned himself to exiting the apartment and waiting for some undetermined amount of time while the fire department gave the all-clear. "I bet that damn washer has something to do with this..." Logan reflected.
Opening his door, Logan saw that the entirety of his floor was simultaneously opening their doors and shuffling away from the sonic assault. Like everyone else in the apartment, Logan eventually found himself standing on the grassy lawn area of the apartment. Being a Friday evening, Logan saw that the people around seemed to be dressed in various states of preparation for their night - including Jessica.
Like a number of other women, Jessica was dressed as if to prioritize comfort: she wore loose-fitting (and very short) shorts and a similarly-short cropped t-shirt. Without a bra, Logan immediately noticed that her nipples protruded from beneath her loose-fitting shirt. He'd never seen a woman quite like her (not in-person, anyways...) Logan realized that he was staring at her very-slim, muscular waist clearly accentuated by thick, athletic thighs. When Jessica caught his gaze, she flashed a smile and began walking towards him. Logan tried not to stare as her breasts bounced with each step as she approached.
