Lance woke up the next day feeling weirdly happy and eager. Unlike most mornings, he could remember what he dreamed last night. It was all about Cara, the beautiful woman whom he had a secret crush on. The intensity of this crush increased by leaps and bounds the more he saw her. Today, he was feeling the need to see her again. That need you get when you've had a hurried glimpse or taste of something. Now, he was beginning to wonder if her eyes were blue or green.

"Hello sleepyhead," his mother hailed as she walked past. "Thought I'd catch you in bed. Breakfast's ready!"

"Morning, Mom," he murmured as he stepped out of his room. He followed her and went to the sitting room, while she stopped at the dining. There, he slumped down on a sofa and turned on the TV.

"Won't you eat your breakfast?"

"In a minute," he called back.

"What! Get your lazy ass over here, boy. Don't want you lacking those important vitamins."

He grumbled all the way as he went off to brush his teeth and on his return, managed to drag his feet to the table and settled on a chair. But seeing the green peppers, his mind flashed to Cara.

"Hey Mom, how's Lisa doing? Need me to go find out? I'm heading that way."

"Oh don't worry about it. She j... well, if you wanna check up on them, that's great."

He nodded enthusiastically and proceeded to attack the food, unaware of his mother's suspicious stare. Carol wondered what had gotten into her son today. He had never before offered to run an errand with such ease.

*****

"Hi Lance. How're you?", Cara asked with a forced smile on her face as she opened her door to see her friend's son. She was doing her best to avoid his eyes.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Holden. Mom asked me to find out how Lisa's doing. Uh.. how's she doing?"

"But she's already asked after Lisa just an hour ago," Cara said, looking at his face for the first time. But seeing the embarrassment there, she quickly moved to salvage the situation. "A.. Anyways, she's doing good. She's spending a few days at my sister's. Do you wanna come in?"

"No, not really. Just umm.. wanted to know how Lisa's doing."

"Thanks for the concern, Lance. I really appreciate it."

With a stiff smile and respectful nod, Lance turned around and walked away. By the time he got to his car, he had forgotten if those eyes were green or blue. Did he even remember to look?

*****

Every day for the next few days, Lance just could not stop thinking about Cara. He didn't bother asking himself why he thought of her, he simply just went on thinking of nothing but her. He was attracted to her in a way he couldn't explain and it felt natural to him, more natural as the days passed by.

The need to see her was growing again within him, but he knew that making another appearance at her door so soon after his last visit would surely be cause for suspicion, especially after what had happened the last time. He still blushed when he thought of how he made a big fool of himself that day. In the future, he would pay visits in his own name instead of his mother's.

It was evening and the birthday party of a close friend had just come to an end. Some attendees were leaving while others were staying behind to continue the festivities in their own way. Lance was one of the former and an old classmate, Terry, had suddenly decided to stick close to him. He was bent on saving his cab fare and wanted Lance to be his driver, but Lance would not hear of it.

"Too far out of my way, man," he complained.

"Come on, Lance. Do a friend a favour. What's a few miles to a rich kid like you?"

"Means as much to me as it does to a cabman. We both use gas."

"Which your rich mom pays for. Stop being a hardheaded, satanic, wicked idiot. If I were a sexy girl, we wouldn't be having this conversation. You'd be all 'Hi angel, can I give you a lift?' and I'll be like 'Umm.. okay.'"

"But unfortunately, you're not a girl and worse still, you ain't helping your case by calling me names," he shot back as he got into his car.

But just as he turned the key in the ignition, Terry jumped in beside him.

"I'm not going your way, Terr," he sighed and turned off the ignition.

"Oh yes, you are. Or we'll be staying here all day."

Lance shook his head in frustration. Terry was right. The sooner he started, the sooner he'd get rid of him. He had an appointment to keep for a high-staked card game with his neighbor and arriving late would give the idiot a chance to gloat.

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth as he turned on the ignition again. "You owe me!"

**

As they approached Terry's area, Lance suddenly remembered that Cara's house was just a few blocks away. There would be no harm in stopping by to say 'Hi'. Since he was just passing by, it wouldn't attract as much suspicion and he could always ask after Lisa as a last resort. Yes, he would do it.

With confidence and urgency that seemed to his friend as generosity, he drove all the way to Terry's house and dropped him in front of it. Not bothering to respond to questions of whether he'd be present for the party next week where there'd be a lot of 'hot girls', Lance backed the car out of the area and made straight for Cara's home. He didn't even mind the shouts from Terry and the subsequent hit of a pebble on his side mirror. He was that determined.

**

The confidence that had powered him all the way to Cara's place was beginning to decline as he parked in her driveway. He was beginning to sweat and his hands were shaking like a junkie who'd missed his fix. And he wasn't even at the door yet! He had half the mind to just call the whole thing off and head to his neighbor's, but the thought that Cara might have heard or even seen his car in her driveway gave him no choice but to step out of the car.

He took a deep breath and walked carefully toward the front door like someone learning to walk for the first time in his life. He wondered why he was so apprehensive. He'd been here before for Christ's sake! But no matter how many times he told that to himself, it still was not helping.

At the front door, he dried his wet palms on his jeans for the upteenth time and brought his hand up to knock. Though his hand made contact with the wood, the first knock was soundless. He tried again and it produced a tiny sound. With shaking hands, he tried for the third time and something that resembled the sound of an actual knock was produced. Immediately, he heard Cara's shout of 'Coming!' from somewhere inside the house. That was when he realized that he had forgotten what he was going to say.

With a frantically beating heart, he racked his brain for the missing memory. Had he even planned anything sensible to say? He turned around and thought about running back to his car and speeding off before she would get to the door. But what if he got caught mid-race? No, he would face it like a man. By the way, what was there to be scared about? If nothing else came to mind, he would simply ask after Lisa and then leave. Yes, asking after Lisa.. that was the escape hatch.

Just then, the door opened behind him and with asking-after-Lisa inspired confidence, he whirled round to face her. But just as he opened his mouth to voice the words, his brain registered what his eyes had just seen. With his mouth still hanging open, he stared at the bathrobe-clad Cara, her luxurious curls wet and falling over her shoulders. Her delicate neck and upper chest were bare for him to see. The way her breasts pushed out the robe like mounds of treasure under a cover-cloth made him shudder in pleasure. It was clear that she was wearing nothing underneath the robe.

He finally closed his mouth when he felt his erection rising up to express its approval of what his brain was communicating to it. Cara did not see what his eyes were focused on since she was looking at anywhere but his face. He was the last person she had expected to see when she opened the door and being taken unawares, she was confused on what next to do.

"Uhh..," Lance began, as the uncomfortable silence continued. His attempt at speaking must have roused Cara too as she opened the door wider for him to pass through.

Wordlessly, he stepped in and turned to see her closing the door softly. His eyes inadvertently fell on her backside and the exposed flesh of the back of her thighs not covered by the mid-thigh bathrobe. His erection shot up, faster and harder than ever. This time, he hardly felt it. He was entranced by her body. She turned to face him, not looking at his face and not knowing what to say. There was only a few feet of space between them, but the silence was many miles long.