Chapter 2: Good Friends

          Though she had written him off, Manu’s part in this story had barely begun. It is a wonder how quickly a virgin heart will grasp onto its first interest and how adamantly it will keep its hold. The day after her failed date, Finley took herself to the park. Internally, she insisted that she simply wanted to fish and that she was not looking for Manu. She proved that she should never consider an acting career when she bumped into him and clumsily feigned surprise.

“Where did you run off to yesterday?” he asked with a playful smirk.

Finley hesitated. The urge to blurt something out about how rude he’d been to flirt with another woman on their—on her—first date ever was strong for a passing moment. At the same time, her stubborn heart didn’t want her to run him off. “It was just getting late and I needed to get home,” she settled on answering lamely.

Manu didn’t seem to see that she was upset in anyway. He pulled her into a tight hug, letting it linger past when its natural time came to an end. “Well I had a lot of fun. You’re a great girl.” Once again, Finley melted.

          Being so new, she had no experience with how one should handle the delicate matter of courtship. All she had to guide her were the few love scenes she’d seen on television and the fury of confusing (and a bit startling) desires and emotions battling inside her. It was like when her body posed itself in ways she would have never thought to do in order to entice him. Momentarily, she wondered if her creator had something to do with it, but quickly shook this thought away. Somehow it seemed too impure, too hands on, for it to have anything to do with them. It must have just been biology.

          All while pondering what was happening to her, Finley had been running on autopilot during her chat with Manu. Unfortunately, she had a very abrasive autopilot program. She’d invited Manu to accompany her back to her house, only realizing what had happened when they were leaving the park together.

          At her house, Finley could have distracted Manu by asking him more about his fishing feats. Or she could have asked him to leave or faked sudden illness. She discovered that she didn’t want to do any of these things though. He was there, hers to experiment with, so why not take advantage of it? How would she ever learn otherwise?

          She surprised him when she suddenly planted her first kiss on his lips. It was quick and chaste, but made her feel incredibly brave. Until she pulled away that is.

          “Oh my watcher, this is so embarrassing! I don’t know what made me do that!” she squealed, clamping her eyes tightly shut. Her hand went up to act as another sort of shield. She hadn’t felt him kiss back. Or had she? She couldn’t tell; it’d been too quick. What if he really hadn’t? What if he didn’t like her at all like that? What would she do? He was the first person she’d really spent any time with. Yet, they hadn’t talked very much. She didn’t even know if he was married or had a family. What was wrong with her?!

          All of her bubbling fears were assuaged when Manu once again pulled her into him by her arms. This time it wasn’t for an embrace though. He kissed her, but it wasn’t anything like the one she’d given him. It was slobbery and kind of gross and involved open mouths for whatever reason. But it was exciting. Finley found that all she could do was wrap her arms around his shoulders and try her best to keep up. She was relieved that she couldn’t see the two of them as a viewer watching in; she feared it must not have been an attractive sight.

          “So did you want to, ah,” he started to ask when they broke for air. The way he phrased his question, cutting off like that, made it sound like he’d had a lot of practice to fine tune it. The sigh type of a noise at the end was just too perfect, and somehow encapsulated the right amount of upward inflection.  Even seeing his phony act of bashfulness, Finley eagerly consented. She was not completely sure of what was exactly involved with what he was asking, but her primal self still pressed for it.

          Manu did not try to hide his excitement once she said yes.

          Woohoo was not exactly what Finley had believed it would be, but then again, she hadn’t spent much time before then wondering about it. While she and Manu awkwardly tussled under the covers of her bed, occasionally pulling hair or putting too much pressure on an arm, the idea of her creator’s wish never crossed her mind. Finley wasn’t engaging in the activity for reproduction purposes, but for her own enjoyment.

          Her partner fell asleep as soon as their shared activity was over. She found herself thinking that he looked adorable. Wanting to be sweet, she slipped out from the covers as quietly as she could, hoping to let him stay sleeping. He stirred once she was fully out though.

Disorientated, he asked, “Good?”

She had to think for a moment to understand what he wanted to know. And then she had to ponder her answer. Though she had nothing to compare it against, she thought it went pretty well. She simply nodded, trying to reign in the enormous grin that wanted to break free.

Manu returned the nod and then promptly began to dress himself. “Thanks, but I’ve got somewhere to be,” he said once his overalls and flannel were properly snapped up. He avoided eye contact with her.

“I enjoyed myself,” Finley said, still smiling. The poor thing was not fully aware of what was happening. “We should really do this again sometime!”

“Yeah, sure, whatever you want.”

          Before he could sashay himself out the door, Finley wouldn’t let him pass without some sort of a proper parting. She leaned forward to kiss him once more and was given his cheek. This did come across as a bit strange to her, but she shrugged it off once he left. She wasn’t completely disillusioned into thinking they were soul mates or anything of the sort, but she at least wanted to think of themselves as good friends. And friends wouldn’t woohoo and then never speak again, right?