Joost's apartment was the same as Elke's. A green sofa faced a TV and a kitchen took up the far wall. Two windows faced the same street, reminding Elke of the cigarette she had seen him have.

The kitchen counter and coffee table were covered in various objects. Baseball caps, sunglasses, lighters, bandanas and cigarette packets took up a majority of the space. The living space floor was clean but Elke's quick glance towards the bedroom told her that the sentiment didn't continue further than that.

Elke was awkward as Joost closed the door behind her. She shuffled out of the way and he passed her to head to the kitchen. She tried not to think about how she was in someone else's apartment on a Friday night; another man's apartment, at that.

'What do you do? What's your promotion?' Joost asked while opening a kitchen cabinet.

'Consultancy. I'm team leader of my division now.'

'Pardon me, Miss Team Leader,' Joost turned with two glasses in hand and raised eyebrows. 'I should have some crystal to use for times like these. Unfortunately IKEA cups will have to do.'

Elke snickered and headed towards the counter. She put the bottle down and Joost took it, popped the cork without needing a screw before pouring the champagne.

While on opposite sides, the two were quiet as Joost poured. It let a pit form in Elke's stomach and she glanced up from the fizzing bubbles.

She scoffed and brought her hand up to her forehead.

'What?' Joost caught her humourless laugh.

'I feel stupid.'

'Why?'

Joost put the bottle down and held one glass out. His own sat idle, his eyes unmoving from the girl who shook her head with the same strained grin.

'I bought the bottle thinking someone would come over when I told them. Now I'm in your apartment because I recognised you from the car meet,' she took the glass with her cheeks flushing. 'I'm sorry for doing this. You don't even know me-'

'I'll accept champagne from anyone. You don't need to be sorry.'

Elke looked across the counter as Joost took a sip from his glass. With one hand in his sweatpants pocket, the tall blonde held a gentle smile. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that a random girl had turned up at his door. In fact, it was like he had been expecting her with the way he stood and spoke so casually.

Chewing the inside of her cheek, Elke had to tear herself from Joost's eyes. They were so bright and looked nowhere else but her. She would say they were intimidating but that would mean she was uncomfortable.

'Who were you meant to be celebrating with?' Joost asked, his gaze flickering down for a moment. 'Friends? Your boyfriend?'

'Would you laugh at me if I said yes?'

'Why would I laugh?'

Joost's head tilted to the side and Elke clenched her glass.

'Because he was free tonight and still didn't come around,' Elke mumbled and her champagne bubbled as she drank. She knew she sounded bitter and for a moment, she felt bad. Bad mouthing Roan to a male stranger felt wrong. But then she pictured him in his garage, probably with one his friends, with the bonnet of his car held up by its roof stand.

The apartment air turned awkward as neither Joost nor Elke knew what to say. Joost finished his glass quickly and it prompted Elke to do the same. She hoped that he wasn't signalling for her to leave. But when she saw Joost pour more champagne into his glass, Elke relaxed and accepted his offer to pour more in hers.

'Was he the reason you were at the meet on Saturday?' he asked. She nodded and leaned her weight onto one foot.

'Why didn't he drive you home?'

'How do you know he didn't?' Elke bit back defensively.

'Because you got in a Corolla,' Joost's hand went back into his pocket, unfazed. 'I hate to assume but that's a standard Uber model and if he's into cars, he wouldn't be driving a mechanics nightmare.'

'A mechanics nightmare?'

'The most efficient and long-lasting car of the century. A mechanic sheds a tear when a Corolla pulls into their shop because they know they won't find anything wrong with it.'

For the second time, Elke laughed. Joost joked so effortlessly without stuttering or needing to think too hard. He was already smiling by the time he was finished and he watched as the girl in his kitchen radiated with giggles.

Once she got ahold of herself, Elke drank some more of her champagne. If it wasn't for the original topic, she would have happily finished her glass and mentioned Joost's Impreza. It had been the first thing that piqued her interest in the new apartment. But she knew that Joost wasn't going to let her slip by unnoticed.

'So, he didn't drive you home and didn't come to drink with you on the Friday night of your promotion?' Joost listed and paused. 'For someone who has a rally car, you'd think he would use it for things that actually matter.'

Nothing truer had ever been said. If she wasn't in the presence of a handsome, blonde stranger, Elke would have agreed wholeheartedly.

'What about you, then?' she tried to steer the conversation away. 'What matters to you? Where do you drive your car?'

Joost leaned one hand on the kitchen counter and took a sip of his champagne. He took a minute before he answered, using his words carefully. Elke's brown eyes made it difficult for Joost to concentrate. She didn't realise how much of Joost's attention she drew just by standing in his apartment. With her tights and corporate attire, Elke made his messy living space fade into the background and draw everything to her.

'I'm sort of a mechanic.'

'That's why you said about the Corolla?'

'Sure,' Joost shrugged. 'My friend has a workshop and I offer my services when they're needed.'

'You're saying it like that's not what you actually do,' Elke challenged and laughed into her glass when Joost did an exaggerated shrug. She didn't question it any further and finished her second round of champagne.

Over one more glass, the two talked a great deal. The Friday night went smooth until it hit 10 o'clock and Elke, like the full-time corporate slave she was, yawned. It earnt her a tease from Joost who said he was heading out at 11 to a friend's place. She waved her hand at this and blinked lazily, saying she wasn't the young teenager she once was.

Joost pulled on some shoes as Elke headed for the door. She said he could keep the rest of the champagne, which he thanked her for and put it in the fridge. He would never drink it with his friends and that was usually the only time he ever drank. Maybe it was a promise for Elke's return as Joost considered the alcohol to be a fancy commodity and Elke struck him as the type.

Out in the hallway, Joost pressed the button for the lift and Elke paused in her way to her door. Tired and tipsy, she turned to him as he pulled his jumper's hood up. It sat forward enough to tuft his hair out the front but kept his close-shaved back warm.

'Thank you for not thinking I'm weird. My want for connection earnt me a good Friday,' Elke said in genuinity.

'No problem. I enjoyed the spontaneity.'

And I enjoyed seeing a pretty woman stand in my apartment, he wanted to add. But Joost settled with a close-lipped smile as the lift dinged with it's arrival. Elke lowered her head into a nod and turned away. She looked over her shoulder once when Joost stepped out of the hallway before unlocking her door and letting it close behind her.

As the lift doors closed, Joost dropped his face into his hands and ran them down aggressively. His skin pulled and stretched before pinging back into place.

With a sigh, Joost knew that he was in trouble.

---

There was nothing that Elke wanted to do less on a Saturday than to go to Roan's house. Girlfriends were meant to say the complete opposite when talking about their boyfriend, but Elke knew that there wasn't a cozy day in waiting for her.

'Bring Arabella,' he had said over the phone and Elke almost hung up on him. It was obvious why he made the special requet but she supposed that she would at least have her best friend's company. It would make the affair no less dreadful and Elke would tell her friend exactly why Roan had invited her. But like the good friend Arabella was, she agreed to come for Elke's sake.

With Arabella in her passenger seat, Elke pulled up to Roan's unit. It was further out of Amsterdam and he had, at one point, asked her to move in with him. But at their relationship's 6-month mark, Elke had wanted to stay independent. She was glad that she had since her job was in the city and she couldn't imagine having to hear Roan revv his car engine every morning.

'If any of them so much as speak to me, I'm knocking out teeth,' Arabella grumbled as they stepped out of the car.

'I wish I could say the same but they never speak to me,' Elke followed, joining her friend's side as they made their way to the open garage. Just like Elke thought, Roan was stood with his friends around his car. Beers in hand and music playing from a stereo, the group of men laughed as the girls walked up the driveway.

'Hey!' Roan put down his beer and held his arms out. Arabella scowled as Elke stepped into his hold and avoided the other men's stares. They offered her smiles but she ignored them.

'Thank you for coming,' Roan said, pecking Elke's cheek.

'Um, that's okay?' she said in confusion. She looked to the right and actually caught of a few nods from Roan's friends. It was the most that she had received from them since exiting the talking stage with her now boyfriend.

'There's some drinks in that cooler,' Roan pointed to their right. 'I got you guys some mojitos. You like those, right?'

Arabella and Elke rose their eyebrows in unison. For once, the air in the garage was lively and comfortable. If it wasn't the sudden thoughtfulness of Elke's boyfriend, then it was the vibrant attitude of his friends. They talked to each other excitedly and one even stepped out of the way to let the girls get to the cooler. Elke thanked him and she got a genuine 'no problem', stunning her even further.

'Roan said about your promotion,' the friend said as Elke opened her can. 'That's really great for you.'

'Thanks. That's... nice of you to say.'

Looking to her boyfriend, Elke's insides melted. Perhaps she had judged too quickly. Sure, he hadn't seen her new apartment yet and didn't come around on the special Friday night, but he told his friends about her achievement. That had to have count for something.

Aware of her friend's hesitancy, Elke still kept her distance from the group. They sat on the cooler and watched the men look through Roan's cars parts. Arabella and Elke were able to go into light conversation as a way to avoid an advance from one of the boisterous men. The black-haired one of the two had made it clear that she didn't want to date any of Roan's friends.

A loud engine made its way down the street and pulled into the driveway. Roan and his friends halted their conversation unlike how they did when Elke ever approached. It made the two girls look towards the car that parked next to Elke's Suzuki Swift.

Roan was the one to leave the garage to greet the new arrivals. It wasn't hard for Elke to take note of how his friends lingered behind and straightened up. One turned down the music and another glanced towards her and Arabella, signaling for them to stand from the cooler. They did so and watched as he pulled out more canned beers in a hurry.

Three men approached the garage with a jittery Roan trailing behind them. At the forefront, was a long-haired man with a long nose. He wore a straight face at first, dapping up each of the men, flashing a broad smile when he was handed a can. The two other men did the same as Roan stepped to be beside the open bonnet of his car.

'Who are these guys?' Arabella whispered into Elke's ear. She shrugged, not recognising any of them. They didn't talk much and were yet to spare them a glance, but with the way Roan and his friends toned down their laughs, Elke assumed they weren't overtly friendly.

With his head low, Roan asked what the long-haired man thought. Instead of replying, he looked to where the two girls stood whispering to each other.

'Which one lives in the city?' he asked plainly. Roan gulped, flickering his eyes up to the two.

'My girlfriend. The brunette.'

'She'll do.'

'But Arabella's-'

'The brunette will do,' he repeated, his jaw tight and Roan lowered his head into a nod. He watched as the man looked to Elke again and his stomach churned painfully.