While they had been waiting on the pizza and selecting the movie, Duncan had spent his spare moments when her attention wasn’t on him, looking around.  She hadn’t been kidding about the size of the place.  Her whole apartment could fit in his bedroom at the casino.  But that wasn’t what really caught his attention.  It was her artwork.  The place was tidy, but had that lived in look.  Here and there were cross stitch artworks not unlike the ones his mother used to make.  She had built a home here.  He almost felt guilty about having her pack things up.

“Do you also do needlepoint?  Or sketching?  My mom did a LOT of needlepoint and cross stitch.  I still have most of her stuff.  Better yet, I have her patterns - and a program app I had designed to help her convert anything into a pattern for either.  Basically it is a virtual needlepoint and cross stitch program that will print out.  It also did those rugs … latch hook.  That’s the word!”  He frowned. “I lose words sometimes.  Comes from learning too many languages, I think.  I like your place.  Cozy.  And it makes my old dorm room look like a Spartan geek room.  I kept nearly everything in storage.”

“Speaking of storage, you know, if you don’t want to move right away, you don’t have to.  I could pay up the rent for the next year or so and have my estate manager take care of maintaining utilities.  And probably the best way to pack stuff up is in a rental POD.  Easier to ship it somewhere later.  Again, I can cover the rentals.  If there are any expenses associated with this travel stuff, don’t go and start bankrupting yourself.  The idea is to get a chance to expand your horizons and see some of what is out there.”

When the pizza was finally set in front of him, he grinned.  “Pizza, one of the major food groups.  I swear, college students eat nothing else.  I got so sick of Pizza Hut and Dominoes.  THIS, however, smells good.  Papa John’s was tolerable for a delivery chain.  Mmm … I wonder if they used portabella for the fried shrooms.  Most places don’t.”  But it wasn’t long before he, too, was munching away as the movie started.

For his second date, Duncan was far more at easy - with everything.  And he took the hint when Aliyah wanted to warm things up a bit.  Less fumbling.  And it was VERY clear he had done a little homework.  No frustrated moments this time.  He even grinned and admitted youtube was his friend - and that he couldn’t believe some of the things you could look up.  He blushed brightly at that admission, but was laughing.  He seemed a little proud of himself for taking a little initiative.  Of course, he wasn’t going to explain anytime soon where he got SOME of his information.  Let’s just say that of all the cities in the world, Las Vegas was one of two cities best qualified as a school for liaisons.

Unlike Aliyah, Duncan had no agenda other than breakfast the next morning.  Well, he did have other things to do after breakfast.  But he also had no issues with overnights or being someone’s blanket.