VI

Jesse's mouth was agape, flustered. "I- I don't-"

"Seriously," K interrupted and smiled at him. "You don't have to explain. You just didn't have to lie to me about it that night at the subway, when you told me you don't use it that often." She chuckled and air quoted with her fingers. "You don't owe me anything. Besides, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche believed that morality is just a fiction used by the herd of inferior human beings to hold back the few superior men."

"So you're saying..." He trailed off, trying to think of the right conclusion from her Nietzsche blabber. "You're okay with it?"

"With what?" K asked, reaching for her fork and bread knife. "Your lack of moral compass?" She stabbed her bagel slices and took another cute little bite into her mouth. 

He stopped and pouted, quite hurt and offended for a second, but then he knew that K was just kidding.

Or was she? 

Jesse was totally clueless and oblivious, it was driving him insane. K was a total mystery. He realized that was the thing that kept on pulling him into her- the enigma, puzzle and huge question mark that was K.

"I'm Jewish, we don't believe in hell," he simply put, grinning at her sardonically and not putting up with her sneaky little deride. "It doesn't matter if my moral compass is pointed way down the South Pole. And I'm single, I'm twenty-fucking-eight, I've no obligation and debts to pay for. I'm just trying to live my life." He tried to justify.

"Okay. Great," K raised her brows and bit her lip enticingly.

"Sarcasm?" He smiled and asked, beguiled. It was so incredibly hard for him to decipher everything about her.

She sipped from her cup again and just shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, you're quoting the brilliant but twisted Nietzsche, whom by the way died of syphilis," he muttered, snickering. "But then just moments ago, you seemed perturbed by the fact that I have been sleeping around and using Clix way too much," he quoted her, and admitting the truth at the same time. There's no point in denying it, anyway. If K really had access to the Clix database, then she already knew that he hasn't hooked-up with anyone since the night they met. If anything, that would be a compliment.

"Yeah, I was really disturbed by your fixation for sex." She paused, pensive. K looked down on the table then quickly turned her eyes to look at Jesse. "But now... I don't know, I'm a bit curious to be honest." She rested both her elbows on the table and leaned towards him. "You know what? Maybe I'd like to play another game," she said softly, in a super sultry way. She lifted her hand from the table to rest her chin on her palm.

"What game?" Jesse asked, his interest drawn and captured. He didn't have the slightest clue what he was getting himself into. He never played games with anyone before. It was just sex. But K was just so... bewitching. Whatever game she was playing, he's definitely in on it, no questions asked.

"Don't ask. Just... play along with me. It's gonna be fun. Trust me." She cajoled, then sipped from her paper cup. She stared outside the window, then beamed as if a she just had a light bulb moment. "How about if... we go out tomorrow?" K chimed in, almost a suggestion.

Jesse thought for a second, thinking if she meant that they go out on a date.

"And nope, it's definitely not date." K clarified, reading his mind again. "Let's just talk, walk around the city. I mean... whatever goes." She winked at Jesse.

He paused, then leaned his back on the chair. He intended to ask her the question. "Is... sex on the table?" 

K chortled, leaning on her chair too and crossing her legs. The tip of her boot grazed Jesse's calf, with just the small space between them from the teeny-tiny round table . K crossed her arms above her chest, making her cleavage pop through the neckline of her black tank top. "Maybe." She looked at Jesse with such intensity, her eyes turning dark.

Jesse rolled his eyes and groaned. "Ugh, there it is again." 

"Jesse Akerman, life isn't just about affirmations and negations, the black and white. That's fucking boring," K put into words. "That's why you always have to go and roam around the gray areas. I hate that term, though. Gray areas - they're actually what makes life more colorful, more alive."

Jesse twitched his lip, amused and profound at K's insights and perception about life. He liked how his name rolled out from her lips and tongue, too. It sounded different every time she said it, from sweet and innocent to sensual and provocative. He looked deep into K's cobalt blue eyes, it was like looking right through her soul. He blinked, not wanting to get lost in their depths. He dropped his gaze to her chest instead.

Was she wearing a bra? Though it most certainly doesn't look like it. 

Oh, boy.

K reached for the seam edge of her black leather jacket and zipped it all the way up, noticing how Jesse stared at her chest. If looks could undress, K might have been stripped naked now - with the way he looked at her.

She leaned again towards him on the table. "Do you... want to kiss me now?" K mumbled under her breath, almost a whisper. It made Jesse's hair stand on ends.

"Yes," he breathed. "Though I- I can't right now. I've got a witch's brew of coffee, bagel and cigarettes in my mouth." He pointed his index finger around his mouth, smiling like a cute puppy.

K beamed, looking like a temptation. "Alright, then. I'll just see you tomorrow." 

Jesse just smiled and shrugged. He had never felt so sexually aroused. "Alright," he agreed. "Am I going to pick you up?" He sounded ecstatic.

"I'll just meet you at Broadway and 7th," she put forward, tucking her dark hair behind her ear. "5:00 PM."

"Where exactly at Times Square?" Jesse asked, his brows creased. Times Square was always crowded with New Yorkers and tourists from all over the world. Some would say that Times Square is like a five-block metaphor for New York City itself – it's exciting, colorful and always jumping. But Jesse would just describe this area of midtown Manhattan as artless, overpriced and congested.

"I'll be there," K guaranteed. "Just look for me."

He snorted derisively. "You're kidding. Look for you, at Times Square? You do realize there's a lot of people there."

"I'll be there, Jesse." She repeated, already reaching for her bag. She stood up, perched her sling bag on one shoulder and leaned over to the table to plant a soft kiss on Jesse's lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She made her way out of the café, the wooden heels of her black ankle boots clacking on the tiled floor.

And the real game begins.