`` i 'm sorry , '' he whispered again as he reached out and very deliberately pried her fingers off the table leg . `` you mesmerized me from the moment i first saw you when we were kids . the other direction led to stairs downwards . no , i could n't be ready to go to the rooster at six thirty . `` i am in the kitchen or the laundry room . '' he leaned back so he could look at me . the relationship had been somewhat icy ever since . 