BUDDING FEELINGS
The day had finally come. The day Maria had envisaged with little pleasure when it came to her wardrobe and the state of her home. She managed to arrange her closet to a level after much procrastination and now expecting a house guest; she had no idea where to begin searching for what to wear.
This was no ordinary visitor like Athina or Clara. It was a man, a handsome one that she admired and hoped to have something beautiful with. It had been too long since she was in a relationship and she could no longer deny that her heart yearned to love someone and have someone love her twice as much.
Maria had gone through different clothes in the closet and eventually turned the place upside down like a tornado had occurred. She had the numerous outfits but was indecisive. It was either too shabby, showed too much skin, or was too much. She wanted to call on Athina, but refrained from picking her phone and dialing her number.
She spent the whole day with her in the hospital and had even intended on spending the night with Maria, but she wouldn’t have it. Athina needed as much rest as she did and would feel bad if she remained in the hospital. Before dawn Athina was back, bright and positive, and brought her home. Maria couldn’t thank her enough for her support and did the right thing by chasing her out the door to sleep in her husband’s house. Athina was persistent, but in the case of choosing the perfect outfit for Maria, she was a lifesaver.
Maria finally settled on a comfortable lounge wear. A black cotton short that highlighted her figure and a Minnie sweat shirt that Athina had given her on her 20th birthday. It would surprise Athina she still had it. It was just so hard to part with, and Maria had kept it in good shape. Looking good and new.
Maria was quite nervous that she stressed cleaned the apartment about three times and arranged the area five times. She needed everything to look perfect.
The door bell rang, and Maria froze. She took a deep breath and scanned the house to be sure everything was in perfect order. She checked herself in the mirror and loosened her hair to fall on her back. The door bell rang the second time before she walked towards the door and opened it.
Maria concluded in a heartbeat that being God damn fine should be a sin. If not a sin, then a crime cause she could not bear the heat. Her cheeks flamed at the sight of Kyros’ dashing smile.
“Hi, I’m glad you’re looking well,” He said as he studied her features.
Maria was not a timid person, but something about him made her feel so. “I’m glad you could make it.”
There seemed to be something different about him from the last time they had met. His attire was simple and relaxing always. He was in a dark pair of jeans, a green shirt that Maria found ugly, and Nike converse on his feet. She didn’t want to make it obvious she was staring too much and looked at his face. It was his new haircut; she figured. It was what made him look a good kind of different.
Confused whether to shake or hug him, she settled on hugging him, then noticed his hands were full and her eyes grew wide. Maria had been so fixated on his charming smile that she didn’t register the things in his hands.
“Wow, you take the ‘bring a gift when visiting’ pretty serious.”
He stretched the hand that held a bouquet of peonies and gave them to her. “A queen like you deserves more than I’m holding.”
Maria blushed at his statement and thanked him for the flowers. She invites him into the house and headed for the kitchen to drop the items he was carrying. He followed her after he pulled off his shoes at the door side.
She picked up the glass vase that came with the apartment on the kitchen island and put water in it before placing the flowers in them. The spring time flowers in its full bloom added beauty to the kitchen space.
Maria was curious to check the things he had bought as he dropped the two baskets on the table. They filled one basket with snacks of all sorts, like cookies, chocolates, ice-cream, and a smoothie, while the other had a variety of items. Such as; scented candles, bath soak, plush robe, a wool cardigan, and a soft blanket.
She took the blanket to feel the softness that made her picture her in mind, snuggled with it.
“Thank you Kyros, these are so thoughtful of you.”
“It’s nothing. I just picked whatever I could find at the mall. You wouldn’t believe I was this close to calling my mom.”
Maria smiled. “You still did great.” They might have been ready to take baskets, but it warmed her heart that he’d gone through the trouble of getting her something.
“Oh, there’s more,” He said and snapped his hand like he came up with a brilliant idea.
Before Maria could say anything, he had dashed out the door, leaving a trail of his masculine scent behind.
In less than a minute, she heard her front door open and close. Kyros took the word jiffy to another level as he came into the kitchen with a box of large pizza in his right hand and a smaller white box in the other hand.
Maria’s eyebrows raised at the white box. He had gotten her quite a lot of things she hadn’t expected from him. The pizza, however, she was very grateful for. She had ransacked her brain about what to offer him. She thought of cooking but wasn’t feeling up to it and she had settled on ordering pizza or some other food when he arrived.
The food aspect was off her mental list and the aroma of the hot pizza flittering her nose made her mouth water.
Kyros placed the pizza on the counter and put the white box in her hand.
“What’s this?” She asked, her eyebrows knitted.
“A little something.” He shrugged and urged her to open it.
Maria was curious and did not hesitate to pull the box open. And revealed a smaller box that was a familiar brand to her. She already had an idea of what it was, but found it hard to believe that Kyros would get it for her.
She opened it to reveal a brand new iPhone 13 pro max. Her jaw slacked and her eyes became saucers.
“Kyros, this is too much. I can’t accept it.” She shook her head and slide it back to him.
“Why not?” He asked, confused, and slide it back to her. “You mentioned your phone cracked badly after what happened yesterday.”
“This must have cost a lot.” It was the latest model created by Apple and never had she imagined she’d own one. Maria realized at that moment that Kyros was a wealthy man. As a lawyer working for one of the biggest law firms in the city, he must be earning a lot.
Reid and Colton were on a different level of wealthy, nonetheless, Kyros was doing better than an average man.
“If you’d like, I can help you transfer all your data from your old phone to the new one.”
His offer tugged her heart cause she still contemplated accepting the phone. A cell in her brain struck a thought in her head as she recalled Reid giving her an apartment and a car. Compared to this, it was nothing, so why did she feel apprehensive?.
She removed her gaze from the phone and hugged him. She murmured, “thank you.” And he wrapped his hand around her, hugging her back.
The greeting was long overdue, and she swirled in his musky scent. When they both pulled away from the hug, Maria blurted out, “You smell lovely.” Her eyes shut, commiserating the scent that made her toes curl and made her body aware of his muscular build. She could not think straight.
“You smell lovely as well,” He said, with a smile. Instinctively, his hands brushed the hair on her shoulder to her back, exposing her neck.
In response to his touch, Maria tilted her head slightly, showcasing the smooth skin. The ring on his pinky caressed the skin and the coldness of the steel made her quiver.
The ping of a notification from Maria’s old phone interrupted the moment of a sort between the two. They were so lost in one another’s presence, and it baffled Maria.
She pulled away and cleared her throat. It was impossible for her to fall for him this soon, but she could not deny that she found him irrevocably attractive.
Maria checked her phone and saw it was a message from Athina. The text was brief, stating she was feeling sick and wishing her good luck with Kyros.
“Uh, that was Athina, sorry.” She laughed nervously and dropped the phone back on the counter.
“How about we go eat this pizza before it gets cold and perhaps watch a movie?” He picked the pizza as well as the two cups of smoothie and the bowl of ice cream.
“That’s a great idea,” she concurred and helped him carry the smoothie and led the way to the living room.
“The place is a bit cluttered, as I’m not done arranging.” The place was quite presentable, but she had just said that in case he didn’t fit his taste or actually looked cluttered to him.
“I’ll be glad to help if you need a hand.”
“That is a generous offer. I’m likely to take you on,” she said, and dropped the drinks on the center table in the living room.
A stunned Kyros was looking around the room with a bewildered expression. “If this is your definition of clustered, I’ll have to show you my garage as soon as possible.”
Maria laughed. She was at ease. He liked her place and even complimented her drapes that fit the white walls and flowers on the balcony that gave the space a fresh, homey vibe.
“I’m glad you like it,” she stated and invited him to join her on the long grey couch.
Maria stood up to pick the TV remote from the television stand before settling back in her seat. She scrolled through a list of movies, indecisive as always on what to watch. She turned to Kyros to ask for his opinion, only to find him already staring at her.
He did not seem fazed that she’d caught him looking and uttered, “Are we just going to ignore the elephant in the room?”
Maria’s eyebrows knitted close together as she wondered what he meant exactly. The moment–if one could call it that-they had shared in the kitchen flashed in her head. Her mouth formed into an oh.
“How do you feel? I can’t imagine how horrible that moment must have felt.”
Maria thought his question referred to what transpired between them, but the followup statement confused her.
“Did you get medications before you left the hospital?”
His question placed things in order as she realized he was talking about her allergy predicament.
“Oh, the hospital! Yes, I feel fine and I got medications,” she rambled unintelligently.
He seemed expectant for more details, so she just skimmed through the experience and the processed thoughts she had after. They cleared the elephant from the room and they settled on an action movie since the last movie they saw together was a romantic one.
They ate the pizza and drank the smoothies whilst watching the movie with undivided attention, with occasional small conversation about their personal lives. After three slices of pizza, Maria felt full and reclined her back on the couch. She almost pulled her leg up on the couch to stretch, then reminded Kyros was beside.
Kyros was such an attentive person, taking note of every little detail. He didn’t miss out on Maria wanting to stretch her leg, so he carried her two legs gently and placed it astride on his laps.
Maria wasn’t expecting him to do that and what he did next had her biting her lower lip. Kyros began massaging her feet and Maria felt on cloud nine. His hands were so skilled and it made her sigh contentedly that a moan nearly slipped from her lips.
The massage was a much needed one and although Maria wished to keep her eyes open to keep watching the movie and talk to Kyros more, she could not fight it and eventually succumbed to a deep sleep.