Her mouth hanged open untill he walked up to her.
“How did you know my address?” she managed to ask, and he smiled, a triumphant one.
“I just did. You seem to forget who I am” he stated proudly and she scoffed with a little smile tugging on her lips.
“I guess I’ll find that out later.” she stated, turning around and walking up to the door. She inserted her key into the lock and turned it open before turning to face him again. “You can come in if you aren’t leaving yet.” she offered.
“I’ll be right behind you.” he answered, returning to his cat to pick out something. She stepped inside the house and minute later, he followed her in with two small bags in his hands. He surveyed the living room area with his eyes as he stepped in. It’s interior was beautifully decorated. She had a huge flat screen television on the wall. Not as huge as his’, but bigger than normal. Someone paintings hung on the wall alongside some photos that he figured out was her favorite.
“Please, have a seat” she pointed at one of the chairs in the sitting room. “let me drop these inside, I’ll be back soon.” she added, lifting the bags do he could see before disappearing inside. He took a quick inspection of the sitting room and was visibly impressed. She had a book shelf that hung on the wall, a drink cabinet that looked like it hadn’t been touched in years, abstract paintings and some other stuffs that added beauty to the room.
She soon returned few minutes later and had changed her shoes into a flip-flops, loosening her hair from the bun and covering it with a scarf.
“What can I offer you?” she questioned, playing the role of a polite host. He looked to be in thoughts for a few seconds so she cut in. “Before you start thinking far, the house is basically empty. I just restocked so I doubt if what you have in mind is available. Make another choice.”
“You didn’t even let me make my choice.” he frowned before his face returned to a bright smile as he pulled out the small bags and placed it on the small side table. “I got us something to eat.” he stated pointed at the takeaway he had gotten. She tried to hide her smile before bursting into a full blown smile before walking over to the table
“They are Chinese and pizza.” he informed her as she started unpacking them. “I realized you’d be hungry and need them.”
She turned to him with a soft and genuine smile. “Thanks alot. I owe you one.” She finished unboxing the pizza and walked over to the fridge, talking out two bottles of soft drinks before returning to the table. They both took a slice each of the pizza, chatting as they ate.
After the Uber driver had driven off, he walked back inside the mall to the food section where he bought the food. The food at the hotel was great, but he wanted to try out something different so he paid for two plates of Chinese meals and a box of large sized pizza. He was planning on taking it and returning to the hotel when a thought clicked in his head.
“What if he went over to Ciara’s place with the food and try to apologize?” he knew she would be hungry. They had spent time and energy at the mall and she was sure to feel famished. It sounded like a good idea to him do he took out his phone and scrolled over to where her personal data file was stored. He had gotten the file when they were to start working together. It was his duty to have it as her boss. He picked out her address and quickly got into his car, speeding off. He used a more shorter route, arriving at her house and few minutes later, the cab she took pulled up. He remained in his car as he watched her pay the driver and walk in. He noticed her curiosity as she stared at his car and when she had started walking and gotten nearer, he decided to go out of the car.
~•~
“Who takes the last piece of the pizza?” Ciara asked, eyeing the piece in the box. Harry noticed her glance on the meal before speaking up.
“I will, thank you.” his hands were almost on the piece before she snatched the box away. He broke into a laugh as he noticed her facial expression. She looked like a child who had been denied their favorite toy.
“No you aren’t. You got it for me so I’ll take it.” she countered.
“Who said I got it for you?” he joked
“Anyways, I read somewhere that too much if pizza isn’t good for men. Something like, you won’t last long in bed.” she teased him with a little laugh.
“I can eat fix boxes of pizza and still go down with you for hours.” he replied with the same teasing tone she used. She blushed violently at his comment. Her cheeks suddenly became hot with bright pink shades. She stuffed the piece of pizza into her mouth, chewing on it. He has left her completely speechless so she had to turn to the innocent pizza to escape the awkwardness of the situation.
Harry was finding it hard to control the laughter building up inside of him as he stared at her totally flushed face. She looked cute, he couldn’t deny that.
“You should see your face right now” he commented with a little laugh and she turned sharply to look at him. Was anything wrong on her face? “You are blushing very violently right now. I find it cute though.” he added and she turned her face, hiding it from him. He had just increased the awkwardness of the entire situation. She felt like hiding her face in a hole at that moment. She was really bad when it came to blushing. It would take atleast ten minutes for her face to return to normal and if he continued saying things like that, she was afraid it was going to take the entire day.
“You have a nice place here.” he commended, trying to reduce the awkward tension she was feeling and she was thankful for that.
“Thanks” she replied simply. She didn’t know what to add. He liked her house, that was a plus one.
She folded the now empty pack of pizza and returned it into the bag before picking up the second bag containing the chinese meal and walking into the kitchen. Once inside the privacy if her kitchen, she heaved a big sigh of relief. The tension she was feeling back there in the sitting room was enough to murder someone. She drank from a bottle of water and tried to calm herself. His stupid words had out her in this situation, but somehow, she found herself smiling.
She dumped the pizza pack into the trash before unpacking the food. It was still a bit hot do there was no need to use a microwave. She turned the meal and the side food into different plates, set in into her favourite tray and walked outside the kitchen, this time, the dinning room.
She walked over to the sitting room to call him and froze when she saw what he was doing.
He was watching football on her television in her house.
“Do you know you just broke one of the biggest rules of this house?” she questioned with the right amount of seriousness.
He stared at her serious face in surprise before looking round the house, returning to stare at her again. “What happened? What rule did I break?” he asked calmly. If he did anything wrong, he was going to fix it.
“You are watching football in my sitting room. That is against the rules.” she replied pointing at the television that was displaying a highlights of an old match.
He looked at her in deep suprise and when he saw her still maintaining the seriousness he she held, he broke into a big fit of laughter. “Seriously? Are you for real?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes” she picked up the remote and switched off the television to prove her point. “Watching television in my house was banned. It hasn’t happened in over four years and now you just broke the rule.”
“His mouth hung in surprise at her revelation. He was actually surprised. He had at first thought she was joking but judging from the seriousness she held, he knew she wasn’t.
“What do I do to apologize?” he queried. At that point, he was ready to do anything within his power to make things right.
“A new house” she answered at once.