“You are going to hurt your back,” Cade finally murmured after they had stayed in the bent position for a few more seconds. “And mine too,” he added in a strained voice and let out a loud groan as he put her to her feet and held her waist to himself.
“Stand still I wanted to look at you more” she said. He stared into her eyes and it was like she was passed or something. He could not understand what she was saying. Her actions and words did not seem to match, she had been so angry and stormed out on him earlier but now she was back and asking him to stand still so she could stare at him.
“The food” he murmured. She placed a finger across his lips and made a shushing sound to him. “It would get burnt” he said, she felt his mouth move under her finger and cause a certain kind of vibration through her entire being.
“I am really holding myself back here,” she said taking a step back. His hands that had been wrapped around her waist fell to his side.
“So am I” she said taking more steps until her body collided with the counter. “But I want us to talk about it extensively before we do anything we might regret in the future” she added.
“Are you saying you might regret this?”
“I am not saying anything yet” she said turning and walking so the counter was in between them and she did not begin acting like a beast. She would tell him that they had met two years ago through a one-night stand how she recognized him the first day they met and how she wanted it to be in the past because she was ashamed of her decision that night.
He turned around without a word even though there was a lot bubbling in his chest. He moved from the skin to the stovetop to check on the food to see that it had begun to burn by the sides. “The food is ready,” he said.
“I will get the plates and cups,” she said, standing up as she began to open and close all the cupboards, taking out the plates, spoons, and cups they would need for dinner. “Let us talk after dinner,” she said as they sat down to eat, and he nodded in agreement.
They were now sitting in the living room, she was on the edge of one of the long couches and he was on the other edge, it was as if they had made an agreement to keep the maximum distance between themselves. Ophelia clutched onto the cup in her hand so tightly one could think it was a trophy that she was protecting after winning by a landslide.
“You wanted to talk after dinner,” she finally let out in a squeak. She took up the cup of decaffeinated coffee in her hand and sipped on it. Maybe it would clear her throat and stop her from speaking like a mouse.
“I did, but it seemed like you wanted to do so as well” he replied taking up the cup he had in his mouth as well.
The room fell silent for a while and Ophelai could swear that she heard crickets sounding so loudly in her ears. She wanted this to be over so she dropped the cup to the side of the table and clapped her hand in the air, she closed the distance between them speedily and held onto his hand. Cade threw his body to the couch in shock at her actions. “What are you doing?” he stammered blinking rapidly at her.
“What do you mean?” she asked, looking at his face intently.
“Why did you suddenly get so close?” he asked, still stammering at her sudden closeness and physical touch.
“You like me, right?” she asked, and he nodded.
“I do,” he said, and she sighed.
“I thought my ears were dceiving me earlier,” she said and let go of his hand that she had been clutching onto. “I thought I was crazy” she added.
“But you heard me and thought I was just saying it because you confessed first”
“I must be crazy,” she said to herself, biting on her finger.
“Stop you’ll hurting yourself,” he said, holding her hand before she could bite off her skin.
“I am scared” she whispered causing him to look at her with a confused expression. “I am scared that we say we love each other now and then in a few years we would leave each other in pain because it is no longer there” she added.
“I am scared that this thing we feel might not be genuine and might just be because we are bored and we began to develop these feelings” she continued breaking the sudden silence.
“I don’t know about tomorrow but I know about today and one thing I am sure of is that this feeling are very much real. I am not confused, bored or just looking for a way to pass the time. I know what I feel and I have been feeling them for such a long time now” he said still holding her hand gently rubbing his finger against the back of her hand.
“Cade” she called out in a meek voice.
“The truth is that when I saw you, I was reminded of a girl I had met while I was still in college; she was the funniest girl ever, and somehow we never got to stay in touch,” he said. He could not believe he was about to tell her about his one-night stand just to confess to her.
“Toria?” she asked and he was taken aback that she knew him.
“Do you know her? How do you know her? ” Cade asked shocked
“You mentioned her when we first met”
“Oh yeah that is right,” he said nodding. “So about Toria..”
“I have something to confess” she chimed in, cutting him off before he could say anything more.
“What is it?”
“I am Toria.”
“Wait what?”
“I am Toria that you met at that bar two years ago”