Friday had arrived faster than she'd envisaged and she wasn't ready.
"But this is what you wanted." Eka had countered when she'd shared her hysterical apprehension.
"Well, I didn't think it would work!"
Nene had scoffed, "Seriously? With the effort you'd put in chasing him?"
"What if he doesn't like...me?"
"You mean your body?" Eka had always been perceptive. "The man is lucky to have one night with you! Besides, he agreed because he wants it. A man that wants nothing to do with a woman always finds a way to avoid it."
"Jeez, who are you and what have you done with our confident friend?" Nene had asked.
"She likes him." Eka had answered as the reason she'd been jittery. "Rita, stop over thinking things. It's just a one night...thing, so just have fun."
That advice had been hours ago at Eka's house. She'd rushed home and prepared a meal of white rice while pulling out her frozen pot of stew to warm. She'd taken a bath and after rejecting several clothe choices had settled on comfort. She'd pulled on her soft pyjama short and its accompanying top over an exercise bra.
She'd stared at her room with a critical eye, having already cleaned and changed beddings the previous day. Rita set the dining table and settled down to wait. She'd expected him to show up at seven but her heart plummeted when at eight, he'd not shown or texted an excuse.
Did this mean she wasn't even worth an excuse? Like, she'd been used to guys taking her for granted which is why she'd avoided them for years. They'd thought a chubby girl would be desperate for scraps of their miserable affection, but she'd walked away. She'd shown them that she was worthy of more. Except, Ben with just this action of not showing up or calling or texting to make an excuse had made her feel unworthy.
He'd succeeded in crumbling walls of confidence she'd used years in building. She'd already been anxious about what he'd think of her body, but not showing up at all, was the explosive that decimated years of self worth.
Sighing wearily, Rita opted to open a bottle of white wine rather than call her friends; it'd be too pathetic. It took her thirty minutes to drink half of the bottle while watching Avengers End Game. She was aware her eyes drooped and she'd been determined to finish the movie but she couldn't recall falling asleep.
***
"Fuck." Rita wasn't answering his knocks.
Ben snatched his phone from his pocket and dialled her number the same moment he used his left hand with the shopping bag to try the door. It opened.
He frowned, she didn't lock her door? Ben was shocked at the barrage of concern that flooded his heart at that thought. He ended the call and tentatively widened the door.
"Hello?" he called over the sound of the movie on the flat-screen TV. His eyes scanned the apartment and he loved what he saw. It was trendy and homey at the same time. In fact, it was a space suitable for both male and female - like an expensive common room.
Ben walked in, shut the door and locked it. When he moved further, approaching the sitting room, he found her asleep on the red leather couch, having almost emptied a bottle of white wine. His heart lurched. Had she been upset? Rita had never seemed upset about anything, even the times he'd been rude on purpose. But he could see tear stains on her cheek.
"Shit. Rita?" he called and reached out to shake her shoulder after he'd dropped the shopping bag on the nearest seat. He shook her again but as a certified, hot blooded man, his eyes unconsciously tracked the soft curve of her hips, thick thighs and fair legs that just fit with everything. She was both adorable and sexy.
When her legs moved he thought she was waking. But her thighs pressed together and then she moaned, "Ben..."
His eyes flew to her face in shock. Her moan went straight to his groin, filling it up and making his jeans uncomfortably tight. Ben went on his knees beside the couch and shook Rita with the desperation of a drowning man. She woke up with a disgruntled groan, refusing to open her eyes, but when she did and registered Ben, she lurched into a sitting position. Ben noticed that her gaze skimmed everywhere but where he knelt.
"Err...what are you doing here?"
Seriously, that was her opening line? Ben frowned as her gaze kept refusing to meet his. This wasn't the Rita he knew. He'd expected her to say something sarcastic alluding to his arriving late or even make a sex joke about the situation, not this...wait, was she shy?
"To fuck. That was our agreement, right?" he wanted to shock her into looking at him. Ben realized he wanted the blow that came with meeting her hazel eyes and it worked...for two seconds.
Her startled gaze met his, she licked her lips which did nothing to help his fly predicament and then she looked away again.
"Look, for what it's worth, I'm absolutely sorry for being this late and I should have called you." Her eyes slowly turned to him in wonder. What now? Ben narrowed eyes at her, was she not expecting an apology? "I really should've called that I'll be showing up late, but I've been on a long call with a former colleague."
Rita's eyes remained on him. It was like his apology was mesmerizing to her, she couldn't look away while he spoke and he loved it. So, he kept talking, his eyes on her too.
"Though, now that I think about it, I should have texted you with my second phone, but I couldn't think of anything else while hearing the good news my colleague was passing. I would love to tell it to you, but, not now...now, I just want to be with you." Ben was making himself vulnerable to her. Yes, it was an arrangement, but in the two days he'd had to consider sex with her, he'd been so eager it was embarrassing. He believed the burning in his belly would calm when he'd had her; he believed he was just having new situation jitters.
But his confession did the opposite, it took her eyes away from him and she was back to looking everywhere else but at him. It appeared Rita suffered acute shyness, a shock, since he would never have mentioned 'shy' in a line-up of her features if asked.
Rita licked her lips, appearing nervous. Her eyes snagged on the shopping bag like a life line, he knew this because he couldn't bear to look away from her, he followed her every move.
"Wha...what's in the bag?"
"Wine."
Her eyes widened and met his again. "Are you planning a party?" a smile ghosted over her lips and that made him happy, this was the Rita he was used to.
Ben shrugged, "Well, at first, I didn't know if I should bring wine. And when I decided I should bring one anyway, I had no idea the kind you liked. So, to be on the safe side, I got both white and red, in all the brands that the super-market carried."
Silence reigned but their gazes held and Ben was good with that. Except, he noticed her breathing hitched, her eyes seemed melted, so, he guessed his action sort of turned her on and that, definitely, turned him on too.
The tension was palpable in the sitting room while he knelt facing her red leather couch and she sat a few paces from him, smelling like she usually did and driving him crazy.
"Why are you kneeling?" She finally asked with a furrowed brow.
Ben had a realization in that moment, the crazy Rita he was used to was on vacation, and this was a part of her he'd not known existed. Even though she'd made the suggestion of a one night together, it was obvious he had to take the lead.
So, instead of stammering through some sort of explanation, he got to his feet, revealing the monstrous bulge in his jeans. He heard her gasp, he caught her widened eyes on the bulge, watched her bite her lower lip with a tiny throat moan and the bulge increased.
Rita flew from her seat. "Err...umm..." she tittered on the spot, looking around as though not sure of what she should be doing. "I'll...um, let me take the wine to the kitchen."