The weekend came by so fast, boy am I glad the week was over. I made sure I said no to everything Leah asked me while I was half awake during the weekdays to avoid making promises I won't keep.
On days like this, I would stroll down to the Yarra riverside because that was my peaceful spot. I loved watching the waves of the river and listening to the gentle sounds from it, together with the melodious sound the birds make while chirping. That was my way of keeping in touch with nature. Today was different. I was going to see a movie with Bryan at his place.
Leah was angry when I told her I was going to Bryan's instead of helping her with the weekend sales. She complained in a funny way how I had been paying little or no attention to her in the past few months after I got a job. She blamed everything on Miles and Bryan, stressing the fact that I stopped coming home early.
"Be home on time. We are eating dinner together," she said before she left.
As soon as Leah left I hit the shower then I got dressed, and I left for Bryan's.
The taxi driver pulled up in front of a large house and I wondered why he stopped. It turned out that we were at the house on the address Bryan gave me. He probably made a mistake, I thought. I quickly pulled out the piece of paper where I had jotted down Bryan's address to crosscheck it and it was the same. He lives here?
After much contemplation, I paid the driver. I got out of the car and walked straight to the house in front of me. What if I got the wrong address? Well here goes nothing, I said before pressing the button of the smart bell in front of me. A few seconds later, I heard the door being unlocked, which made me clutch my purse tight with fear. What's the big deal? You may ask, but the thing is I don't do too well speaking with strangers. When the door opened Bryan came out, it's his house I said in relief.
He gave me that surprised you came to look before he pulled me in for a tight hug which I wished would last forever as I buried my face in his chest; I loved the aura of his cologne. He let go after a few seconds then I walked in and he closed the door behind me.
I walked around the house, admiring the interior. I still couldn't believe he lived here. It wasn't a family house because there were no pictures of his parents or siblings.
"You live here?" I asked to ease the tension when I noticed he had been staring at me for a long time, probably because of the way I was checking out his house.
"Yeah, I do... what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, I mean…. why do you work at the company if you live in a place like this, you should be a business mogul... you live in a fucking mansion or do you have another source of income?"
"Yea, I do... wanna know?"
"Hell yeah," I said, moving closer to him as he beckoned.
He was silent for a while before he whispered "rob the bank" which made me startle while he let out a loud laugh. That wasn't even funny. I gave him a slight punch on his elbow, and then I walked upstairs to the cinema according to the directions he gave me earlier.
"Woah!" I exclaimed on seeing the room.
There were like six sofas and then a big screen in front which at first, I thought was part of the wall.
"You like it?" he asked.
"Yea," I replied, paying little or no attention to him.
"I'm an only son from a royal family. My parents were killed when I was Eighteen years in a mafia rivalry, and all these were theirs, "he said in a pitiful tone.
I froze when he mentioned the word mafia. It reminded me of my past, and everything that happened that night flashed through my mind. We were alike, no parents, only child but why did I even ask? I should have just kept my big mouth shut. I didn't even notice I was about to cry till he asked if I was okay.
"Yes," I replied, trying to force back my tears. I needed something to distract him because he was walking towards me.
"What's that smell?" I asked, and then he paused and tried to perceive it.
"Shit!" he cursed as he rushed downstairs.
That was close, I said to myself wiping off the drops of tears which I couldn't stop from breaking loose from my tear glands. After that, I walked downstairs to see what was burning. There was smoke coming out from the kitchen and Bryan was standing in front of the door, almost coughing out his guts and gasping for breath. I saw him reach out for something in his pocket. When his hands were out, he was holding up an inhaler which he quickly tossed into his mouth and took about two puffs from it. He is asthmatic! And I'm just getting to know.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yea, but the chicken is not," he said, pointing at something on top of the kitchen counter, which I could barely see because of the smoke.
Bryan ordered pizza after his attempt to make homemade KFC failed. The smoke cleared out while we were waiting for his order. I walked into the kitchen to get a better view of the burnt chicken. You could swear on your life that it wasn't chicken if you weren't present when it burnt. It was burnt beyond recognition. He is lucky he lives alone. If he lived with Leah, she wouldn't let this incident slide for a couple of months.
Moments later, the delivery guy arrived. I got it because Bryan was setting up the room for our movie. I got his wallet and rushed down to make the payments. When I opened the door, I got stunned for a few milliseconds.
"Your order, ma'am" he said handing over the box of pizza with a smile on his face.
I paid him and collected the pizza from him smiling too, but I was smiling more than he was and I could feel myself grinning from ear to ear, and I didn't know how to stop.
"Thanks for your services and here is a tip," I heard Bryan say from behind, which made me shift as he handed a box to the guy in front and he shut the door immediately.
Well, that was close, I thought. Bryan collected the pizza boxes and walked upstairs and I trailed behind.
"You really can't hide your emotions," he said. I was hoping he wouldn't talk about this, but here we go.
"That's not true," I said with a shrug.
"I can swear that the delivery guy knows you think he is cute, I'm sure your mouth would have cut through your cheeks if I didn't come downstairs to meet you guys." He said dropping the boxes on a table before he shut the door.
Hey, what gives? The guy was pretty cute, like who knew Clifton hill had hot delivery guys. There were barely cute guys at Flinders not to talk of the delivery guys.
"When you are through with fantasizing about your delivery crush you come over because the movie is starting," he said.
Curse you, I muttered under my breath as I walked over to a sofa to sit down. After that, the lights went off, leaving only that of the TV on, and the movie began.
The movie lasted for a hundred and twenty minutes and I spent a hundred- and nineteen-minutes screaming on top of my voice, thanks to Bryan for picking out a horror movie. When the movie was over, I found myself on the same sofa with Bryan sharing the same duvet with him. How did that happen? I don't know!
"We are not seeing another horror movie," I said, trying to take away the remote from his hand.
"Horror movie or nothing," he said raising the remote, which made me trip and fall on him while struggling.
Our eyes met for a moment, and stayed still with our faces inches away. I was about to take advantage of him and grab the remote. But before I could, he smashed his lips against mine. This made me weak, and I felt like I was losing my breath as he kissed me softly like I had never been kissed before. I didn't want him to stop but I pushed him away because it seemed too soon.
I wasn't ready for this, and Leah would never accept the idea of being in a relationship. He finally stopped, and then he apologized for kissing me without my consent, which wasn't even a thing for me. The room was silent after this, and pretty awkward too.
"You love him, don't you?" he asked after a while. Was he talking of the pizza delivery guy? I barely even knew him.
"Who?"
"Miles!" he blurted out.