Claudia
A smile forms on my face once I'm able to get him to take a bite.
Ever since I had gotten here, I don't think he has ever complimented me or my cooking. Wait- he barely spoke to me. The one thing I remember was when he wanted me to change my perfume.
And that wasn't even a compliment.
"What is this?" My jaw drops slightly but I quickly recover from his cluelessness. "Pasta," I answer.
"It's really really good," He compliments like his never had something like this in 26 years of living. "I've never had it in my entire life," My jaw drops at this.
"What?"
"Yeah,"
"I- what else haven't you eaten?" I ask, preparing myself for the worst at this point.
"I'm guessing a lot of things since I don't eat pasta?"
My brow arches. Him and Isaak have an Italian family member, though his never tasted pasta. They also share a different last name but have similar features-
Oh my gosh.
Where the hell was I going with this? We were talking about pasta and now I'm going into depth about his family?
Jeez Claudia.
"Well at least you have me in your life now," That accidently slips out of my mouth. I squeeze my eyes shut, realizing how that might have sounded. "I mean-" I try to defend what I just said.
"I-I don't mean it like that. I just-"
He chuckles.
A sound I haven't heard from him .
It sounds so.. refreshing.
"Relax," He says and his hand accidently makes contact with my mine. My face heats up at this.
Why am I feeling like this? Calmers downers Claudia.
Just chill.
It was a mistake.
"I almost forgot," I clear my throat. "You probably need a drink,"
"No-"
"Open up,"
He clenches his jaw and opens up anyways.
I smirk at this.
He drinks the juice but scrunches his face up when the flavor settles on his tongue. "Water please?" I don't bother to ask him why because come on, it's orange juice.
I grab the cold jug of water from the fridge but then I don't realize that the orange juice was still in my hands and very tilted if I may add. And due to my clumsiness, it accidently slips out of my hands and the sound of the glass shattering, erupts.
I gasp.
My eyes land on Luciano's white shirt that was now stained with orange juice.
"Oh I'm so sorry. I drop everything that's glass. I'm so so sorry. Forgive me I'm so-"
"Stop,"
"No I'll get something to wipe it right now,"
Stupid Claudia, stupid.
"Stop," He says much louder causing me to jump. "If you attend to the mess, you'll cut yourself,"
"But I-"
And then suddenly his so close to me. So close I don't even think he realizes. Though he proves me wrong when his hand slowly travels down my arm, sending chills down my spine until it landed on my wrist.
"It'll be fixed. I didn't die Claudia," He says in attempt to calm me down. "My room, now."
And I guide him to his room not knowing what's going to happen.
This is going to be a long night.
□□□
I remove his shirt.
"I get it. I can't see but that doesn't mean I'm paralyzed,"
"I'm simply helping you because it's my job," I curse myself for sounding so unsure and flustered. "To undress me?"
"N-no. that's not what I meant," I struggle. Seeming like he didn't want to waste any time, he removed his tank top himself.
"You know I'm quite jealous Claudia,"
"The Luciano Rivera is jealous of something? What could it possibly be?"
"Well, I'm jealous of the fact that you know how I look. You've seen me half naked now. You've looked in my eyes and you try to figure out what story they hold. But I know nothing. I just know you by your scent and your voice,"
"Well there's nothing much. I'm a pretty simple woman. What would you want to know?"
"Everything," He whispers.
"Well, I have my father's hazel brown eyes. My mom's nose and lips. I have caramel skin. I'm nowhere near thin as I'm more on the heavier side. I'm half Congolese and Hispanic; I speak both French and Spanish. I have dark brown curly hair that I struggle with everyday. I'm not the tallest person you'll meet but I'm not too short either. What else?," I think. "Oh I love cooking," I smile. "I learnt that from my mom. Something that's close to me and I cherish. I'm super kind and I'm sure you noticed that or maybe you're way too passive aggressive to even notice,"
He scoffs. "What?"
"Don't deny it. Anyways, I love people and I love helping them. Children too. I was once a part-time teacher. I'm a pretty simple human being. Just Claudia," After what feels like an eternity, I finally stop speaking. "Well that was a story," I mutter realizing I probably bored him.
"Beautiful, even ethereal," He muses. He finds my arm once again. His warm hand traveling up to my face as he caresses my cheek. I stare at him.
How was he this hot?
It should be a crime.
"How can you say such when you've barely seen me?"
"I don't need to. I simply know," He says. Leaving me confused. Then I notice something, he inhales deeply and the edges of his lip twitch.
I smirk at this. "I thought you didn't like my scent,"
"I lied," His plain tone surprises me as I thought he was going to deny it.
"Why?" My eyes bore into his as I await an answer but it doesn't come. He seems like he so badly wants to say something but he chooses not to and just turns his head elsewhere.
"I need to be alone," He says.
"I-"
"I need to sleep," He cuts me off before I could even say anything else. "Fine. But before that, I need to bathe you,"
"What?" He says and I see the disbelief in his eyes . He knew this was apart of my job so I don't know why he acted shocked.
"Yes sir. I signed up for this and you did too,"
"I don't think that's a way to talk to your boss," He gets closer to me again.
"Will you fire me, Rivera?" I ask.
He stands up, shirtless with his shirt in my hand. I'm about to guide him to the bathtub when something catches my eye on his night stand. Sleeping pills.
I frown making a mental note to ask him about that.
I guide him, my hand on his wrist as I walk into his bathroom. It's quite spacious. Leaving enough room for the bathtub and the shower. My back is facing him as I prepare the hot water in the tub. "Okay I think it's ready.." I falter, turning around only to see him in a pair of boxes.
"Great. I need to relax. It's been a long day," He says like it's nothing but my eyes don't leave him. The steam traveling in the bathroom makes it even worse. My face flushes to the point where my ears feel numb.
Oh flip.
What have I gotten myself into?