Leander stood there, staring at her expressionlessly and not saying a single word. He was shirtless, with a red towel hanging around his neck and down to his chest. He appeared to have had a shower not too long ago, for his body was wet and riddled here and there with drops of water. His long, thick black hair stuck itself to some parts of his face and his shoulders.
Guinevere let out a silent gasp upon setting her eyes on him. He was just so good looking! It was like she was meeting him for the first time all over again. Temporarily averting her eyes from his beautiful, stolid face, she allowed them wander down, to the rest of his body.
"What is this? I swear by the heavens, this man has the body of a god!" Guinevere said to herself as she made a quick scan of his body. He seemed so perfectly sculptured. His pectorals were so sturdy and buff, and just below them, his abdominal muscles lay in two beautiful rows, very pronounced. He was indeed a muscular man. He had a rather unusual amount of black hair all over his body. Still, it was aesthetically pleasing to look at.
"What do you want?" He questioned monotonously, snapping her out of her daze, his bright amber eyes fixed on hers.
"Uhmm...I uhmm...I came t-to see you." She managed to answer, stuttering out of nervousness and fright. She felt as if she was standing in the presence of some sort of divine being.
Suddenly, Leander's hand reached out and grabbed her by the arm. The face that was blank and expressionless just a second before instantly transformed into one that bespoke anger and annoyance. His eyes turned intense, almost like they were full of hate. Guinevere let out a little shriek. Her face turned pale and her eyes widened. She was now genuinely scared.
"I thought I told you never to come back here!" He said, his voice going up a notch and sounding rather rasp and unpleasant now.
"Well..." She uttered in reply, managing to find her voice. "Yes you did, but here I am."
"Why?" He inquired further, still holding her arm.
"Because," she expressed, trying to sound a lot more confident this time, "...although you told me to stay away, I couldn't. And the reason is simple. You live alone no family, no friends. No one, and I repeat, no one should live that type of depressing, solitary life. Now I don't know your actual reasons for telling me to stay away, I don't know what you're so scared of or what you're trying to keep me, or anyone else away from, but there's one thing I'm sure of. You are not happy that way. You need someone to at least relate to. You need me."
Leander said nothing in reply this time. Instead, his reaction changed. He now looked at her with a bit of consternation, a bit of wonder and curiosity. His eyes stared into hers, as if to search deep into her soul. The eyes are the window to the soul, so they say. His seemed to ask the question: "who is this woman?"
"You seem like a very interesting person, Guinevere. I think I will enjoy getting to know you." He finally spoke. When he now spoke, he spoke in a calm, soothing manner, one that put Guinevere at ease. In addition, his hold on her arm loosened. Instead of a firm, domineering grip, it now felt quite gentle and reassuring. Slowly, he broke into a warm smile. His lips parted to reveal a set of perfect white teeth.
"Ehh?!"
Guinevere blinked twice to make sure that she wasn't dreaming or imagining things upon seeing this. Wasn't this the same man who appeared to be the devil himself as he stood before her seconds ago? That made a chill go down her spine as she stood, almost transfixed to the spot? How come he now looked like an angel, with a halo over his head? What was he, a devil, or an angel? Silently, she finally let out a sigh of relief. The worst was over, she felt.
"Come on in." He communicated, stepping to the side and pushing the door open wide to welcome her in.
"Uhmm... what? Are... are you sure?" Guinevere inquired, momentarily puzzled by this gesture.
"Yes, I'm sure. This is the fifth time you've been to my house, if I'm correct. It's only fitting that I welcome you in now." He calmly said. Guinevere did the calculations in her head, and he was indeed right. From the first time when she stumbled upon his doorstep, the day that it was raining, this was the fifth time she was going there. But wait, that also meant that her suspicions were right. He had been around all this time and had simply hidden himself from her.
"Okay then, uhmm sure." Came her reply, shyly shuffling her feet on the ground and glancing at the ground momentarily. Her eyes caught sight of the basket of fruits she had brought along with her, and she immediately picked it up and showed him. "Oh I almost forgot, I brought these for you." She informed him, while flashing her most charming smile.
"Oh, that's nice. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. Bring it in." He beckoned to her. She obeyed and stepped into the house.
The inside of Leander's house seemed very warm and cozy. There were a couple of wooden chairs in and around the living room, about three of them. In the middle of the room lay a bear-skin rug, and a small table stood on top of it. On the wall, to the right, a big elk head mount with imposing antlers stood attached to the wall. Beyond the table, in front, stood the fireplace. To the right of the fireplace was a door that led to the other parts of the house.
"You can sit down." Leander told her.
"Oh, thank you." She replied and did sit down. As lol did, her feet touched the bear skin rug, which prompted her to take a look at it. She liked it.
"Oh my, is that a bear skin rug? It feels nice, I like it." She commented.
"Thanks." Came Leander's reply.
"And...oh my, that's one impressive elk head mount you've got there. It looks so... alive. Heh, these things must have cost you a fortune." She admitted when she caught sight of the imposing figure mounted on the wall opposite where she sat.
In response to her last statement, he simply smirked. Then he sat down opposite her and his face turned serious once more.
"There's something I'd like to know, Guinevere. Something I've been meaning to ask you." He revealed, looking directly at her.
"Okay, what could that be?" Responded Guinevere, her curiosity aroused.
"How do you always sense me, Guinevere? How do you always seem to know when I'm around? Even when I conceal myself, you always manage to figure out that I'm about."
"What do you mean? I'm afraid I don't fully understand what you mean." Guinevere replied, a bit puzzled.
"How did you know that I was in the house? I made sure that I didn't make a single sound. There wasn't a trace of my presence here, until when I decided to come out and answer you. So how did you figure out I was in here?"
"Ohh that? That was a total fluke. I wasn't sure that you were in the house, but I had that gut feeling that you were, and you had been avoiding me for the past three days by pretending to not be around. So I took the chance and called out for you, and it turned out that I was right." She explained.
"Well then, what about that time, at the river? You said that you could sense me around, even though you could neither see me nor hear me around. I remember you mentioned that you could feel my aura around you. Well I still don't understand how. It's impossible. Nobody can sense me when I choose to hide my presence. No man or woman can, no matter how much they can. But you... despite the fact that I hid myself and watched you from afar, you somehow felt my presence. How is that possible?" Leander probed, narrowing his eyes and furrowing his eyebrows while looking intently at her.
"Well, to be honest, I really don't know exactly how to explain all of this, or how to put into words what I feel and how I feel whenever you're around, but what I know is that I felt it for the very first time that day at the river, the day you saved me from drowning, so I'm guessing that it has something to do with the fact that you saved my life that day. When you rescued me and I met you for the very first time, there was this inexplicable feeling around you, this aura. It was something quite unusual. That was the first I had ever felt that. Ever since then, most times when you're around me, even when I can't see or hear you, I get that feeling. It's something mysterious, it's like a sensation I get, some sixth sense. I don't know if all I've said so far makes any sense to you, but that's how best I can put it." Guinevere expressed.
Leander in response to all she had just said simply nodded his head thoughtfully and muttered the words "I see". The truth is that he himself could hardly wrap his head around all that Guinevere had just told him. It all seemed strange to him as he thought about it.
"So..." Guinevere spoke up once more, breaking the temporary silence and interrupting Leander's train of thought, "you really had been watching me all this time, hadn't you?"
"Yes. Yes I have." Leander revealed, speaking as calmly as ever.
"I knew it! I knew I wasn't wrong! You really were there!" Guinevere exclaimed with an air of triumph.
"You are a girl that I rescued from drowning not too long ago. I had the urge to make sure that you were doing okay." He elaborated.
"And what about that day when I was alone at dusk? The day when I took my bath at the river, under the evening sun. You were there, weren't you?" She proved further, this time leaning forward and looking intently at him. He was silent for a brief moment, then he proceeded to answer, as characteristically calm as he always was:
"Yes, I was there."
Guinevere let her jaw drop. Her eyes widened and she let out a soft gasp.
"Oh heavens, Leander, you...you saw me naked!" She exclaimed.
"It wasn't my intention to gaze upon your naked body while you took your bath Guinevere, I swear. It was that I saw you heading into the water and, having in mind what happened the last time I saw you in the water, in which you very nearly drowned, I was a bit paranoid, I kept my eyes on you to make sure that you didn't go putting yourself in danger once more. I apologize for that." He gently expressed, bowing his head a little as a sign of penitence.
That simple act made Guinevere's face flush and redden with shyness. This man seemed so wild, so dangerous, and yet, how could exude such politeness and gentlemanliness? Who the hell was this man? How was he able to make her head spin so and her heart throb, she wondered within herself.
"N-no please, it's alright, it's fine. I'm not mad at all." She quickly blurted out to him as he looked up straight at her once more with those eyes of his.
Silly Guinevere. She could not stop herself from smiling. Her cheeks were red! At a loss for what to do, she picked up the basket of fruits that lay at her feet and placed them on the table.
"Here, help yourself with these." She chirped.
"Sure thing. Or wait, here's a better idea. How about we both enjoy them together, now that you are here?" He suggested and Guinevere nodded meekly in reply.
Whilst he was taking out the content of the basket, he found a note in the basket. It read "From Guinevere, to Leander".
"You added a note." Leander vocalised.
"Ohh yeah, that. I put that note in there in case I didn't meet you at home today. I planned to leave the fruits here, at your doorstep, if that be the case, so that way, you know who it's from and that it's for you." She revealed.
"That's very thoughtful of you... oh, where are my manners, I'm still without a shirt. I'll go get properly dressed, and then I'll be back here to join you." Leander stated. So saying, his perfect figure rose up and began heading inside.
"Ohh... it's okay, don't bother about it... uhm alright then." Guinevere tried to protest, but then trailed off. Oh, how she wanted the man to remain as he was in front of her for a bit longer, just to please her!
She smiled to herself, allowing herself to daydream a bit.
The gods had really smiled down on Guinevere today and blessed her with luck, she thought to herself. She finally succeeded in meeting her man today, after fruitless trial after trial. Despite the initial harsh reaction he had given her upon seeing her, he had finally warmed up to her. He had even gone ahead to invite her into his house. There she was, in her mystery man's house! The sudden realization of that fact hit her, and she felt like jumping up and squealing loudly. Her bravery and her daring attitude had paid off this time. The worst that could happen had not happened after all.
Things were finally looking up, thought Guinevere.
Or were they?