novelraw Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“Where are you rushing to, beautiful?” The man smiles, and I melt from that smile, not immediately realizing how unacceptably close I am to him, while the stranger holds me by the waist. “I hope you don’t drive as fast as you walk on your two’s?”
“Huh?” I blink, confused, trying to understand what he means. The man steps back, as I think, reluctantly, nods at the helmet in my hand, and surveys me with a meaningful glance. “Oh, no! I am very careful when driving!” I assure him, just grasping his words.
“That's good,” he smiles again.
It seems there's no reason to linger in the aisle with him, yet I stand there, shifting from foot to foot.
I involuntarily examined his face, broad shoulders, strong torso hidden under a black shirt, narrow hips… After which I awkwardly look away, realizing I've been staring at him quite overtly.
Too blatantly for him not to notice my interest.
He’s mature, maybe around thirty. And despite my mother’s remarks about the inappropriate age of her fiancé, I find older men appealing. Mature, self-confident, decisive, attentive… Like this stranger, because he quickly gathers himself and extends a hand to me, saying:
“I’m William, just Will for my friends,” and winks with a telling smile.
“And I’m Aurelia, just Aura for my friends,” I try to pull off my glove, but I'm so nervous that I can’t manage. Eventually, he takes my hand, stopping my fidgeting, and gently squeezes it in greeting.
“Nice to meet you, Aurelia. And I’ll be even happier if you agree to give me your number. Sorry for such a cliché pickup line, I promise to do better on our first date,” he winks again with a wide, charming smile that nearly brings my knees to tremble.
Even if this is the most cliché pickup line in the world — I don’t care! I won’t just be happy; I’ll be jumping for joy if he not only takes my number and then forgets about me for a more interesting object of interest but also calls me and asks me out on a date.
“I will,” I avert my gaze, which I am sure is shining wildly, “write it down.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that William isn’t the slightest bit surprised by my easy agreement, but he looks very pleased. Maybe he has a whole collection of such naive girls, but I can’t let this chance slip away.
A chance for what — I have no idea.
Just when a spark ignites like this, how can you resist? I have always dreamed of true love. What if this is it? What if, in that case, Mom stops pressuring me, and Christopher will feel sorry and let go, not expecting me to be the guarantor of their agreements with Mom? Why would he need a wife who loves another man?
Having given William my number, I hasten to flee. So he doesn't see my goofy ear-to-ear smile. Of course, it’s already obvious that I like him, but I don't want to seem frivolous and easy.
If he asks me out on a date, I will definitely act reserved. And I couldn’t do otherwise anyway, because I’ve never had serious relationships before.
I feel so uplifted by the encounter that I forget everything else. About losing my dad, the wounds from which are still fresh, about the problems that have now arisen for us, and about how Mom wants to marry me off to a stranger.
Everything fades into the background. Getting on my bike, I ride around the city, avoiding busy highways, enjoying the speed and an incomparable feeling of freedom.
Closer to the evening, after grabbing a snack at a café on the way, I return to the empty house. Without Dad, it feels lifeless.
Our once-happy family has crumbled to dust since he died. Mom is hardly ever home, she comes back late, tired, sometimes even without dinner, and goes to rest. Of all the staff, there’s only one housekeeper left who cooks and cleans every few days; the rest had to be let go. But, apparently, she won’t stick around for long either, and we’ll have to sell the house…
Unless I marry Christopher.
God, I don’t want to! Just the thought of having to live under the same roof with a stranger, and sharing a bed with him — it’s terrifying. He’ll demand me to fulfill wifely duties, but how can I? Especially since I’ve never been with anyone…
No, something must be done about this.
After taking a shower, I head back to my room. I’ll review my notes, prepare for classes — and then sleep. That’s exactly what I do, often distracted by messages from friends.
Everyone is looking forward to the upcoming party, discussing, planning, gossiping, picking outfits, and, of course, getting ready to let loose. I want to go too, but I know how to control myself and won’t allow anything excessive. So I’ll definitely go; what’s the big deal?
When I’m getting ready to sleep, my phone buzzes with an incoming message. I remember that I needed to put it on silent mode because the girls could chat all night long. So when I pick up the phone, my heart does a backflip from excitement, and I can hardly contain my happiness.
A message from Will! He wrote to me…
“Hi, Aurelia. I can’t forget you or stop thinking about you. What are you doing tomorrow? I’d like to invite you out on a date.”
I reread it several times, not able to comprehend my joy, thinking of what to respond so it doesn’t seem like I’ve been waiting for his invitation. Biting my lip, I quickly type a message, erase it, write again…
Damn. It’s all wrong. I need to keep it short and to the point; otherwise, I'll definitely reveal myself. In the end, I simply write:
Me: “Hi. I have classes, and then I need to prepare for a test.”
I lie, I have no tests, but I don’t want to agree immediately. But I’m not refusing either…
Will: “Send me your address and when your classes end. I’ll drop by for at least a few minutes to see you.”
Is it really like this? He didn’t back off, didn’t take it as a refusal, but is even willing to see me for just a few minutes…
I send my address and the time when my classes finish, then with a smile from ear to ear, I hide my phone under the pillow and go to sleep. Though, before I fall asleep, I check a few more times to see if William wrote anything else.
But he’s silent, and I drift off imagining in detail how our meeting will go.