Lovers in October

FOURTEEN

A N T O N I O

Aromas filled the apartment in a dancing swirl, fighting for dominance before blending together in a sizzling pan. His humms of a song that was stuck in his head slowly creeped to the closer listening ear, which for now was only his own as Mary-Kate was still sleeping.

Antonio took a peak of her in her bed earlier that morning, as he was heading towards the bathroom for a shower. She had left the door open, and Antonio couldn't resist stealing a glance to admire her as he made his way to the bathroom. And how beautiful she looked, even in her sleep, was magnetizing. She looked content and serene, her arms around the pillow underneath her head so gently. Even when she had an entire bed to sleep on she still chose to occupy only one side, wrapped inside dark grey sheets.

But now that Antonio had seen what her bedroom looked like, it would be so hard to resist picturing himself snuggled inside those grey sheets with her. Instead of the pillow she would be hugging him as he would hold her as close to his bare chest as possible, hearing her deep and steady breaths as she slept in his arms. And he would feel her palms burn shapes on his skin, shapes he would gladly get tattooed to remember forever.

Doing right by her had now become a priority, now that he had finally stopped fighting with himself for something he knew he wanted. His parents taught him to fight for things he wanted, and that was what he was going to do after much hesitation. But jumping into something had never worked well for him in his search for love, and every fiber of his being screamed at him that they wanted this one to work.

Their talk the night before had acted as a wake-up call for Antonio. For the past few days he had turned into the kind of man he promised himself he wouldn't, and it was about time he acted like himself once more. Weights were no longer sitting on his shoulders, allowing him to stand straighter, walk lighter, smile brighter.

And today, he woke up with a purpose.

"Good morning." Mary-Kate's soft voice travelled from the other side of the apartment and into the kitchen where Antonio was working, his whole body standing straighter as he gazed at her approach.

"I hope you don't mind, but I may have raided your kitchen a little bit." Antonio smirked at her, Mary-Kate sliding in the stool that was on the other side of the counter so she could watch him work.

"By all means." Mary-Kate answered with a wave of her hand, before placing her chin in her palm quietly.

"I wanted to do something to thank you for your help." Antonio gave her a freshly cooked piece of bacon, watching her munch on it happily with a content smile.

The corners of his mouth pulled up as he spent a few seconds watching her, wondering if she always looked as pretty as she did right now when she woke up. Being trapped inside with her while snow deemed it impossible for them to escape was a different kind of heaven, different than the one he always thought he would experience when he fell in love like this. And yet here he was, ready to stay there forever.

"Well, I wasn't going to let you freeze outside my door." Mary-Kate chuckled, now finished with her strip of bacon.

"That's not what I meant." Antonio replied, watching Mary-Kate's lips slightly pull apart before being pulled tightly together, a pink color flashing her cheeks. "Coffee?" Antonio offered.

He suppressed the urge to laugh at the eager way Mary-Kate cleared her throat and nodded a little too much, pouring some freshly made coffee for her in a cup and adding some milk and sugar, just as she liked it.

She mumbled a thank you as she wrapped her hands around the mug, letting it warm her up from the tips of her fingers and to the rest of her body. She brought the brim to her lips and blew lightly, careful not to splash the liquid everywhere, her eyes trailing up at Antonio's. She studied him, careful not to make him feel as if he was under interrogation from her gaze.