No one knows, but You. - Rafe Cameron

CHAPTER TWO: The ring

And now we were alone.

I didn't know whether it was the right thing to do, and despite a crippling, weird feeling in my gut, I still decided to proceed with my actions.

I was just clueless, probably.

'You can sit down,' I invited him. 'And in the meantime, I'll go get the disinfectant and some plasters in the bathroom. It'll be quick.' I said walking away from him.

'Sure,' he stated with a slight smile on his face while sitting down on the sofa. 'I'll be here. Besides, thank you.'

The smile lit up his dark, mysterious face; his blue eyes started sparkling reflecting the light of the chandelier. At this point, I understood the appeal he might have had to strangers.

I sat next to him, waiting for him to unfasten his watchband and take off his rings so that I could rub the alcoholic mixture into his fair skin. He then let out a feeble whimper.

'Did I hurt you?' I asked.

'It's nothing,' he claimed slyly. 'I'm definitely not complaining.'

I figured he was referring to the position I was in: to reach his arm, I was leaning towards his chest and realized that we were dangerously close to each other. To prevent further embarrassment, I decided to ask him a question.

'How did you come by these wounds in the first place? Was it a fight?' I asked.

'Yes,' he nodded, 'you know how they are... those dirty Pogues have always got something to say. They provoke you, and then they wait for you to react.'

'You see, Cassandra,' he added, 'I'm a proactive type of person. I like to act and to react, and I really cannot take their shit anymore.'

At one point, I felt his breath closer than ever before: he had cupped my chin in his long, veiny hands; bringing our faces nearer and nearer.

'One should not be allowed to be this pretty.' He whispered in my ear so that I could feel his warm, restless breath.

I said nothing; did nothing. The guy started stroking my hair lightly, being careful to always maintain eye contact. This is probably just some idiotic script he uses with all of his conquests, I thought.

'Would it break the tension if I tried to kiss you?' He asked boldly.

We were about to kiss when I pulled myself away uttering some words indistinctly: 'I think... I think that you ought to go now. I have- I have stuff to do. A lot, actually. So that makes me very busy now.'

At this point, I was just making a fool of myself. I'm sure he knew that I had just improvised an excuse not to kiss him. He was then left in disbelief, with the expression of someone who had never been rejected in his whole life.

He played along with my silly game and claimed: 'I guess I'll leave you to your stuff,' as he approached the door, 'I hope to see you around, Cassandra.' He spoke after having rolled his tongue inside his cheek, smirking at me.

'See you.' I uttered after having waved my hand at him.

A wave, really? What was that?

Whatever.

***

The next morning, I woke up unexpectedly rested. Despite this, I could not help thinking about what had happened last night, or -more properly- what had not happened between the two of us. To make matters worse, the moron had left his ring here, and for that, I felt compelled to take it back to his home.