Save the Date

36

The ten-minute drive to his place felt excruciatingly long. We drove in the most uncomfortable silence. As wonderful as that kiss had felt it made it that much harder to be near him knowing that I couldn't have what I wanted. My skin felt like it was on fire. Each time Luca changed gears I had to shift my legs further away from him just in case he touched me because I didn't know if I could control myself. Finally, we pulled up to his apartment building. It was in an upscale area and the building looked recently built. There were only six stories in the building. "This is it," he said pulling into his assigned garage. Without saying anything I got out of the car and got my overnight bag out of the back seat. Luca closed the door and without thinking, he took the bag from me with one hand and ushered me out of the garage with his other hand on the small of my back. That same electricity flowed through me again. I think he felt my body tense and he realised what he was doing and let his hand drop. As we walked towards the entrance of the building I saw that there was a revolving door which was the only entrance and a door-man stood at a small podium close to the glass panelling near the door in the atrium. The atrium wasn't very big: the elevator doors were on the right, opposite the doorman and a set of stairs to the left of the elevators. The floor was marble and the finishes were all made of brass. It felt very posh. "Good evening Mr Hale." The doorman greeted. "Good evening Howard. How are you tonight?" Luca shook the man's hand. "Very well thanks," Howard eyed me with a smile, "May I take the name of your guest?" I returned his smile with a small wave. "If it's all the same to you, it would be better if you didn't have a record." Luca proceeded to tell Howard about Chris-slash-Robert and gave him the fiend's description. "Please call the police first if you see this man. He could be very dangerous." He sounded so formal and authoritative which sent heat coursing through me. "Of course, sir." Luca moved along to the elevator and I followed, he pressed the button that indicated 'up'. He smiled down at me and I inexplicably felt safe for the first time that evening. The elevator pinged and the doors opened. We stepped in and Luca pressed the number six on the panel. The elevator doors closed and we stood silently sided by side. I watched as the red-lit-up numbers changed as we moved upwards. Luca was still holding my bag, but he seemed more comfortable now. "Look you don't have to worry-" he started saying but the elevator dinged cutting him off. The doors opened on the third floor and an elderly couple smiled at us in greeting before stepping into the elevator.

They pressed the button to go down. The elevator wasn't very big and I had to shift closer to Luca than I wanted to, to make space for the couple. I could feel his body heat through his t-shirt and remembered that I still had his jacket on from earlier. The elevator was still going up and the couple had to stay in there for the ride. The next three floors felt like torture. All I wanted was to touch his arm and feel his skin against mine. In the middle of my fantasy, he looked down at me again with an almost apologetic smile. Finally, we reached his floor and the couple gave us a polite wave as we greeted them goodnight. We stepped out onto the landing. There were only two doors on the floor. "Are there only two apartments per floor?" I asked as he went to unlock one that was left of the elevator. "Well the first two floors have six apartments like Bachelor flats, then the next two have four and then the last two have two," he said swinging the door open and letting me in. "You wouldn't think I'd need a lot of space I know, but I have a home office and a guest bedroom." The door to his apartment opened up to an open-plan kitchen, dining room, and lounge area. There was a mixture of plastered and bare brick walls. Tasteful art adorned the walls in strategic places and photos which I just assumed Luca had taken himself.
The finishing was all the same brass as the downstairs atrium. House plants dotted the apartment and his furniture was either unused or brand new. "Wow your place is amazing," I said turning to face him, he was leaning against the shut door watching me. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee or tea or maybe something stronger? You want something to eat?" "No thank you, I'm just pretty tired," I said, yawning as if to prove my point. "I think I'm just going to sleep." "Right," He said, for a few seconds we just stood there looking at one another. He finally broke the spell, "Sorry I better show you the bathroom and the room you'll be staying in." He took me on a tour of his house. His home office was spacious and cluttered but not untidy. There were tripods on the floor and a computer on the desk, surrounded by paperwork. He showed me the bathroom that I could use and then he opened the door to the guest bedroom. It was nicely decorated, the walls were the same off-white as the office and the accents were navy blue and white. Facing him I put down my bag, "Thanks so much for all of this. I will be forever in your debt." I joked lightly, I shook off his jacket, it was much warmer in the apartment and his scent was driving me mad. "Now that is interesting," he said with that same crooked smile he always gave me. "No one has ever been indebted to me before." He took a step closer to me to take his jacket back. Our hands brushed and the electric feeling was back. His hand lingered on mine, I tried to release the jacket but I couldn't. I took a step towards him, our eyes locked. Almost simultaneously we dropped the jacket. His hands were on my waist, mine around his neck. Our lips touched with that same frantic wanting which was there in the car. I never wanted it to end. He cupped my bottom in his hands and lifted me, I had no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist. Still kissing he moved me from the room we were in, to what I guessed was his bedroom. The room was dark and I couldn't see much. Gently he lay me down on his bed and my heart skipped a beat. Reluctantly I released his waist from the vice grip of my legs. This was actually happening. He kissed me again and I put my hands under his shirt and before I could stop myself I took it off. I heard him chuckle as the shirt came over his head. I traced my fingers over the contours of his stomach and ran my hand down his arms. I wanted to feel every part of him. Even though I couldn't see I could feel every ripple of muscle that he had. He took off my shirt and I had never been more grateful that it was dark, so he wouldn't see my ugly sports bra. I reached for his belt buckle and I managed to pull off his jeans. "Are you ok?" he murmured, slowly raking his fingers up and down my body. My body responded with goosebumps at his touch. And just like that, he lifted my hips to meet his, his mouth crushing mine. And that was it I had melted away in unspeakable bliss.