A Manchester Affair (Rúben Dias)

Chapter Three

After getting out of the bath, she quickly got dressed and towel-dried her hair before heading to the kitchen to make some dinner.

When everything was in the oven, she heard a knock on the door. Of course, it was Rúben.

"What's wrong with you?", she said as a welcome.

"What?", she could see his smile falling. "Can I come in?"

"Do you want to call Jack before? So he can join us?", she said, annoyed at him but letting him get inside the apartment. The last thing they needed was for the neighbours to see any of this.

"You are angry at me".

"Wow, I guess that's why they call you a smart player. You catch on quick!"

"I didn't want to offend you earlier", he said, trying to apologize.

"Well, you did. What happened between us doesn't mean you get to do shit like that whenever you feel like it. And not in front of other people. What if he saw you?"

"Jack is always oblivious and he wouldn't care...".

"Well, I care!", she said, leaving him by the door while she went to check the dinner.

"I'm sorry", he said, following her into the kitchen.

"Were you going to apologize when you knocked on my door?"

"What?"

"You didn't, did you?", she said, closing the oven door again. "You thought you could come here and it'd be Sunday all over again".

"Well, yes. We had fun. Is it wrong for me to want to have fun with you again?", he said, getting defensive.

"No, but I'm not your sex on-demand neighbour. You are not my boyfriend, Rúben, I get that. You don't have to buy me flowers but you could at least ask me if I'm in the mood instead of just assuming".

Even though she closed her eyes, she could feel him staring at her. It was then he noticed how tired she looked.

"Lucía, are you ok?", he asked tentatively.

"No, I'm not. I'm really tired and working for a team that is just pure chaos. And whenever something else happens, I just...I worry I'll be out of a job by next month", she said, finally vocalizing her biggest worry. And then hating herself for showing that vulnerability in front of him.

"It'll be fine".

"You don't know that", she whispered.

Had she looked up, she would have seen him trying to decide whether to approach her to comfort her or not. But she didn't.

"Just leave, ok. I want to have an early night and rest".

"Sure", he said leaving the kitchen. "Just know that I'm really sorry".

"Yeah".

**

After Rúben left, Lucía did as promised and went to bed straight after dinner. She worried about their little fight keeping her awake, but exhaustion won the battle.

When she woke up hours later, she felt rested but kept on replaying everything that happened yesterday in her head. Was she too harsh with him? She knew she had the right to say all the things she said but maybe she should have let him tell his side of the story. Well, too late now.

When she was ready to leave, she was surprised by finding a note on her door. "Look down," it said. And when she did, she found a Starbucks cup. She lifted it and read the order, noticing it was the same coffee she ordered every morning. Stuck to the bottom of the cup was another note. "I'm sorry".