Beautiful Dichotomy

chapter 14

Rae felt like everything was on fire and she still didn't know what to do to get it together. She looked a mess from what she saw in the mirror so she instantaneously started brushing her teeth. Hoping the feeling of dirty teeth and bad breath will somewhat help her current situation.

Once she was done with that, she washed her face using his face wash. The smell, feel as well as the packaging letting her know that it was expensive. Following up with the moisturizer, she was glad her makeup was off. Now trying to tackle her hair with only her fingers and water, she desperately used the sink water to wet her hair slightly to try and pull it up. It wasn't even a cute messy, it looked terrible. The frizz was out of control, her curl definition almost gone, and all she wanted was to put it up.

Looking around the small bathroom, she knew the odds of finding a hair tie were slim to none. Not wanting to snoop and go through everything. All she did was adjust her dress and walk out. Before speaking up to ask, she paused to watch Samuel and David goofing around in the kitchen. She heard the sizzling of the eggs cooking on the stove and David eating the plate she had assumed was left out for her.

Samuel's face even from the side was as perfect as ever. His jaw line sharp and his lips plump. A flashback of Rae calling him pretty and touching his face making her wince.

David was the first to spot her as he waved, shooting her a wink, "oh hello again." She gave him a small wave back as she remembered one of her hands was up in her hair. "If you're looking for something to tie up your hair, you probably won't find it here," David responded, noting her standing there with her hair up in her hand.

Samuel looked over his shoulder at their interaction. Somewhat glad she was still wearing the set as he got to see it on her in the daytime. Not only the color, but the way it fit flattered her beautifully. "Could you use one of my hair bands?" He asked, trying not to blurt out how attractive she looked. Growing slightly thrown off when her focus was solely on him.

"Hell no! Not your nasty ass workout headband," David intervened before heading back towards the kitchen to grab another piece of toast.

Rae shrugged, not knowing exactly what he meant but desperately wanting her hair to be up. Her arms starting to grow a little sore from holding her hair up for so long. It felt like a work out with how heavy her curls were. Noticing her arm lowering by the second he started to rush, "can you manage to make sure the eggs don't burn while I run and grab one?" Samuel asked David who was busy plopping more bread into the toaster.

"The only appliance I've ever mastered was a damn toaster," he responded his mouth full before he grabbed the spatula from samuel, "but I'm pretty much good at everything, so I'll try. "

Samuel lightly jogged to his room as Rae heard him rummaging. Not knowing what to do or if she should follow him, she still stood in the same spot. While awkwardly standing she realized she was now able to fully see this space. Taking everything around her in as she headed towards one of their larger plants. Thanks to her Aunt, she knew very little about plants and admired them. Her Aunt's house was a greenhouse.

"That's my birds of paradise," David added to a curious Rae staring at the plant, him now facing her as he leaned back against the counter, twirling the spatula in his hand.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching the food?" She responded with a laugh making David quickly turn to check on it. Samuel happy that Rae wasn't pissed about David being weird earlier as he watched them from his doorway.

Quickly approaching her, he offered the small headband. Rae inspected it, as it was the same material as a hair tie but just bigger to push your hair back. "I can make it work, my hair is pretty thick," she took the band from him and started wrapping it around her large ponytail. "I kind of assumed it was like a sweatband thing so I got a little nervous," Rae added as she looked up to Samuel who seemed extremely invested in watching her hands expertly putting her hair up.

Nervous, she did her best to finish quickly, not wanting him to stare at her that much longer.

"Better?" Samuel asked her and all she could do was nod in response. Both of them smiling at each other before in sync, looking down and at anything else but one another. David could feel it deep down: just needing to do everything to involve himself. He was enjoying this interaction way too much from the kitchen before clearing his throat.

Samuel headed back towards the kitchen and put the eggs and the toast on a plate. David made sure to move the butter and jam to the table. Samuel was busy setting the plates down as David held out at a chair, exaggerating each movement, "for you milady."

Rae couldn't help the laugh that escaped as she went to go sit down.

"Thank you both so much," she lightly chuckled, grabbing the utensils Samuel put on the plate and started eating.

David sliding into the chair next to her as he watched her eat. His smile grew each time she side eyed him to check if he was still watching her. After a few minutes Samuel sat down in the seat that wasn't directly next to her but at the end of the table. He shot a glare towards David to try and get his attention off of Rae.

Both of their eyes now on her as she immediately dropped a fork to cover her mouth as she finished chewing the food. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry I forgot to introduce myself," she kept blinking with each swallow to make sure the food was down, "my name is Rae," she held out a hand towards David, who tilted his head back to laugh loudly. Samuel joining in making Rae want to take her hand back before David grabbed it, twisted it to kiss the back of her hand.

Confused, she look towards Samuel whose playful expressing was completely gone. The glare he now had at David was intense, making her gulp and slide her hand out of his grasp.

"I'm David," he said in a low voice, ignoring the daggers from across the table, "but if I would've known you were the Rae when I woke you up, I would've set the mood for you two." Her eyes wide at his words before she looked back at a blushing Samuel who's eyes still screamed rage towards his friend.

Trying to lighten the mood, Rae started laughing at David's theatrics. Fully understanding why he was Samuel's best friend. None of it working, making her try to distract Samuel by reaching over and gently patting the back of one of his hands. She noticed how tightly he gripped the fork and wanted to make sure he calmed down. His eyes now looking down at her hand before she retreated it to keep eating her food, "this is really good," she added to compliment his cooking.

As David was disappointed that Rae was changing the topic, Samuel was relieved.

"I'm sorry, but can I get some water or some juice or something?" She asked as Samuel started apologizing profusely for not grabbing it sooner. She kept trying to tell him it was fine as he went to grab her a bottle of water.

Opening it for her in record time, he sat it down on the table for her at the same time as David stood up. He stretched obnoxiously loud and started patting Samuel roughly on one of his shoulders. "Lemme leave y'all to it," he fake yawned before going back into his room and shutting the door.

Rae couldn't help the laughter that escaped despite her trying to hide it. Samuel just kept shaking his head before rubbing his face exasperatedly. "Please do everything you can to ignore him."