𝐈𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 ✔️

7

This morning, I saw a murder on the news that happened last night. It was the death of no one other than the man I played pool with yesterday. I knew it was done by Valerio, but the police didn't. I'm sure the man he killed had crossed him in some way in the past since he isn't known for letting things go, I doubt the murder had anything to do with me.

I've felt paranoid to leave my house ever since my conversation with him. I realized just how right he was. If one of his enemies saw me in public, I'm sure they'd shoot me dead. 

As I make my way down the stairs, a knock comes from my door. I walk over to it and my eyebrows raise seeing a nicely dressed Aresius. 

"Hello Sab," he smiles at me. My eyes go to the container that's covered in tin foil in his hands. "I'm here to invite myself to dinner."

"What?" I ask, wondering if I had heard him wrong.

He lifts the container up a bit more as he speaks, "You see, the craziest thing happened. I was cooking dinner, pasta and steak, and I just somehow managed to cook enough for two people. Isn't that just so weird?"

I try and prevent the smile from forming on my face, but I just can't. 

"I mean, if you don't want to eat with me, that's fine," he says while dropping the smile from his face. He turns around and takes slow, slow steps, speaking in a sad voice. "I can just leave...and go home...and eat by myself...and throw out the rest...I mean, hey...maybe a rat will get to eat it or something...."

I stand there, watching him take his slow steps for a full minute. And he's still on my porch. 

I laugh and move out of the way. I tell him, "Get inside before it gets cold."

"If you insist," he smiles while quickly turning around and entering my house.

I shake my head to myself as I shut the door. He walks to the kitchen, remembering the way, and I hear him set the food down as I enter.

His blue eyes go to the red roses on the counter. He looks over his shoulder and asks me, "Are these flowers from Mr. Sabrina?"

I laugh at the name he decides to call my husband. He smiles when he hears me laugh. 

"They're from a friend," I say.

"A friend," he raises his eyebrows and repeats. He begins taking it upon himself to look through my cupboards and drawers until he found two plates and two sets of forks and knives. He speaks his next word while putting the food onto the plates. "The same way you and I are just friends?"

He says it as if we aren't just friends. I move to be directly across from him and speak firmly while he licks his finger since some pasta sauce had gotten onto it, "You and I are just friends, Aresius."

"Yea. Yea, totally," although his words are agreeing with me, his tone is disagreeing. "I don't know about you, Sabrina, but I don't prepare dinner for people I'm just friends with."

My eyebrows lower and my hand goes to my hip. My eyes follow him as he walks to the dinner table and sets the plates down. I question, my long hair falling over my shoulder, "I thought it was an accident?"

"Oh," he asks as if he had just remembered something he had forgotten. "Did I say accident?"

I cross my arms and tilt my head at him while he snaps as he continues, "What I meant to say was I did it on purpose so I could see the most beautiful girl."

Butterflies and blushing. Something that happens a lot when I'm around Aresius. I think he notices this because he begins to smile.

He takes a seat at the table, and I sit directly across from him. I begin to cut the steak, and he watches me closely while I put it into my mouth.