putty in your hands

Chapter XX

"Ready?", Matt asks softly as he nonchalantly walks inside the bedroom.
"Almost." I turn my back to him. "Could you tie me up?"
He whistles "Kinky. I didn't know you're into that.", he smirks as he ties the ribbons of my dress.
I roll my eyes and suppress a smile. "Matthew..", I turn to the left to face the full length mirror, and he does the same. He chuckles and puts his hands on my waist as he leans over to leave a tender kiss on my bare shoulder.
"Eleanor..." he looks at our reflection and hugs me from behind. "You look gorgeous tonight, but something's missing."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a delicate necklace made of white gold, then he puts it around my neck and clasps it before leaving a kiss on the back of my neck.
I run my fingers across it, dazzled by its beauty.
"It's beautiful, thank you." I turn around in his arms to kiss him.
Matt smiles against my lips. "We have to go, if we-" he's interrupted by his phone.
He pulls it out from his suit jacket and rolls his eyes when he looks at the screen.
"Gosh, I have to take this. Meet me outside in 5?" he asks as he walks out. "Don't forget to lock the door!"
I follow him with my eyes, confused. Who was that? Why didn't he answer the call in front of me? I'm probably paranoid, and it's surely something work related. I cast aside those thoughts, put on lipstick and perfume, take my purse and leave the apartment.

Matt's phone continues to buzz throughout the dinner, and I'm getting slightly irritated by it. He looks even more annoyed, he excused himself 3 times for the last 45 minutes and left me alone while he was taking his calls. All of them were really short, and dismissive, I think, judging by his expressions. When the phone rang for the forth time, he exhaled angrily through his nose and turned it off.
"Someone's persistent." I comment as I cut into a steak, trying to get more information about this calls.
"You have no idea." He answers, obviously bothered. "But that's solved now, sorry baby."
He reaches for my hand on the table and squeezes it gently. I smile warmly.
"Hey, wanna hear this crazy thing that happened to me yesterday?"
"Absolutely." he answers enthusiastically before taking a bite of his steak.
"So... when I was in a store yesterday, in a line, a nice lady that works there approached me and asked why haven't I said anything. So I was like "what do you mean?" She really confused me. And then she pointed at my belly and said that I should go out of turn." I start giggling "she thought I was pregnant!"
He stops chewing for a second and looks at me "Well, are you?"
"No!" I continue laughing "I just have to spend more time in the gym, I guess. That's all. But I was a little embarrassed tho."
"Why were you embarrassed? Would it be a bad thing?", he puts away cutlery and looks me in the eyes.
"Would what be a bad thing? To go to the gym more often?" I'm confused.
"To get pregnant." , he leans on the table with his elbows.
"I-I mean.. what?" I stutter.
"What if I put a baby in you?", he looks daringly at me, his voice lowered.
"I'm on the pill." I clear my throat, and I feel my cheeks burning.
He smirks and just as he opens his mouth, a waiter comes to the rescue "Would you like some dessert?", he asks kindly. I let Matt decide on that as I take a big gulp of wine, my palms are sweating. A baby?
He glances at me with corner of his eye as he orders chocolate eclairs and mouths at me "I'll put a baby in you.", then he winks at me as he hands the menu back to a waiter.
My eyes widen in horror, and I clear my throat nervously "I need to freshen up." I succeed to babble out before rushing to the toilet. I immediately call Sarah.
"Heyyy girl, whats up?" , she says when she answers the phone and I can barely hear her.
"Where are you? Aren't you supposed to study?", I ask.
"What are you, study police?" she mocks "I am studying, I have this system where I regard myself with a banger after every page I learn." she says proudly.
"How's tha- whatever, I don't want to know. Listen, I'm panicking here. I told Matt about that pregnancy stuff when I was at a store."
"Yeaah, that was epic" she starts laughing "what a way to tell someone YOU'RE FAT!"
"I'm kinda mad at you right now for that one, but listen I don't have much time, I'm at a restaurant with him and I'm hiding in the toilet. So focus."
"Shit, wait a sec", I hear some rumbling and a squeak of a door, I think. "I'm listening now. Shoot."
"I told him that as a joke, but he took it seriously
I think. He asked me if I'm pregnant, and when I said that I'm not, he told me, and I'm quoting this to you -what if I put a baby in you"
"Fuck that's hot." she answers "he really meant it?" she asks excitedly.
"How should I know?! I hope not. I mean we just started dating publicly and I'm kinda too young for that, don't you think?"
"Girl, biological clock is ticking, you're not getting any younger." she starts laughing.
"Sarah, I'm asking for a serious opinion here." I squeal at her.
"My opinion is - have his babies, he is hot and rich and your babies will be rich so you'll be rich too. That's easy money right there even if you two don't work out which I really hope won't happen because he really is a sight for sore eyes, you know what I mean?"
"Okay, thanks for wasting my time. I just loooove the taste of nothing." I hang up. I touch up my makeup and take a deep breath before returning to the table. When I get there he's smiling at me.
"Everything okay?" he's playfully looking at me.
"Yeah, Sarah called.. you know her.. it's always about boys" I chuckle nervously.
"Hmm.. more wine?", he offers.
"Yes please, baby."
"I wanted to talk to you about something."
Please God just not about babies.
"Yeah? About what?" I take a bite of eclair.
"Filming is done, I mean it was finished like 2 weeks ago. I prolonged my stay here because of you.", he smiles charmingly. "But, now I'll have another projects, and filming of House of the dragon starts soon, so it's time to speak about us."
Well this is not how I imagined my birthday dinner, this is a fucking rollercoaster. I take a big gulp of wine.
"Nervous?", he reaches out to caress my cheek. "Don't be. I was hoping you'll come to London with me to see if you'll like it there, you work remotely and I'll be there for the next few months, I'm filming a movie. And I'll finally show you my place. What do you think about that?"
"I- you threw me off with this. I mean I knew that filming was coming to an end, but God, does the time flies by." I bite my lip, thinking... I have to think about all this. London? It sounds tempting.. but it's a big decision. "I have to think about it. I don't like the idea of being separated from you, but still.. I don't want to be hasty."
"That's totally understandable, darling. Think about it. We'll talk about that some more at home. Ready to go? I have something else for you tonight."
I look at him and smirk.
"Oh, not that.", he stands up. "Well maybe later tonight." he grins and offers me his hand. I gladly accept it.