Moonstruck at Midnight

Chapter 18 - Älskling

HUFFING, I SAT in the living room to open my newly arrived mystery correspondence. There were two smaller envelopes inside. Each had a number written on it, 1 and 2.

There was also a snack-sized Ziploc bag with two film rolls in it. I followed the instructions and opened the first envelope. There was a handwritten letter inside that read:

Guille,
You're on the right track to becoming a great photographer, älskling. But I think my shots were better, so I made you a copy of the best photograph I took last Saturday. You know, in case you want to learn a thing or two about how to take a good picture.
W.S.
P.S. I made a copy, and it looks great on my nightstand.

William.

I couldn't shake the thought of what would've happened if I opened this in front of Thomas. He would surely think the worst. I probably would, too, if I were him.

What the hell does älskling mean?

Groaning, I moved on to the second envelope. There was a photograph of me inside it. When William took my camera, I saw him clicking twice. This was a zoomed-in photograph of just my face, smiling. Lily was cropped out of the frame.

The doorbell rang, and the sound of it startled me. "Billie! It's Thomas!" he shouted across the door.

"Coming!" I quickly put everything back inside the envelope and shoved it underneath the sofa.

I opened the door.

"Babe, your cheekbone is red." Thomas stared at me with wide eyes. "What happened?"

I was so caught up reading William's letter and agitated about having to hide it underneath the freaking couch that I forgot about my face. I hadn't even looked at myself in the mirror.

"Oh, it's nothing." I smiled nervously. "These annoying photographers were taking photos of Lily at the coffee shop, and one of them struck me with his camera when we were stepping out."

"What?" He almost shouted. "Who was on duty?" He wanted someone to blame, but it wasn't anyone's fault but the photographer's. David couldn't have been standing any closer to me when it happened.

"It doesn't matter," I said. "They handled it pretty well. It doesn't hurt."

Thomas hurried to the kitchen and brought back a small bag of frozen vegetables. He lightly pressed it against my cheek, making me hiss.

"I thought you said it didn't hurt," he said, tapping my face gently with it. "Let me take care of you."

"Aren't you the cutest?" I smiled. "And speaking of cute ..." Lily mentioned how Thomas was cute and seemed like a nice guy, so I relayed her observations to him. He couldn't hide his endearing excitement or his genuine surprise. I thought it was adorable and thought nothing of it other than what it was—he was starstruck.

"I think I'm getting a bit jealous now," I toyed around with the idea as he held the frozen bag against my cheekbone.

"I think you're cute when you're jealous," Thomas said, cupping my chin and looking down into my eyes.

"Well, in that case, I'm very jealous," I stretched out the joke.

He dropped the bag on the floor and grabbed my ass to lift me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms behind his neck.

"I'm a bit jealous, too." His tone suggested he was veering away from the innocent game we were playing. "I'm always jealous." He kissed my neck.

That threw me off a bit.