Just One Kiss

Chapter 12

China adjusted the band of her dress as she got out of the taxi. With no jacket to shield her from the night winds she walked quickly the few steps to his front door, a large mahogany wood with a golden knocker in the middle. Intrigued by it she pressed the modern doorbell beside her, marveled by the intricate design of the gold handle attached to the door.

In less than a minute, the door open with Nicholas on the other side in a green short sleeved shirt and white trousers, his eyes fixed on hers.

"Welcome to my humble abode" he said, as he moved out of the way for her to enter. With the sun long gone, the house was illuminated by the lights of the golden chandelier in the living room, its beams bouncing off the cream white walls.

He took her on a tour around the house, hand-in-hand, showing her every room until they reached his own. She entered his closet, running her fingers through his many many shirts and coats. She felt just like Daisy in Gatsby, tempted to take his shirts and throw them around the room just like her. Nico let go of her hand, watching her scan around the room intrigued by the fashion she saw.

"You have an incredible sense of style" she said she removed one of his blue shirts, matching the color of his car, the one he picked her up in on her first day in Barcelona.

"I can afford it" he said, shrugging. He took her hand as she put the shirt back, pulling her in an embrace he kissed her as he normally did, something he realized he no longer knew how to live without. She reciprocated as always, enjoying the way he held her tightly when he kissed her as if she would run away if he didn't.

After lifting her off the ground and carrying her down the stairs in a bridal carry which made her laugh, they made their way down to the dining room.

The poppy gold walls made the room warmer as China scanned the laid out table in the middle of the room which was covered in an array of different Spanish cuisines as well as a bottle of wine chilling at the corner of the table. As Nicolas lifted it to pour her glass, she recognize the label on the bottle.

"This is from the winery" she said, pointing at the label. Her Spanish has gone right back to where it used to be, English being removed from most of their conversations.

"Alejandro gave us a couple of bottles. I think he assumed you were my girlfriend, he said to enjoy it over candlelight dinner" he laughed.

"If that's the way it should be enjoyed, who are we to break the rules" she laughed back.

"Doesn't he know Maya?", she asked as she swirled the grape liquid in her glass.

Lifting her chin with his finger he looked her in the eye and said "yes, he does."

Nodding, he let her chin go, pouring his own glass as she marveled at the food on the table. Getting a lighter from the kitchen and lighting the three tall candles that sat at the center of the table, dimming the lights of the dining room. The gold of the wall seemed to shine brighter in the candlelight as soft jazz played around them from the vintage record player in the adjacent living room. China didn't hesitate to dig into the mouth watering food as they continued their conversation.

"This is heavenly" China moaned as she chewed, reaching for the last bite on the plate. "Are you sure you did all this yourself?"

"All me" he nodded as he refilled her glass. They had already knocked down a bottle and were almost halfway through the next. Throughout the dinner, his eyes never left hers, their fingers intertwining whenever possible throughout their meal. Eventually, both their plates were clean, and their glasses were empty but the conversations had not stopped.

"It's getting late Nico" she said, checking her watch as Nicolas cleared the place from the table.

"Maybe one more drink before you go" he asked.

"It depends is there more of our wine" Nico smiled when he heard her say 'our'.

"One last bottle" he said.

"Then one more drink" she agreed. He finished clearing the plates into the kitchen with her help, after which they sat on the carpet of the living room floor with Nico lighting a fire as China looked over his vinyl collection, looking for a record to play.

Once the fire reached a comfortable height, Nico sat back and undid a few buttons of his shirt, adding to the top few that were already undone. He leaned back into the carpet as China placed the needle on the record, the sweet sound of Louis Armstrong's trumpet filling the room. She switched off the lights as she sat beside him on the plush carpet, taking her wine glass from the table.

"This house is beautiful" she said, getting comfortable with her head on his shoulder as he pulled her closer to him.

"It was the first thing I bought for myself once Carla and I started the company" he said, as he stared into the chandelier, now illuminated by the light from the fireplace.

"I can see why" she said as she too looked up at the chandelier. He took that moment to look at her, taking a mental picture. Her brown skin glowed by the light of the orange fire, her fingers tapping on the glass with her silver rings clinking against the sides. Her dress hugged her body so much that he was able to see the curves of her figure even in the dim light.

"Why did Alejandro think we were together" China asked absentmindedly.

"According to him" Nico started, "he said that our eye contact was unbreakable, and it seemed like we had been together for years."

She said nothing, turning her vision from the chandeliers to his face, tanned from the day's sun which now showed in the firelight. She studied every element, from his grey eyes down to his neatly cut beard, which was now showing a slight shadow that framed his face well. She stopped at his lips, the ones she had become so accustomed to kissing. It was almost as if they were calling out to her.

As she moved to rest her head on his lap, she hummed along to the trumpet solo that moved through the room. The record passed by as the two held onto each other in a warm embrace. As the minutes continued to pass and the final bottle diminished,  they opened up to each other, stopping ever so often in the conversation to share a loving kiss between them.

This feels too intimate, Nico thought to himself as he ran his fingers over her arm. He had never been this vulnerable with a person before, not even Maya. With Chi, he felt safe and secure, at home. By this point, he had long accepted that what he had was not an old friend, it was a soulmate.

As the sun began to rise, and their eyes began to close, they lay on the carpet as he held her close, their soft breathing and the crackling of the dying fire being their only music.