R U S S O 18+

R U S S O 36

R U S S O 36

The middle of November was starting to get colder, but this time around, Anastasia had someone to keep her warm at night.

She didn't wait to tell her parents that she was in a relationship, really looking forward to her mother's reaction since her father usually didn't share the same enthusiasm as his wife. He didn't like the way his brain was wired to always assume his daughter would get hurt, but with the batch of men that were options, it worried him.

"Babe, did you see my gray shirt with Betty Boop on it?" Anastasia asked Mateo as she walked into his bedroom. "I thought I had it at my place, but I can't find it there."

"Yeah, it's in the top left drawer." He points over to it briefly from his desk, his eyes glued to his laptop.

She heads over there, pulling it open to see the gray shirt she was looking for. She takes it into her hold and notices a couple of her things are folded in there, too.

"You cleaned out a drawer for me?" She asked, scanning through the items.

"Yeah," he turns to look over at her, "I figured since you're always here, you could use the storage."

She left things over, but for Mateo to make a space for her, it made her feel a little more special. But it wasn't only that. When she ran out of feminine products, he had already restocked them by the next day. He was going out of his way to make sure that she had the things she needed so she wouldn't have to always travel back to her place for something.

It felt nice to be thought of and to know that he wanted her over more often, because he wouldn't have created a space for her to feel at home if he didn't.

Walking over him, she ran her hand over his hair briefly. "Thank you," she said appreciatively.

"You're wel-" his eyes travel to her face. "What is that on your face?"

"It's for dry and puffy eyes," she said, tapping her fingers on the pink gel cooling eye mask. She was able to see through it with it wrapped around her head because of the holes that were cut out.

It was late, and with her doing her skin care and getting dressed in pajamas, the bed was calling her.

"Does that actually work?" he asks.

"Yeah, wanna try it?"

"No," quickly putting the idea out of his mind.

"You're missing out on a great at-home spa experience," she sings, taking a peek at his laptop to see if he was done with his presentation.

Her attention couldn't linger for long because she spotted a white box on the desk. She knitted her brows and reached out for it, Mateo seeing that the box was in her hands by the time she lifted it to her chest.

"What's this?" She asked while removing the top, seeing a necklace sitting inside. It was a butterfly solid gold pendant necklace, and it instantly brought a smile to her face.

He asks, "You like it?" turning in his seat, leaning back a little.

"I love it," she confesses, removing the necklace from the packaging.

Butteries were seen as these beautiful wing-like flowers of the sky. It can be a symbol of good luck, hope, rebirth, transformation, beauty, love, and the list goes on. And while Mateo can admit all these things about Anastasia relating to a butterfly, he saw it and had to get it for her.

She sets the box down and unclips the necklace so she can wear it.

Her smile widened the second the pendant touched the middle of her chest. It was even prettier on her, the gold popping beautifully on her brown skin.