The Ways He Warmed Her

Chapter 2

The second way he warmed her was when he confessed.

The sun was peeking over the top of her curtains by the time she awoke, only to find Charlie in the living room reading a book by Stephine Miller, one of the American books she had on her shelf. He was still, and he didn't glance at her until the small creak in the floorboard gave her away, causing his neck to turn and his eyes to flash against her most likely wild-looking hair, makeup-stained eyes, and wrinkled clothes. Yet, he smiled, and she felt like she was burning, though most likely out of embarrassment. There was no way she looked appealing.

"You look nice," he teased.

"Thanks, you too." She said; he did look nice; still dressed in his outfit from the day before, though now wrinkled, he seemed as though he woke up hours ago and sat there doing the same activity. He might have.

She moved to sit with him and they sat in silence before he set the book against her coffee table and began to speak: "How'd you sleep?"

"Good," she responded, questioning where this conversation was leading. She didn't prefer the beginning of it, but, then again, she was the type of woman to start a conversation with an end goal in mind, so, she jumped right to her point after a few back-and-forth small talks. He slept well too. "Why did you drive me home?"

"I didn't drive you home," he reminded her, "we got a cab."

"You say we," said she, ignoring him, "why was it a 'we'. Why did you not let me leave alone? As someone who has never met you before, it's odd."

"Well was it unwanted?"

"No," she admitted, and leaned against the seat of the couch, her leather pants scraping against her leg. "But I am curious as to why."

Charlie smiled at her from where she sat and moved his hand to grab onto hers. "To tell you the truth," said he, with eyes of auburn gold staring into her own. "It was because I felt something for you."

"Felt something for me?" She repeated.

"Yes. There was an immediate moment when I gazed at you sitting at the bar, and when we were dancing, that I couldn't forget you. I moved to see you because there was something inside me that knew you were hurting, and it hurt me to see you hurting." His smile didn't reach his eyes, but it was genuine. "But now I have come to a realization. After thinking about it for a while."

She cocked her head at him. "And what would that be?"

"That, it's because I like you."

"Me?"

He let out a laugh. "Well, whom else?"

Millie began to laugh as well and the two of them started a fit together, she grabbed onto him and pulled him into her as their stomachs tightened with hysterics. By the time they calmed down, it had grown silent, but not in an uncomfortable way, in a way that she had a feeling she knew how he felt exactly, as she began to realize that she felt the same way. She liked this man. She did from the beginning, but now, it seemed, it was a much deeper feeling than she could have ever imagined feeling for a man she met not twenty-four hours prior.

"I like you too."

She leaned back and at that moment he smiled brighter than ever before and her whole world seemed to erase any of her past, her eyes soloing on his bright smile; her stomach fluttered and her heart began to race, her face beaming just as hard as his own, and the way he moved just then, picking her up betwixt her giggles and her laughs, she forget about the world. Her world began to show just him.

"You do?" He asked. Their hands pressed together. "Because this is really fast."

"You say that now?" She laughed, a smile beaming against her teeth. "After confessing to me hours after we met? Why, by the way?"

A wink was flown to her. "Because I liked you the moment I laid eyes on you."

She couldn't help but elate her happiness in her hands, squeezing them together. "I had some type of feeling for you, too."

"Well, how fast is this going to move?"

Millie took a deep breath and caught her breath, looking down at Charlie's lips, plump and pink. A tug grabbed her heart and pulled her closer, the two of their faces inches from one another. It went silent and the only thing she could hear was the sound of their breathing interlinking.

"How fast can it be?"

She took initiative. "Can I kiss you?"

He smiled at her and leaned close enough that the smell of his breath, a faint taste of chocolate blew against her own lips. "Yes, Millie. You can kiss me."

Their lips touched. She couldn't think of anything other than how they pressed lightly against her own before releasing back, and how she couldn't get enough. She leaned back as well, her heart beating fast and her lips foreign against her face. She went wide-eyed and knew her face was beat red. The deliberate smile that Charlie played with his own lips had her mind spinning.

Kissing him didn't feel like any kiss she'd ever partaken in; it felt like something different entirely. Something warm.

"Do you want breakfast?"

She made breakfast, he ate, and then he had to leave. But after he was gone and they had spoken for a while, with a peck of a kiss goodbye, she felt like she was burning. Something inside her had melted her frozen heart, and there was only one factor to count on. Charlie. She liked him, she already knew this, but she couldn't put into words how much she liked him; she felt for him, a man, one she hadn't known but eleven hours, more than she had felt for any other man in her life. It was a shocking realization, but one that made her stomach do a few flips.

She could imagine a lot of things with Charlie, and she wondered if he could with her.

Millie grabbed against the rail as her feet traveled down the steps, a smile locked against her lips as her thoughts took her away, the wooden railing sliding against her hand in a warmth that caused her thoughts to think back to Charlie. She had imagined him the entire night last night, thinking through how his lips warmed her entire being. How the words he spoke seemed to resign in her head all throughout the day, following her wherever she went. He didn't leave her. He took away the chilled feeling she got and made her feel all... well she couldn't put it into words how she felt, but she felt it.

The streets of South Korea were bustling in the early morning as she walked her way into Lixie's, a bakery slash deli, where she baked for a living. A ding of the bell sounded around the bakery, a fresh smell of newly baked cookies wading through the air; Lixie must have come in early to get a head start, and as she walked into the back, there was the pink-haired girl, dressed in a sundress covered with floral patterns and dandelions. The outfit made her think of Lixie's boyfriend, Soyoo, who had decorated the entire bakery in flowers.

"Good morning!" Lixie sang.

"Good morning, you're up early." Millie dropped her bag on the island.

"It's easy to wake up early when morning sickness gets to you first." Lixie rolled some dough out as she took another batch of cookies out of the oven. "Besides, these cookies are overdue anyway."

"You're overdue."

Lixie pretended to be offended. "Yeah right, it's only been a few days." Her hands flew protectively down to the large bump against her stomach. "Besides, it's not like this is our fifth kid. Speaking of kids, how'd that scare treat you when you were my age?"

"With him?"

"Yeah."

"It made me pretty upset, but I'm glad you're happy about your pregnancy, what's the name gonna be?"

"Minlin."

"That's adorable."

"Thank you," Lixie rushed out of the door suddenly and into the bathroom. "Sorry!" She called, "Sickness!"

Millie chuckled and started her work, grabbing the newest batch of sugar cookies and putting them on their special tray, as since they were already cooled, she got to work decorating them. She made a few stars and a few hearts, putting them out on display.

Time began to click by and a few customers came and went, a few orders were placed, and Lixie rushed in and out of the bathroom. The woman was in an over-excited mood due to her expected child and was a bright person to be around. She couldn't help but smile.