Sparks Fly

CH5:Master?

"Are you sure you don't wanna go to the restroom," he asks.

"No, I'm not feeling pukish. At least for now," I tell Neil.

Neil and I are standing in the lobby waiting for the lift to arrive. I told him I should go back and at least wish Sara one last time. But the look he gave me tells me that he wants to take me straight home. The lift arrives and the door opens . Both of us step in and stand in opposite corners. After us a crowd of four people joined us and hit the button for parking. I stick to my corner but feel myself being pushed into the wall of the lift. Neil joins me on this side, given his towering figure people make space for him and he chooses to stand in front of me, with his back facing me. The lift opens at the parking lot and people file out. Before walking out Neil turns and addresses me, "Next time don't hesitate to push people around to make space for yourself. Got it?" I nod.

I spot a cab and Neil begins to walk towards it and I follow him. Talking to the driver he opens the back door for me and ushers me inside. What confuses me is when he closes the door and steps back for the cab to leave. I put my head outside the window and asks him,

"You're not coming with me?"

"My bike is parked here, I'll follow you behind with it," he says.

"Leave it here. You can come and get it tomorrow. It's not as if you'll not be here tomorrow." He's confused and tries to interrupt me but I go on.

"And anyway I don't wanna go alone in this car. So mister you better get in." I opened the car door for him. He hesitates for a few seconds but eventually gets in. I have a wide smile on my face, even though small, a win is a win.

It is around 11pm. Roads are deserted and cold air hits my face. Neil is sitting relaxed in his seat looking out of his side of the window. Feeling eyes on himself he turns to face me. Light from the streetlights enters through his windows illuminating his face. I have never known such beauty. The driver takes this very moment to switch on his radio and a romantic melody fills the car. This time it's Neil who blushes first and I start to tease him,

"Is it the great Neil who's blushing," he tries to deny it.

"It's the song. I really like this one."

"Sure you do," I say grumpily.

"I listen to 90s pop and love songs all the time."

"Really? you look like someone who would have earphones on but would be listening to some educational podcast."

"Well you're not wrong there. Sometimes it's that also. You should also try, you know, take a chance upon learning a thing or few," he says.

"Oh, you're already teaching me enough sir."

"Sir? About time you addressed me with that. I mean I do teach you"

"Oh you've taught me a lot. But you know what sir doesn't do it for me. How about master." Neil's eyes darken a bit and a smirk forms on his lips.

"You know what, I just saw 'Fifty Shades of Grey'. So I really like that. Has a nice ring to it."

"Eww," I say laughing and turning back towards the window.

Neil pays the cab driver and we take the lift first to my apartment. Standing in the lift, exhaustion gets to me and I close my eyes for a few seconds. My head tilts forwards and my hair comes down to cover the right side of my face. My eyes are instantly open and I'm looking at the ground when I feel Neil's finger tucking my hair behind my ear.

"You have very soft hair," he says. I joke with him and says,

"I'll send you my hair care routine," he laughs. The lift stops at my floor and I step out. Neil moves to put his leg on the sensors so that the elevator door stays open.

"Do you want me to escort you to your door?" he asks.

"That would be the gentleman thing to do," I say. He starts to walk out of the elevator when I stop by putting my hand on his chest and giving him a light push back into the elevator.

"I was joking. This is it. Thank you for today." He puts his hand above mine and says

"I like your way of saying thank you. If only all women did that." I shove him hard this time and he chuckles while the elevator door closes, taking him away to his floor. I open the door with an extra pair of keys we hide among the stones in the potted plant kept on the doorway. Tip-toeing around the house, I make my way to my room and sleep soundly into the next day.

Next day I receive quite a long message from Sara apologising for yesterday. I too apologise for being so dramatic yesterday and given the fact I got my period this morning, it all adds up. She invites herself over to my house with two pieces of leftover cake and we talk about what happened when I left.

"We kissed," she says dreamingly. I'm kind of shocked but am more curious for the details and asks her,

"When did this happen?"

"Around midnight, I had cake frosting on the corner of my lips and he pointed that out and said 'I love cake frosting that is the best part of the cake' and I replied with 'you're welcome to have more of it' and that was it. He swooned down to lick it and then kissed me. Gia it was so dreamy," she says.

"Midnight?" I asked, "wasn't he home by that time?"

"No, he was with me. He was the last one to leave," she says. I don't think Sara understands so I simply cut to the chase.

"Sara, Neil dropped me home. We were back around 12...so explain this to me."

"Neil?" she says confusingly, "I'm not talking about him."