Prelude to kisses

Chapter 44

 As Jackie was cleaning her apartment, she found a lottery ticket. She didn't play the lottery, neither did Mahita or anyone else she knew. It didn't take long to figure out who the ticket belonged to. It made sense, since he was almost always on his phone. How he spends his money is his problem, she'd convinced herself then.

For months, his gambling didn't affect their relationship. He knew when to put his phone down when they were together, knew when to be present when he was spending time with her. He bought her flowers, took her out to dates and picnics. He was the best man she'd dated so far, and she felt a deep connection to him. They had organically met each other's family. And grew closer each passing day. After a long day at work, he'd either drive to her place or pick her up from her house.

It seemed like the perfect relationship, a relationship with no cracks, perfectly tied with a pink ribbon.

"How about we have a baby, a girl at that", He said one afternoon as they lay on the floor of his sitting room. It had been unbearably hot for the past few days, temperatures rising above thirty degrees in the afternoon and didn't go down until early morning. He had been rubbing her stomach, a glimpse of excitement flashed across his face when he said that. She laughed. Their relationship was still premature to even give babies a thought. She toyed with the idea in her head for a while before she shook it away. She knew she had so much to give into a relationship as a girlfriend, but as a mother and wife; she wasn't there yet, didn't even know if she wanted that at some point.

They never spoke about it again and went on to date for a few more months. Time seemingly going by so fast. And in all this, he stayed the same guy she'd met then. He still bought her presents and flowers just because. Took her out on dates and listened when she read him books even if he wasn't a reader himself.

Towards a year into the relationship, that's when she started to see clearly now, that they weren't a perfect as they'd seemed. That she wasn't as good at vetting people as she had convinced herself to be. And she quickly learned that your partners habits become your own whether you realize it or not. 

==

They spend the entire afternoon together. It felt like ages since they last had a few hours to themselves. For the past month, it felt as though there was never the right time. They had both been swarmed by work and other things in their lives that left them too exhausted to give anything to each other. Jackie thought she'd be spending the day alone when she heard a knock at the door and opened it to find him standing there with a box of their favorite chocolate biscuits.

She hugged him excitedly, and he wrapped his arms around her, always ready, before he picked her up to walk inside. He didn't put her down until they were in the living room. He lay her on the couch, she held on to him, like it was the last time she'd ever get to feel his skin against her, like she'd never see his face again. He held her with the same intensity before finding her lips and bruised them with his sweet kisses. When they finally broke apart, she was breathing heavily, her eyelids drooping from a combination of need and hunger and something else she couldn't put her finger on.

She wondered if he could hear the sound of her beating heart, if he could feel the turmoil that is her feelings or if he could tell where her train of thought was headed. He kissed her softly on the cheek before removing himself from her. She found him in the kitchen where he'd placed two cups of coffee on the kitchen counter. She watched him as he moved around the kitchen for some time until he looked up at her and smiled that smile she loved.

More than his smile, it was his laugh she loved and adored the most she realized later on as they sat on the living room floor drinking coffee and ducking biscuits in the coffee. He had a soft and sincere laugh, she liked how it felt different from his speaking voice. She didn't know then that that would be what haunted her when it was all over.

As they lay there, coffee mugs washed in the sink, their cellphones somewhere neither could remember, he said something and on instinct she said, "Hey", swatting his arm playfully.

He laughed that lighthearted laugh of his before he looked her in the eye and said, "Whenever you say hey, I don't know how I feel but I get goosebumps. Like I just want to squeeze you into my arms".

"What? You're crazy", She told him. Jackie realized she did say 'Hey' quite often as a response to something she doesn't quite know how to respond to fast enough, thanks to the dozens of Korean dramas she had been consuming lately. But she hadn't thought he even caught on to it, that he was listening to her in that way. She smiled at him, and he smiled at her before they got lost in each other arms. The electricity between them was always charged, she could spot him from the other side of the room, and his gaze always lingered on her when he was leaving. He always gave her the last look, his attention seemed to be on her, whenever he was spending time, either at his place or hers or when they'd gone out, his phone was placed on the table or thrown somewhere on the bed.

They had dinner before he left, he helped her with the dishes before she walked him out to his car. As they walked side by side, he knelt in front of her all of a sudden, "Come on, get on my back".

She obliged and let him give her a piggyback, she felt like she was in one of her favorite Korean dramas. She loved being made to feel like a princess, like she was fragile. A flower that needed watering, that needed care and love. A flower that needed to feel admired and complimented. He seemed to be doing a very good job at doing all of those. They were reaching his car when she bit his ear lightly and watched him almost fold into his shell like a tortoise. 

"Hey, you're fall", He said, "You know I'm sensitive".

She laughed. Of course she knew. It was a few things that instantly got him hot. She smirked to herself, she had the power, and she loved it...