Chapter 37

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Charlotte's pov

When Engfa kissed me it was like all my stress had evaporated and I could finally relax. My fingers naturally wrapped around her neck, taking in the warmth and softness of her skin. I didn't dare to ask for a kiss when I opened the door earlier, not really knowing where we were standing... Her lips felt so good against mine. I had missed being close to her... The microwave suddenly made a ding, taking us off our moment.

"Hi..." Engfa murmured as we pulled away with a shy smile.

"Hi..." I replied, gulping before with both giggled at how quirky we were.

I took advantage of the situation and snatched my book from Engfa's hand.

"Hey!" she fussed.

But I was already up and away, getting to the microwave to retrieve the heat pad that was now all warm. I quickly got rid of the book by putting it in a frying pan on my shelf and went back to Engfa.

"Here." I said, putting the heat pad on her belly.

"Thank you, Charlotte." Engfa said as she sighed, hugging the heat pad against herself.

I took a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over the both of us, inviting her to snuggle against me.

"What do you wanna watch?" I asked her, turning on the tv.

"I don't know... Something cute. Oh you have Disney!"

"Yeah..." I admitted.

"What's the last one you watched?"

"M... Mulan."

"Oh, so good! I love it too. Could we watch a Disney movie?"

"Sure. Is there one you've never seen?"

"I don't know... Maybe something old..." she said, while I was scrolling through the menus.

"There's a lot..."

"Oh! That one!" Engfa said, pointing at the tv.

"Mary Poppins?"

"Yes, it's been so long since I saw it."

We curled up on the couch and watched the movie, while sipping on tea. I got up at some point to reheat her pad and grabbed the mango sticky rice she had brought. From the kitchen, I heard Engfa singing softly along with the movie.

"You sound good." I said, coming back to the couch with a tray.

Engfa blushed at the compliment.

"I love to sing." she admitted.

"I've never heard you sing at work. You don't even listen to music..."

"Yeah... I'm kinda private about it."

I was afraid I had crossed a line, so I tried to change the course of the conversation.

"I didn't hear a lot but if you sing as good as you dance... Mmm..."

Engfa blushed some more, hiding her face in her cup of tea.

"So... What was that book about?" she said, nodding towards the kitchen.

Damn. Touché.

"N... Nothing. Let's finish the movie." I cut it short, giving Engfa a bowl of mango sticky rice.

She chuckled but didn't fight about it. Half an hour later, Mary was about to leave the Banks family and I heard Engfa sniffling.

"Hey..."

"You're like Mary Poppins... You came to save the team..."

"That's funny, you're not the first one to tell me this..." I said.

"Really?" Engfa asked, straightening herself up.

"Yeah, I think it was Heidi who said that a few weeks ago..."

"I don't want her to leave them..." Engfa said, watching Mary close the door, talking to her parrot umbrella.

I smiled gently, patting Engfa's hand which was still holding the heat pad in a protective way against her sore belly.

"I feel like... I'm Mister Banks... You... saved me..." Engfa said, looking down at our hands.

The moment was like suspended in the air. Full of things unsaid. A lot of thoughts crashed through my mind but I couldn't get the words out, until I...

"Well, to be fair... Mister Banks doesn't have sex with Mary Poppins..."

Great job, Charlotte. Very good choice... Dumbass!

"I... I don't know if I can... My period... I..." Engfa stuttered like crazy, her face so red.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean..."

I started panicking.

"I'd like to kiss you though... I missed it..." she cut me off, her finger shushing my lips.

I smiled and pulled her to me, laying on the couch before finally kissing her. We made out slowly, Engfa nestled against me. It was just soft and... perfect. After a while, I pressed my lips around her face, reaching for her forehead before she snuggled against me in a warm hug.

"This feels nice..." she whispered, her head on my chest.

"Yeah..." I said, caressing her lower back, hoping to relieve some of her pain.


Engfa's pov

I felt myself waking up, not really knowing where I was. A light smell of orange and mango was enveloping me. Everything felt so soft, like I was being cuddled. And then I felt a light caress on my scalp, realizing that I was still in Charlotte's arms, laying on top of her.

"Ssshhh..." she said as I started to move.

"I... I fell asleep."

"That's ok. You needed it."

"I'm probably crushing you..." I said, feeling guilty.

"Not at all. You kept me warm. I slept for a while too..." she admitted kissing my head.

"I... I need to pee." I said, getting up slowly from her embrace.

Charlotte's apartment felt really cold without her being all around me. And getting butt naked on her toilet seat gave me chills up to my scalp, and not in a good way. I couldn't wait for my period to be over...

"You ok?" Charlotte asked from under the blanket when I got out.

I smiled and nodded before going to the kitchen. It was already dark outside and even if the mango sticky rice had filled part of my empty stomach I knew that I would be hungry for dinner soon.

"What are you doing?" Charlotte said behind me as I opened the fridge.

"I'm gonna cook dinner." I said, like it was normal for us.

But when I opened the fridge it was almost empty, except for a few dishes in tupperwares.

"Where's all the food? Did you spend the week cooking?" I asked, surprised, checking the cupboards too.

Charlotte quickly got up and closed the cupboard I was looking in.

"Hum... Maybe... I tried... things." she said, blushing.

"What things?"

"I... I already prepared dinner for tonight." she said, taking out the tupperwares from the fridge.

"Oh?"

"I made soup and dumplings like you showed me. You need to keep your belly warm, so I thought..."

Wow. She really had cooked... for me. The only people who did that were my mom and my sister... I was really touched by Charlotte doing this. She was, once again, getting all over the place as she took out bowls and spoons and chopsticks, trying to reheat what she had prepared, taking a tupperware full of veggies while looking for sauce...

"Hey. Calm down. Let me help." I said, wrapping my fingers gently around her left wrist.

"No. You need to rest. I said I would take care of you."

Wow. Again. The pain in my belly was fading away as the butterflies started to dance around.

"Ok..." I said, trying to hide my feelings.

I sat at the counter, watching Charlotte do everything by herself. Her quirky ways but determined attitude made me smile like a goof. She put everything in front of me like she was competing in a cooking show or something. When she finally sat down in front of me, my smile was so wide that my cheeks hurt.

"Thank you for all your hard work." I said, joining my hands.

We started eating and for a newbie it wasn't terrible. But even if it had been I would never admit it... That was how deep I was in this... situationship... We talked about everything and nothing, especially not about work nor what was happening between the two of us... It was hard for me to open up and for now I was just happy to be with her.

"I'm going to take a shower first." Charlotte said.

She didn't invite me to shower with her, which I could understand given the situation... I wasn't mad about it. For real, brain! I wasn't mad about it... Maybe I was just a little bit melancholic when I thought about last time... Yeah, not showering together was probably a good choice... I tried to occupy myself by washing the dishes to prevent myself from thinking too much about what happened the last time I was in this apartment... Which worked for a while, until I found Charlotte's naughty book inside a frying pan while I was tidying up the kitchen.

I couldn't help it... and started to read again... I could feel myself getting hot. This novel seemed like a really good read... Damn! As I heard Charlotte open the bathroom door I quickly threw the book back in the pan on the shelf, like it was burning my fingers.

"You can use the bathroom, I'm done. I put a fresh towel for you next to the sink." Charlotte said, brushing her hair.

She looked so cute in her pyjamas.

"Thanks." I replied, retrieving my things for the night inside my backpack.

As I got under the warm water, I felt kinda bummed about my period... That book had tickled my brain a little too much and I didn't know if I would ever have another chance to get a "date" like this with Charlotte... Not if I wasn't gonna ask for it... This was certain... Ugh... I quickly cleaned myself, did my face routine, brushed my teeth and my hair before I got out of the bathroom.

"You didn't have to clean the dishes... You're my guest." Charlotte said.

She was already waiting for me in her bed, listening to some music on her phone.

"Sorry..." I apologized, getting a smile from her.

"Come here." she said, patting the spot next to her on the bed.

I approached the bed, feeling my heart starting to speed up. Why was I stressing out suddenly? Nothing was going to happen... Calm down, Engfa! I took a deep breath and opened the bed sheets to get under them. There I found the heat pad, already warm and waiting for me. Fuck. My heart skipped a bit and then started to speed up even more.

"Can I be the one hugging you tonight?" Charlotte asked.

"So bold." I joked, trying to relieve the tension my brain was building on its own.

"Yeah... That's me all stubborn and bold. Now let me hug you!" she said, taking the heat pad and placing it on my belly before she wrapped her arm around me.

"Charlotte, I..." I started.

She looked up at me, waiting for more.

"Thank you... for taking care of me."

"My pleasure..." she said, squeezing me just a tiny bit harder.

"Ouch. What's with you and violence again?" I teased.

"Oh, you don't know half of it." she said without letting go.

"Really?"

"Yeah, cause if you weren't on your period, you would already be screaming my name." she said, nestling her nose against my neck and leaving a little peck on my skin.

I froze as my stomach did a flip and some more olympic worthy moves.

"Engfa..."

"Y... Yes?"

"I need to tell you the truth about something..." Charlotte started.

"Ok?"

"I cheated..."

My stomach did another kind of flip, not a good one though. We never talked about our status... and hearing this made me all kind of stressed out... I never thought about the possibility of me sleeping with someone else or her doing the same since I first kissed her in the club a few weeks ago... But now... My brain was getting overheated...

"I cheated... the M&M's... I asked Snack to count them before I suggested the bet..." Charlotte said, blushing.

"I... What?"

Fuck. My brain short circuited again. How could I go from feeling cozy to anxious to lost in a matter of seconds? Damn it, Charlotte!

"I'm sorry..." she said, pursing her lips, making her eyes big and fluttering them.

I wasn't going to lie, I was more than relieved that the conversation was turning that way. I took a deep breath, forcing my heart to slow down. Ok, I could be a jealous person... I knew that... But it was too early for this... OK?? Fuck... Was I... crushing more than I thought? Gosh...

"I'm not mad. But let's clarify that I should have won." I said, trying to get back on track.

"Why?"

"Because I got super close without cheating! I'm good at math, logic and riddles... And to be honest, I was mad that you beat me at it..."

Charlotte laughed... at me.

"I want a rematch. No. I want revenge." I told her firmly.

"Do you like playing games?" Charlotte asked.

"Maybe..."

"Good. I have a few ideas in mind..." she said in a raspy voice, squeezing my side again.

"Good."

"Yeah..." her fingers brushed my skin in a tantalizing way.

Maybe I shouldn't have but...

"Now kiss me before we fall asleep. You owe me this much, cheater." I scolded her.

She didn't say a thing and pushed herself up on her elbow, planting her lips on mine. I didn't know how long we made out that night... but I was the one who asked for mercy.

____
Sweet Englot dreams, wherever you are <3

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