This Love | ✓

Part 17

"Leena," Claire yelled, her voice barely heard over the TV. "Dinner is ready!"

"Coming," I called from where I was perched on the couch in the living room, grabbing the remote control to turn off the television.

I hefted myself off the plush couch, jostling the colourful cushions in the process. Swiping my arm across the couch to rearrange the square-shaped pillows, I yawned, dog-tired.

The previous day had been exhausting.

Zach returned to his workplace, Athena's Used Books, after having coffee with me at Java Lava. Instead of going home after meeting Claire for lunch, I headed back to the bookstore, remembering how Zach and I had left over a hundred books just lying on the floor. Coincidentally, Claire planned to finish up early at work that day. She agreed to pick me up from the store at four in the evening.

Upon entering Athena's Used Books, I nearly bumped into a short, bespectacled guy dressed in crisp chinos and a white button-down shirt. 

"Sorry!" I said, sidestepping to avoid colliding with him.

"Leena?" Zach called from behind the stranger. "I thought you were going home after lunch. What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, I was," I explained. "But then I remembered that we didn't put all those books back. So, I came back to finish the job."

"You're a lifesaver!" Zach beamed, obviously relieved. "Thank god, I don't have to do the rearranging all by myself."

Throwing his arm around the bespectacled stranger, he announced, "By the way, this is my boyfriend, David. David, meet my new friend, Leena. She's from London!"

"Hello, Leena," David said, speaking in a distinct and familiar British accent that emphasised his surprisingly deep voice. "I'm from Manchester."

"Oh, it's very nice to meet you," I greeted him, shaking his hand heartily. "Zach told me you're very good with computers."

David laughed good-naturedly, pushing his rectangular glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know if I'm very good, but I'm definitely better than him," he said jokingly, nudging Zach's stomach with his elbow.

"Oh, you're just being modest," Zach complained. Beaming with pride, he said, "Dave works the night shift at this super fancy tech company. I'll never understand what he actually does. For all I know, he could be some shady vigilante hacker."

"Hey!" David protested as I laughed, raising his hand to swat at Zach playfully.

"Speaking of the night shift, you have to get some sleep," he chided. Turning to me, he said, "He comes over with lunch every day when he's supposed to be at home, sleeping before his shift."

Zach's words implied that he was complaining, but his tone was filled with unbridled affection and concern for his boyfriend.

Will anyone ever love me like this? I wondered as David gazed up at his boyfriend adoringly.

"I do have to go," David admitted, snapping my attention back to the moment. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Leena."

"Likewise," I replied with a grin.

"We have to hang out together another time," Zach enthused.

"Definitely," David and I nodded in unison.

"Now, go," Zach instructed his boyfriend. "Get some sleep, babe."

David's entire face reddened in the cutest possible way when Zach's lips connected with his cheek. He squeezed his hand in return, waving goodbye to me before leaving the store.