A Twisted Tale

Breakdown

I settled into my regular routine of checking the emails to see the progress happening in London. Mark called up to let me know that the two of them reached safely. I wasn't aware that Charles too left along with Mark until the phone call.
I got down to researching about the board of directors and was looking for the ways to convince them of the partnership when the knock on the door interrupted me. Valerio stood by the door and said "Hi. I brought food thinking you would be hungry. Hope Chinese is okay?"
I smiled at him and said "Perfect. Come in."
We both sat and I quizzed him about the members of the board. He told me quite a few things which I had to take into consideration to get their approval. We went on with this for a while and before I knew it, the food was cold, which I noticed when my stomach growled.
"Oh god. We completely forgot about the food. Let me go reheat it. It will just take me a couple of minutes." I said and took the food into the kitchen.
I was looking for the borosil bowl and realised that Mark had placed it on the top most shelf to make sure that this too doesn't slip out of my butter fingers. I silently cursed his height and his idea, tried to reach the bowl by standing on my toes. Making up for the four Inch difference seemed futile and I gave up.
Just before I could turn around and ask Valerio to help me with it, I felt a pair of hands on my waist. I stood still while I felt his entire body press on to mine. He pulled his hands away as he took out the bowl from the shelf. He placed it on the counter and leaned forward to whisper in my ear "You smell really good."
I felt the butterflies in my stomach while I turned around to face him. He eyed my lips and I knew what was bound to happen next. I let him kiss me the first time to find out if we had any chemistry between us. But this time, I didn't want to lead him into thinking that I was easy.
So I quickly changed the topic and asked "So when is this meeting being arranged? And I still need a soft copy of the partnership agreement so that I can highlight the content that needs changes."
He paused for a minute and silently assessed my reaction while he went on to say "The meeting will be scheduled after two two days. Dad just got out of the hospital so we didn't want to burden him with work. As far as the agreement goes, I'll ask my assistant to mail you a copy right away."
I put the food in the microwave and started pulling out the plates when I heard the microwave beep. Valerio got the food out and put it on the plates while I filled our glasses with some wine.
"Do you like animals?" I asked him as we sat down to eat.
"Do you mean pets or wild animals?" He asked in confusion.
"All animals. Do you have pets at home?" I asked.
He smiled and said "Of course I have pets at home. I have a Tibetan Mastiff, his name is Bubba and a syrian hamster who goes by the name Myshka. What about you?"
I was happy about the fact that he had pets at home. But not too happy because I could only get a better idea of his nature by looking at the way he treats his pets. I answered him by saying "My love for pets runs deep. Ever since I was born I've been surrounded by animals. And as crazy as this sounds, I firmly believe that treating animals with love and affection is good karma. The Webb family knows this love of mine and hence, when my parents died, they made sure that my black Pomeranian Mynx was shipped to London. And she was already twelve by then. She survived for two more years and then gave in to old age. I was so upset that Mark bought me a Dalmatian within a month. I named him Cuddles. Cuddles was the best thing that happened in my life. He was only forty five days old when Mark brought him home. I literally became his mother and took care of him. He was my baby. He lived for ten years. He passed away this year due to kidney failure. And I was at a conference in Sydney when this happened. I still can't believe that he's gone. Every time I look at his leash or his bowl, I remember whom I've lost. And that's the worst feeling ever. I've not had any closure. If you know what I mean."
By the time I finished telling him this I was tearing up. The impact Cuddles had on my life was so strong that even the mere thought of him being gone is enough for me to breakdown into tears. Valerio pulled me into his arms and shushed me by repeatedly stroking my hair. I held on to him tightly while I went through the pain of losing Cuddles once again. "Trust me Meera, the pain will not go away but you'll learn to live with it. Losing an animal is like losing your heart. I know exactly what you're going through. I've had a beagle before Bubba. I was a kid when we brought him home. He was absolutely healthy for about two years before being diagnosed with cancer. We tried everything but he didn't make it. It took me solid five years to get over his death. Now, I remember all the good times I've shared with him. You too will get over losing him. Treasure all those amazing memories you have of him. You'll smile when you think of him." He said.
I pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. I felt so much better after listening to what he said. I smiled at him and hugged him really tight. I landed on him with such force that he fell back on the couch and I landed on top of him. He chuckled and when I was about to pull away, he tightened his hold and said "Where's my reward for making you smile?"
I rolled my eyes and said "Must you always be this flirtatious?" He laughed at my remark and went on to say "I'm usually not like this around others but there's something about you that makes me say these things. You haven't answered my question yet. What are you rewarding me with?"
I pretended to be thinking deeply about his question and placed my hands on his shoulders and I inched forward until our noses were almost touching. I whispered against his lips "I have thought of the perfect reward for you. And that is.."I knew he was way too engrossed in the moment to realise what I was about to do next, "Nothing." I said as I pushed him away and leapt off the couch. He was shocked when he realised what I had done and said "You tricked me! I'll make you pay for this!" I rolled my eyes and said "Good luck with that!" We continued our banter for a while before getting back to work.