In the Interlude

Chapter 14 - Baby Steps

Before she knew it, it was Saturday.

Aïcha dropped her daughter at her parents' house before joining friends for lunch. She didn't tell anyone about her escape to Marrakech to meet a freakishly handsome man. She was excited, like a little girl hiding a big secret from everyone.

After lunch, she headed home to pack her overnight bag and was faced with the biggest dilemma of the day: which clothes to take? She hated packing and this was particularly horrid, not knowing where Tom would be taking her and refusing to overstuff her bag with unnecessary garments.

After staring at her closet for far too long, she decided to keep it as simple and minimalistic as possible. Soon it was four pm, time to hit the road.

A long way from there, Tom was sitting in his hotel room preparing for a run. He didn't know when Aïcha was going to arrive and that made him restless. He was hoping they would have time for drinks and dinner. But again, not knowing her time of arrival prevented him from making any further plans.

An hour later Tom was back, all sweaty but energised. He jumped into the shower and was out of there in no time putting on a fitted blue shirt, slim trousers and his usual low suede boots. His phone rung just when he wanted to press the elevator button. It was Aïcha.

"Hi there. How are you? Where are you?" he said impatiently.

"Here, in my hotel room." She stopped briefly before adding, "You shouldn't have, vraiment, it's too much."

When Aïcha stepped earlier into her hotel room she was surprised to find a beautiful bouquet of pink tulips, her favourite, waiting for her. She remembered mentioning it to Tom when they were strolling in Paris a few weeks ago but never thought he would remember that. It was incredibly sweet and thoughtful. Then she found his note with the flowers.

Chère Aïcha, welcome to our carpe diem weekend.
I can't wait for Sunday to come.
But before that, you and me, dinner, tonight?
Tom.

Her pulse increased as she pictured him writing the note, a flirtatious smile on his handsome face. God, he had such an effect on her.

Tom noticed Aïcha before she noticed him when she finally stepped into the hotel's bar, freshened up and changed into a new set of clothes. He took his time checking her out. She was wearing a black jumpsuit complimenting her long figure, the V neck showing just enough cleavage to leave him wanting more, so much more.

Too many times over the past days he'd thought about Aïcha and had imagined what it would be like to hold her, to kiss her, to touch her. There was something, no, many things about her that attracted him. But right now, at this very moment, all he could think of was that he was happy she came.

Standing up, Tom waved at her. She waved back smiling and made her way to his table. His eyes a darker shade of blue than usual, he was tall and handsome and looked dashing as always. The sight of his strong arms revealed by his rolled-up sleeves made her shamelessly wonder how they would feel on her own body.

"Tom! So good to see you." She kissed him on both cheeks before stepping back. He held her hand and was looking at her with a hint of mischief in his eyes. Heat rose to her face.

"So how was your drive? Not too long I hope," said Tom, sitting down but not before helping Aïcha with her seat.

"It was fine really. I put on my special road trip playlist so I sang most of the way."

Tom smiled as he imagined her singing her heart out in her car.

"You don't have a drink, let's address that. What do you fancy?" He pointed out matter-of-factly and mentioned for the waiter to come.