It's early in the day, Melanie and Jerry are both out of the house at this time, so when I see Stevie, I greet her with a, hey, but she doesn't seem too interested to stay around for a chat. I kind of understand why, but she needs to see my point of view as well. Do I think she's beautiful? Yes. Am I attracted to her? Hell yes! Am I concerned she's so much younger? Yes. I'm at a point in my life, where I don't really want casual sex anymore. I thought Farrah and I were going to get married and be a family. That didn't work out, but I still want to find a woman, with whom I can have that. I'm afraid Stevie is just a girl and she might be the one, who wants to have a little fun. And I totally get that. She's only twenty one, she needs to... well, get it all out of her system, so to say.
On my break, I go inside the kitchen for a glass of water. I don't know if Jerry trusts me this much or he treats all of his employees the same, but I basically got full access to the house. It makes me feel weird. It's not like I casually wander around this mansion though. I only work here, so kitchen, bathroom and the backyard is pretty much where I stay.
"It feels like you've been avoiding me." I say to Stevie, she's having a salad for lunch at the kitchen table.
"Funny, I thought you're the one, who's avoiding me." She emphasizes, not looking at me.
"Stevie-"
"What?" Her eyes suddenly focus on me. "I thought you liked me, you said it. I gave you that note, you know what I want and all of a sudden, you've lost interest?"
"No." I shake my head, leaning against the counter. "I just... Everyone just assumes that men only want sex. But I'm not like every men. I've already had my fair share, Stevie. I'm going to be thirty seven years old and I've always assumed that at this age I'd be married and have three kids, live in a nice house and own a couple of dogs. But something... something happened not that long ago and my life was turned upside down. I lost almost all of my friends, my girlfriend left me and I couldn't see my son for weeks. I took this job to help myself start over. But the fact remains the same, I still want a family and I want to meet someone, who wants the same thing. I didn't think that I would meet you and I'm crazy attracted to you, but." I pause. "I'm afraid that..." I sigh, I'm not sure I should be telling her this. "I'm afraid if anything happens between us and I develop feelings for you, I'll get hurt. You're so young, Stevie. You've got so much ahead of you, eventually you'd leave me behind and move on, find a guy your age..."
Stevie's silent. For how long I'm not sure, but it feels like eternity. "I could surprise you." She says and my eyebrows crease.
"What do you mean by that?"
She just shrugs her shoulders and brings her empty plate to the sink, leaving it there. "I don't know if this is the biggest crush I've ever had on anyone, but I like you. A lot. We've known each other for a short time, I mean, we don't even really know each other, but... I didn't want to admit it to myself or much less you, but I was talking to my best friend the other day and she made me realize that it's not just me wanting to get you naked." She says, lowering her eyes. I think, she's embarrassed because of what she said.
I smile, gently gripping her chin with my fingers, I tilt her head up, our eyes meet. "I think, I like your best friend." Stevie chuckles, closing her hand on my wrist. I take her hand in mine, lacing my fingers through hers and we stand like that for a moment. "You're beautiful."
"Thank you." Again, that shy side of her. "The first time I saw you, I wanted to jump your bones." She confesses, making me laugh. "But now..." She hesitates to speak, but I wait for her to do so. Now. What now? "I want to get to know you first."
"Really?" I ask, somewhat surprised.
"I do." Stevie nods her head. "I told you, I like you. I don't care that some people might think this is wrong or whatever, but I don't. I know you're worried about my father. Well, right now, he doesn't have to know. It's up to you."
"You want to go out on a date with me? Is that what you're saying?"
"If you're going to take me out on a date with you." She nods again, looking away.
"Does Saturday work for you?" I ask and our eyes lock again, hers light up.
"Sounds perfect." Stevie smiles, adding. "I wouldn't say no if you wanted to kiss me right now..."
I don't need any further encouragement. I take her beautiful face in my hands and lean in, softly pressing my lips to hers. It's so tempting to do so many bad things to her right now, but if she's serious, if she actually wants to date me, then... I pull back.
"I've got to get back to work." I say, kissing her on the forehead before I go.
