Cora

CHAPTER 5: TEN MONTHS AGO

Throughout the last couple of months, Ben and I went out on more and more dates and started to get used to each other's company. The first time he brought me over to see his house, we pulled into a long freshly paved driveway and as I looked up, the amount of architectural creativity that came into building the place was breath-taking.

He lived in a massive colonial-style house with a wrap-around porch and pearl-white beams that trailed around the house with the porch. He had a solar paneled roof, a giant oak door as the entrance, and a large yard space that was fenced in and continued to the back of the house. Trees surrounded the property, making it a nice, secluded space.

I stood looking up at the house in awe, wondering how he could have compared my house to his.

One night, he took me out to an elegant French restaurant, where we were served champagne and wine along with a five-course meal of Garbure Soup, a sweet and tangy salad, Tapenade Noir a la Figure—which was an olive spread with figs for the appetizer—, Beef Bourguignon as our entree, and then finishing off with a Chocolate Soufflé that we had to share in order to finish. After being completely stuffed, he showed me to his car and drove me to his home.

He grabbed my hand and led me past the giant oak door and lifted me up, effortlessly, while carrying me all the way up the spiral staircase and into his room. Later on, I threw on his button up dress shirt and gave myself a tour of the place while he slept.

Every room was open and brightly lit, but each with its own creativity and purpose. The kitchen had beautiful granite counter tops, bar stools surrounding an island in the center, and a dining room table that looked as if it was delicately hand-carved and coated smoothly to perfection.

The living room was equally as large as the kitchen and was so simple, yet extravagant. A giant flat screen television covered the one wall without windows and each corner in the room had a speaker for surround-sound. There was a brick fireplace underneath the flat-screen that gave the place a nice rustic feel. The couches were what filled the room the most. They were two beige sectional couches on either side of the room. I sat down on one and was surprised at the softness of the fabric and the stiff, yet lightness of the cushions that made me want to curl up right there and sleep forever.

When I eventually pulled myself up, I walked over to the brick fireplace and ran my hand over the rough surface. I was startled at the feel warm arms wrapping themselves around me. I turned around to see Ben smiling. He had on grey sweatpants and no shirt. I ran my hands over his bare chest and he kissed me.

Days like those turned into nights and we were practically inseparable. He would leave for work during the day while I taught at the university. I would come home to then work on improvements with my house, inspired by the ingenuity of Ben's home.

Boxes were finally unpacked around the house and decorations were up. I painted the walls bright and vibrant colors, allowing the sunlight to bounce off every corner and open the space up even more. I transformed the spare room into my own personal study where I would have a nice desk set up for my computer and school work.

Despite the size of Ben's house, we spent most of our time at mine. He would come home after work and help me with dinner, usually bringing Suka along with him. We would eat on the couch and mute the sound on the TV of our favorite shows. We pretended to be the voices of characters and imagine what they were saying, while sharing a bottle of wine and laughing until our stomachs hurt.

Each night we would fall asleep with Suka in the middle. She seemed a bit jealous of all the attention Ben was giving me, and so sleeping between us was her way of getting that extra attention for herself. But, I didn't mind. They became my happiness.