His eternity

Chapter 11

Francisco's POV

With a wave of my hand I signaled Rosie to take a seat on the couch in the corner of my room and sat on the armchair opposite of the couch. While she was sitting stiffly on the cushion like someone had threatened her if she were to move and eyed me skeptically, I leaned back in the chair, crossed my legs and searched for my lighter and cigarette in the inner pocket of my tuxedo. With the cancer stick clamped between my lips I looked up at Rosie to find her looking at me, her face twisted in anger and disgust.

'I dare you to light this thing in my presence and I promise you I'll personally make sure that at some point in your sleep tonight, you'll run out of oxygen', she hissed angrily.

A laugh escaped me.

'You've got spunk, little one, its rather adorable if you ask me.'

'No, I'm not adorable. I'm dead serious.'

Her lips were drawn into a cute pout and I couldn't help but laugh again and raise my hands in a surrendering motion.

'Alright, fiore, I won't do anything or else I might not be able to sleep peacefully tonight.'

I slipped my lighter and the cigarette back into my pocket and looked at her.

'Why do you call me fiore, that's not my name.'

'I know that, little one but fiore means flower in Italian and I think the name suits you quit well. Your name is that of a flower, isn't it? And you remind me of a rose, beautiful and intriguing but at the same time you're trying your best to prick me with your thorns. Don't worry Rosie, a rose without thorns is not a rose and I am not trying to make you obey my every command. I just think fiore suits you.'

I shrugged my shoulders. Lost in thought, Rosie stared out the window of my room into the garden.

'Thank you', she whispered quietly.

I frowned, not understanding what she was thanking me for.

'Why do you thank me?'

'I know that this is not your fault, it was not your decision, just as much as it wasn't mine and I appreciate how you deal with the situation. I know there are people who would use their power to do harm.'

I kept quiet and took in her side profile. She seemed lost in her own world with her thoughts stuck in a completely different place. This was revealed by the tears that had gathered in her eyes, but which had not yet made their way down her face. I silently got up from my armchair and took a seat next to her on the sofa. She seemed so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed it. She only realized it once I put my hand on her knee to calm her down.

She looked up at me with tear-filled eyes and held eye contact with me. I had the feeling that I was able to read her just by looking in her eyes but at the same time I couldn't tell what she was thinking about. The green of her eyes was intensified due to the tears. Slowly and carefully I leaned down, held her cheeks in my hands and placed a gentle kiss to the corner of her lips.

That caught her breath and she closed her eyes. I would have loved to pinch myself to see if it was all a dream. I slowly pulled back and therefore broke the kiss. Even if she hadn't really responded and I hadn't even been a proper kiss to her lips, it had felt so familiar and intimate, which had shocked me. I noticed that Rosie was in a state of shock and didn't say anything or show it on her face, so I quickly swallowed down my disappointment and tried to change the subject.