Mr. Imperfectionist 1

26- His Warmth At Night

The rainfall increased. The sound of the pouring rain outside the window was so soothing. I wanted to put on some romantic music on the stereo and stay awake next to Sabil the whole night, just watching him. Watching his handsome face till I board the flight. I didn't want to miss even a second from feeling his skin under my fingers. I was taking home all these feelings with me. I was taking a bag full of his affection, his scent, his both sweet and bitter memories. I will always remember his green eyes, his brilliant smile, his chiselled features.

I was taking everything else with me too. The warmth of this bed, the cosy and homely feeling of this house. Isla, Mario, and Diego's generosity. The taste of Mario's food in my tongue. Guzman, Julio, and Emilio's kindness. Dr Abascal's smile. I was taking a lot with me and I should be able to live the rest of my life with that.

The landline rang and broke my reverie. I saw Sabil stretch his hand without getting up from the bed. He answered the call and spoke in Spanish. Then hung up.

"Julio is back." He said to me and sat up in the bed. I sat too.

"Really? Can I see him?" I asked with a smile.

"It's better if you see him tomorrow Cari. I'm not sure if you'll faint again." He said and leapt from the bed.

"Come on. I'm sure there's no blood on his arm now. Let me see him." I pleaded.

"You need rest and Julio is going to be here tomorrow. You can see him before you leave okay?" He said while wearing his black t-shirt.

I felt a poke in my heart every time he reminded me about my leaving. I fell loosely on the bed and pulled the duvet on my chest. He looked at me and sighed.

"I know talking about tomorrow hurts you. It hurts me too. But it's inevitable and I'm just trying to get used to it." He crawled on the bed and kissed my forehead. Then he got on his toes and left the room.

He was strong enough to see me go. It was only me who was still shaken up. Now that Sabil was gone for a while, I could cry to myself in peace. I pulled the duvet over my head and wept.

When he returned, I was watching a movie. I noticed a brown tray in his hand with a bottle of wine, two wine glasses, and chips in a glass bowl.

"Care for some wine?" He asked with a smirk and placed the tray on the side table.

"Sure."

He poured the glasses and handed one to me. We sipped our wine and he curled his hand around my shoulders and watched the movie with me.

"How's Julio?" I asked.

"He looks better. Won't be able to work for at least a month." Sabil said and sipped his wine while his eyes were on TV.

"Sabil tell me one thing. Have you ever been arrested? I mean even today there was firing in the middle of the road. Don't cops do anything about it?"

He looked at me. "We have good contacts. It's not easy to do clandestine activities when cops always have their eyes around but it's always easy to bribe them. I have killed two people and yet I'm roaming freely."

I shuddered. "In fact, the cops will be thankful because this gang is infamous for what they do. They've messed up a lot but they shove stacks of money in the cops' mouth and they stay quiet. Moreover, we've never killed innocents as they do. We've only killed their people, and for that the cops can't do anything. I have fed money to the cops too. They don't interfere with my business."

I scoffed. "It's a crazy world."

"It sure is. But don't think about all that now. You need to rest." He said and kissed my hair.

"I'm not sleepy."

"You have a long flight tomorrow." He reminded me.

"I'll sleep on the plane."

We finished the wine and chips. The movie got over too. Sabil turned off the TV and lied next to me. It was still raining. We snuggled under the blanket. Sabil kept kissing my forehead again and again. I looked into his eyes. He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. I brought my face closer to his and took his lower lip between my teeth. He exhaled and I felt his sharp warm breath on my lips. I kissed him harder. We held each other tight and were lost into the kiss for a long moment.

It was midnight. I still couldn't sleep and neither could he. There was a lot of gazing and caressing. I just wanted to grasp the warmth of his every breath. As time passed by my eyes got heavy but a part of me was fighting hard against closing my eyes. My body was tired but I did not want to sleep.

I wanted to stay awake with Sabil. My eyelids could not bear the heaviness any longer. I shut my eyes and I was halfway into the sleep but my mind was widely awake. I could still hear Sabil's slow breathing, I could still feel his fingers making circles on my stomach.

"Hey, you awake?" He asked in a muted voice.

I wanted to answer but I could not find my lips. I parted my lips a bit but no sound came out. My head was heavy with sleep. Sabil kissed my hair. "Good night then." He said.

I was scared that he'd leave the room. I wanted to open my eyes before he could leave. But he didn't. He in fact held me tight from my stomach and buried his head on the back of my neck. I could feel his warm breath tickling which caused the hair to stand up on my body.

"I'm going to miss you so much." He said wistfully and I thought he knew I was still half-awake.

"Now that you're asleep I'm going to tell you something." I heard him say. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You've become my world. I wish I could keep you here with me forever. You must be wondering why don't I divorce Maya if I don't live with her. Trust me I've tried many times. But she doesn't want to divorce me. She wants to stay married to me and make my life miserable.

I then gave up because I didn't think it was important to be single. I was having my share of fun anyway. But you made me realize that I should've gotten a divorce. I shouldn't be in a relationship where two people are not happy with each other. Before you, I didn't think I deserved love from anyone. I didn't think any woman could make me feel so alive. And honestly, I didn't even care. I was happy being a dick who sleeps around with several women with no strings attached.

Then you came along and changed my mind. You showed that someone could like me for what I really am. I don't know if it's possible to fall in love in just four days. I don't know whether it's love because I've never loved anyone. Maya was just an infatuation and I got married in haste. But I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. Have a good life Saanj. I hope I can forget about you someday." He then kissed my nape.

I had shivers running all over my body when he was confessing his feelings to me. And yet I couldn't open my eyes. For the entire night, I felt Sabil move in the bed. He couldn't sleep. I felt the light coming through the window. I squeezed my eyes and turned on my left. I felt the bed squeak. Then I heard the sound of the drapes and the room was dark.

I wanted to wake up now. I stretched my arms and moaned. Sabil held me tight. I could feel his breath on my face. I laid there without moving and opened my eyes. I hated the groggy feeling. I didn't look at his face. My eyes were on the white wall. Suddenly the realization dawned on me that within a few hours I'll be gone forever. My heart felt dead. My head was heavy but no tears came.

As I felt his long fingers stroke my cheek softly, my dormant heart finally thumped and my head swirled as his lips pressed gently against mine. I looked at him. He had a smile on his face. I got closer and kissed him again.

After the shower, I packed my bags. Sabil helped. We didn't talk to each other. Just with a long face, we went on shoving everything inside the bags. Sabil gave me three new trolley bags to keep all the extra clothes and shoes that he had bought me. Rest all the perfumes and accessories were chained in a duffle bag.

"There's so much luggage. How will you travel?" Sabil asked in a gloomy voice.

"I don't know. Why don't you come to India with me?" I said sarcastically without looking at him. I heard him snicker.