His Sunflower

6.Firefly-first kiss

Elara nervously wiped her hands on her skirt as she took a deep breath. Finally after a few moments of pep talk, she rang the bell. 

A question mark of why the hell was she nervous to face the Zache family was tattooed in her mind. She was well acquainted with them. She felt a certain pressure on her, the type of pressure you feel when you are to meet your boyfriend's parents for the freaking first time.

Abruptly, she found her shoes so amusing and didn't look up until the door was opened. A maid greeted her and she was invited inside. Her family was close to the Zache's but she had never been to their abode. The living room was large with high ceilings. Contrasted with the shades of gold and aqua green and with marble statue and rich-looking furniture.

'Ofcourse! they are well-off..' She thought adoring the place. The heavenly waft of cinnamon hit her nose as they entered into the dinning area overly lit with golden ceiling lights. No one took acknowledge of her presence and she took this time to gawk at Archer dressed sharply in a casual white tee, some dark jeans and a formal jacket draped around his muscular yet lean figure.

" Mrs. Zache, Miss Curtis is here." The maid spoke as she made her exit.

Everyone turned towards Elara, which added to her nervousness, but she cooled herself and put on a polite smile. Archer could not stop looking at her, his mouth fell open when he looked at her from top to the bottom.  

She was beautiful.

But tonight, she looked sexy, hot, like a fire that he would step into and happily let her burn him. She wore a short dress which ended above her knees and hugged her figure. It was silky and purple, suited her green eyes alright.

" Elara, come have a seat. We were just waiting for you." Mrs. Zache left the spoon on the counter and hugged Elara and showed her a seat on the dining table beside Archer.

" Happiest birthday Archer." She said sweetly and forwarded the gift she had got for him. It was a wrist watch with a note from her. He smiled to the fullest and closet his eyes, keeping a hand on his heart which made her heart go wild and the butterflies to go crazy!

" That is the sweetest wish I got today" He said and passed a glass of cranberry juice to Elara who looked hesitant, thinking it was red wine. Upon seeing her hesitation, Archer looked at her puzzled.

" Sorry I don't drink." She said realizing, his question was upon her hesitation.

" Oh, don't lie Sunflower, you went crazy at the party and then nailed beer-pong." Archer picked up a chocolate-covered strawberry and popped it into his mouth without breaking the clashes of their eyes. The storms into the deep emeralds.

As she acknowledged what he said, her expression changed into a shade of red.

" Archer! Mrs. Zache, that's not true!" She slapped his shoulder in annoyance while he and his mother laughed. Mrs. Zache pulled her apron off and joined them at the table still not able to contain her laugh.

" That's cranberry juice darling." She said, drinking in her features.

" Elara, you look fabulous! Archer don't touch them, mom made that for me" Alex entered the room angrily snatching the strawberry which Archer was enjoying.

" Mom but today is-" 

The light and healthy talks flickered and lit up the room. Elara could feel the warmth, the spark she yearned from from her family, it could only be found where there is love, care and most importantly time. She smiled at the thought of, one day achieving those things.

"-Elara?" Mrs Zache asked and broke the chain of thoughts.

" I'm sorry, I was spacing out." Elara apologised and smiled a bit.

" I asked if you have a fun family experience to share, maybe a trip or something?" She repeated and Elara got swept into the one time they went on a family trip, about two years ago and as usual, work came up and her parents had to leave Seb and her in a resort in Maldives all alone and at last Sebastian had to come to leave her home. It was pretty embarrassing for them when people asked where had their parents disappeared. She shook her head coming back from the rewind tape of 'How bad my parents are at parenting' . 

" No, my parents are usually busy. We are not that close." She replied without giving too much. Everyone smiled at her with pure sympathy.

" Your bastard dad is surely very busy, too much to hang out with his ol'pal." A heavy voice entered the dining

" Evening Mr Zache, how are you ?" Elara bowed acknowledging his presence. He bowed back at her and greeted everyone. 

The starters were passed around along with some soda and some fancy kind of drink. The dinner was yet to be served. The smell of sweet cinnamon rolls wafted and intensified everyone's hunger.

" The dinner will be served in a few minutes.Why don't you take Elara and show her around?" Mrs Zache suggested and Archer curled his lips into a smile asking for her hand while looking in her eyes.

As her emerald orbs clashed with the icy grey storm within his, the lighting in the room dimmed to almost an extent where the only illumination came from the lightning in the storm within his eyes. The small talks faded as the beat of two pounding hearts grew louder. The rhythmic ticking of the clock slowed down. It was all bright and electrically charged when  his hand touched hers and she swore that he too, could feel the sparks that electrified every cell of their body. Electricity ran down from their spines to their hearts. 

Time paused, Heartbeat so fast, Visibility only limited to him/her.

" Shall we?" He asked in a husky voice. To his question she nodded shyly and dipped her head lower. 

They stepped out into the wooded patio with fire burning in the middle. A cool breeze blew past them as the silence felt serene.

" You have a beautiful house." She turned to where he stood near the fire and walked closer. Her eye flickered in the fire as she kept looking at him.

After a couple of moments, he turned to her with an unreadable expression on his face. He came closer and closer. She could feel his hot breath fanning her neck as he looked at her. From the spark in her eyes to the shape of her perfect rosy, she looked so perfect, she was so perfect. 

" Your smile is beautiful, your eyes are beautiful and you are so perfect Sunflower." He leaned in and held her cheek and she closed her eyes as the electricity sparked in her. He backed up a little and she opened her eyes and looked at his eyes asking for permission.

" I will never be sorry." He said sounding determined.

" Not sorry for what?" She asked breathing heavily. He felt a surge of pride seeing the effect he had on her.

" This." He whispered and smashed his lips on her. 

It was her first kiss but she could tell, it was the best one she could ever have.

It was sweet and passionate. He held her face and she hooked her hands with his neck and pulled him close. They parted and panted hard. Elara had still closed her eyes and still held on to him.

" Look at me Sunflower." He said softly and caressed her jaw tenderly and moved his thumb on her cheeks.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him like he asked her to do.  His hands went to stroke her hair as he said-" I told you I won't be sorry and I'm not.; that was magical just like the fireflies"

" I've never kissed anyone, ever in my life." She said and they fell into a silent gaze adoring each other. The silence broke when the maid had called them for dinner.

Hot and cheesy lasagna, fruit salad, chicken spring rolls and sweet cinnamon rolls were served. The dinner went smooth and fast as everyone had quite an appetite. Small conversations were made over the food, politics, family and even school. 

As the night became a shade darker and the moon shined brilliantly, she bid everyone a goodnight and proceeded to her house thinking of the kiss they shared every second of the night and even in her dreams.