Chapter Eleven
It’s 6.55 pm and I’m standing at her doorway. I have been anxious the whole afternoon, not knowing how to take all these in. But now I feel quite content since life has to go on.
I press the bell of her apartment and moments later the door opens. But it’s not her! It’s a very tall guy; about few inches taller than me, with baby blue eyes and blonde hair. He looks straight into my eyes and smirks.
“Walker, right? Come in; she’s in the kitchen.” He says almost blocking my entrance leaning at the doorway with his huge built. I nod and squeeze myself in past him; but I can still feel his eyes drilling through the back of my head. A shiver runs down my spine.
I head towards the kitchen and there I find her chopping vegetables. Her hair is messy and she’s without makeup and wearing a cute apron. She looks beautiful.
Sensing my presence she looks up at me and smiles an all toothed smile. “Hi!” I greet her.
“Was it troublesome to find the place?” She asks going back to her chopping.
“Not really. I didn’t know you were allocated to a place so near to mine though.” I say suddenly feeling uneasy.
“Oh! Where are my manners! Walker this is Jeremy my childhood friend. He landed here yesterday from York and Emy, this is Dominic; the friend I was talking about.” I look behind and Jeremy is standing there. Oh! The culprit of my dysphoria.
“We have met already at the doorway. Haven’t we Walker?” he asks smirking again. He comes and sits on the countertop before giving Serenity a small peck on the cheek. I clench my fists feeling a pang of jealousy.
“Here, this is for you.” I give her the chocolates and the bottle of wine I brought for her. Her eyes light up and she kisses both my cheeks taking them from me. I start to blush but looking at Jeremy’s smirking face again I control myself. The doorbell rings, making us all aware of the other guests’ arrival.
The dinner goes well without me embarrassing myself or Jeremy pulling any stunt on me. But he keeps staring at me for God knows what reason. We finish our dinner and Serenity sits up to fetch the desserts after giving an evil eye to Jeremy. We sit there in silence and I notice Jeremy still staring at me from my peripheral vision.
“Why do you keep staring at me?” I ask him frustrated now. He chuckles as if I cracked a joke. “Because you are pretty to look at” he says surprising me. My eyes widen. Does he think that I am--
“Excuse me! But I’m not what you think I am.” I state in horror. He seems taken aback, then bursts out in a fit of laughter.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m not gay either. I was just kidding! It just seems that I have seen you somewhere before. You’re not from Nevada; are you?” he asks looking smug. I stiffen. How does he know? I don’t remember mentioning anything about ever being in Vegas tonight, that’s one of the dark hours of my life. I reach for the glass of wine and taking a long swig finish it. My nerves calm a bit.
“What makes you think that?” I ask looking him straight in the eyes; my voice comes out stronger than intended.
“Think what?” He raises his eyebrows.
“I smell pumped up testosterone in this room. What you guys were doing?” Serenity comes carrying the desserts in her hands. She looks back and forth between me and Jeremy.
“What did you say to Dominic?” she asks scowling at him.
“Nothing offensive I presume!” he states with that dirty smirk plastered on his face. Then he looks at Serenity and they share a knowing glance between them. I gape at both of them; anger and confusion rippling inside me.
“I’m sorry for whatever he said to upset you Walker.” Serenity says placing her hand over mine; breaking the silence. All the mixed feeling evaporates from inside of me because of her alleviating touch.
“It’s nothing. I just overreacted.” I state squeezing her hand reassuringly. “So, what did you think about the dinner?” She asks changing the subject.
“I --” I start to say but her phone rings and she excuses herself. Jeremy sits up and holds out his hand for me to shake.
“It was nice to meet you Dominic Walker.” He says looking me squarely in the eye and shaking my hand. He has a firm grip.
“Not so nice I would say.” I say smugly. He narrows his eyes at me, shakes his head and leaves the room.
Serenity enters the room just after he leaves. After a while the other guests start leaving too and she sees them to the door.
“Did Emy behave this time while I was away?” She asks gesturing for me to head for the living room. I shrug smiling. We sit on the couch next to each other. I take a quick look around her living room. Everything in the room is themed with white and blue. The L shaped couch, the paintings on the wall, the sculptures, the big screen television, the chandelier hanging from the ceiling; everything screams wealth. But all of these perfectly suit her personality.
“So, you’re from York?” I ask her initiating a conversation.
“Yeah.” She says. I stare at her wondering if she’s going to go any farther; but she doesn’t say anything more.
“You’re an interior designer, right?” I ask her curiously. She nods. “How do you know anyway?” She asks looking impassively at me.
“Internet is a very useful tool Ms. White; since you have been too ignorant to say anything about you, I had to search you up.” I reveal smiling at her. She smiles too but it doesn’t really reach her eyes. She sits there fidgeting with the corner of her dress. I can tell right away that something must be bothering her.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her placing my hand on her shoulder.
“It’s nothing actually. I was just thinking about the other night. I hope I didn’t come--” I place my lips on hers making her stop. Her eyes widen; but she eventually relaxes and kisses me back. I kiss her tenderly at first, then it starts to turn into a heated makeout session. Unfortunately, her phone starts to ring again and