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It was about time fate would spare a moment for just the two of us.
I couldn’t tell exactly why, but I was even more nervous than on our previous date. Maybe because now he wasn’t in the room with me, bringing the rush of longing to mix with my anxiety.
Strangely for him, he didn’t give me an exact hour to be ready. He probably didn’t want me to disappoint him again and be late. I knew all too well how a five-minute delay could get Brax to lose his temper. So, there won’t be any five minutes if I don’t have an exact time to meet him at.
I was finally ready. Well, not ready-ready, more like physically ready, because emotionally, I was a mess. Alfred said Brax was waiting for me at hisvilla,and things didn’t work out too well the last two times I paid him a house call. It was very similar to walking straight into the lion’s den; only I grew out to be the tamer— at least that’s what I was hoping for.
The night was different from any other. It was well below zero, yet somehow the atmosphere was sublime. It had that chilling cold that freezes everything around, making you want to cuddle beneath extra soft blankets in front of the fireplace. Although, I guess I should have stayed in with Ferris for that because Brax was far from the cuddling type.
The car must’ve carried me through moments of a dreamlike state. Images of my kings were spinning through my mind, and all sorts of emotions were sneaking up to surprise me. I was missing Ferris, eager to get to Brax, and worrying about Cole, who I was trying to reach but who wasn’t picking up or returning my calls.
I didn’t even know how I got in front of Brax’s house door, but there I was, ringing the bell and taking another step into the new part of our lives.
I held out no hope that he would be the one answering— which he didn’t. One of his guards let me in, then quickly made sure he could disappear before his boss would decide that he was intruding.
With steady steps, I made my way towards the living room, trying to take a peek and locate my mobster.
It didn’t take long before I noticed he was sitting on the sofa with his eyes pointing at his smartphone screen. At least this time, the screen was lit because, if I remember correctly, last time, he was staring at a blank TV.
The image was so similar to the one I saw when I first came to his house that it was causing a cold chill to run down my back.
Despite the memories flooding my mind, my feet dragged me further across the room until I ended up inches away from Brax, just for him to ignore me completely.
He knew all too well I was there, but the cat and mouse game was still rushing through his body cells. The pulsing neck vein was betraying his inner turmoil until it could no longer be contained. He eventually stood up, acknowledging my presence. No kiss, but neither ayou’re latetantrum, so, if I was to translate his gestures, we were on good terms.
‘This was exactly what I imagined when I picked out this dress.’ He took my hand, whirling me around so he could get a better image of how the fine material was arranging itself on my curves.
‘So, are you saying that last time it didn’t look that good on me?’ I chuckled, hoping that he would realize that I was only messing around. I never knew how good his sense of humor was, and I didn’t want to end up on the bad side of the radar.
‘I can’t even rememberlast time.’ He let out a panty-melting smile, then sneaked an arm around my waist while glancing in the opposite corner of the room. ‘Lucia, you can serve dinner.’
I immediately recognized what he was looking at. The same round table for two. Only this time, it didn’t lay strewn across the floor with plates and glasses shattered all around it. The crockery was carefully arranged, waiting for dinner to be served.
We had returned back in time, putting into play a moment that our mistakes let go to waste. Second chances do exist after all, and Brax was asking for just that— maybe not with words, but with facts.
We had both deprived ourselves of that particular moment, and we were going to make sure it wouldn’t slip away again.
Still keeping my hand a guilty prisoner in his, he walked me to the table, pulling my chair so I could take a seat. He was so different from the man I met all those months ago that I was starting to ask myself which was indeed the mask Brax was wearing — the one of the cold-hearted mobster or the one of a tempter, aiming straight to steal my soul.
The atmosphere was so heavy that it was almost making me cry. I had no idea if it was because of the madness he was creating, restoring a moment we lost, or because I was afraid of the consequences if we should also fail to live it this time around.
‘Is this all for me?’ I asked, not even sure what I was supposed to say. I was even clumsier than my usual self when it came to Brax, and starting a conversation was by far one of my weak points.
‘No, it’s only for presentation. We’re having Chinese takeouts in the back of one of my vans.’ It seemed Brax had a sense of humor, after all, even though it hid his specific sarcasm.
‘Such a waste of a dress then.’ I laughed, arranging a few of its folds.
‘Don’t worry, the dress will be somewhere on the front seats of the van by the time we’ll even get to unwrap the chopsticks,’ he said in the most serious tone, opening a bottle of white wine and pouring us two glasses.
‘Hmmm. I see you don’t waste any time.’ I was playing into his game which sounded tempting enough to be explored to its limits.
Though it seemed Brax’s patience had enough of games. ‘I’ve wasted enough time.’ His words flowed like a river of liquid emotions within my ears, sneaking down my spine, forming a fluttery sensation in the pit of my stomach.
He immediately froze, like the music had suddenly stopped and he was the only one in the room speaking. The revelation of the present capturing us in an immortal moment had left us breathless, acknowledging with the magnetic vibrations of our hearts what no words could ever describe.
‘Your dinner.’ A voice that was just background noise to me had saved him from himself, returning a drop of the calculated man I used to know back into the room. Lucia was the one who interrupted us, placing two seafood platters on our dinner table. ‘I put them into the wok for two minutes, just as you said.’ The woman took a few steps away from where we were seated.
‘That will be all for the night, Lucia.’ Brax gestured her to leave for home, probably so we could have some privacy and he could offer me hiscompleteattention. ‘Dinner is served.’ He turned his head towards the plates, making sure that everything looked perfect.
