A Step Closer to Love

“What?” Arabella felt her mouth hang open as her face turned into a shocked expression.

“What?” he said back as if he did not understand what she was saying.

“What did you say?” she mustered her courage to ask.

“What did I say?” he asked as he tried to keep his eyes off her and on the road.

“You just asked me…”

“I don’t know why I said that” he said quickly cutting her off before she could complete her statement. “I don’t know why I said it and I cannot justify the reason, I am sorry,” he said in haste like he could not wait for the situation he created to be over.

“Oh” she said biting a corner of her lips. She knew that if she remained a minute more she would be feeling more than embarrassed so she grabbed the handle of the hand and pushed it open. “I better go now,” she said as she dropped down from the car and walked away as swiftly as her legs could take her.

“What was that?” Kieran asked himself when he saw her enter the house.

“You were already having a great rapport with her but you had to go ahead and ruin it by saying something like that” he said hitting his hand on the steering wheel.

He knew that she would go ahead to try and avoid him tomorrow because she would be feeling so awkward about the situation. He sat for a few more minutes in the car hoping not to run into her. He knew that that would be the best solution for him.

He parked properly in the garage and made his way in through the kitchen door and right there on the kitchen coffee table was Arabella and Everly having a chat. His eyes fell on her and he tried his best to take them away but he was failing so miserably it was kind of cute.

“Kieran there you are” Everly said with a chirpy voice. Everly sounded so much better than she did in the morning so it gave Kieran some kind of relief but not so much because he was in such close range with Arabella.

“I had something to do” he murmured as he tapped his feet to the ground.

“Do you want to have tea with us?” Everly asked standing and going to the teapot on the counter. “Arabella here was just telling me a lot of tales about Japan and the way they live which I think you would find fun” she said taking a cup in her hand.

Kieran shook his head, he had to give Arabella a little space or else she might think he was crazy for acting that way.

“I had a bit of a long day so I better go in to rest” he said walking across the kitchen to the door that led to the rest of the house.

“Oh, you did” Everly’s voice dropped but she still had a smile on her face. “I was thinking we could spend a little time together since I leave the day after tomorrow”

Kieran stopped in his tracks and his eyes fell on Arabella. His gaze was questioning if he was permitted to spend a little time with his mother. Arabella knew what that gaze meant and she did not want him running through her mind so the best thing to do was to give them some privacy.

“I am also so very exhausted and I think resting would be best for me since I have work tomorrow” Arabella stood up and forced a yawn out of her mouth.

“Oh, you are, of course you are, silly me,” Everly said all at once. “Yes of course go and rest”

“We can pick it up tomorrow night, since you leave the next day I can stay up all night to help you with your luggage and that way I can keep you entertained with my fun tales” Arabella offered.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

She knew that she might notice that she was escaping from being in the same room with her son but what option did she have? She hurriedly crossed the kitchen and let out a breath she did not know she was holding when she got out of the kitchen.

She climbed the stairs with some kind of haste and made it to her room. For the first time since she got there, she pushed herself into the room like something was chasing her and then closed the door.

She sat on the bed, she wanted to share the experience with someone but knew that her sister would make a big deal out of it if she was to hear it. She laid down on the bed with her back and her face facing the ceiling as she tried to count sheep.

She knew she had to take off the little make-up she had made an effort to put on in the morning. As she thought of the makeup her mind cast back to what he had said.

‘Do you think I can kiss you?’

She closed her eyes and tried her best to divert her thoughts from replaying his voice and those words in her mind but she was failing because she kept imagining different scenarios where he was saying those words to her.

She sat up to the bed in haste and pushed herself to get her face washed and then prepare for bed. If she put her mind to work there would be no way her mind would have the energy to wander around as well.

By the time she was done with her night routine and she lay in bed, she noticed that her mind seemed to be doing a little trick on her because she could not shake off his voice. It was like a brain worm stuck there repeating the sentence as many times as it wished.

“What do I do?” she turned in bed when her eyes landed on a manuscript on the table.

She stood up and went to it, she picked it up and opened it if she could not sleep she had to wear her mind down.

She was startled to reality by a knock on her door, at first she thought her mind was playing a trick until she heard it again. She walked quietly to the door and pressed her ears against it before whispering “Who is it?”

“It’s me can we talk?”