Like This
Niko sees Shen Shu coming down the stairs. As usual, she wears a tank top with no bra, and her nipples are erect. He felt like throwing a sweater over her head, but he focused on her face as she walked toward him.
"How are you feeling?" Niko asked her.
She falls onto the couch, sitting next to him. "I have this banging hangover." She covers her forehead.
"I'll get you a drink," he told her.
She looked at him with gentle eyes.
Niko stood up and went to the kitchen, making her another herbal tea. He had his number of hangovers in the past whenever Alek and he had too much to drink. He went back to Shen Shu, and she accepted the tea he gave her, and she lets it soothe her. He gave her medicine for the headache too. It helps.
"I'm going to the pool today to cool off. Do you want to join me?" Shen Shu asked.
No. Niko did not want to join Shen Shu because then he'd be taunted by her bikini and lush figure, something he could see but never touch.
But he was supposed to be trying harder. He was supposed to be acting like her role model.
"Sure," he said, though his mind is entirely against it.
She smiles at him like he's made her happy.
Niko never wanted to stop seeing that smile on her face, especially when he was the one that caused it. God, help him.
Niko went to his bedroom, and he searched for his swim trunks. He took off his clothes and put on his swim trunks. He put on sunscreen, and then he jumped in the pool, hoping the cold water would ease him. He shook his hair when he resurfaced, and then he saw Shen Shu come outside wearing a white two-piece.
Fuck me.
She jumps in, and water splashes. When she resurfaces above water, her soft hair is pulled back. She smiles as she treads in the water towards him.
"Remember when we were younger, and you didn't know how to swim?"
He smiled at the memory.
"You jumped into the deep end even though you didn't have a clue how to tread water or if you'd even resurface," she continued.
"I've seen people jump in rivers from bridges when I was a child," Niko responded. "I thought jumping into the deep end of a pool would be nothing."
She smiles wide. "And yet you did it. You learned all on your own."
To others, it may have been stupidity. But ever since Niko learned how to walk, he learned about survival. So he jumped without knowing how to swim. Once he hit the water, his body moved on its own. His adoptive parents didn't like his stunt, but they were impressed he did it. Shen Shu had taken lessons before, and he wanted to swim with her. He wasn't going to let anything stop him.
She treads closer to him now. "Niko," she says.
His eyes meet hers, so she knows he is listening.
"Can we start over?"
Niko looked at her, puzzled. "In what way?" he asked.
Her expression falls, and his chest squeezes. He did not want to see her like that. He wanted her to smile, and he would do anything to see it.
"I want us to be like how we used to be. I want you to talk to me more. I want you to come to me for anything."
She wanted them to be the way we were before he began to ignore her and push her away. He swallowed. "We can do that," he told her.
She smiles wide and leaps into his arms. Niko holds her to him. He'd do anything for Shen Shu.
Shen Shu pushes his head underwater and swims away. He resurfaced and began to splash water at her.
She laughs and screams. Niko then challenged her to a swim race, and she accepted it.
They stay in the water for two hours until Niko grows hungry. He gets out of the pool and shakes his hair. He looks at Shen Shu and notices she's staring at his crotch. Niko looks down and sees his dick print. He was not erect because of the swim, but his cock was soft and proud in his swim shorts. Her mouth is wide open, and her cheeks are flushed. Shit.
She looks away and dives her head back into the water.
Niko goes inside and tries to think of something else, but his cock has a mind of its own.
…
Niko joins Shen Shu for lunch. She changed into pink shorts and a tank top, and she sat opposite of him. "Thank you for the meal," he tells her.
She smiles.
"How have you adjusted to the main office now?" Niko asked her.
"Amazing," she said. "You should stop by my office. I redecorated it. And there's this woman—Ye Huan. She's really good at her job, but she has the potential to do better, so I am collaborating on a project with her."
He already knew what Shen Shu was doing and how she's befriended Ye Huan. He always kept tabs on her, but Niko was happy to hear that she adjusted well and had a friend in the building. She needs someone on her side.
Niko goes silent again.
It's a habit he developed over the years. But he doesn't want to treat Shen Shu like that anymore. "Would you like to join me for a movie later?" He asked her.
Her eyes sparkle, and her lips curve upward. She tucked a strand of her wet hair behind her ear. "Yes. It sounds like fun. Can we watch a zombie movie?"
He chuckled. "You're terrified of them."
She pouts. "Well, to get over a fear, I have to face them, right?"
Niko smiled. "Yes, but this is your millionth attempt. You get scared every time."
He then noticed she was staring at his mouth. It's like she was entranced with the way he curved his lips. She has a habit of doing that when he smiles.
They finish their meal. Niko then goes to his office and does some work. When he notices it's dark outside, he goes to the living room and turns on the television screen.
He knew Shen Shu heard him because he heard her leave her room and come down the stairs to join him.
She sits next to him as he starts the movie: From Flesh To Bones To Blood.
She already looked terrified two minutes into the movie. She had bundled her arms over her raised knees, and she was chewing at her nails.
Niko looks at her. She closes her eyes shut and gasps whenever someone on the screen gets bit.
"I know you're laughing at me, Niko, but it's not funny. I'm scared."
Niko chuckled, but he opened his arms wide and waved her to come to him. She looks at him, surprised, but she does not hesitate to inch toward him and fall in his embrace.
He could hold her like this. This is what they used to do.