Hot damn

A tired sigh escaped Aria's lips as she walked out into the busy and crammed ballroom once again. She struggled comprehending her surroundings at this stage. She tried to squeeze passed the guests with the least amount of contact.

The haze was so strong that Aria barely knew what happened next.

Her body seemed to stop responding to gravity as she seemed to momentarily fly up, but it quickly was reminded of the laws of physics when she landed flat across a very hard ground. The mare blue floor was cold and surprisingly pleasing to touch once she could ignore the first wave of pain from the impact.

Aria looked up, seeing the glasses of wine on the floor - empty. It's content was splattered on a singular person, a man. 

Aria briefly looked back and spotted Fiona snickering with satisfaction. Fiona must have tripped her with the intention to get her fired, there was no doubt in that.

"Oh shit!" Aria said as she looked back at the scene unfolding before her and the gravity of situation started to sink in. She instantly regained focus. As far as she was aware, none of the glasses shattered. "I'm so sorry." She stood up, picked up the glasses and the tray, and then grabbed the napkin, walking up to the guest in a tuxedo, trying to wipe the fresh wine stain off his very white shirt, to no avail. The attempt only spread the wine stain further making the situation so much worse. She felt the man's burning gaze from above. Aria's hands started shaking as her lip quivered as she was frantically trying to remedy the situation making it so much worse instead. Oh, I am so fired. And Jess might end up fired because of me too. The man grabbed the napkin out of her hand and continued her futile attempt at wiping the wine off but his attempt was equally ineffective. 

He let out a deep grunt "Hmmm…" which resembled a sound associated with an observation or a new discovery. He let out a defeated sigh and gave the napkin back to Aria who recoiled a step back with equal level of embarrassment and fear, although, deep down she knew that she was not to blame for this accident.

Aria caught with a corner of her eye that the man half nodded half tilted his head towards the stairs. He started to walk in the indicated direction.

"Maybe it'll wash off…" Aria said hopefully as she followed him up the marble staircase that was a masterpiece in itself. Her heels clicked on the stone steps a few steps after him. She did not date to look up at his face. Once on the balcony, Aria briefly looked down at the room filled with guests. The lights and music made it seem so distinguished and elegant. There was a large table with a huge cake as a centrepiece. Some people chatted, some people danced, some people ate and drank. The enormous room could have been easily compared to the royal ballrooms. There were long tapestries hung on the walls and marble sculptures of some historical figures.

The man walked down the corridor that bend away from the balcony. Aria trotted behind him, passing more rich decor. Her eyes glanced over expensive-looking paintings.

The man entered a room, which was about the same size as Aria's apartment. Aria peeked inside and paused, taking in the more modern decor. A bed was by the furthest wall, and a large ceiling to floor windows with sheer curtains showed enormous gardens that were now lit up with equally spaced lamps.

 "Obviously, I'll pay for the damage done whether it's the cleaning or the replacement, sir." A nervous babble came out of her mouth uncontrollably. She held her hands tightly, anxiously fidgeting.

"Will you now?" He asked with his low voice. His question was filled with curiosity rather than expected anger and contempt. Aria expected him to burst into yelling. She had some customers like that.

"Of course, sir."

"Did you spill the wine on me purposely?" He asked, which made Aria look up at him for the first time. Her knees weakened at how truly breathtakingly he was. He was tall, lightly tan with a dark hair and a thick stubble that highlighted his chiselled jaw. His brown eyes looked at Aria from underneath his long dark eyelashes as he was undoing his bow tie. His shoulders were broad, dressed in a perfectly tailored tuxedo.

Nothing could have prepared Aria for the way her insides twisted in a painful knot. He was so attractive that it caused her physical pain. He was an embodiment of the men's perfume ads. He was unreal. 

"Well, no. Of course, not." Aria replied at last. Her brain struggled to think, occupied with trying to process the image in front of Aria.

"Then, why would you cover the cost of my shirt?"

"I-…" Aria stuttered nervously. "I tripped and spilled the wine. I don't want this accident to cost me my job. Besides, your shirt is likely ruined and I am responsible for it. It's a right thing to do."

"How much do you earn in a day?" The man asked with a smirk on his face as he started to unbutton his shirt. Aria widened her eyes at the question.

"I would rather not…" she didn't want to tell the stranger how much she earned for this ridiculous job. "I mean, if you want my day's worth of earnings, then, I will pay." She gulped. Entire night of this nightmare wasted because of Fiona. 

"No, I do not. But if I am to guess, this shirt costed about a week of your work, assuming that you would do this job every night. I highly doubt that you would want to pay me back for it." Aria was silent, looking down, reminded of how lowly she was among the people she worked for. His shirt very likely costed more than her rent which she sometimes struggled to pay. "That outfit looks uncomfortable. Do you really want to waste time spend in it on a stranger's shirt?" Of course he noticed her ill-fitting dress, Aria felt the globus sensation on her throat.

"Well…" Aria struggled to answer. "No. But I don't want to owe you anything. Two weeks loss of pay is better than no pay at all if I am to be fired. Besides, I want to rectify the damage done."

"If you want to help, you can rinse it." He threw the white shirt towards her. Aria barely caught it, taken by surprise. She nodded and run towards the bathroom adjacent to the room noting that it was as luxurious as the bedroom. She placed the stained fabric under the hot water in the crystal white bathtub which nearly burned her hands. The wine stain faded slowly to Aria's relief. "How is it going?" The man came up behind her.

"Hmmm… It should come off completely with a good wash." Aria admitted as she inspected the very pale pink stain. "Thankfully, the stain didn't dry yet."

"Thanks." The man grabbed his wet shirt and studied the stain. "You just saved my least favourite shirt. I was hoping for an excuse to get rid of it." He laughed and his laugh was beyond entrancing, vibrating Aria's soul. Aria cautiously looked back up at him, her chest imploding at the sight of his pearly whites and the dips in his cheeks.

"I mean, there's plenty more wine that I can spill on it." Aria joked, only now noticing the very obvious fact that man was shirtless. "Oh, hot damn!" Escaped her lips before she sealed her mouth by covering it with both of her palms. She felt her cheeks and ears burn. Instant regret set in. It was an instinctual reaction that she was too tired to control. But also, it was a very understandable reaction to the sight of perfectly sculpted torso. Aria's eyes scanned him very quickly, taking in the muscular build and trying her hardest not to stare at his Apollo's belt, a V-shaped muscle groves running along his hips, pointing towards a still dressed area. Aria's brain went straight towards what was hiding under his trousers if that was under his shirt. She shook her head as if she tried to shake her dirty thoughts out.

"Excuse me?" The man slowly looked up at her, his laugh turned into quiet amused smile, and his left eyebrow popped up.

"I'm so sorry." Aria couldn't be any more embarrassed by her reaction. She was not that kind of person. She was not. It was just that he was beyond attractive.  "I-… I just… I mean…" she stuttered nervously. "I just saw your…" she gesticulated at his very muscular torso and abs. "I mean… how? This is unnatural! Are you some fucking Greek God statue that came to life?" She let her mouth do the talking before thinking it through. Certainly a mistake which she will come to regret.

The man burst into laughter. "And which Greek god statue would that be?" He asked nonchalantly as he leaned against the door frame with his hands in pockets, his shirt hanging folded across his shoulder.

"My mind went blank right now." Aria admitted. "I can definitely see the resemblance to the Lucifer of Liège, which is more 'hot damn' than any other statue I have ever seen!"

"Do you always flirt with men using the references to Belgian statues?"

"No, no, of course not. I usually do not blabber about the Belgian statues." Aria shook her head. "Hang on." She caught herself. "No! I do not usually flirt with men!" She said defensively. 

"I beg to differ." The man chuckled.

"It's just my nervous blabbering! Don't listen to me!" She gesticulated vividly as if that was going to help her hopeless case.

"Are you saying that I am not like the statue of Lucifer?" The man asked as he tilted his head. This was awkward. 

"Well, yes, you are! Maybe not hair but your body! Although, you might be even more muscular which is fucking impressive." She bit her lip realising that she was so flustered that she was starting to swear. That was definitely going to get her fired now. She couldn't have been any more unprofessional.