Growing On Me

Amelia

An alarm clock went off at 6:00 AM in an exclusive suite. The owner of the suite stretched her hand out of the warm sheets and dropped it on the floor turning it off successfully.

Pulling the sheets up slowly, beautifully manicured toes pressed together from the cold.

Amelia kicked the sheets off her body. She struggled to keep her feet on the ground as she stretched out.

****

Moments later, room service knocked on her door bringing in breakfast.

"Your breakfast ma'am."

A girl's voice said from outside before opening the door to Amelia's suite. Amelia exchanged greetings with the round-faced girl before thanking her for the service. Standing by the huge window, Amelia drank her coffee looking at the beautiful shades of yellow scenery far away.

The sunrise made her eyes glitter, showing her appreciation for the beauty. Taking a quick shower, Amelia put on sweatpants, a sports bra, running shoes, and a light hoodie all in colors.

Taking one earpiece from the table, she pulled the 'fave' saved playlist off Apple Music then pressed play.

Jogging down the stairs, to the streets, to the suburbs, to the beach, and back again. She felt all, the fresh morning air, the busy City coming alive, the waves on the beach, and all that again.

After climbing the stairs, Amelia went straight to the showers.

An hour later, Amelia opened the suite's door in high heels, a blue dress just above her knees, a sky blue handbag, her long blonde resting on the shoulders, and light lipstick on.

Starry eyes followed her every step, she held her head high and stepped like a supermodel with every step calculated.

A Bentley was waiting for her outside, and as soon as she stepped out, the chauffeur hurriedly opened the car door.

While inside the tinted Bentley, Amelia checked her socials and replied to selected DMs.

A video call came through from her mother, who wanted to know if her morning had been great. They exchanged words before forcefully hanging up.

With a smile on her face, she held her breath as they waited for the traffic lights to turn green.

Next to her car a bicycle stopped, and the owner picked up a phone call. As he talked to the person on the other side, Amelia couldn't help noticing him.

Even with a helmet on she can recognize that tall figure, it's the kid she had saved.

She watched his lips mumbling in mute and trailed her eyes on his body. A delivery boy?

She realized his shirt, how did that kid come to work for one of her uncle's food chains?

While staring, Noah looked at her, making Amelia slightly shake. Noah stared at the tinted window for a while while talking as Amelia scanned his face.

She thought he wasn't ugly as she remembered asking herself what Alex saw in the boy when she rescued him.

But, she has seen it all; large eyes, faces with full lips, and perfect cheekbones. Bodies like his, she had seen them before.

She thought of rolling the window down and saying 'hi', but they aren't acquainted. To her, he is just another freshman she rescued.

After he hung up, Noah cycled away without looking back as she waited impatiently for the green light.

She needed to get to the airport in time. She had a long holiday ahead, which she had planned to spend with her boyfriend, Damien.

That was two weeks ago, she remembers it after being stranded in a traffic jam on her way back.

After an eight-hour flight, she landed safely in the morning.

Amelia flexed her tired muscles, thinking about the things she had been up to, a faint smile formed on her face.

Tired eyes wanted to close as she struggled to stay awake.

Realizing in surprise, Amelia saw a figure she never would imagine would be there. Noah passed by again this time stopping even closer to her car window.

He was on the phone like the last time, only that now he seemed more excited to be talking to whoever his receiver might be.

He bit his lips from time, as Amelia observed. From her perspective, she thought he was talking to his girlfriend or someone special.

Her eyes were alive for those few minutes he stood there as the traffic opened up and she was now the one leaving him behind.

Amelia looked back as she drove away from him.

****

Noah's pov

I have newfound hope.

Nights are less cloudy, I can see the life at night over my skies. B finally recognized me, she let me in everything hers.

Can't believe where my tongue was last night, I tasted her. And she tasted out of this world.

Last night was my best night on Earth, I couldn't sleep at all. Replayed the moment over in my mind until it's part of my brain now.

My heart was warm, body hot, bed soft and every melody reminded me of how elegant she was. I can still feel her warm soft skin on my hands, and the soft juicy lips I kissed. The feeling is intoxicating.

Stalkers creep, and the bad ones hide their true nature. No serial killer will admit to being one, but I always do.

That's not all I did last night.

Kept the receipt she used to order, now I know her family name is Cooper, where she lives, and her phone number. Stole that from her when she was distracted by the guard checking in.

On my way to work, I called her.

She picked up when almost to the last ring, and waited for me to speak. "Morning", I said.

B hesitated and probably was shocked hearing my voice that early in the morning. She had been sleeping, her voice felt faint.

"You", she replied with a hint of amusement.

Calling her that early was a bad idea, but I couldn't wait to hear from her again. We had a lot to catch up on, and more to talk about. I hear her exhale sharply.

"I'm sorry for waking you up this early. You s… ", she cut me off saying," You should be."

That brought a smile on my face, she ain't that threatening from far.

" Sorry, I'll let you get back to it. Were you dreaming?"

"No."

I'll give her that, she knows how to kill a conversation. I'm flattered, no matter what she says it enters my ears sounding cute.

"Ouch, I did dream… of you", I hesitated to see if she would be curious. Her silence made me wonder if it was a bad idea to tell that.

She was in my dreams, like she had been most days, only that last night she gave me signs that we were real.

I almost kissed her before waking up, thinking about it made me wet my lips.

"Don't", B tore me from my mind.

Her tone was calm but warning, she had warned me before. I get ahead of myself often, thinking she does like me when in truth she's just a nice Soul that doesn't want to admit the truth.

"Tell that to my dreams", I replied nervously trying to end the conversation, "I'm on my way to work, your replies might cause an accident. Remember that."

I imagined her face happy and dimples on display as she took her time to reply, "On which part?" Provocative.

"The hard part, of course, is tarmac.

What else could it have been?"

My reply made her smile. She was making me blush from that far, I stared at my face through some car trapped in traffic.

Instinctively, I felt like I had been in that moment before with the same Bentley. It's funny how our minds try making up stories.

" You tell me."

She hit back.

I want to see her this morning if she lets me.

"Will I see you sometime, maybe I can tell you then.

This morning if you let me, I can swing by with your breakfast."

" Weren't you running late?"

B made it clear, she didn't want to see me that soon after last night. We did go too far too soon, I fucked it up again.

"Of course, later… "

"Okay." She ended the call.

I felt happy, even though she didn't allow me to see her or let it be known she wanted to.

What you see is what you get.

****

Amelia's pov

Uncle Matt is always yapping about how I never go to see him to my father. He once accused me of seeing him as too low for being the only one in my family getting his hands dirty literally.

He owns a couple of food joints but works from his first. I had planned this visit but my schedule is stretched.

Planned a surprise visit and did it.

When I swung the doors open, my eyes were captivated by the many smiley faces lit up by his unique recipes.

Taking the corridors conjoined with his restaurant, I made my way to the kitchen.

His old face forged a beautiful smile seeing me there, so surprised that he had to double-check before running towards me.

We have been close until we grew apart as I knocked down the years and my father's growing empire forced us to move to other cities across the country.

He misses what we had, I can tell by the teary eyes he held as he reluctantly let me go from his warm embrace.

We shared more through our eyes the whole day than we did when talking. He got to know about my studies, family, and secrets he promised to keep for me. One is that I'm dating because my family doesn't know yet.

He's growing old too fast, I can tell he isn't as strong as he used to be. The loads are wearing him off at a progressive pace now, and the health issues we discussed over lunch and throughout the day.

I wanted to grow up like him. Strong, independent, opinionated, and courageous. Uncle Matt is my role model and has been since my childhood.

While I praised his attributes he didn't fail to point vaguely on reasons why I shouldn't wish to be like him.

I know his life history, his childhood, his marriage life with his late wife, and how he refused to remarry after she was taken away from him by cancer.

All the money he and my father had wasn't enough to save her life, he keeps her memories alive by keeping the restaurants and food joints running.

He earned a Ph.D. in finance and so was his wife. She was a chef, she taught him all he knows and the recipes he uses. They never had a baby, that part makes my heart bleed thinking about him.

****

We had a utopic day together, where we forgot about our real lives and lived for the moment. He taught me how to make some normal recipes, chop veggies, and defrost frozen foods.

For my part, he got to spend a day with the daughter he never had, and made me want to be there more

With memos rolled out last night, I had this weekend only before the start of my last semester before my internship.

I have had uncredited internships in my dad's law firm, tech startups, and recently at a bank he has shared for. I will redeem those credits one day.

It's hard to say goodbye, especially to a beautiful soul like Uncle Matt. He walked me from his office to the kitchen, where he picked dinner he had prepared for me.

I gave my driver a day off, Uncle Matt wanted to take me to my hotel by himself for security, and he had insisted.

As I waited for him to bring his collector's Benz, I saw a familiar face cycling towards the restaurant.

That kid cycled past me to the order center where they take food orders to the address.

I know he works here but the odds of us meeting were pretty slim. He left his bike by the stands and ran in before coming out with his orders.

He never saw me, and I never thought to alert him of my presence. I watched as he jumped on and cycled bravely on the sidewalks avoiding the busy traffic.

I admired his experience on the bike watching him go away like that.

Thought of the last time I was on a bike, I fell too hard that I'm still afraid of getting on one.

Bet he doesn't have a story scarcely similar to mine.