No Substitute

Chapter 2| No Substitute

The waves lapping together, hinting at an Ethereal symbol of peace made her sigh, even as she stood feets away watching the sight.

"Your love with water is one of the mysterious things I love about you," Bryan cocked his head to the side studying her as she stared out of his window, watching the sea that was one of the reasons he had bought the house. He knew she'd love the view and he had wanted her to feel like she could turn it into a home.

He stands up, encircling his arms around her waist and hugs her from behind. She giggled, turning away from the view and craning her neck to look into his eyes. She was petite and was 5'2 feet tall which was a disadvantage to her when she wanted to kiss Bryan and he teases her, or he holds an object out of her reach which was his all-time favorite. It was also among their "Never to discuss list"

"The view is beautiful," she complimented her eyes on his as she fought the urge to mess up his perfectly cropped hair, Making him look less attractive but she knew that never helps because she had done that.

Bryan had the typical next door hot neighbor package, goofy grin check, dimples check, towering height check, magic in the kitchen check, funny personality check but amidst all this he just wanted her, regardless of all the numbers she was aware many of his co-workers or those devilish nurses in their short uniforms must be slipping into his briefcases, scrubs or the most desperate ones might just fuck all the consequences and ask him for it but somehow he was doting on her, has always been doting on her like he had no other option. Like it was either her or her. No substitute, no other option.

"I only wanted the view, so I could see someone even more beautiful," he leaned in, gazing momentarily at her lips, "You."

Then he covered the distance between their lips. It was a short brush of their lips, then he smiled at her while she stifled her need to whine and call him a tease, knowing that'll only give him something to laugh about.

"All good things come to all those who wait."

She rolled her eyes at him, leaving the room to grab her laptop she had abandoned in the sitting room, where he had clasped his hands over her face to unveil the surprise he had for her and oh boy, was it so worth it, so much more she had forgotten work for more than two hours as she had just stared, soaked in the view and marveled at its perfection.

***

"Hope you'd love my new apartment though?" They both worked in silence, their heads both on their laptops, boxed away by a comfortable silence as the clack clack of their keypad was the only sound heard in the sitting room they had turned into a makeshift workplace until Bryan had interrupted the silence.

"It has a view of the sea. You should know I'll be biased, so ask someone that isn't obsessed," she said casually while glossing over the files her intern had turned in very late at night that could help the new case she was working on. It was a popular case, the media's attention was on it since it was between an assaulted minor and a Vice-chancellor and the last thing she needed was a mistake.

"You could be as biased as you want," He smiled at her, Because it is going to be your home soon, he thought to himself. "I just want your opinion."

"It's perfect then." She took a sip of the chocolate latte she had stolen from Bryan's snacking stash, nodding in approval at how nice the liquid was as it glides down her throat, its flavor added in very accurate proportions.

Bryan remembered the Tiffany box he had been holding onto for a month now, wondering when he could muster the courage to ask Kimberly to be his wife, Yes they have spent midnights just in each other's arms discussing the names of their children, had talked and agreed on godparents but discussing the ideas was not the same as involving practicality.

Every moment felt like it was not right, first, they had gotten out of college with good grades and had entered the labor market. It had been a smooth sail for him because he had a vacant position waiting but he couldn't say the same for Kimberly who had to write a series of tests, go on hundreds of interviews to get employed as a lawyer in her dream firm but it had been a 6 months contract so it was more like a trial, so it had not felt right.

And now, she was fully employed. She was even busier, more stressed out, more engrossed with work, Making him wonder Every Time he thinks he has mustered enough courage over the past month to pop the question, he was faced with the same old question, was this the right time?

"Bryan," he snapped out of his thought, glancing at Kimberly whose coffee brown eyes were peering into his face worriedly.

"Are you okay? You have been zoning out so regularly all day."

He managed a smile, "Just wondering what I was thinking, introducing work into a weekend getaway that was aimed at making you get away from work." He mumbled.

"You were thinking that You will be such a hypocrite to act like you are not the worst workaholic like myself, But trust me," she muttered lifting her cup of chocolate latte, "This is so soothing to my taste buds, and makes the process easy offering so much enriched blend of ingredients that are like a lipgasm."

He shook his head, moved by her enthusiastic description and her made-up words which were amongst other long piles of words which were found by her, Kimberly advanced weirdoes who don't think the normal dictionary is nearly enough for all the vocabularies they feel like should be a word.

The name was still a work in progress though, Bryan thought but the point was that she did have a dictionary.

"If that is good, then you'll be hyped about all the fun places we'll be visiting this weekend," he gave her a little smile, "I have a lot mapped out already."

"So no sweat pants and working my butts off?"

He nodded.

"Why do I feel like this is a setup and an arrangement made between Nana and yourself."

"More like an intervention from your job is swallowing you whole crisis but moreover why do I feel like your brain is screaming for a break but your mind can't process it?"

She tried to fight off the little incoming grin, but it was too late. He saw it and gave her one of his knee-weakening ones, flashing her his irresistible dimples.

He never played fair! She noted as she found herself agreeing to his plan.

"Okay, just this weekend. I'll allow you to indulge me in this beautiful romantic universe then on Sunday evening I'll go back to the world where I have colleagues with bad surgeries who pile their frustration on anyone unfortunate to cross their paths, let's not forget their stuck up attitude."

He kissed her on her forehead, "I love you, Berly"

It was a nickname he had made from the other part of her name because he thought Kim to be used by almost everybody and wanted something special. He didn't call her the name regularly but whenever he did call her, it was accompanied by the sincere light in his eyes, the brutal honesty, the unwavering sincerity that did things she couldn't possibly use a word to quantify how giddy she felt, almost like she walked on clouds, or how her knees buckled like she had traveled a thousand miles or how beautiful the sensation travels around her body leaving her breathless, excited and dreamy.

"I love you too, Bryan." She smiled as he cupped her jaw, "You have no idea," then his lips were meeting hers in a soft searching caressing clash as gentle as their love yet as in-depth as the strong emotion that rolls over them.