Chapter Thirty- Seven: The Set Up
Everything went according to plan, Patricia had just the right recipe for the apple pie and soon it was all set. And as it was, the feeling returned again, the one that only spelled that everything might go wrong.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Hey, you aren’t developing cold feet now are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Hey, Clara. Okay look, picture this as though you are just showing some kind gesture okay? After all that’s all that is what it is.”
“Yes, are you sure he will be returning today?”
“You heard him yourself, it’s a three day trip, he never stays longer than expected so rest your mind he will be here.”
I exhaled deeply, forcing out a smile. The chefs returned to the kitchen after we had used it for a while, in the grip of the head chef was a pale of freshly picked apples just like the one that we had picked earlier to make the apple pie.
“What are the apples for?” Patricia asked as soon as she sighted them bring it in as well.
“For dinner, ma’am.”
“Dinner?”
“Yes.”
“I see, so what would you guys be making for dinner?”
“Apple pie.”
“What? This is Thursday you don’t make apple pies on the first Thursday.”
“That was in the old menu.”
“Old menu? When was it changed?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
“Who might have done that?”
“Lady Ana.”
“How come I didn’t know about this?” She muttered moving away as I walked towards her.
“It’s still a perfect plan right?”
“Yeah, sure as long as you serve it to him,” she smiled which somehow calmed me.
As the guard Patricia had informed us to keep tabs on Ryan’s arrival approached us, I knew just what he wanted to say.
“He has arrived Ma’am,” he said.
“Oh Ryan is here.” Patricia announced.
Although he had returned and had retired to his chambers, I had not seen him yet. According to the plan I would not see him until I was well prepared to bring the food to him in his chambers. I didn’t quite know what Patricia had meant by the word prepared before she sent me to my room.
As soon as I got into the room It seemed the air was not enough to saturate my sinking lungs anymore as I paced around. I had grown nervous thinking twice now about everything.
It’s just a kind gesture now isn’t it?
What if he doesn’t feel the way that I thought that he felt and then saw me as desperate or over stroking my boundaries. But the signs were there so garlic like the sun in the midday itself. We had shared a lot in the last few months that Patricia could even testify to it. As I wandered around I knew time was of essence according to her. I needed to waste time before Ryan would choose to come out for dinner. It was supposed to be like a surprise and any delay might ruin it. She had offered to stay back with the chefs in the kitchen watching over the food before I would arrive to take it.
Here goes nothing.
I walked out of the room heading towards the kitchen but as soon as I got there, Patricia was not at the spot she said she would be.
“Excuse me,” I called out to one of the chefs. Do you know where she might have gone? She was supposed to hold onto a tray containing goods for me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t see anyone here but those are different ways of apple pie.”
“No, I mean the specific one that we made together, it was in a fancy tray of this sort,” I pointed to a tray there.
“Then that must be it.”
“No it isn’t, I am sure of that.”
“Then I would advise that you should wait until she returns; she might not be long.”
I knew I should wait but time was not if essence and so I picked up a perfectly arranged tray which even looked better than the previous one heading towards Ryan’s chambers after all, Patricia had said it didn’t really matter if I had prepared it or not, all that mattered was that I should serve it myself.
I tapped slowly on the door as soon as I got close, the more it took long for him to respond the more I free weary of the plan and just when I have finally come to the conclusion that it was a bad plan, I heard the latch of the door click from inside and Ryan stood with a wide grin watching me which only made me shy.
“Hey,” I managed to say after a while of just staring, “I made you some apple pie, hungry?”
“That’s so lovely Clara, I’m starving and haven’t had anything good to eat in days. And I really missed seeing your face, come in. Look at you glowing as ever.”
“Well, I guess Patricia has really been doing a good job. She has been all sweet and loving.”
“I told you she was a nice person, you just needed time to get to know her.”
“Yeah you are right.”
I placed the tray down the table as we both settled on the couch.
“This looks good, smells good too. I bet it tastes better.”
“See for yourself.”
I watched as he took in the first bite, “taste good too. Thanks for this, Clara,” he said but his eyes did not leave mine even after I changed my gaze.
“So how was the trip?”
“Commendable, I gotta do what I wanted to do but that’s not what I want to talk about now.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“How I missed hearing your voice and wishing I could see you even for a minute. You know the thought of you kept me afloat all through the time.”
“It was just three days.”
“But it felt like three years. Look Clara, I know this might feel weird but…”
I did not wait for the next word as I tentatively leaned in for a kiss, which he eagerly returned, it lasted for a few seconds. After withdrawing from his lips, I gazed into his glittering eyes and recalled feeling his tenderness during one of my drowsy states – even though I could not identify whose lips they belonged to at the time.
“I want you so freaking much.” He whispered, eyes locked with mine.
My cheeks were on fire, I definitely wanted him too, I’ve wanted him for a long while.
When he backed me against the wall and wrapped an arm around my waist, I practically melted in his arms. His second hand cupped my face, making my heart flutter as he gently nudged my face upwards and lightly brushed my lips against mine.
My lips parted and I let out a small sigh when he slightly pulled away, eyes still trained on my face, causing my insides to feel like it was on fire.
“You’re so gorgeous.” He whispered and my heart flipped even more.NôvelDrama.Org: owner of this content.
When he leaned down to slant his lips over mine once again, I mewled into the kiss almost immediately because this time, it wasn’t an innocent kiss, he outrightly plundered my mouth, like he was laying his claim on it. I trembled against him, feeling like I’d lose my footing prompted me to grasp his biceps and I moaned into the kiss, a sound which he swallowed down and tongued away.
When he finally broke the kiss, I was gasping for breath. A gleaning look was in his eyes as he regarded me closely before leaning forward to brush a kiss against my forehead.
I was aroused as I shyly ran my hands over his bare chest. I’m so fucked.