He’s muttering to himself: “Damn, damn, damn, Fuck. Damn the bastard . . . to hell.” He grimaces and turns on one of the taps. Then he leans over the sink to splash water onto his gorgeous face.
He’s even hotter when he’s wet.
Amid the sound of the running water, he still doesn’t notice me as he raises his face – water-streaked and glistening like a river god’s.
He says, with heat, to his own reflection, “You’re not going to do what he tells you. This is the fucking last time.”
His accent is a little off. He speaks perfect English, of course, but he doesn’t talk like everyone around here. He’s not British. He’s not Canadian. I can’t really put my finger on his accent, but he’s only said very little, so far.
I should really give him his privacy.
Hell, he should give me my privacy.
I clear my throat and creep out of the stall, still holding my brush in one hand. The one that has been scrubbing away the atoms of grime.
He still doesn’t turn.
“Excuse me,” I say loudly. My own voice echoes weirdly in my ears. “Excuse me!”
The man swivels his head. His eyes widen in surprise as they see me.
I wave my brush. “I’m cleaning up in here, so if you’d like to use the first floor restroom, it will be a lot more private.” If there’s no one else in it, of course.
I think his eyes are a marvelous blue-green. Oh my God, they are dreamy. This is the last time I will ever see them, so I’d better soak them in while I can.
I’m staring at him and he’s staring back at me. I don’t know. We must have stared at each other for the longest time, or what I believe is the longest time – because time seems to have frozen for me. And even the trickle of sweat that runs in between my butt cleft seems to travel ever so slowly . . . as the atoms of electrified air between us freeze.
Of course, I’m sure it’s only stopped still for me. With him, the clock is ticking on as normal. My clock is ticking somewhere inside me too – I can feel it in my pulse.
Ba dup. Ba dup. Ba dup.
My breath catches in my throat.
The edges of his mouth crinkle and actually turn upward.
“Hi,” he says softly.
Hi?
I almost turn around to see who he’s saying ‘hi’ to. Because men who look like that don’t say ‘hi’ to me. Least of all a maid on her knees who is half in and half out of the open door of a toilet stall.
“Hi,” I squeak back.
His wonderfully-shaped lips part ever so slightly and his nostrils flare as he takes me in.
“Hi,” he says again. He splays his hand. “I’m just, um, cleaning up here.”
I don’t know what’s going on with me, but I can only mutely stare up at his face. You know that feeling when all your senses flee you and there’s this all-powerful electromagnetic attraction that consumes you and makes your guts go upside down and inside out and all squelchy? Well, my roommates tell me that all the time but I’ve never personally experienced it.
Until now.
I feel like the floor has suddenly dropped from under my feet.
It can’t be just his looks. It can’t be.
“Are you all right?” he says, concerned.
I realize I’m still on the floor. I hastily put down the brush, and oh – I do feel a little woozy. Blood has definitely drained out of my head and into my goodness-knows-where, but I experience a tightening in my most intimate of places.
I recognize it as primordial lust.
Oh my God. I’ve just met this man whom I will never see again . . . and I’m lusting after him?
“It’s not lust,” I can hear the voice of my roommate, Deanna, telling me. “It’s love at first sight. I’m telling you. You’ll know when it happens.”
“There’s no such thing,” I scoffed at her then.
No one can fall in love at first sight. It’s always lust. Some animal attraction that implodes you. But here it is. And I don’t want to think it’s just lust. I can’t seem to get up. My knees have turned to shaky pudding. My insides have melted.
No, not lust. It’s kismet.
Like I’ve just met my karmic soul-mate.
With a couple of steps, he’s at my side.
“Hey, you all right?”
His warm hands are touching my arm, my shoulders, buoying me up. His touch on my skin is electric. I feel flushed all of a sudden, and I definitely feel faint.
I rise shakily to my feet, his arms holding mine. Up close, his face is breathtaking. His skin is incredibly clear and soft, and my lungs are completely depleted of air. The air between us is as thick as molasses.
We are facing one another – very close. His beautiful face swims in my vision, and his warmth seeps into me. Those wonderful lips curl in a knowing smile, and before I can tell what is happening – they close in onto mine.