Page 70 of Until You Came Along

“If you say so.”

“Your hair is so soft that it makes me want to grab it and fuck…”

“Hermes!” I interrupted him. “Focus on what you’re doing,” I scolded, laughing, and Hermes burst into laughter.

“You’re the one distracting me,” he commented, still laughing.

When I got into bed, Hermes was setting the alarm for six in the morning. I was wearing one of his t-shirts that was huge on me, and he was only wearing his underwear.

“You look very sexy in that t-shirt too,” he stated, looking me up and down.

“If I were like you, I’d respond that everything looks good on me, but since I’m realistic and a bit more modest, I’ll tell you thatyour eyesight must be failing because it looks like I fell into a t-shirt,” I said, while curling up in his arms and resting my head on his chest.

“You should acknowledge your beauty,” he affirmed, tightening his arm to pull me even closer to his body.

“Hermes, we didn’t coordinate about the dinners on Friday,” I said, unable to keep my eyes from closing as my voice came out like a distant whisper.

“Go to sleep, darling, we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Rest well.”

“You too.”

“When I have you in my arms, I always do,” he said, but I didn’t hear anything else because sleep overcame me.

Chapter 7

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step"

—Martin Luther King

Iwoke up to a soft kiss on my lips. I slowly opened my eyes and, when I saw Hermes sitting on my side of the bed already dressed in a suit, I quickly sat up.

“Why are you dressed? Are you leaving already? What time is it?” I asked, quickly and still half-dazed from sleep.

“Relax,” he said, caressing my cheek, “it’s still early and we have time to have breakfast together. It’s seven o’clock.”

“If you want, I can prepare something for breakfast,” I offered.

“That’s not necessary, darling. Felicia is here today and she’s already preparing it. You can get dressed without rushing, I’ll wait for you downstairs and we’ll have breakfast together.”

“And Felicia is...?” I asked, hoping he would provide information, though I assumed she was his housekeeper.

“Felicia takes care of everything related to the kitchen, she’s a very good cook. Several other people work in this house, it’s a very large house and requires a lot of maintenance.”

“And why have I never seen anyone?” I asked, curious.

“Because they don’t sleep here,” he replied, as he stood up. “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

“Ok, give me a few minutes.”

I took a quick shower and got dressed in what I had been wearing the day before. I searched in my purse for the makeup I always carried in a toiletry bag and fixed myself up a bit to get rid of my sleepy face. I went down the stairs, but I wasn’t quite sure where to go. The day of his mother’s birthday was when I had explored the house the most, but I didn’t know where the kitchen was. While I was standing there looking in all directions, Hermes appeared from my right.

“Why are you standing here looking confused?” he asked, looking at me with amusement.

“I was trying to figure out which way the kitchen might be.”

“Come here,” he asked, stretching out his hand, “forgive me for not realizing that detail.”

“No problem, if I got lost I suppose I would have started shouting,” I said, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly.