Unlocked Hearts

Melrose felt absolutely elated as she laughed along with Tom sitting across from her. Giving a quick glance at her watch, she gasped. “Oh my, look how late it is.”

Tom grinned as he nodded in agreement. “It is indeed late. Time flies when you are sitting across a lovely bird such as yourself.” Her face immediately matched her red hair, glancing down at her empty dessert plate with a shy smile.

Fiddling with her napkin that was sitting on her lap, she felt her heart pick up. A million things raced through her mind as she quietly responded, “You’re lovely too.”

Melrose never thought a date quite like this would go so smoothly, yes she did fumble through her words most of the time and was a bit shy, but she quickly withdrew from her shell and become her usual chatty self. Her mind transitioned into easiness when she didn’t think about it being a date with the dashing man in front of her.

His sparkling eyes were always filled with wonder and amusement. He peered down at her as the soft grin played on his thin lips grew wider. One of his long piano like fingers pointed to his mouth as he said in a teasing way, “I’m sure you have been dying to give these lips a test drive, yeah?”

The shy smile suddenly appeared as she quickly shook her head, “No, I mean yes, I mean…I don’t know.” A nervous chuckle escaped her lips as she tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. Her dark eyes darted towards the chair a few feet away from Tom before they settled back to him.

He saw the uneasiness seeping through her once again; Tom didn’t want her to retract herself back into her shell again. So instead, he decided to extend the date elsewhere.

Standing up from his chair, he guided Melrose out of the restaurant with his arm looped with hers. The friendly smile only made her heart flutter. She hoped that she wouldn’t trip or stumble in the invisible cracks on the ground. The woman can be a bit clumsy, no she was accident prone. Almost every time she was nervous or any level of emotion usually caused her to get herself hurt.

Melrose had scars to prove it.

Carefully walking alongside Tom, her eyes couldn’t help, but stare at the pale, lanky man beside her. She bit her pink lip before her brain registered the smile that had already broadened on her face, the edge of her lips pinched at the level of pull from each side.

Then suddenly her mouth started to yammer away, the words flying faster than her lips. She watched as Tom twisted his head towards her in the upmost respect, his eyes zoned in on her as he listened intently. Melrose was being appreciative that he hasn’t had any annoyance crossing his face with her rambling.

As they inched closer to her flat, Melrose twisted her body, side to side as if she was in some kind of dance. Her eyes trained on the sidewalk as she cautiously watched her step to avoid flying to the ground.

Humming under her breath, she twisted around Tom with a glint in her eye. Once she circled around him, her arms looped around his thin waist and had her head leaning on his chest as they continued to walk.

“There is no doubt in my mind that you are a different type of woman, Melrose. I absolutely adore you.” Tom confessed he naturally wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer from the harsh weather of London.

“Thank you.”

The beaming smile never wavered as she hopped up the steps and into the lobby. Continuing to dance around Tom, she spun herself into the elevator. Taking a few steps back, she leaned on the gold cool railing, her fingers curving around the thick bar before tapping her foot on a button. Tom quirked a brow before too leaned on the railing in the same fashion.

It didn’t take long to arrive at her floor. Once the doors opened, it revealed the couple face to face, one hand clasped together while one hand was on his shoulder and one on her waist, darting out of the elevator in a fluid motion. Grins on their faces as they circled around going a little bit too far than what she intended.

Melrose and Tom backtrack towards her flat. Standing in front of her door, she smiled wildly. “I had a great time tonight. Thank you for dinner.”

Tom smiled, “The pleasure is all mine. I hope we can do this again sometime.”

“Definitely.”

Standing there for a few seconds, it dawned on Melrose that she could get her key. Scrambling for the small item, she sheepishly smiled when she accidentally dropped her key. Tom scooped it up from the ground and handed it to her. Thanking him, she turned and opened the door with slight difficulty.

It was a lot harder having someone like Tom watching over her as she did small actions such as unlocking a door. Opening it, she turned again to thank him while she walked in. Being her clumsy self, she tripped on the doorway.

Tom tried to catch her, but was a bit too late. Melrose’s body collided with the carpeted ground with a thud. A painful chuckle left her lips as Tom worriedly asked if she was alright. “I’m dandy.” Lifting herself up with the help of Tom, she dusted herself off before giving the final wave.

A part of her wanted him to kiss her, to make this the perfect evening even if her clumsiness did embarrass her more than half of the time. The small flicker of hope was diminished as she finally shut the door with a prolong three seconds once the door was a few inches away from being closed. Sighing heavily, she saw Ritz peek his head from over the couch before wagging his tail in excitement and running over to her.

Petting his thin fur, she furrowed her eyebrows when she heard a knock on the door.

Picking up Ritz, she opened it with one hand to see Tom standing there with a nervous face. “Tom?” Melrose cocked her head to one side in confusion, her lips paused before they continued, “Wh-” her words were muffled when his lips crashed into hers.

When it dawned on her that his lips were molded with hers, pink on pink, her mind went blank. There wasn’t any sensation or emotion flowing through her. Once he pulled back, he sheepishly answered, “Sorry. It drove me mad not giving you a kiss by the end of the night. See you tomorrow, love.”

Melrose blankly watched the man walk away. Ritz glanced at his owner, his pink warm tongue lapped her cheek, she snapped out of it. Suddenly a huge wave of emotions flooded through her as if a dam broke in her mind and heart letting it flow through. It was overwhelming as she leaned on the door frame with a small huff.

“What a man.” She mumbled.