Come Back to Me - It's Almost Easy

Lea’s phone rang, as she got out of the shower. The caller ID showed up as Dave. She swiftly flipped it open and answered the call.

“What’s up babe, ain’t it a bit early for asking me what kinda food you should bring back for dinner?”

She smiled into the phone, still drying off her body with the towel, waiting for a reply.

“Where are you?”

Was his short answer. She cocked her eyebrows, throwing her towel on the floor. Pinching the cell between her ear and shoulder, she opened her Guava Body Butter from The Body Shop, sticking her fingers in to take some of it out.

“I had a late breakfast, just had a long shower and-…”

The line went dead, before she could even finish the sentence. What the fuck was wrong with him today! She sincerely hoped, that he wasn’t wasted again, she had big plans for this evening, wanting him to get the A7X guys into a bar, and then meeting up with him. After sliding the glass door to the pool and patio area open, letting in the fresh sea breeze, she turned back to the bed and continued to spread the lotion evenly all over her naked body, smoothly massaging it in.

“Christ, I have no idea what to wear tonight!”

She mumbled half loud to herself. She had the terrible habit of talking to herself sometimes, especially when no one was around: she hated complete silence! She’d usually turn up the stereo when she was alone and couldn’t bare the silence anymore, but this guest room- no matter how big and luscious it was – didn’t even have a radio, and her laptop wasn’t switched on yet.

“I wouldn’t have a problem if you’d stay like this all day!”

She thought to hear a voice. She started giggling to herself.

“Haha…yeah right Lea, good idea! Trying to get arrested the first night you’re in…-“

Only then did she realize, that the voice hadn’t been in her head, or in fact hers, but that the familiar sounding voice was real, and came from behind her. In panic she duct, quickly covering herself with her wet towel again, before she turned towards the sliding door.

“What the fuck…how did you…uhm!”

She had no idea what to say. First off, she had believed to be completely alone, and secondly: how the hell did Matt know that she was here? The next thought only came, as his eyes started running up and down her scarcely covered body again: how long had he been standing there, perving at her naked body, before making himself heard?

“I was just in the area and thought I should pay my dear friend Dave a visit. More interesting: what are you doing here?”

He was lying straight into her face! She knew that he was supposed to be with Dave right now, in the studio! She started to get pissed off.

“I’ve asked him to do one little simple thing and he fucked it up! I gonna kill him!”

She hissed under her breath, not answering his initial question. Instead, she walked over to her suitcase, attempting to open it with one hand, the other one still clasping the towel around her tightly. It turned out to be impossible, as her fingers were shaking like crazy. Without an invitation, he came in and opened it for her with one swift movement.

“Thanks.”

She mumbled as she quickly grabbed her bikini top and bottoms, making her way into the adjoining bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She had to get a grip on herself, and think about a convincing story as to why she had come here unannounced. Then again, there was a high possibility that Dave had told him the truth already. As she left the bathroom, he was sitting on the edge of her bed, his forearms resting on his thighs, looking straight at her. Fucking hell, these eyes!

“To answer your question: I’m here to do a shoot. I didn’t tell Dave that I am here for a job, he says I am working too much as it is, and my visit was long overdue, and he would kill me if he knows that he’s not the reason I am here. And as far as I know, you are supposed to be with Dave right now, he told me so - why are you here?”

“Seems like we’re both lying then! If you’d be here for work, you’d have all your camera shit with you, but the only thing I can see in here is your suitcase and your messenger bag. Was the time we had in NYC so bad, that you didn’t even consider getting in touch with me to hook up for a drink or two?”

Matt got up and walked towards her. She found it extremely hard to do anything else but to drown in his hazel green eyes. She felt like a deer in the headlights of a car, knowing it should run, but mesmerized by the light. He slid his hand under her chin, raising it a little as she had finally been able to disconnect from his hypnotizing gaze.
The tension was suddenly interrupted by a loud ringtone, coming from his pants. He slid his hand into the pocket of his stone washed jeans to retrieve his cell, but rejected the call, after having glanced at the caller ID. Just a few seconds later, the phone started going off again. This time, he switched it off altogether, letting it glide back into the pocket he had taken it from.
Damn, she had hoped that this phone call would have saved her from an uncomfortable situation, but he seemed determined to get an answer from her. The truth. There was no way in hell she could tell him that she had been thinking about him ever since meeting him. That she had fallen for him badly. That she really did think that he was the most amazing guy she had met in a long time. That she was scared shittless about history repeating itself. About him living on the other side of the country. Him being a famous musician with thousands of fan girls wanting him. She was too unsure about herself, being too afraid to fuck things up with him, because she really did like him. She did, from the moment they had met. But she doubted her feelings. They had gotten along great the night they had met, but she got along great with Dave as well, not having any romantic feelings for him. She wasn’t sure, if the feelings she had for Matt really were her falling for him, or purely happy to have met him as a good friend.

“Fuck, I really need a drink! I’ll get you one too, we can meet at the pool.”

Without waiting for his reply she left the room, feeing the stares pierce the back of her head. She was relieved enough that he hadn’t held her back when she had left the room. Finally in the kitchen, she grabbed 2 bottles of export beer from the fridge and opened them.

“You k now, you could just tell me the truth, I am not planning on leaving until you do.”

Matt had appeared behind her without making a sound, prior to his comment. She was so startled, that one of the bottles slipped out of her hand, shattering into tens of pieces on the nice terracotta floor tiles.

“Argh! You really gotta stop appearing outta fucking thin air! I told you to wait at the pool.”

She yelled at him as she bent down to pick up some of the glass shatters with shaking hands. He offered her some kitchen towels to soak up the beer and gather some more of the glass pieces.

“I’m sorry. I’m just afraid that you gonna run again, before we get the chance to set the record straight. I didn’t mean to scare you or anything.”

His voice sounded genuinely sorry and sincere. She looked up at him, stopping her movements.

“Matt, I didn’t mean to yell at you…I’m just…hell, I don’t even know what’s going on myself anymore!”

He reached out his hand and pulled her up, standing face to face with her. He went onto the patio area with her, her hand still firmly in his, only letting go as they had reached the deck chairs near the pool. She sat down, hiding her eyes behind her dark shades, she couldn’t take his stares any longer. Realizing she had only one bottle of beer in her hands she wanted to get up again, but he pushed her back into the seat.

“Don’t worry, you look like you need it more than I do. Sooo…-“

He left the open question swing in the air, gazing at her again, hating the fact that her dark shades prohibited direct eye contact. She skulled about half the bottle, before starting to rip off small pieces of the paper label on the bottle. She wasn’t even able to attempt and hide her nervousness.

“Right, I don’t even know where to start at this stage.”

Once more she paused, looking down to her hands. Matt didn’t take his eyes off her for the fraction of a second, he didn’t make it any easier on her. She was annoyed that she was being forced into opening up to him. She had never been someone to function well under pressure.

“I guess you won’t leave until everything has been said, huh?”

Lea didn’t even need to wait for an answer, she knew damn well he wouldn’t. She had made him wait for over 3 months, he wouldn’t care if it took her all day to explain what was going on.

“ IreallylikeyousomuchandwhenyouwereinNewYork…-“

She took another big gulp from her beer, trying to slow down her words.

“-…but the whole shit with Jay, I just needed some time to stand on my own 2 feet again…and before I knew it, 3 months had passed. I swear, I really wanted to get in touch with you, but I was too afraid that I’d fuck things up. I’m a walking disaster when it comes to guys…especially when I start to like someone so much, that I beat myself up every day for not giving him my number…or at least give him a proper goodbye.”

She looked up to him. His facial expression had changed, and she could almost swear that he was trying to hide a smile. It didn’t show on his lips, but she could see it in his eyes. Almost unnoticeable, he moved closer to the edge of his seat.

“ Ok, just a small recap: you like me, but because of your idiot ex, you were too silly to just tell me that you did…anything I missed? Oh yeah, right, you were constantly thinking of me for 3 months!”

Their knees were now touching slightly. He seemed to enjoy this a lot.

“Well, the last part is purely a product of your imagination, I never said that I was constantly thinking about you!”

She replied, slight sarcasm swinging in her voice. His dimples now buried themselves deep into his face.

“So, the picture you made Dave pass on today is supposed to mean you like me but weren’t thinking of me? Damn girl, you have a weird way of telling me things!”

“Don’t try being smart on me young man, I didn’t say I wasn’t thinking about you at all, I just…-“

He quickly leaned in, sealing her lips with a soft kiss. This came as such a surprise, that she wasn’t even able to get herself to back away. Gods, had she missed his lips!