The door swung open and Richard looked up expecting to see Farrah but instead he found himself looking into the amused blue eyes of Charlie. "Was it a buy one free one type of night, tonight?" Charlie said adding as an afterthought, "Your Highness."
Richard shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny of Charlie's blue eyes. His lips curved up in the smallest smile as he noticed Charlie shooting Ben, who stood behind him, surreptitious glances with what could only be described as a cheeky grin. "Please call me Rich, and the gentleman behind me is Ben Sherman â my bodyguard, Miss...."Richard trailed willing for the woman before him to fill in the blanks.
"Oh sorry, how rude of me; Charlotte Woods, you can just call me Charlie. Please do come in," she said ushering them in through the hallway and into the living room. There were boxes with what looked like Christmas decorations scattered around. As Richard walked further into the living room, he took note of how cleanly furnished it was. It was a bright space with what he could only describe as retro furnishing.
"So sorry for the mess," Charlotte cringed. "We were planning on putting the tree up tonight."
"A tree?" He asked confusion leaking from his voice.
"Yeah, it's kind of a tradition. We try to get the tree up in the first week of Dec." Charlie turned and gestured towards the sofa.
Eyebrows furrowed, "I thought she's...she's a..."
"...A Muslim?" Charlie supplied slowly.
"Then the tree?" Richard asked, still finding himself grappling with the idea.
"Well, she does practice Islam. We put the tree up just as decoration. To be completely fair, even I am not a proper, proper Christian, if you will," Charlie shrugged.
"So it holds no meaning to her other than it looks....pretty?" Richard asked making a face.
Another shrug, "Yeah, pretty much," Charlie answered. "Do you know what the Christmas tree means?" Charlie looked at Richard pointedly.
Blinking rapidly, he exhaled and admitted, "No, I actually don't know."
Happy that she managed to prove her point, she then turned to the other person in the room. "Well then, who is this?" She asked putting on her most charming smile.
Eyebrow quirked and a half smirk on his lips, Richard introduced Ben to Charlie and watched them skirt around each other flirtatiously.
"Ahem...as amusing as it is to watch whatever this is," Richard gestured towards a blushing Ben and a smirking Charlie, "I actually do need to talk to Farrah."
"Oh she's quickly performing her namaz, it's been a long day at work," Charlie said still eyeing Ben unashamedly. When she didn't get an answer from Richard she spared him a look, and was surprised at the clueless expression on his face. "Namaz means prayers. You know, the ones that Muslims are under obligation to perform 5 times a day..?"
"Na-..., nam-...what what is again?" Richard asked. "Is that Arabic?"
"Namaz, it's Urdu," came a voice from somewhere behind him. Richard turned around and took in the sight of a relaxed Farrah in her comfiest pajamas, her face scrubbed clean of all traces of make up was glowing and her hair piled high on her head in a messy bun. Looking at her, he could feel all the tension in him seep out through his pores and his posture relax. It had been a long day today, who was he kidding, everyday felt long. But today in particular had been full of Allan's refusal to talk about the Princess' death until his father, Charles, told him in not so many words to shut up. He smiled softly at her and he could see her mirroring him.
"Well, what brings you here?" Farrah asked. She scrunched up her face and turned to Charlie, "Charlie, did you not tell them to take their shoes off?" Charlie looked sheepish and said a loud sorry. Looking at the men before her, "Sorry, no shoes inside. Do you mind taking them off?"
"You can take off your coat too Ben," Charlie chimed in cheekily.
"Oh that you conveniently remember," Farrah said rolling her eyes as she ushered the men back to the hallway. As the men pried their shoes off leaving the socks on, Farrah heard Ben asking Richard, "Are we staying? If we are, I want to take this thing off!" gesturing to his coat.
She felt Richard's gaze on her and she looked up at him, "Well, if you're not busy and want to stay you are most welcome. We're going to order in some take away, pizza I think, and decorate the tree. Not the most exciting, but you're welcome to stay...if you want..." she trailed looking between Richard and Ben. When she realized how hopeful she sounded, she cleared her throat and gave them a small smile as she busied herself picking up their shoes and arranging it in the rack that she had specially for visitors.
"We can stay for a bit," Richard said. "But I do need to talk to you regarding your proposal."
Farrah smiled a big toothy grin as she looked at the shoes but bit her lips to suppress the smile as she faced both men. "Hand me your coats then," She held out her hand. Ben was the first to remove his coat and scarf and went back into the living room.
As she hung Ben's coat away, she turned around waiting for Richard. She saw him meddling with the cuff of his coat - the rest of it hanging limply of his arm, so she just waited for him patiently taking this time to really look at him. His hair was once again slicked back off his clean shaven face, and he was frowning deeply at whatever it was he was fiddling with. His coat was a beautiful dark navy woolen coat that was such a harsh contrast to his pale skin. Although it made his clear blue eyes seem even more blue if that was even more possible. He was wearing a matching grey woolen dress pants and a fitted grey dress shirt.
"Do you need some help?" she offered quietly, as she watched him struggle.
Letting out a whoosh of air, "Yes, please; if you don't mind," Richard said extending his left hand. "I think the chain link of my watch got caught to the lining of the coat when I put it on just now."
"That's odd, to put your watch on after wearing your coat..." Farrah trailed as she gently turned his hand to have the palm facing up.
Slowly she pushed the cuff back and saw that the lining was indeed stuck at the clasp. Inhaling deeply, Farrah couldn't help but frown when she saw how different the color of her skin was compared to Richard's. She had never hated her deeply tanned complexion but the difference was so stark that her frown kept growing. She never noticed Richard's breath hitch slightly when her grip got firmer on his wrist. Or when she angled herself that she was standing with her back to his chest.
"Ah-haa, got it!" She exclaimed suddenly and slid his watch off his wrist. "A Brietling Aerospace; interesting choice Mr. Pilot," she said studying the watch closely. She looked up at him and blinked, suddenly aware at the lack of distance between them.
Fully removing his coat and holding it in his right hand, he once again extended his left arm while looking deeply into Farrah's eyes he asked softly, "Would you help me put it on?"
Nodding slowly, Farrah looked at his arm and slowly slid the watch back on to his wrist. Again, she couldn't help but frown as she watched her hands move nimbly to fasten the watch.
"You confuse me you know," she said quietly.
"How?" he asked, equally quiet. His eyes were transfixed on slender fingers that brushed against his skin as the fastened the watch.
"Who are you?" she asked looking back at him dropping her hands to her side and taking a step away from him. "Are you that charming, flirty man that I first met? Or this quiet, intense man that I keep catching glimpses of?" she said as she hung up his coat.
"Who are you, really?" she questioned again, looking deep into his blue eyes that seemed to sparkle even more under the dim lighting of her hallway.
Taking a step back, Farrah turned around and walked back to the living room, leaving Richard watching after her as she walked through the living room door.
***
Praise the Lord, I did it. I managed to update on a Friday.It is 20 mins to midnight in my part of the world and I am keeping to the schedule. Woohoo!! I am rocking it, I am amazing! LOL.
Well, I have been in a funk you guys. Between a new diet, a new workout routine, a possible new job, real life...things have been getting to me and I am in a damn funk.
So once again, I am not 100% happy with the ending. I might end up editing it, but fret not, I probably wont mess with the storyline. I am liking the direction things are heading. I would like to say interesting chapter ahead, but to be fair, I will need to write it first before being able to say shit like that. So there ya go. LOL
Anyways my lovely, wonderful, fantastic, people I can't live without - my beautiful readers, thank you for reading. Show me the love guys, please vote, comment and share!
Good night guys!
P/s: Rich's style inspo above! I know he's wearing a white shirt and tie but that coat (and that man) is so beautiful *All the heart eyes*