3 - Harper
M y shift flies by so fast that I can’t believe it’s already eight by the time the evening shift comes to relieve me.
I rush down to the dressing room and take a quick shower.
I can’t show up at Alessia’s house smelling the way I do after two shifts.
I quickly wash my hair and body. I wrap a towel around my body and open my locker to see what clothes I have.
Luckily, I always keep something in there just in case.
I choose a black legging and a cute dark red top with lace borders which make my boobs look amazing.
I towel dry my hair and leave it at that, it will be dry by the time I get to her place.
I take a look in the mirror and like what I see.
My cheeks are flushed from the warm shower.
I quickly apply some eyeline, mascara and lip balm and close my locker.
When I leave the dressing room Elio is leaning against the wall, waiting for me.
“Hi, miss Davis!” he says with a nod.
“Hi, it’s Elio, right?”
“Yes, it is miss. Are you ready to go?” He starts walking to the exit in the main lobby with me walking quietly behind him.
He walk s through the rotating door to an SUV parked by the curb.
He opens the back door and motions me to get in.
Nerves swarm through my stomach. What am I doing?
I don’t know this man, I don’t know Alessia other than the few brief encounters today and now I’m getting in this car to meet her in her home!
I pull out my phone and quickly send a text to my mom, it’s been a while since I talked to her.
I promise her to call her tomorrow on my day off.
Elio gets into the front seat and weaves into the traffic.
He leads us up to the 110 and into the direction of Santa Monica.
After about an hour of traffic jams and delays, we drive onto Ocean Avenue and stop in front of a modern-looking complex.
It has balconies on all sides and a view of the ocean from the front.
The sun has already set but there are still whispers of twilight in the air.
Elio drives the car to an underground garage and parks next to one of the expensive-looking cars down here.
In the corner there are a few motorbikes parked and next to those there’s an elevator to the apartments, I guess.
Elio opens the back door and helps me out of the vehicle. The elevator pings and the doors slide open. There she is. Alessia is waiting for me in the elevator. Why does this feel like some weird kind of date?
“Hi Harper, come on in! Carmen made dinner and Netflix is waiting for us.” Alessia’s eyes are sparkling and a smile decorates her face.
I walk into the elevator and Alessia pushes the button with the number three on it. “The third floor is my domain, and the seco nd floor is for my little brother and sister. The first floor is for the staff,” She explains.
“Wait I thought these where all apartments?” I ask, looking at her with raised brows.
“It was, until my father bought the entire building for me and my siblings. We remodeled the entire building to our needs and now I’ll never leave.”
The elevator pings and opens to a giant open floorplan apartment.
To my left there’s a small but luxury kitchen and a dining table fit for eight people.
To my right there’s a living room with a giant crème colored fluffy couch, cozy chairs, and table made of driftwood.
Lining the wall are endless bookcases made of rich dark wood.
The bookcases stop on both sides of a giant floor to ceiling window that overlooks the ocean across the avenue.
I make a slow-motion twirl round the massive space.
It’s a miracle that my jaw didn’t hit the floor with a loud thud.
Alessia stands against the kitchen counter with her arms crossed and a smug grin on her face.
“Like what you see?”
I spin around to face her, stunned by all that surrounds me. “Yes… it’s so gorgeous in here. I never thought that it would look like this here.” I make another spin around the room.
“Red or white?” Alessia asks from the kitchen.
“Uhm… water?” I say with hesitation.
“You don’t drink, or you don’t want to? Elio will drive you home later tonight, so you don’t need to worry about being out late with alcohol in your system.”
“I do drink but….”
“But you thought I wouldn’t take care of you and made sure you got home safely?”
“But what about my car? It’s still at the hospital.”
“Where are your keys?”
I dig into my bag and fish out my keys and lay them on top of the counter.
“Good. I’ll ask Vinnie and Alex to take it back to your place.”
“Oh… Thank you?”
“So, now that that’s settled, red or white?”
“Red, I guess.”
“Good! I’ll have the same, it’ll pair great with dinner.” Alessia grabs a bottle of expensive-looking wine from one of the shelves and pours us both a glass. She hands me one and takes her own glass and the bottle over to the couch.
“Carmen will be right up with dinner so maybe we can pick a movie?”
I’m still stunned and at a loss for words. Alessia looks at me with the question written all over her face.
“Hello! Earth to Harper! Anybody home in there?” She waves a hand in front of my face that makes me snap out of it.
“Yes, sorry, it’s just all a bit overwhelming.”
Alessia laughs, her whole face lights up the room.
“I forget this place is not what people are used to, sorry. Come have a seat, take a sip of wine and we’ll start over.”
I take a seat on the immensely soft couch and sink into it. Man, I could definitely do an amazing nap on this couch. I bet I’ll sleep better than in my own bed.
“Hi, I’m Alessia, nice to meet you.” Alessia’s hand is hanging in the air between us.
I start laughing, a full-blown belly laugh. “I know your name already, you dodo!” I say between laughing.
Alessia looks at me like I just slapped her in the face.
Then a smile erupts on her face which turns into laughter.
We’re doubling over clutching our stomachs as we try to catch our breaths.
The elevator pings and an older woman with grey hair and an apron walks in with two plates of delicious smelling food.
Alessia squeals and reaches for the plates. “Thank you so much, Carmen. This I just what we needed!”
“Carmen makes the best mushroom risotto in the world. It’s an old Italian recipe and they only make it like this in Italy. I’ve never tasted anything close to this here in the States.”
“You’re not from the States?” I ask with surprise in my voice.
“No, I lived in Italy for most of my life. My father was here a lot and I stayed behind with my stepmother and little brother and sister. I moved here when I was twenty.”
“So now you basically told your life story in like two sentences.” I say with a wink.
“Oh, girl you only know like one percent of it now.” Alessia’s eyes turn even darker than I thought was possible. “But it’s the start of my life story.” She continues.
“Are y our siblings a lot younger than you?”
“I was eight when my brother Lorenzo was born, he’s twenty-six now, and four years later my sister Bella was born. She’s twenty-two now.”
I do some quick calculating in my head. “That makes you thirty-four, right? And that means I’m the same age as your brother.
” My cheeks flush again. Why do they keep doing that?
There is nothing wrong with a little age difference.
And who knows if she likes me like that? Hell, do I even like her like that?
I take a bite of the risotto, and I swear I’ve died and gone to heaven. My eyes go wide in surprise when I look at Alessia. “This is like heaven!” I say with my mouth full of this deliciousness.
Alessia laughs. “I know! Now… What kind of movies do you like? Action, romcom, horror?”
“Let’s do a romcom or something else easy, I don’t want to think.”
“Perfect!” Alessia scrolls through the streaming app and stops at the old Mean Girls movie. She looks at me with a raised brow in question. I nod and continue to eat the heaven on my plate and sip my wine.
Halfway through the movie Alessia pauses the movie. “Hey, I was totally into this plot. Why did you pause it?”
She stands and walks over to the kitchen to open the freezer. “I’ve had Elio pick up some delicious ice cream and I need you to taste it.”
“What flavor?”
“You ’ll see when I give you a spoon, you impatient pancake!”
“Pancake?” I say with my voice going up an octave.
“Yes… You know, pavement pancake.” She chuckles.
I take another sip of my wine. The first bottle is already empty and I’m feeling the buzz.
Alessia plops back on the couch with the tub of ice cream and two spoons. “Oh, we’re sharing the same tub already?”
She just throws me a look and opens the tub and hands me the spoon. Before I can dive in, she scoops up some ice cream and holds it in front of me. I open my mouth, and she feeds me. A small moan leaves my body at the taste. I can’t even say a word before her lips are on mine.
I lean into her and answer the kiss. My spoon drops to the floor and my hands go to her face.
I hear another spoon fall to the floor and then one of her hands is at the nape of my neck and the other one snakes around my waist, pulling me closer to her.
Her tongue is licking at my lips, trying to get a taste of the ice cream, or maybe me.
My lips part and with that she pulls me in even tighter.
There’s no more room between us. Now she’s the one who lets out a moan.
Heat spreads through me and my whole body starts to ache with need at the sound of that.
Her hands start roaming my body, feeling every curve I have, I feel my nipples pebble in my bra.
I need to get some air.
With that thought I pull away, only a little and rest my head against her.
“What did the ice cream taste like?” she asks, a bit out of breath.
“I’ve got no clue, but I liked it.”
We’re pulled out of our bubble when her phone rings on the coffee table. We both look at it and then at each other.
“Sorry, I need to get that. It’s the hospital.” With that she stands and answers the phone.