Mikhail

13

I unlocked the door slowly. Montse should be asleep by now, and I could finally go and have some sleep after such a stressful day.

I stepped into my apartment, closing the door, then came right to a startled stop. She was sitting in the living room, her eyes glued distractedly to the TV. The sight of her made every fibre in my body sizzle, alive with awareness.

When she turned to look at me, I expected to see rancor in her eyes. Instead, her eyes lighted up, and she smiled warmly at me. She patted the space beside her on the couch, indicating for me to come and sit down.

Seeing her still awake had thrown me offguard, but I managed to stabilize my composure and walked to sit beside her.

For a while, none of us said anything, pretending to be watching what was showing on the television.

“Haven't seen you in  while.” She finally spoke.

My chest tightened. “It's just work. It keeps me busy.” At least that wasn't a lie.

“I see.” She said simply.

A silence followed before she finally spoke again. “I know this will sound unreasonable, but sometimes, I feel like going out. I miss the townfolk calling out my name everywhere I pass and telling me I have the best smile. I miss my students telling me I am the best teacher ever. I miss talking and going out with my friends.”

Her words were softly spoken and yet so poignant, and it made me recognize my avoiding her these past few days for what it really was.

I'd brought her here to protect her but for my own selfshness, I'd plunged her into a new unrelished place; loneliness.

She suddenly took my hand and I stiffened, my eyes locking on our intertwined fingers. “I know this may sound selfish, but I wish you could spend more time with me like before. I miss you.”

It suddenly felt as if the universe had frozen and diminished so we'd created one of our own where there was only the two of us, lost in each others eyes, fingers interlaced.

Our faces inched closer. Her lips beckoned at me to kiss them. I was going to kiss them.

Just a second and we would've kissed when loud music suddenly blared from the TV, breaking the spell. We both pulled back like we'd just realized what we were about to do.

Montse looked at the TV screen and muttered under her breath when she saw that her film had ended and the credits were rolling.

The atmosphere was charged with tension and such an intense sexual awareness.

“Uh, I think I'll go to sleep.” She said.

She didn't even meet my eyes as she muttered goodnight, got up and rushed for her room.

Long minutes later, I was still sitting stunned in the living room, my dick throbbing and bulging so hard that I was sure the fly of my jeans was going to leave a permanent imprint.

What the hell was wrong with me? A woman tells me she misses me and I melt into a puddle of lust and desire and other much warm emotions.

I couldn't keep on feeling this way. I needed to stop feeling this way.

Frankly, I needed to remember how it felt to have a woman's warmth against me, the slide of her soft, yielding body against mine as I drove inside her.