Maybe, You Will See Me Now

019

She blinked a few times, her chest rising up and down. Although she stared, Ijeawele wasn't really watching anymore. She shifted her gaze to Andrew who'd been staring at her since he held her hand and walked her into his room.

Why did he do that? He wasn't the type to invite anyone into his space. But with her, he practically dragged her in. He cared too much about what she thought of him. Andrew was always aware of how much she stood out to him compared to any other woman he'd ever met. Still, he assumed it was because he'd spent a rather large amount of time watching her at work. But why did he do that? Watch her. There was no objective answer.

Right from the first time he saw her in the cafeteria, his gaze followed her. The woman who was pretty but would rather give a half-fake smile or don't smile at all. More often, she would space out. Day after day, he became curious as to what a real and wide smile would look like on her. And why it was rather rare to see. Now, here he was, holding her hand in his.

Ijeawele wriggled her hand in his. The second he realised her discomfort; he released his hand. While she buried the hand he'd held beneath her other hand, she glanced around the room better this time. A good distraction from dwelling on the thought that they held hands.

Andrew thrust his hands behind his back and turned to her. "Do you like it?"

Her eyes were back on him. A little wider with raised brows because she worried and wondered why he wanted to know if she liked that he held her hand.

"We don't need to talk about it." Her voice was rather low and she couldn't even recognize it.

A certain amusement and a frown were subtle on his face. "You wanted to see my room, didn't you?"

She stared at him before her eyes momentarily lurked left and right. "Your room?"

He nodded. "You were taking a peek inside when I saw you."

A second later, she let out a light gasp followed by a little continuous nod. "Right. Your room." She stated while feeling embarrassed and stupid that she dwelled on that phase to begin with.

"It's... you're very clean." Ijeawele mentioned when she saw the look on his face still waiting for her reply.

"Thank you."

She walked down to the open wardrobe and stared at the shirts hanging from dim to brighter colours, same went with the trousers. He'd managed to keep everything orderly in a small wardrobe.

What are you doing? A voice in her head popped the question. Suddenly, she was aware of her newfound indulging behaviour.

Ijeawele turned, "I didn't mean to invade your privacy." She said while walking back to him.

For a moment, his eyes were away from her and when they returned, he spoke. "It's you so it's okay."

Ijeawele didn't look away from him. It took her a while to tear the sentence, word by word in her head to further understand the meaning in order for her not to think ahead of herself like she did a few minutes ago. But no matter how much she replayed the sentence in her head, it gave up the same meaning. It's you so it's okay. It wouldn't have been okay if it was someone else?

In her heart and in her consciousness, she understood the deeper meaning. But she would rather not dwell on it. At least not now.

turned away from him and walked out of the room. Andrew shut his eyes for a second, and while wearing a light frown between his brows, he wondered if he'd scared her off again with his words. Many times, he was careful with what he said or how he behaved with her because he knew and he felt a certain fear from her. The last thing he wanted was for her to draw a tighter boundary with him.