Promise Me to Please | Please Me #2

THIRTY THREE

  My cheeks were bright red by the time I made it into my apartment. The weather had turned freezing, and I wouldn't be surprised if snow made an appearance tonight.

  I pressed my back against the door once closed and looked at the lily in my hands. It wasn't fully bloomed yet but it would be soon. My lips turned up into a smile and my whole body felt calm yet crazed. A strange combination.

  It was a contrast I wasn't sure made any sense, but it was the only when I could describe it.

   "You look cheerful." Ezekiel spotted me in the hall.

   "Do I?" I attempted at playing dumb and took off my coat, hanging it on the rack.

  He raised an eyebrow as I strolled into the kitchen, "You saw Christopher, didn't you?"

   "No."

   "You're an awful liar. I really don't know why you try." He laughed at me which caused the already redness on my cheeks to deepen. Oh my God, I was blushing.

   "Leave me alone." I snapped and went to the cupboard and grabbed a slim vase.

  Ezekiel didn't give up. "Ooo, pretty flower. Was that from him?"

  I rolled my eyes, filling up the vase with water, "No, it was a gift from Satan because I took his demon as my pet."

   "You're kidding right?"

   "Yes!" I exclaimed. "Piggy is actually an angel." She was my guardian angel and I failed to see it no other way.

  Ezekiel sighed, "The demon thing was more believable."

  I decided not to fight back because there was no changing his mind by now. So, I placed my lily in the vase and stared at it, accomplished. I couldn't wait till it bloomed.

   "Oooo, you're developing a real crush on this guy, aren't you?"

   "What?!" I snapped my head to glare at him. "I am not. It's just a pretty flower."

  He chuckled, "Yeah sure. A pretty flower from a pretty boy who probably gave you a pretty good time wherever you were." In a library, but no one needed to know that.

   "Shut up! You even have his scarf!" Ezekiel reached from the material around my neck I had completely forgotten was there.

  I swatted his hand away as he tried to pull it.

   "Oooo, someone's got hickies! Guess he really did give you a pretty good time –"

   "Would you stop 'ooo'ing?" I pointed a finger in his direction. "And it's none of your business."

  He laughed and sat down at the breakfast bar. "Look at you getting all defensive about your man."

   "He isn't my man."

   "Aww you're still in the denial stage. I love this! Have you ever had a crush? Celebrities not counted." he rested his chin on his hands. Dammit, I had a fat crush on Draco Malfoy when I was ten and then on Nate Archibald from Gossip Girl when I was sixteen.

  Yet my pulse was pounding, and I narrowed my eyes in complete spite. "No and it's not a crush."

  He grinned from ear to ear. "I wonder what Rya McCoy's like when she has a crush. D'you make up false scenarios at night? Stalk on social media? OMG, I bet you get all soft and giggly around him!"

   "No, no and definitely not!" I argued. "And I do not have a crush. It's a very... transactional thing." My mood seemed to shift at the word 'transactional' because that seemed too dull and bleak.