Before Take Off

8. rosemary green, everyone

"Love is friendship that has caught fire."

Arranging the café for Elliot and Rosie's anniversary dinner took us more than I had expected. Lewis was a fascinating cook, apparently, making me wonder what might be his other talents. He prepared such extraordinary dishes that Jaime and I gawked in bewilderment as we lit the place with candles and created a playlist of love songs that, we hoped, would set the mood.

Once we were finally done with all the hustle and bustle, Lewis finally offered to make me some coffee but Jaime talked us into drinking red wine instead.

He also teasingly stated that, "wine talks are the best philosophical conversations that assist people to perceive the various aspects of friendship". This fancy remark of his, only made him receive a nudge to the side of his belly, from a very hacked off Lewis.

Eventually, we ended up opening a wine bottle and a coke; mixing the drinks in equal amounts. I slouched down on a couch, taking a huge sip from my drink, which was called Kalimotxo, and let it leave a bitter taste behind as it slid down my throat slowly.

Jaime plopped down onto the floor, sitting cross-legged, while Lewis perched next to me on the couch and draped one of his arms lazily around my shoulders.

As I toyed with the wineglass I was holding, I couldn't help myself but inhale the intoxicating smell of him without drawing his attention. It was hard to believe that I wasn't even aware of his existence just about twenty-four hours ago.

"So," Jaime started off talking. He had a huge, cheeky grin painting his face and his dark brown eyes shimmered unabashedly as he darted them rapidly between Lewis and me. "Do you want some privacy or..." He trailed off chortling and ducked his head as Lewis threw him an empty can of Coca Cola.

"Don't spoil the ambience we worked so hard to create!" I teased Lewis with feigned anger, referring to the empty can, making him shot me a playful wink after taking a great swig from his drink. He has the most gorgeous eyes.

"You know what," Lewis started off talking after quickly peeking down at me. "I could get used to this easily. I mean, you hanging around here with us."

Get used to. I forced myself to smile up at him after fidgeting in my seat, causing Lewis to drop his strong arm off my shoulders. I wasn't a big fan of routines as I endured enough of them all my life. I just wanted to spend a few nights in London in order to plan my trip further and also experience the everyday life around here. It seemed like the perfect start off spot unless I got attached to this place, or him.

Lewis seemed taken aback for a brief amount of time, before his puzzled expression got replaced with a crooked smile. He didn't try to place his arm back around my shoulders but grabbed his wineglass with both hands instead. "Don't get me wrong, you're welcome to leave whenever you want to, birdie."

Jaime cleared his throat, breaking off the awkwardness of the moment. "We should give you a tour around London," he suggested animatedly, ignoring the previous topic completely. "Have you ever been to London before? We can drink champagne up on the top of the London Eye, take a walk along the riverside or visit Hyde Park for a picnic. And during all that stuff, we'll get to know each other better!"

I chuckled at his excitement. I had never visited London before but I doubted that they wanted to do all those cliché stuff. "I'm more than happy to keep sitting here, drink free wine and chat. Anything specific you wanna ask?"

"Free?" Lewis arched one of his eyebrows teasingly, cutting in before his flatmate. "Who said that? Or you can always help with the dishes afterwards."