BEAUTY MARKS

13. COMPANY

Kaede opened her eyes and sat up. The sunlight slid through the blinds.

The room with its optical illusion was more spectacular in daylight. Kaede felt as though she slept under the world's surface.

A sigh escaped as she remembered how the man held her back.

Their discussion ended with Dominque leading Kaede back to the bed, where he immobilized her with a hug and intertwined his legs with hers. They slept after Dominque said that struggling would exhaust both of them.

Dominque's words rang in her mind. The man conveyed so much of his emotions, wasn't it supposed to be the other way round? Kaede didn't realize she generalized because this was what the men she had in her life had her used to.

Never had Kaede met a man in phase with his feelings. No matter the relationship from her teen years till adulthood, she had to read between the lines. Here, Dominque was an open book; it destabilized her.

Kaede didn't know such men existed. Dominque tossed out his sentiments as if he had nothing to lose. The woman found herself in the upper hand position, where he was the one to read behind her silence.

Somehow the situation reassured Kaede, who believed she could not be taken for a fool as long the man remained unaware of her feelings.

Kaede hopped out of bed and began to pick up her clothes. She didn't know what spirit told her she would want to wear what she had on the night before. The garments reeked sweat, tobacco, and weed, which people smoked in the bar's most obscure corner.

She could not imagine herself walking out of the room in them. Kaede looked about and saw a Carhartt t-shirt hanging on a chair. She didn't debate whether Dominque would mind; she hurried to put it on and left the room. Kaede tiptoed through the kitchen burglar style when she heard.

"Are you lost, baby girl?"

The sentence triggered a laughing fit when her eyes locked on Dominque standing shirtless in his sweat pants, arms crossed from across the counter.

"I knew it would make you smile."

It was a banter between them that began in the early morning when Kaede attempted to escape his embrace. She argued and said Dominque pulled off a Massimo. Also, holding her against her will was a criminal offense.

Dominque laughed to his heart's content and kissed her on the shoulder, and replied, "sleep, sue me in a few hours."

Lost one night in the Netflix catalog, Dominque, who browsed for background sounds to sleep, fell upon the polish movie. The story didn't enthrall him; he was not the targeted audience. The male protagonist was a fool and a psychopath, in Dominque's opinion. Who, in their right mind, would fall for such a troublesome woman as Laura? The woman was a vixen to avoid.

Dominque eyed Kaede up and down.

She tugged on the tee," sorry, I borrowed this. My stuff smells like an ashtray. I'll get you another one from the store."

Dominque remained silent while he admired one of the highest-ranking turn-on elements on his list. The man adored having a woman wearing his clothes.

"No worries, it's yours now. You can wear it whenever."

Kaede's eyes darted; she wasn't sure she heard right.

"Eh, Dominque, we already discussedㅡ."

"What do you want for breakfast? You've got eggs, toast, coffee, juice, cerㅡ."

"Dominque, are you listening?"

"No, I'm not. Sorry, Kaede, I already told you there wouldn't be any one-night standing, sex-friending, and odd rules I'll forget. We'll act like normal people. We'll meet, hangout, and have sex when we want to because we'll want to."