Romeo

09 | Nothing But A Towel

***

Romeo shrugged off his wet shirt and examined his wound. He breathed a sigh of relief when the cold air hit the stitches and he realized it was fine. No need to dress it with more bandages, he flicked the garbage open and tossed the bloody material in. There were already blood-soaked tissues and cotton balls in there so he was glad he gave Daniella the bathroom in his room instead of this guest bathroom. If she saw them, he couldn't lie and say he got his period.

After they escaped the rain, Romeo had driven them to his apartment which was not too far away. To say that Daniella had been impressed with the ceiling-high windows and glossy finish of his apartment would be an understatement. His apartment had two floors with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and state-of-the-art equipment. The apartment complex was owned by a.. colleague of his. Most of the tenants living here had at least one foot in the shady business.

He slipped out of the main bathroom passing his room on the way. The sound of the shower was still going and Romeo had to stop himself from joining Daniella, he doubted they would get much cleaning done if he was there.

He removed his switchblade from the waistband of his grey sweatpants and tucked it in a drawer. He had a very special connection with that switchblade. His father had given it to him when he was nine, and even though he hated his father Romeo couldn't bear to part with the blade. It was always on him and if it wasn't in his possession, it's impossible for him to feel at ease.

He had his first kill with that switchblade named 'Rossi' which meant red in Italian. It was a fitting name considering how much blood it's seen over the years.

Walking down the hall, he made sure the shower was still going before searching his apartment for anything that was out of place or might look suspicious. His eyes and ears were in high alert.

Weapons away and hidden? Check. Drug paraphernalia out of the way? Check. Are garbage bins empty of any bloody substances? Check. Condom packets are hidden in his drawers? Check. Of course, he did the normal things and picked up random clothes that he had thrown off the floor tossing the cigarette butts Xavier had left behind. Then he set to making tea for the both of them.

When he heard the shower turn off, Romeo jogged back up the steps leaving his tea unattended. On this way up, something stopped and purred at his feet. Looking down, he saw the doe eyes of his black cat, Caramella.

When he was twenty, Romeo had found her near a grocery store dumpster. He was in a good mood that one day so he tossed her a piece of salmon and the next week she had followed him to his car until he fed her again. After a few more weeks Caramella had grown on him so he caved in and took her home.

He picked his best friend and climbed the rest of the stairs as she nuzzled his chest.

When the pressures of life got too much, Caramella was always there with an open ear to comfort him. His kitty would never judge him, she would never abandon him. As long as he fed her of course. He plopped her down on his piano where she liked to sleep and placed an ear on his door before knocking.

"Daniella? Are you decent?"

"Yeah, kin-"

He didn't wait for her to answer. He opened the door and walked in. Daniella was standing in front of his dresser. In nothing but her towel and still wet from the shower. Her hair was darker than usual, it clumped together and fell behind her shoulders. A drop of water fell from her hair, landing on her collar bone and Romeo watched as it disappeared into her towel.

Her skin was a soft shade of pink from the warm water and it turned even darker when he stared her down, top to bottom. Again, she had rendered him speechless for a moment, but he snapped out of it like the moment had never even happened.

"I didn't say you can come in." She tried to sound firm but her voice came out more squeaky than sassy.

"Sorry, baby I forgot it's your house." He gave a smile and walked towards her.

"I'm here to give you clothes- unless you want to walk around naked. I have no problem with that."

Her mouth fell open and close as Romeo walked directly in front of her still maintaining eye contact. He bent down until he was face to face with her waist, causing her to take a step back. Something about Romeo on his knees made her thighs clench. His eyes never left her face and he opened the drawer, pulled out two items of clothing and got back up.

That was the main reason he walked in on her. If she went looking for clothes, she would have surely found some unsavoury items tucked away in his room. He hoped to God she hadn't been snooping around.

He got up and gave the clothes to her. And she quickly grabbed them, covering her cleavage, much to his disappointment.

"I'll meet you downstairs." Instead of moving, he was momentarily stuck in his place looking at Daniella. Her lips were parted and her eyes were darker as she stared right back. The look on her face reminded him of the first time they met.

"Are you going to let me change, or do you want to watch too?"

"Are you inviting me to stay?" He said leaning back, pretending to get comfortable with a crooked grin on his face. "I didn't peg as you as that type of girl Danny."

Daniella cooked an eyebrow and tried hiding her shy smile. What do you even say to that?
Feeling that her confidence was running out he chucked. "I'm just teasing you, " He gave her another once over and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

After the door clicked, Daniella felt like she could breathe again. She clutched the clothes against her chest staring at the door. What the hell was he doing to her?

After a full minute of standing in the same spot like an idiot, she walked back to the bathroom and put on the clothes observing herself in the mirror. The shirt fell mid-thigh and his sweatpants barely stayed on. She tied the drawstrings as tight as they would go.

She looked at herself in the mirror with discontent. At first glance, most people, including Daniella would think she was a pretty girl. But she's always had a problem with self-image. Romeo probably had his fair share of girls and how did she measure up to them?

Even now, she couldn't understand why someone like Romeo would even look twice at someone like her. She wasn't anything special.

Observing herself in the mirror, she looked. Her pale skin made a few bits of acne stand out and she didn't have any makeup to cover it up. Her eyes had dark bags under them from staying up late. Her hips were too wide and her boobs too small. But then again there was no point in pining over something she can't change, right? Romeo was waiting for her downstairs.

She grabbed another towel from the rack trying to dry her hair, looking at the products on Romeo's counter. Aftershave, soap, and cologne. This was the stuff that made him smell so nice. She lifted the bottle of cologne to her nose to take a whiff and placed it back down when she realized what a creep she was being. His bathroom was huge with a claw tub and a shower with glass windows and different stream settings which she thoroughly enjoyed using.

She looked at herself one more time tossing the still wet braid behind her shoulder and took a deep breath. The kiss they shared kept on replaying in her head and she was anticipating him making another move.

***