XVI

Richie opened his eyes and saw a window in front of him: it was a bright new day and some sunrays made their way into the bedroom through to fall on a white armchair. It was only when he felt Frédérique’s body plastered to his back that he realized where he was. One of her arms circled his waist and her hand was tucked between Richie’s body and the mattress.

He tried to figure out had he had gotten there, he followed his memories back and after he broke through the deep blackness he had fallen into, he remembered following Frédérique towards the bedroom door. And that was it: he had fallen asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. What a gentleman, huh?.

Richie rolled over to face Frédérique but she moaned and rolled over herself to hug her pillow. She was dead asleep, her head still wrapped up in the bun. She must be exhausted. He spooned her and nuzzled at her neck until the strawberry scent made him notice the emptiness of his stomach: they had missed dinner and he was starving and thirsty. He kissed Frédérique’s shoulder and got out of bed, then found his way to the bathroom and noticed the bathtub still full of water and the small puddles on the bathroom floor. He put his jeans back on,  plugged the cap off and as the bath emptied, he dried the floor with a carpet that lay next to the bathtub with his foot.

After he was done in the bathroom, Richie looked at his watch: 8.50 a.m. Wow. He entered the teeny tiny kitchen and easily found the glasses inside the cupboard. He filled one with tap water and drank. Then repeated the operation 3 more times. He washed the glass and placed it on the counter upside down. His thirst quenched, he had to tend to his rumbling stomach: he could have eaten a cow, but instead of nosing around someone else’s kitchen, he chose to go downstairs to get some breakfast. Before he left, though, he started the coffee machine, then put shirt and jacket back on and left.

…

Frédérique woke up and turned off the alarm. 9.30. She stretched a little bit and managed to open her eyes.

Richie. She rolled over and didn’t find him in bed, but instead perceived the comforting smell of coffee coming from the kitchen. She reached beneath her pillow and found her sleeping shorts the tank top she usually wore to bed. It was her mother’s custom to put the pajamas under the pillows when she was little and Frédérique still practiced it as a reminder of her family. She put on a gray wool jacket and after using the bathroom padded towards the kitchen, already smiling on her way in expectation of the person she would find there, but when she walked through the door there was no one to be found.

She looked around to search for more evidence of Richie’s presence but found nothing.  Ow. Frédérique was still trying to wrap her head around the situation when she heard Richie’s cellphone buzz on the living room table. She stared at it from where she was until it stopped.

That’s when she heard the sound of elevator doors sliding open coming from the other side of the door, then a series of beeps before Richie came into the room with a wide smile on his lips, two brown paper bags in his hands.

“Mornin’ gorgeous! You hungry?”

…

While Richie was putting the paper bags on the table he noticed that his cell phone had a “Missed call” message and checked it. He pouted and looked apologetically at Frédérique.

“I really need to get this, you mind?”, he asked, scratching his head. At Frédérique’s response he pulled her closer for a kiss that lasted more than originally intended, and dialed back. While he waited for the other person to answer he sipped from his coffee and took a bite from a Danish roll he had dug out from one of the bags.

“Hey, it’s me”, he said when the other person answered and then he sat down on the sofa.

Frédérique followed him and casually stretched her legs across Richie’s lap noticing that Richie had put the contract on the table, she thumbed through it and saw it was signed and then put it back on the table. She ate, sipped and observed while he talked about fabrics and pieces of clothing. Then suddenly something called her attention.

…

Richie was lost inside the conversation when he suddenly felt aroused by no apparent reason.

Almost simultaneously, he felt Frédérique’s foot on his crotch over his jeans and moved his eyes up to find his own hand high up on Frédérique’s inner thigh, under her sleeping shorts, his thumb over the space between her legs. Next his glance jumped to her eyes and her arched brow. Oh. That look again. He managed to continue talking, only sideways as his lips curled up in a smirk, but couldn’t look away from Frédérique’s eyes. Naughty girl. He then started pressing consciously, and in turn, she increased the stimulation by curling her toes to tug at his jeans’ fly.

Frédérique covered her mouth with the back of her hand again to silence her laughter as Richie started stuttering and trying to close down the conversation:

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, but we’ll deal with it later, OK?”. He waited for the other person to speak and he suddenly looked away from Frédérique, removing his hand. He spoke in a slightly stern tone: “I said we’ll deal with it LATER, Nikki”. Then he said goodbye and hung up.

Richie turned to Frédérique again: the look had gone, but she was incorporating herself and sat on his lap straddling him. She gave him a smooch pulling his face to her by grabbing his jaw. “I need to leave”, she sighed, “Work”, and pressed her forehead against Richie’s.

He again spoke apologetically: “I’m sorry, it’s my partner…she’s the designer of my clothing line. She’s a genius, but some days she wakes up with her feathers all ruffled”.

Frédérique held him tight until she felt him releasing his slight tension with a sigh.

“Now where were we?” Richie said as he pulled apart, that sideways smirk again on his lips. Frédérique threw her head back to laugh as her hands grabbed on to his shoulders.

“Too late now, Mr.”, she smooched him again, got up and ran to the bedroom.

Less than 10 minutes later Frédérique was back in the living room dressed and ready to go to work.

Downstairs, they hugged again and kissed when they said their goodbyes.

“See you soon?”, asked Frédérique, and Richie responded right away before heading for his truck:

“You betcha: you and I have unfinished business”.