La Rosa Gialla

Chapter 26

March 2024

I entwined my fingers in Charles' still damp hair and tugged a little. God, how many times have I thought about this? How many times at night have I had dreams in which this exact thing happened and how many times have I woken up terrified, if I had accidentally screamed his name in my sleep? Simple answer, many times. His hands went down to my ass and he grabbed me and lifted me up. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist and didn't stop kissing him for a second. That is, until the door to the apartment opened. And since we were still standing in the corridor, the first thing the newcomer saw was Charles in a towel and me pressed against him.

"Cazzo, scusa!" someone yelled, slamming the door. Charles quickly opened his eyes and set me on the ground. Then he frowned, gave me a raised index finger to signal to me to wait, and walked over to the front door to open it again. "I thought we were going to the gym..." came from behind the door and Charles flashed his eyes in my direction. "Wait, I'll go get dressed," he said and disappeared into the bedroom at the speed of light. Being the curious girl that I am, and since it didn't make sense to me why Charles would go to one more training, I walked over to the closed door and peeked to see who was behind it. "Ciao, André," I greeted Charles's personal trainer, Andrea, whom I had already met briefly in Saudi Arabia. "Ciao, Adri," he smiled at me. "Do you feel better already?" I asked innocently and he frowned.

"Should I have be sick?" he wondered.

"Oh," I laughed as it dawned on me. "Charles claimed you had a virus and needed me to step in for you. We just completed one training session."

"What I saw didn't look much like training," he smirked and it was my turn to frown.

"I meant before. We already completed one training session before that," I grumbled.

"Should I let him suffer and give him another hard session, or do we tell him his little ruse failed?" argued Andrea. "Why didn't he just ask you out if he wants to spend time with you?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "We have a long history together. It's a bit more complicated," I explained.

"He talks about you nonstop all day and then he has to almost send me to my deathbed to find an excuse to spend a few hours with you," Andre sighed. "I swear to god, if he ever grows up..."

"What are you talking about?" Charles trotted between us, almost tripping over an untied lace on his shoe. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm actually really sick and I'm going home," Andrea said. "Actually... I'd like to take a few more days off if you don't mind. To heal properly," he faked a cough, winked at me, waved us goodbye and disappeared.

"Why didn't you normally tell him to take time off? Why did you invent such a tangled web of lies?" I laughed. "Honestly?" he asked and I nodded for him to continue. "I was afraid you'd send me to hell if I didn't have a good enough reason."

"Why are you still so insecure?" I smirked and snuggled closer to him on the couch. He reached out to put his arm around my shoulders and I rested my head on his. "I don't know," he grumbled. "You're so special to me. You're not just someone I met on the street. We've known each other for 13 years, for Christ's sake. I don't want to do another stupid mistake."

"Charlie," I whispered, lifting my head to meet his eyes. Today they were mostly green with little hints of brown and gray. "I have already forgiven you. Can you forgive yourself too?" He widened his eyes a little more and smiled slightly so that the dimples formed on his cheeks. Mio Dio, is there anything cuter in this world? "I'll try," he sputtered, pressing his lips to mine in a split second so that they fit together again like two pieces of a puzzle.