The Girl He Didn't Want

Chapter 19

Mayas POV

The dinner went well and now we both stood in the kitchen and made sure that all the dishes were getting clean. As we stood in front of the dishwasher and put the plates in, I mentally smiled at how nice it was just standing beside him doing such an everyday chore. I didn't know why, but James made me feel good even though he deliberately made his distance due to his reserved nature.

But I was glad that he liked the food. This was somehow the first step to acknowledging my culture. As I grabbed the used pot where the leftovers of chicken curry had been, I turned to the sink to wash it before putting it down in the machine. As I turned around, I collided with his body.

"Oh, I'm sorry" I blushed at this and kept looking down. He just nodded and mumbled something about "fine".

As we stood there for a while, we looked at each other for just two seconds, and then he turned around to take the rest of the silverware that needed to be washed.

At the same time, I stood with my back to him now and struggled to get some of the dirt away from another pot that I had used for cooking. I had both my hands in the sink, and they were wet, and I felt messy. My hair was getting in my way as some of the wavy strands kept falling in front of my face. I tried to use my shoulder to get the hair away but failed.

Then I could feel James' warm body close to me.
"Here, let me help you"

I froze and waited. He gently took my chunk of thick and wavy hair and pulled it back, so it couldn't get in my face anymore. He did it gently and I almost sighed by the mere touch of him.

"T-Thanks" I muttered.

When we finished doing the dishes, I put the towel on the kitchen table and leaned back at the table behind me. I was tired and exhausted after all the cooking.

I cooked the food. He had tasted it and he liked it. So, what now?

What was I supposed to do now? He looked at me but didn't say anything. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and I figured, that I maybe should head back home.

When I was about to say something, I stopped as I heard him speak.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something? I don't mind you staying here a little more"

"Are you sure? I can just go home if you want to relax. You look like you had a long day..." I trailed off with an uncertain voice.

"No, it's fine. I was planning on watching a movie anyway. You are welcome to stay. We are friends now after all..." I stared at him in awe. He continued; "Or are you afraid? I mean, you dared me. Now I dare you to stay and spend time with your friend" he smirked at me.

"Then let's watch a movie" I said walking closer to him while smiling.

***

"So, what do you want to watch?"

"I don't know, what genre are you most fond of?" I thought for a while.

"I like thriller movies a lot. And as I'm also a woman, I like romantic movies as well"

He chuckled a bit and turned the television on. "What do you like then?".

He seemed to think for a while and then answered; "I like action, sci-fi and thriller movies".

Typical men.

We searched through Netflix for a while but didn't seem to find anything we wanted to watch yet. I was sitting on the couch, in fact, I sat right at the left end of the couch. James sat on the other end of it, so there was a little gap between us. After a while, we found a movie to watch. We decided to watch the movie, The Call.

Halle Berry was the actress in the movie and was about her helping to rescue a kidnapping of a girl. We sat there for a while just watching the movie in silence. We didn't talk and neither did we move an inch from our place.

When we got thirty minutes into the movie, he suddenly surprised me with his question.

"Have you been in any relationships before?" I stiffened at his sudden personal question but forced myself to be honest with him.

"Yeah, I was together with a guy some years ago. His name was Oliver"

"Why did you guys break up?" he turned to look at me now, looking at me with a curious stare. I could see his blue eyes digging right into mine.

"Umm.." I stopped right there. I would be so embarrassed just by telling him that Oliver cheated on me because he couldn't wait for me. Because he didn't want to take part in my world. I didn't feel like telling James that humiliating story. And I didn't want him to think that what he said at the blind date broke me into pieces just like Oliver did.

Suddenly a shocking scene took place in the movie. The sound from the film caught both our attention and we were now hooked on the movie. I got relieved. I didn't have to answer him about Oliver now.

When the movie ended, I yawned. I had to go to work tomorrow, early in the morning.

"It was a good movie. I think I must go now though. It's getting pretty late and I have a morning shift at my work tomorrow."

I got up from the couch and walked over to the entrance to get my shoes on. He nodded and followed me. It was already eleven in the evening. I had to somehow fin a bus that went from here into the center of New York where my apartment was.

"Let me drive you home. It's dark outside and it's late". My eyes widened at his offer, but I refused at first. He, himself was beyond tired. He kept insisting so I ended up letting him drive me back home anyway.

"Thanks for the ride" I smiled at him.

I wanted to show him that I really appreciated the day and his efforts in trying to know a bit of my world by tasting Tamil food, so I leaned over to him and hugged him. I could feel his whole body freeze at my sudden closeness. I could feel his chest and how buff he really was now. I could lay there all night! I could smell him now. He had a really nice perfume that I liked. 

In fact, there was so much about him I liked. As I hugged him, he didn't really move an inch but eventually he responded back by answering my hug. He snaked his one arm around me, and I felt his warmth now. I enjoyed being in his embrace. It felt like I could hug him forever but I knew that he may have thought otherwise. After all, we were just friends. I pulled back again from his embrace and smiled at him. He gave me a quick smile and then turned to look on the steering. 

"Good night" he said.

When I retreated from the car and closed the door, I waved at him and went inside. My heart was a little too excited over the hug. The closest we had been until now was holding hands, so to be able to get that closer to him made something flutter in my stomach.

I watched him drive away.