Falling for a British bloke

Chapter 7 - a wedding of a dwarf

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the long delay!

This is going to be the penultimate chapter.

So, guess some of you don't know them. That's Apocalyptica. Yeah. Cello. ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o7Ko6voh_4 (one of my favourites, a little bit older though. They did great covers of Metallica songs, too)
I think at least one of those guys plays in the Finnish National Symphonic Orchestra (or whatever it is called exactly) as well.

"Good morning!"
"Morning!" Richard looked up from the crosswords he was doing in the newspaper on the kitchen table and smiled at Sarah. She stood in the doorway of the kitchen, wearing a pair of jeans and a faded Apocalyptica fan-shirt. Noticing the shirt his eyebrows shot up and a wide grin appeared on his face. "Now, that's nice. I thought you said you weren't that much into classical music?"
Sarah snorted unelegantly. "You don't consider them playing classical music, just because they're playing cello, right? But honestly, I wouldn't have guessed that you even know them."
"Why? Because I'm too old?"
"No, of course not!" Sarah shot him a look that clearly said he should stop being self-concious about his age. "I just didn't think that was your kind of genre."
"I listen to various types of music, as long as it's high quality, and these guys really know their trade." He nodded approvingly.
Sarah smiled, happy to share a little unexpected fangirling with Richard. "Yeah, they do! They're geniuses, aren't they?"
He chuckled. "In fact, I believe they're close to insane. I tried some of their more advanced pieces but failed miserably." He admitted with a wry grin.
"You played their songs? Oh wow, another reason to listen to you playing cello." She smirked. She had tried to talk him into playing for her as soon as the topic had firstly popped up in one of their phone calls but whenever she asked, he would shy away of it somehow.
"Naaaah. I still had no time to practice. I don't want to look like a bodger." He winked at her.
Moving to help herself to a mug of coffee, she shook her head. "I still don't believe you need to practice to impress me."
When she sat down on the table he looked at her somehow apologetic. "Sorry, I wanted to ask you yesterday, is it okay for you to skip breakfast and have a really early lunch instead?"
"Yeah, sure, sounds like a good idea. Maybe I could block the bathroom before that to have a shower?"
"No problem. I was afraid we might have to work out a timetable for the bathroom to get ready but if you take your shower early I think we will do just fine." He winked at her. "Some days I regret living in a house with only one proper bathroom."
"I'm quite fast in dressing up, don't worry." Sarah grinned. "Ever thought about getting a bigger house?"
"Hmm." He mused. "Yes and no. You know, I could afford it now, but I don't want to abandon this one. Invested too much in it. Not talking about the money, but time. Work. I did all the floorings, changed the layout of some walls, things like that."
"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. You put a little bit of your heart in it."
"That's it. And after all, at the moment I don't need a bigger house, being a bachelor all on my own" Richard smiled but Sarah sensed a little bit of frustration behind this statement and decided to change the topic. You know, if you would let me, I would be glad to help you out of your bachelor status.

..ooOOoo..

"Oh. Bummer." Sarah stood in the bathroom after having showered, wearing only her strapless bra she would need for the dress she chose to wear and a matching thong, her hair wrapped in a towel on top of her head. She looked at the plug of her hair dryer and at the socket next to the mirror. "I knew I forgot something."
Looking around in the bathroom she couldn't spot Richard's hairdryer and as she didn't intend to rummage around in his closets she would have to ask him for it. Feeling self-concious she undid the towel from her head and put her T-shirt on again. Looking down she was content to find it was long enough to cover her bum and at least a small part of her thighs, she unlocked the door, opened it and stuck her head out. "Richard?"
"Yes?" He emerged from his bedroom, three ties in one hand, two shirts in the other. Spotting her standing there only wearing a shirt he couldn't help admiring her bare legs for a moment before forcing himself to look in her face.
"Um, may I use your hairdryer? I'm afraid I forgot my adapter plug." She motioned at the pieces of clothing in his hands. "Which colour is the suit you want to wear?"
"Dark grey, white pinstripe." He looked at her, baffled. "Uh, and yes of course." He put the clothes on his bed and went to the bathroom to get the hairdryer out of one of the closets.
"Thanks. Take the white shirt and the red tie." She grinned at him mischievously. "I get the feeling you snatched half of Lucas' wardrobe from set!"
"What!? No! No no no. That's just coincidence! But I must confess I really liked the style they were fitting him out with." He smiled and left the bathroom again.
"I think I will start to prepare lunch, how much longer will you take?"
"Oh, I think I will do the makeup after eating, so maybe twenty minutes?"
He looked at her doubtingly and was clearly surprised when she stood in the kitchen not much more than a quarter of an hour later, her hair piled effortlessly but elegantly on her head in a loose bun and fixed with some tiny clips, wearing an ocean blue long dress that left one shoulder bare and fell softly swinging around her legs, shimmering in different shades with every movement.
Richard almost gulped as she moved towards him and asked shyly. "Could you please help me with the zipper?" She turned around in front of him and he closed the last inches of the zipper she couldn't reach, willing his hands not to shake and banning the wish to move the zipper in the opposite direction and place soft kisses on her neck and shoulder from his mind. God, when have I become so desperate about her?
Noticing the faraway look in his eyes when she turned around and stepped back to face him, she asked. "Something wrong?"
"Uh." He blinked and finally managed to focus again. "Sorry. No, its just, your dress is... wow. You dress up quite nicely."
"Thanks!" Sarah smiled and felt a little blush developing in her cheeks. "I got it for a wedding of a friend two years ago. I'm rather glad I have another occasion to wear it, I quite like it. And I'm glad it's still fitting!" She added with a wink.