Sir Arthur

• Twenty-eight

Kimberly awkwardly arranged her ingredients on the bench as they had been plastered all over due to her clumsiness. She peeked to the man beside her and immediately looked away. He had already been watching her.

None of them spoke for a minute and wanting not to prolong the pause, Kim opened her mouth, "Matteo?" She didn't know why she called his name when they were the only ones present.

His reply didn't come as quick as she had anticipated so she lifted her eyes from the bench to rest them on his tall frame. He stared down at her his dark eyes a lighter shade and his hands tucked in the front pockets of his trousers.

"Yes?" His quiet voice came after he got out of his trance. He always got carried away every-time Kimberly had his attention. He blinked and straightened himself to catch on what she was saying.

"Would you like to join me?" Kimberly hesitantly asked. He was a busy man just as she knew her father was and preparing herbs was not something a man of his class would like to get caught up doing.

Matteo stared at her getting lost into the pools of her small doe eyes until she repeated her question this time louder. He'd  obviously heard her before and he chastised himself to act proper and not just simply staring at her every-time they were together.

He nodded to her previous question and a smile spread on Kim's small face. She quickly pushed everything on one end to make room for him to seat comfortably. The bench was quite small so she ended up squeezing everything on her side.

"You can sit here," she gestured the clear spot and rushed to seat on the other end. She picked up the book and opened the page she had settled on. Kimberly placed the book in between them and began to pick the herbs she needed settling them in different small bowls.

Matteo read out the words as she followed them taking every step as he had explained. His voice was extremely deep so there were a few words she didn't catch on and had to ask him to repeat. He generously agreed explaining everything she knew not about.

He closed the book after they had assembled everything and stood up to move to her side. He really wanted to help and having a basic idea on western medicine, he knew he wouldn't butcher most of the things.

"I'll cut these," he picked the knife from her hands and took a pile of leaves he had no idea what they were. Plantain leaves or were they parsley leaves? Nevertheless, he chopped down everything required only leaving her to grind the soft looking herbs.

He was done with what she'd assigned him to help in no time. "What else I'm I to do?" Matteo asked as he rolled up the sleeves of his long shirt to prevent it from staining. He was genuinely enjoying preparing all this in her company.

"I don't have enough garlic and nettle but we can start mixing the potions." She pushed a small empty bowl to his side and Matteo confusedly stared at it. He was just about to pour water into it when Kimberly pulled his arm.

"We're first mixing everything dryly, remember?" She referenced a step he'd read from the book earlier. His brain had not taken the words to memory before being entranced as he concentrated on her actions.

He nodded in remembrance only that he wasn't sure exactly when he'd read that step. She released her soft grip on him and turned to pick another bowl from her collection. Matteo did as she'd asked him to the feeling of her soft fingers on his rough skin pleasurable to feel.

They had mixed everything that needed to be so they began to clean the used bowls before they walked in to boil the final mixture. Matteo was considerate enough to do the cleaning and for Kimberly to wipe them dry. Her hands had been to cold to handle water.

When he had put the bowls back into a cabinet she had pointed, he watched as she poured everything into a boiling liquid. She took a medium sized jar and placed it at the tail of the mixer.

Kimberly sat down on a stool. "It's almost ready now," she looked at his side and noticed that his shirt was half done at the top. Her eyes widened and she gulped trying to look away.

"It was quite easier than I thought," Matteo gestured the portion making in front of them. "It's getting much redder, don't you think?" He stood up and walked closer to the jar that had the collected substance coming out.

Kimberly too nodded. Maybe it was because she'd put less ginger. "We could add basil, do you have any?" Kim shook her head as her eyes went down to his chest. She was going to admit he was of extraordinary built.

"No, I've never used it before." She answered him while averting his gaze. Didn't he know that his shirt was undone? She had merely thought further when he took her cold hands closer to the steam.

"Can we go get the basil?" Matteo asked wanting to spend the day with her. "It grows by the lake." Kim nodded almost too immediately much to Matteo's surprise.

"Are you okay?" He placed his hand on her forehead and frowned. Her hands though a bit cold were slowly warming. "Your face is getting redder." He cupped her face panicked that she had caught a cold.

"Your s-shirt," she barely whispered stumbling on her words as her cheeks flushed the more. He looked down his clothing and indeed it was undone.

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