Spice

7 || Paprika

Jared carefully quietly the door and stopped just before entering the living room, poking his head around to corner to see Bailey half squatting on the floor with her heels off the ground and her hands in front of her face.

At a first glance, he wasn't sure whether she was meditating or not, but when he looked further, he saw that her chest was rising and falling steadily, and her eyes were closed.

The music he had heard came from her cellphone, which was on the ground beside her.

"Switch."

Without so much as an inhale, she lowered her heels, raised one foot to cross it over her other knee, and dropped into a lower squat.

Jared could feel the tension in his thigh muscles just by looking at her. He didn't know what exactly she was doing, but he had a sister who was a yogi, and the complexity of this pose did not seem like something just anyone could do so easily.

Opting to not disturb her, he quietly left the bags in the hallway and went to take a shower first. The sweat on his skin was beginning to gross him out.

He pulled off his clothes, shoes and socks, and unceremoniously let the water soak his head and the remainder of his body. It was cold, and it made his skin prickle.

Without giving himself much time to get used to the temperature, he started the process of his shower, lathering and scrubbing, then rinsing it off.

While scrubbing generic hotel shampoo into his hair, Jared realised just how much he didn't know about Bailey. Or rather, just how much he had ignored.

They had met ten years ago, and had consistently seen and interacted with each other ever since. The two of them were more than acquaintances, but they were definitely not friends. If anyone asked, Jared could say with full confidence that he knew Silver Bailey.

But he didn't know her.

Now that he thought about it, yoga was just something she would do. She had a stable and immovable personality, and she didn't seem to react to much. It was like nothing could faze her.

Jared didn't know why, for God's sake, he couldn't just leave things the hell alone, but it was like a gut instinct that haunted him.

After finishing his shower, he got dressed in sweatpants and hoodie, then stalked back to the living room.

Bailey looked up from where she stood with a box of baked, cheesy jalapeño breadsticks in her hands, and blushed at the sight of him. Her face was trapped between its usual blank expression and hesitance.

Seeing her in a tough spot, with such a guilty look in her eyes, made him feel an inexplicable burst of happiness.

"Stealing, Bailey?" He walked up to her and looked at the tea table, where she had placed all of the snack bags he'd bought.

"I-I—" She clamped her lips shut as her cheeks deepened to a shade of brick red.

Jared's eyebrows rose as he found himself fascinated by the fact that she was capable of even blushing and stuttering. It seemed like such a foreign concept, considering the type of person that she was.

"You what?" He took a step closer to her, only an inch away from invading her personal space. "You were nosy?"

Bailey looked up at him. Her eyes were a little wide and misty, and they were indignant that he would even accuse her of such a thing. "I wasn't being nosy, I was just curious."

Tall nose, with a smattering of freckles dusted across it and her cheekbones. Her skin was the most beautiful bronzed brown he had ever seen.

This trip was the first time he was seeing her without makeup, and she was a different kind of gorgeous like this.