Loving Mr. Murray

3. Beauty and the Beast.

I'm currently trailing behind him. Once he comes to a stop, he opens the door and mumbles "This is your room, it's next to mine so if you ever need anything you can just knock on my door. Have you had dinner?" I hastily shake my head. "You like pasta?" "I love it." "Go change into something more comfortable." And with that he gives me a curt nod and retreats to the kitchen.

I turn around to see my temporary bedroom. "Wow." I say under my breath.

This room is bigger than I imagined. It even has a door that gives you access to the terrace. I can't believe this is happening to me. Just about an hour ago, I was on the streets.

I look over to the corner of the room, next to my king-sized bed and see all my luggage there. Let's change into something more comfortable shall we?

I open up my duffel bag and grab my black sweatpants and my favorite grey sweater with the words 'Beauty and the Beast' written on the upper left side of my chest.  

Once I'm all changed and comfortable, I throw my hair into a messy ponytail and head towards the kitchen.

When I almost reach the kitchen, I can hear him whistle a happy tune. Smiling, I turn the corner. Only to see him wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt that makes his muscles even more prominent. Holy guacamole.

"Nice sweater." He comments with a smile. "You like Disney?" he questions.

"Thanks. And Disney movies are the best." I exclaim with a grin. Walking up to him, I admire his back muscles. "You're doing it again." He looks at me over his shoulder. The playful gleam that I saw in his eyes before, was replaced with something slightly more devilish. "Sorry, can I help?" I offer as I stare at the floor. "No, it's fine I've got it" "Alright then." I reply and take a seat on one of the barstools. "It smells amazing" I remark. "Where did you learn how to cook?"

"As a kid, I was homeschooled, so I had a lot of free time. Often, I would join my mother in the kitchen. I guess I picked up some of her skills." He tells me with a genuine smile. A smile that makes his eyes crinkle again. "That's adorable." I exhale as I dreamily rest my head on my hand. "Dinner's ready!" He exclaims in an excited voice.

He holds up the two plates and puts them opposite of each other. "It smells so good." I almost moan at the smell. "Thank you." He whispers is a small voice. "Milady." He says as he pulls out a chair for me. "Thank you." I say and sit down.

Hunter walks to the opposite side of the table and sits down as well. "Would you like something to drink?" he asks me. I rapidly shake my head, my mouth is salivating over the smell of the pasta. Hydration is not on my mind right now. "Enjoy your meal, Hunter." "Enjoy your meal, Miss Harrison." He replies. "You can call me Ivy, or Ivory it doesn't matter." I tell him as I twist the pasta around my fork and unmannerly shove into my mouth.

Once the taste hits my mouth, my eyes close on their own accord and I moan. "Oh my lord, this is delicious." I say, barely audible with my mouth filled with pasta. He chuckles and wipes his mouth with a napkin. "Thanks, so tell me about yourself."

Quickly, I swallow the lump of pasta and repeat his actions. There is a long silence while I'm thinking of some interesting facts to tell about myself.

"Well, my name is Ivory Madeline Harrison. I was born and raised in the beautiful state of New York. Almost twenty-four years old. And I've recently just graduated, so Ivory Harrison is officially a Master in Business Administration." I announce proudly.

He rests his head on his hand and stares at me with his mesmerizing eyes. "Keep going." He murmurs.

"Um, my mom and stepdad recently moved to California so I'm here on my own."

"What happened to your dad? If you don't mind me asking."

I hesitate "He passed away when I was two, he had lung cancer."

He sits up a little bit straighter "I am so sorry."

"It's ok, I didn't even know what was going on at that time." I say with a smile that doesn't reach my eyes.

"But tell me about you, Hunter. You said you knew what it's like to live on the streets. Can you tell me more about that?"

Clearing his throat, the blue-eyed hunk starts his story. "It's a long story, but I'll make it short for you. I was an accident, my parents didn't want me and I guess one day my birth-mother had enough and randomly dropped me off somewhere in New York at the age of five. I just roamed the streets surviving on the change people had left in their pockets, which they gave to me. They pitied me. Luckily my adoptive mom found and raised me and here I am." He ends with a happy grin.

Astounded, my mouth hangs open. This boy – no, this man is getting more and more intriguing  by the second. "And now you're here, in this huge penthouse. With me."

"And I'm happy to here." He says with a small smile playing on his lips Is he talking about being here with me?  Immediately, I shake that thought off, there's no way he's happy to be here with me. I'm just a temporary charity case.

"Well Hunter, I'm happy to be here as well. Thank you so much." Looking down at our plates, I see that we've finished our food and stand up to take them to the sink.

His hand darts onto mine to stop me. "Leave it, I'll do it later."

"You sure about that? I have no problem with doing the dishes, it's the least I could do." I try to take them to the sink again.

His hold on my wrist tightens. "I'm sure of it. Also, I have a dishwasher." He says smugly before shooting me a wink. 

Looking into his eyes, I reply "Alright, if you insist." and walk towards the couch to watch TV. "How about a movie?" he lazily drops down onto the couch, next to me.

My eyes light up. "Yeah! How about –

"Beauty and the Beast?" he finishes my sentence. Averting my eyes from his, I nod. I'm way too predictable.

Soon enough, 'Belle' starts playing and I hum along. In the corner of my eye, I see Hunter slowly trying to sneak his arm onto the back of the couch.

I try to suppress a smile. Is he trying to make a move on me? pff so old school.... and adorable.

"You want some popcorn?" He asks.

I turn to look at him. "Depends, do you have sweet or salty popcorn?" 

"Sweet popcorn is my favorite." 

"Then I'd love to have some popcorn." and with that he gets off of the couch and heads towards the kitchen. 

Fatigue takes over and I try my best to stifle a yawn and stay awake as the movie blares on.

' Monsieur Gaston! Oh he's so cute.'

It gets harder and harder for me to keep my eyes open. I hear the microwave in the kitchen beeping.

'There must be more than this provi-

And with that, the music fades, my eyes close completely and I let the darkness take over.

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Hellooooo,

That was chapter 3 of 'Loving Mr. Murray.'

I hope you enjoyed and you see then!

xx