The Steps I Take to Get Closer to You

One Step Closer To You

I woke up to the sound of my doorbell being rung.  I rolled over in bed lazily to check the time on my phone.  It read 9:00. I had class in four hours, I could've afforded to sleep a bit longer.  Hell, not only could I have afforded it, but after that unofficial date with Liam last night, I needed it, badly.  I felt dead to the freaking world.

"Ugh", I groaned, burying my face into my pillow before reluctantly sitting up and swinging my feet over the side of the bed.  Rubbing my eyes never really did anything to help me feel more awake, yet I did it anyway just as an excuse not to actually get up yet.  I found my slippers, pulled them on and tied my hair back into a neat bun.  Finally, I rose from my bed and walked over to the window.  When I got there, I drew the purple satin drapes.  Blinding golden sunlight flooded my room and burned my still-adjusting eyes, causing me to squeeze them tightly shut.  When I opened them again, I saw something that left me feeling very conflicted.  Liam was standing at my door, smiling.  He appeared to be holding something in his hands.  It filled me with dreadful curiosity, because part of me wanted to find out what it was, but the other part of me felt foolish and embarrassed because I was a mess, wearing fuzzy pink penguin pajama bottoms and a baby pink tank top to match, not  to mention my utter lack of makeup.  I was feeling insecure.

I wanted to quickly change into a pair of jeans and a cute top, fix my hair and put on some makeup, so that I could at least feel attractive in front of him, alas, it was too late for that.  I had already caught Liam's eye.  This was obvious from the fact that he waved at me.  I heaved a heavy sigh.  The most I could afford to do at the moment was brush my teeth.  Knowing it was my only option, I just did it without trying to find a loophole or some way to fit my normal beauty and personal hygiene routine in the span of two minutes.

When I finished brushing and my breath was minty fresh, I ran down the stairs carelessly, flailing my limbs in all directions in an attempt to move as fast as I possibly could.  I didn't want to keep Liam waiting.  Although, the classic rules of dating do say that I should have let him wait on me.  Then again, he said he wanted to be my boy, but it was so sudden that I wasn't even sure he meant it at all.  I opened the door, breathlessly saying, "Morning Liam" with a cheery smile.  "Good morning Andrea,", he said lightly pecking my cheek with his soft lips.  "May I come in?"

Barely able to retaliate from his small display of affection, I blushed and said, "Sure. I'm just going to need few minutes to get ready, okay? Have a seat at the table over there while you wait."  I pointed to my dining room table, with the most polite mannerism possible.

"You look beautiful already.  What do you need to fix?  Makeup is all fine and good, but I feel that it pollutes your true beauty.  Like I said in WMYB, you don't need makeup to cover up, being the way that you are is enough.  Except I was slightly mistaken.  Being the way that you are is far more than enough, it's better than anything I could have ever hoped for.", he said.  More surprising than him saying it was the fact that he was being sincere when he said it.  Anyone could tell he was being honest by the pleading look in his eyes, sombre expression on his face and his overall body language and posture.

"Do you seriously consider me beautiful?  You've met and been with so many stunning women.  You've posed with Rosie Huntington-Whitley, then there's your ex girlfriend Danielle Peazer and your more recent ex Sophia Smith. How could I compete with them?", I asked.

He cringed visibly at the mention of Sophia, and again I wondered why.  I already assumed that they had broken up, considering he had asked me to be his girl just the night before, but the reason for his reaction mystified me still, sure he had told me about the cheating, but there must have been more to it.  "You can't compete with them.  You simply don't.  Nobody compares to you.  You outdo them by far.", he stated blatantly.

"I do?", I questioned him, yet the demanding tone I began with wavered quite a bit as realization overtook me.  He basically just said I was the most beautiful woman he  had ever met, which struck me as entirely false, yet it riveted me.  "How?"

"Shh... Don't talk.", Liam said, putting his index finger gently to my lips to hush me.  "Go get changed and we'll talk about it then."

Clearly, I was offended at the way he brushed me off so curtly, but I knew he meant well, so I let it go.  Besides, the childish part of me still want very much so to see what was in that bag.  Everything else aside, that was motivation enough.  I turned to go back upstairs, but before I began my ascent, he stopped me.

"Can you wear sweat pants?  I find them incredibly sexy.", he said, blushing sheepishly.

It was an odd request, and even more odd was seeing Liam blunder.  Seeing him like that compelled me to do it.  Or at least compelled me a bit more so; I was going to do it anyway.  So I said, "sure, of course."

A few minutes later, I went back downstairs wearing my favourite pair of red Abercrombie sweats, red is the sexiest colour after all.  When I got down there, I found the table set.  The bag was no longer there, its contents lain out on the table, it was food, and it looked scrumptious.  There were tropical fruits, French pastries,  Italian coffee and English tea and scones.  The mystery of the bag had been unravelled, and suddenly, I felt selfish for wanting to know what was in the bag in the first place.

Finally, Liam noticed me.  He came behind me and squeezed my butt in a way that turned me on so much, like more than I thought was humanly possible.  "Damn you look fine girl...", he said in a provocative tone.  I loved it.  He was making me want it bad.

"Well, if you want it, come and get it baby," I said licking my lips sexily.  "Show me how bad you want me."  With that, he came really close, grabbed my waist, backed into a corner and we kissed like lovers should.  We let go and both ached.

He led me to the table by my hand, kissing my neck as we went.  A true gentleman, he pulled out my chair for me, and I thanked him.  We ate without much conversation.  Our eyes did all the talking.

When we finished, he said "Andrea, can I tell you something?"

"Sure baby, what is it?", I asked.

"I told you about Sophia, right?", he asked.

"Yeah..." I said

"There's something I didn't tell you about her.  She... it makes me uncomfortable and awkward, even ashamed to talk about this... Okay, here goes. She raped me.", he breathed in angst.

"SHE WHAT?!" I exclaimed.  "How, why, when?"

"She said I was not a man, she forced herself on me.  I feel awful about it.  I just wanted to tell you, because I feel like you'd still love me, and I really love you too.  I suppose you could say that you are now one step closer to me.", he said, a mournful look in his eyes.

I couldn't believe what I had just heard.