After I had eaten my dinner, I went out to the hotel lobby to have a little bit of space. I was exhausted. I had to serve food, take pictures, check if anyone needed anything and eat all at once. So, I had my face buried into my palms, as I tried to take deep breaths to relieve myself.
Out of the blue, I felt something heavy yet gentle fall onto my shoulder. I lifted my head slightly and turned around. To my surprise, it was Charles.
"You alright?" He asked.
His voice trailed past my ears. It was kind and warm the hand on my shoulder. He knelt down beside me with his hand still on my shoulder like he was trying to comfort me. He had those wide eyes I'd never forget. They looked pleading yet very strict. Must've been all those trainings. He never learns to really calm down.
"I wanted to take a picture with you but I didn't know where you were so, here I am." He explained.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered, sounding so believable.
His body loomed over me like a giant over a small child. In a sense, it was comforting. It felt like he would always be there to watch over me and protect me. But he wasn't mine to keep anymore. Why would he want to protect me?
All of a sudden, he gripped my hand. I felt the rough edges of his skin grazing against my palm and just one of his hands completely covering my whole hand. It almost seemed like he didn't want to let me go. His hand was still on my shoulder but he'd gripped my hand with another. It was like he was trapping me. Then he pulled his fingers through the gaps between my small fingers and like a tight match, his fingers rested in the gaps. I wasn't used to this. In fact, I hadn't experienced this. When we were "together ", our relationship was only online. He didn't want to show off the fact that he had a thing for a junior.
"Charles, I might need to go back to help, I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to be here." I whispered in the most pathetically timid voice I had.
" I already told Jack to cover for you," he whispered as his face moved closer to mine, " I need to talk to you before I graduate."
I looked around and already, the few hotel guests and staff were shooting suspicious looks at us. Some of them tried to hide their smiles others, looked on and cringed, rolling their eyes and sighed, "teenagers." I smiled regretfully at the situation.
"Charles, if you're holding me like this and you want to talk," I sighed softly," we need to go somewhere else."
"Sure, that's fine," he replied and he pulled me off the chair as he strode towards the elevator.
I zipped up my jacket so no one could see I was a member of "ROSE HILL SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT COUNCIL BOARD". (It was literally full caps so I had to.) Once we were in the lift, we were alone and he clicked the button leading to the highest floor. It was the rooftop.
"You even sure it's opened now?" I asked sarcasm was prickling my voice.
"Yeah," Charles chuckled," my parents always come here."
"Oh really, now why would they?" I asked cheekily.
" Oh, my god." That sudden realisation though.
---------------FIRST ONE HERE----------------
We reached the rooftop. The cold and gentle breeze of the night rushed through us and the smell of fresh roses wafted into our noses. The air was damp after the long evening rain. The skies were clear but Singpore's location doesn't allow us to see as many stars. Of course, there was Orion's Belt and Polaris. But other than that nothing. The sky was clear and murky navy. Just like every other night.
There was a pavilion at the centre of it all. How nostalgic. The wooden seats and table at the pavilion were nice and dry despite the earlier conditions. Charles thumbed my fingers as he stood there rooted to the ground and looking at the pavilion with sorrow eyes.
"You remember, right? When I was in secondary 1 and you were in secondary 2, we used to come to the school's pavilion to study."
"Yeah," he said softly, his voice cracked at the last two letters as he tried to swallow his words.
He pulled me towards the pavilion where we sat next to each other eye to eye. He raises his left hand and thumbs my cheek and jawline. He lifts the hair away from my ear and glides the joint of his index finger down my jawline and to my lips. His eyes were still locked onto mine as he lets me rest my head against his palm. I closed my eyes and all the stress just fades away from my body. I grabbed his wrist and I felt the back of his hand. His hands felt soft now and they were trembling slightly.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, thanks to you." I replied with a smile.
He leans in closer and rubs his forehead against my cheek like a cat. He was teasing me. So I grabbed him by his shoulders and placed my arms around his neck so that my upper arm could rest on his shoulders. Two can play that game. Until he was tired of playing around. He pulled me in by my waist and wrapped his gigantic arms around them. Like a snake trapping its prey his clutch was tight and nearly suffocating.
By then he'd already put his lips on mine and started to seductively tease my hair with one hair as the other made sure I couldn't escape. His lips moved seriously. Like it burned with fiery passion and nothing else as the kiss stole every single ounce of my breath. Gasping and slightly moaning, pulled him closer and demanded for more. There was no space in between us and I felt his strong heart beating against my chest. They were almost in sync. He gave me a final one and pulled away slowly.
He rested his head on my shoulder and started panting.
"You're my first kiss," he chuckled as he threw his hand around my other shoulder.
"Can I be your last?" I asked as he pulls away the cloth from my shoulder to bare my collarbone.
"Forever and always." His breath tingles the bare skin of my collarbone as he replied.
He smacked his tongue and lips against my neck. Softly sucking on my bare skin, all I could do was pull him in and beg for more. I was lost in a thick fog of love . Had anyone even loved me before him?
