(a/n: just a short filler chapter to thank you all for 100k reads, i appreciate every single on of you <3)
We ended up falling asleep on the couch that evening, not having realized how late it was and being exhausted from the almost-workout.
But the morning after I woke up not feeling Sam next to me and wrapped in a heavy blanket that definitely wasn't there when I fell asleep. I heard her already walking around in the kitchen, the smell of coffee reaching where I was.
It only took a few seconds for me to realize how sore my legs were from the evening before, struggling to even get up.
"Good thing my lessons today are all on ground floor" I said as I went to the kitchen, barely reaching it without need for support. Sam had her back turned, seemingly spreading cheese on a toasted bagel.
"Good morning to you too" she turned around, a furtive smile on her face. She was still wearing the same t-shirt as the one she had on the previous evening, and no pants.
"Morning" I said, walking towards her to kiss her.
"Are your legs sore?"
"A lot" I pouted.
"You'll get used to it" she chuckled, patting my shoulder. "Want some breakfast?"
"That's not really helpful of you" I frowned.
"It's the best I can do" she put a few slices of bread into the toaster. "Luckily your lessons with me today are not in that old ass room at the right top of the building, like most of the time"
"I still won't be able to look at you for a second without feeling self-conscious about what caused the pain in my legs"
"That will be fun to watch" she snickered.
"Not funny at all" I poured some coffee in a mug that had basically become mine at that point. "Also, as much as I enjoyed the consequences of the stress it caused, please don't overwork and exhaust yourself today"
"I'll try not to" she chuckled. "Not having you in my office as often definitely doesn't help"
"I'd tell you to stop by the shop but I doubt that would be a good idea for more than one reason"
"Yeah, absolutely not" she laughed.
As predicted, I wasn't really able to focus on Sam and her voice during her lesson because all my brain would do was take me back to that same voice demanding to look at her as her fingers were inside of me. Not really optimal lesson-following conditions.
Until at some point some guy asked her something about the famous love at first sight concept in Romeo and Juliet. I couldn't really gather what the question was and the beginning of the reply, but once I realized what she was talking about I started to listen.
"Hundreds, maybe thousands of people have discussed the love at first sight concept in this framework, so I'm not sure if I can give you a straight answer to that. It's difficult to agree on whether Romeo and Juliet's was true love, if it was even possible to fall in love in such a short amount of time. But what Shakespeare was trying to convey for sure was the almost instinctual feeling of knowing you definitely want someone to be part of your life, even after not knowing them for long, regardless of if it's true love or not. The sudden feeling of sadness linked to the possibility of that not happening. And the also sudden feeling of relief once it does happen, as you didn't even realize how much you needed them until then"
It took everything in me to not physically react to what she'd just said, struggling to maintain a composed expression.
"That makes sense, doesn't it?" she added, directly facing me for a few seconds as if I was the one who asked the question.
I faintly nodded, forgetting anyone else was in the room for a second.
"Maybe you can all look into it and we can discuss it in the next lesson" she said, taking me back to the reality of the classroom.
Trying to hide everything just led to my heart beating faster than it should have been, and my face feeling completely flushed. But hopefully Mei wouldn't notice.
"She sounds like she knows the feeling well" she whispered to me.
"Or maybe she just has a passion for Romeo and Juliet" I suggested, knowing I wouldn't even believe it if I was the one hearing what I said.
"I don't know. But whoever it is she's thinking about, they're lucky as hell"
"Yeah, the luckiest" I mumbled, still smiling to myself. I couldn't believe I was the person who led her to say those things in front of everyone.
And the secrecy of being the only one aware of it in that classroom gave me a sense of intimacy that made the situation feel even more special.
After that I just wanted to run to Sam immediately after the lesson, but I unfortunately had work. It was going to be my first shift with Maya since everything happened, and I felt slightly nervous about it, but I didn't want to bother Sam by bringing it up.
I knew it'd inevitably be awkward but I didn't know Maya well enough to imagine how she'd act.
"Hi Ellie" she said as she walked in the shop, weirdly on time. She didn't look pissed or annoyed or any other negative way.
"Hey" I awkwardly said. "How's it going?"
"All good. You?" she joined me behind the counter.
"I'm fine" I smiled lightly.
What felt like ages but was probably just a few minutes of silence passed as we got ready for the busy afternoon, a moment which usually involved some small-talk.
"I hate these stupid Valentine's day special drinks" she suddenly scoffed, pointing towards the menu resting on the surface. I couldn't understand if she was genuinely expressing hatred towards them or was implying something else.
"Barely anyone orders them anyway" I shrugged, really hoping I wouldn't say anything wrong.
"Well, if anyone orders one you're gonna be the one who makes it then" she jokingly raised her hands.
I couldn't really tell if pretending nothing had happened was her coping mechanism, or she really was totally unbothered by it. She did act less talkative than usual, but it wasn't as bad as I'd predicted in my head.
And also, all of the talk about those drinks led me to think about something that'd been in the back of my mind for a while. Valentine's day was coming up in a few days and I'd started to definitely overthink about it. I had no idea if Sam was the kind of the person who'd appreciate celebrating the occasion or didn't really care.
I wanted to buy her something for sure, but I didn't know what gift would be acceptable. And maybe going on a date would be nice, I'd received my first paycheck and had some money to do that, but I didn't know what kind of date would be adequate for the occasion.
In my previous relationship I'd always been the one to receive the gifts, even if I would have rather not because of how corny they'd always be, and never felt the need to do something for him.
Maybe, being older than me, Sam would find celebrating silly or childish. Or maybe she was expecting something.
As soon as I got home I texted Vic, because knowing me I just wouldn't stop thinking about it if I didn't talk to anyone.
you: i need help
vic<3: should i be worried
you: not really
you: i just realized i have no idea on what one should do for valentine's day because i never felt like celebrating our relationship with what's his face
vic<3: oh lmao
vic<3: is sam a romantic person?
you: yeah, i guess so. but like, maybe a 30 year old doesn't wanna celebrate valentine's day anymore???
vic<3: i'm sure she'd appreciate a small gesture, though
vic<3: maybe you could frame a picture of the two of you? you're good at doing creative stuff to make it look cute :') and get her some flowers too
you: that sounds appropriate. i like it
vic<3: you're welcomee lol
I hadn't even thought of a framed photo, but it really sounded like the perfect gift. Simple but meaningful, cute, and it would require me to use my creativity. While I knew I was going to have to hear from Vic again for the flowers, her being the plant and flower expert.
I'd already said that I sometimes felt like Sam could read my mind, but I started to be fully convinced about it that evening, as I went to her place.
"So, uhm, Valentine's day is in a few days..." she randomly said as we had dinner.
"Right" I casually said, as if I hadn't just spent hours thinking about it.
"It would be nice to have dinner somewhere. Maybe in the same place we had our first date in. But I know it's a weekday and we both have to get up early the next morning so if you don't want to it's-"
"Of course I do" I cut her off, placing my hand on hers. "I'd love that"
"Yeah?" she smiled, her tired looking eyes lighting up.
"Yeah" I also smiled, feeling slightly stupid at being paranoid about her not wanting to do anything special that day.
"Why do you look...relieved?" she gave me a confused look. I just wasn't good at hiding my emotions as much as I tried. Or she was just really good at reading them on my face.
"I'm- I just thought you'd find Valentine's day childish and worried about it a bit too much" I visibly blushed.
"I mean. I've already told you how you sometimes awaken my youthful side" she shrugged. "Please try not to stress about things like these, though"
I immediately wondered if that meant that she didn't celebrate it with Maya, which would have made what she'd said earlier at work make sense.
"I'll try" I giggled. "I just want to always do my best for you"
"Your company is more than enough" she squeezed my hand.