Rm was nervous , which was stupid he told himself considering how he made his living , but there you have it ,he thought " I'm actually nervous to be alone with a pint sized women who barely came up to his chest.!
All he had to do today was be friendly but not too friendly , stay away from alchohol , make sure no contact was made not even hand shaking and he should be fine.
Rm gave a rueful sigh and wondered if he'd be able to keep to his resolve. It seemed every time he looked into her piercing blue eyes his heart , mind and body decided to do what ever the hell they wanted .
Taking one last look in the mirror he decided he'd do. His black hair styled neatly , he was wearing a black cord jacket over a cream turtle neck top, dark blue fitted Jeans. Casual but not messy he thought.
He grabbed his cap , sunglasses and face mask and left his room...shouting out in the general direction of the other members rooms 'I'm off ' he pressed the button on the lift that would take him down to street level.
Originally he'd planned to cycle to Rose's studio but the weather had turned really cold and he didn't want another accident so he'd called for a car and driver .
The journey didn't take too long and during that time Rm had not only struggled with the butterflies in his tummy but also the decision as to wether he should bring something like flowers or chocolates , or arrive empty handed. In Korean culture it was very rare to arrive any where empty handed but this wasn't someone's house , or a hospital so what was the right protocol..then with only a few minutes until he would arrive inspiration hit ..tea leaves ..he quickly googled tea emporiums near me and found one not too far away. He asked the driver to make a quick detour .
Package bought with out any problems Rm jumped back in the car looking at his watch..shit I'm cutting it close he thought , but still he felt better now . He looked down and the brown paper bag containing tea leaves and smiled to himself.
The driver brought the car to a stop and for a moment Rm felt frozen , then years of training had him plastering on a smile , nerves hidden away and his legs moving. Just before he shut the door he thanked the driver then stood up and looked towards the studio just as Rose opened the door.
Rms breath literally caught in his throat and the words ' I can't do this " crossed his mind ' she was ever more gorgeous if possible , her curls framed her delicate face , her curves accentuated by the tight fitted top..After several attempts Rm finally managed to swallow , smile and walk forward to give a little bow.
Rose smiled and said hello a little shyly and invited him in. Rm followed her into her waiting area and as before admired the many tea sets adorning the wall.
" they really are all so very beautiful " he said , his voice full of genuine admiration , " they must have taken you a very long time to do "
Rose nodded " If you look closely you'd notice the difference between my earlier works and most recent, " she walked over to the first tea set on the very first shelf and gently lifted one of the two little bowls down. She turned to him holding the cup gently on the palm of her hand." This was the first complete tea set I made , back in college at home. " she said and offered for Rm to take it . Gently he took it and admired the small bowl. It was a dark glazed brown with a white mottled effect on it.
" Its beautiful " he said.
Rose reached up and turned it over, " I see all the imperfections, how the glaze has slipped in places , how the bowls are not completely identical but I love this little set so when I came here to study I brought it with me , several of the others I made whilst at uni. "
She gently placed the little bowl back on its spot and continued " at first business wasn't very good for me so I had a lot of time on my hands , I thought get some stock behind me and maybe sell online, but " she smiled and paused for a moment , Rm waited patiently thinking how beautiful her accent was and how he could listen to it for ever " but long story short some one big bought one of my sets and posted about it and before I knew it I was some what well known for high class quality bespoke tea sets " she chuckled a little, " Being bespoke meant one of a kind so I sort of couldn't sell the stock I had as I was making on demand. When I bought this studio these shelves were already here so I decided to display them , over the last couple of years ,I've managed to fill the rest up in between commissioned works. "
Rm was impressed , with more than just Rose's looks , she was articulate , passionate , and seeing how she had forgiven him ..kind also obviously hard working .Before he could say anything Rose interrupted his thoughts with , " I'm so sorry I've been rambling , come " she indicated towards the low table and floor cushions , " let's talk about you ", she smiled and sat down gracefully on one of the cushions, Rm followed and sat down opposite her , he was looking in her eyes when he noticed she looked down at the bag in his hand " you've brought tea ?" she asked with exciment and held out her hand. Rm placed the bag down and as his hand touched hers static electric shot between them .
Rm snatched his hand back a little too quickly but thankfully Rose hadn't notice and just kept smiling enthusiastically..
"Its Boseong sejak nokcha tea " Rm said and smiled at Rose , " I didn't want to come empty handed " he admitted .. Rose opened the bag to smell it. She closed her eyes as if to savour the smell better .
"Thank you " she said ..Rm couldn't speak ..turned out when Rose was really concentrating she gently worried her bottom lip with her teeth..Rms resolve was slowly crumbling , his body was reacting to her lips , this close to her he could smell the faint scent of lavender off her , he wanted to run his fingers through her hair and pull her towards him. All he could think about was kissing her ..
Rose saw the hunger in his eyes and her heart did a double flip.