Averista was the center of my vision.
The treasure that I longed to capture with my eyes and now, I finally did. God, was she a stunning sight to see. The apple to my eye.
I didn't even need to to be told who she was the moment I saw her. The wildflower haze drifted around her as prominent as ever and all I wanted to do was bathe in it. I wanted to get wrapped and lost in her arms for the rest of my life.
But I couldn't. Not after everything.
So I simply carried on with my activities and wondered if she had read my poetry books. If she felt the silent messages I tried to send between the lines. Words of how much I craved the touch of her fingers.
But I guess not, because now I was about to write about how terrible it felt standing up on the stage and witnessing other women throw themselves all over her and cling onto her sleeves like they could sell their souls for the gorgon's attention. Watching that was pure torture and it took everything in me not to grab the damn microphone and tell every single bitch that Averista Msafiri was mine and out of bounds. That no one was allowed to breathe anywhere near her or else, hell forbid, I might kill somebody. But again, I couldn't.
Instead, I admired the way Averista's hair was pulled up in a tight bun, a fancy undercut on the back of her head. She wore a white collared shirt with a suit jacket over it, and a tie that reached her belt. One hand tucked in the pocket of her pants, the other holding a glass of wine while she laughed, full porcelain teeth, at something in the conversation she was having with some random ass girl I had never seen before.
Who was she and why were they standing so close?
I had a hard time trying to remind myself that I had no right to think of Averista as mine anymore. I wasn't good for her.
But–
'Always been a fan of your poetry.'
Out of Averista's casual statement birthed a beautiful image in my head of her soaking herself naked in a bathtub while drinking wine and reading my poetry. Now all I wanted to do was kiss the damn stoicness off her face. Me and my fantasies against the world.
If only Averista knew who I got these eyes for. If only she knew how wary my heart was getting from holding back from her. I would trade my soul this time, to get her hands back all over me.
Despite her naysaying inclinations in our forced conversation and a muddled Mr. Tritone thrown into the mix, I was sure I wasn't the only one driven to the edge at our brief bittersweet hand shake. I hoped she could feel the yearning and desperation underneath my body. I needed her to give me something. Anything. And I wasn't going to give up on her because in her eyes, it was crystal clear she would rip my dress off if I dared give her the smallest chance to.
But for now, I had to keep my feelings from the ceiling and hold myself in check for the sake of my book launch event.
'Averista would come around eventually.' Mother had assured me beforehand.
But would she?
Averista seemed hellbent on dragging this on and pretending like she didn't need me in her life anymore. Perhaps she didn't. But did she want me? That I was sure of. Her energy spoke louder than her words. So I shrugged off her new grumpy personality and asked her to have a drink with me.
Just a glass of wine. That's all I wanted.
But I guess that was too much to ask. I mean, she had been avoiding me the whole event.
I didn't give a damn what Mr. Tritone thought when I scuttled after Professor Msafiri. I simply went for the woman while her pace fastened, like she knew someone was following her even though she neither turned around nor did I call out her name.
A silent hunt. One that made me wonder if all our memories haunted her dead, the way they did me.
The follow-after-her thing ended up getting longer than I expected.
Where was this gentlelady heading to? She had completely lost me in the numberless turns she took in the labyrinth of corridors. Why was this place so big, anyway? It felt like the architecturer meant to create some sort of doom in which the end of the tunnel could most probably be inside the mouth of a freaking serpent. Unfortunately for them, serpents adored me.
Averista made way to a deserted passageway, and then disappeared into a room.
I followed suit, down the dark lit corridor. Glad that the door of the room she walked into was open, I stepped right in.
Only to be caught by my waist and backed against a wall. I gasped, taken by surprise but cut short when Averista slammed her lips against mine, kissing me the way I fantasized she would.
She put all her life into it and I pulled her as close as I could even though she left no distance between us. I repaid every advance, deeper and harder, doubling every movement of her tongue in my throat.
"Who was that girl you were with? Is she your girlfriend?" I asked when she let us breathe, though nervous at the answer she might give me.
Averista smirked.
"Why? Are you jealous, Phoebe?"
"No." I lied, a grimace on my face while Averista chuckled that chuckle.
That fucking chuckle that made my knees weak. And here I thought my feelings would dissipate after the time we spent apart.
Wasn't I the one who was forcing herself to move on? Yet here I was, desperate for her attention and pissed at the sight of her with another woman.
"She's nothing. No need to be jealous." Averista pecked the tip of my nose and the blood rushed to my cheeks.
"Did you give up on finding that cure?" I changed the subject when all I wanted to do was break out, tell her how the ghost of her touches haunted me in my dreams every night, and have her on her knees for me like how it was meant to be.
"No." She sighed, creating a distance between us. "I figured I didn't need it anymore. Just to keep you away from me."
Half lie, half truth.
This was woman was going to be the death of me.
"You might not have found your cure, Averista. But . . . I want you to know that you've cured me in every way."
Averista gave me 'How?' expression, so I explained.
"I didn't feel the need to see until I met you . . . I wanted to see you so bad, I sacrificed everything for it. I sacrificed you. I–"
Averista cut me off by holding me back against the wall again, kissing me harder. In which, I immediately reciprocated, unraveling the anticipation I had been burying from the moment I saw her.
Her hands lifted me by my thighs and carried me up. I didn't care what she was about to do to me.
Then my back hit a soft surface and I realized she had put me on a bed. Averista towered over me and I caught her lips before they caught mine.
"How did it feel like to see again, Phoebe?" She asked out of nowhere, halting the moment.
"Not worth it." I trailed my hands over her chest. "Until I saw you."
She smiled at that, making me notice the smudge of my lipstick on her mouth.
She kept her hands on each side of me and studied my eyes intensely, as if she couldn't believe that I wasn't blind anymore.
I reached to touch her face, ogling her more than I should because I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that I landed this whole package of a person and made her mine.
"Phoebe?" Averista called me out of my daze and her expression made me wonder what the hell was wrong. "You're crying . . ."
She wiped my cheek with her thumb, and that's when I felt the wetness on my skin.
Shit.
"I'm sorry." I finally let out.
"I know you are." Averista formed a sad smile. "I could taste it on your tongue."
It all felt extremely intimate, cutting myself open and admitting about what a fragile person I was. I was sorry . . . for everything.
I pulled Averista back into another kiss, one that I didn't want to break as I wrapped my legs around her. She got the message, devouring me in every way while her hands raked the skin on my thighs.
"You were right," She let out a whisper when once her lips left mine and attacked my collarbones, pulling down the scooped neck of my dress to reveal my naked half which was dying for her attention. "I should've listened to you when you told me you were dangerous for me."
"Likewise. I should've listened when you said you were dangerous for me too."
I pushed the suit jacket off of her, dropping it to the floor. Averista took her time to unloosen her tie, enjoying all the shudders I was having when she hadn't even properly touched me.
My fingers fumbled with the buttons on her shirt after she threw the tie away.
I pulled her back onto me once her shirt was discarded, and we furiously ravished each other's mouths. Averista's hands disappeared underneath the hem of my dress, and I released a whimper when her cold fingers touched my bare skin.
"I love you, wildflowers."
"I love you more, blonde queen."
--------------------------------------------------------
If you read this far, BLESS YOU!
Plus, in case you can't find any of my old stories, I deleted them (Had to put trash where it belonged and make room for greater things=)
Thanks for reading❤️