Muna
My eyes opened to an unfamiliar space, and I winced at the headache banging in my head. I was confused about many things. Many things like where I was, and why it smelt like a particular man in here.
As the events from last night slowly seeped into my mind, I jolted up the bed with my eyes darting to the corners of the room. I recounted from the time we arrived at the club to the part where... Nicklaus beat up a man who tried to harass me and that was when it dawned on me. I slept in Nicklaus' apartment.
Shit... I slept in Nicklaus' apartment! I'm in what looked like his bedroom, on his bed. And I was supposed to stay away from him. All I managed to remember was that after the little commotion, Nicklaus drove us home. Yeah, he did but then, what happened?
Not giving my brain enough time to process that, my gaze quickly went down to my outfit. I spent a night in the house of a man I barely knew, a man I loathed. But I was still in my outfit from last night, which meant only one thing, neither did Nicklaus change me into a new one nor did he do something weird to me. I gulped. Maybe he wasn't that bad after all, because if he was, he wouldn't save me from the weirdo that bumped into me last night. The weirdo that grabbed my ass, and had me feeling helpless and shitty.
My eyes moved across the room which looked quite similar to mine, the walls were coated with white paint, and the bed size was also similar to mine. I pulled the black thick blanket off me and pulled my still-tired feet to the ground. I tried to reach for my purse, wincing at the slight pain that flashed through my head. But before I could reach it, my eyes fell on the small framed picture sitting on the nightstand and instead of my purse, I reached for it.
The woman looked just like him, especially in the eyes. Her head was covered in a beanie hat, and her pale face was holding a wide smile. Nicklaus was leaning closer to her, smiling too, but it didn't reach his eyes. There was sadness in his brown eyes and they were both seated on a hospital bed. I felt a little ache in my heart, and before I knew it, my hand started caressing his face in the picture.
What the fuck was I doing?
A throat clearing came from the door causing me to jolt, the picture frame almost falling from my hand. I whipped my face in the direction it came, slowly placing the frame back on the nightstand.
There, Nicklaus was standing leaning to the door frame, with his arms folded across his broad bare chest, and below his folded arms was his ripped torso. A well-defined six-pack. I knew that beneath those shirts was a hot body, but I didn't expect him to be this hot. His hair was visibly wet with a few strands resting on his face, and the grey joggers he had on were hanging a little below exposing the tattoo drawn close to the right side of his hips. My eyes lingered on it as I stifled the urge to nibble on my lower lip. There was another one below the left collarbone, and I felt the urge to ask what they meant.
"Morning, Muna." He rasped, calling my attention back to his smirking face.
Flushed and embarrassed, I averted my gaze, and bit down my lower lip. He can't think I'm checking him out again, especially not in his apartment.
"When- how..." I paused and rose to my feet, deciding that asking the 'how did I get here question,' was stupid. "I- I was just looking for the bathroom," I said, my gaze walking his well-sculpted body that was in my face. A body my eyes had seemed to not know how to avoid.
"Door by the left," before he finished, my feet darted to where he pointed. My mind was clouded with the possible way I ended up in his bedroom, and the stupid things I might have done.
I needed to process what happened after we left the club, but the image of his bare-crafted body in my head was too stubborn to let me think. I went on with my business, hoping to get out of his apartment as fast as I could.
I walked back into his bedroom, and upon finding out Nicklaus wasn't there anymore. I felt a little relieved. I grabbed my purse from the nightstand, and my shoes off the floor. Quietly, I walked out, hoping to race back to my apartment once I was out of his.
I had never been drunk without doing at least one stupid thing, Maya even had to record some for evidence back home. I wouldn't want to face whatever it was I did, not with Nicklaus. I was going to race down to my apartment. But my little sneaky movement was cut short when another throat clearing filled the air. I whipped my face in its direction and found the now-clothed Nicklaus behind the kitchen Island, a smirk edging the corner of his lips.
God, why would a human being look so fine in this early hour of the morning?
"Hey," I smiled, my cheeks flushed at how embarrassed I was feeling.
Slowly, I swivelled my body. My nose welcomed the aroma that filled the space, and my stomach rumbled in hunger. Not knowing what next to do since I and Nicklaus were now staring at each other once again, I awkwardly walked towards his kitchen, pressing my lips together.
"Were you trying to sneak out just now?" He asked, dropping a cup of coffee on the island top, and my eyes darted around his messy kitchen. It was evident he barely cooked all his life.
I halted in front of the kitchen island, "What? No." I said, avoiding his gaze.
His Kitchen was just as large as mine, which I also hadn't used much since I moved in, but unlike mine, every damn cabinet in here was black.
"Good. Now, why don't you have coffee first." He said, pointing at the cup as he stared intently at me, I quietly sat on the stool, my mind clouded with the possible things that might have happened last night. Even though I did get messy when drunk, last night, my drinking wasn't even that bad or was it? "Do you feel good?" He asked, and I placed my palm on my forehead.
"A little headache but I will be fine," I said, my eyes helplessly falling on his lower body again. I hoped I wasn't making it obvious.
His lips perked up, "Are you checking me out again, Muna?" He leaned into the kitchen island top, his smirking face pulling closer to mine and my cheeks flushed at the closeness of our faces. I gulped before quickly taking a sip from the coffee but the hotness had me almost spitting it back out.
"Oh my God," I swallowed forcefully and Nicklaus's smirk grew wider, his eyes dancing between mine.
"Easy, Love. It's a hot coffee," He rasped and I swallowed. I was beginning to like that nickname, and it wasn't a good thing at all.
My eyes fell on the island's surface, and the redness at his right-hand knuckles reminded me of the events from last night. I focused my attention back on his face, feeling bad for trying to sneak out without saying a proper 'thank you' to him.
"Does it hurt?" I asked, pointing at his knuckles, and he darted his gaze down and back to me.
"Nah, so you remembered?" He asked and I nodded curtly.
"Thank you for helping me last night," I said, wondering how I went from disliking him to thanking him. It was all thanks to the drunk fuck that harassed me.
He nodded, "As long as you don't hate me anymore, or what do you like to call it? Dislike?" He asked as if he could read my mind and I stared him in the eyes for some seconds, a little bit distracted by how hot he was. No, a big bit. "Can I now smile at you like we are friends?" He asked, and I rolled my eyes, my lips spreading out in a small smile.
Not that I had any other choice, "I mean you have to, first of all, apologize for being rude at the gym." I said, raising the cup to my mouth, I blew on it for a little time before taking a long sip.
"Of course, even though you kissed me without my consent last night." And that was all it took for me to have coffee flying out of my mouth and staining all over the place, except his face because he dodged it.
What the hell! This is why you should stop drinking girl. My inner voice yelled.
"What?" I slammed the cup on the kitchen island top with my eyes widening in shock.
Nicklaus instead ignored me, smiling as he turned to the frying pan sitting on the stove, "I made us breakfast." He said, dishing pancakes into two plates.
He added some strawberries and then placed a plate of three pieces of dry-looking, slightly burned pancakes in front of me and the other, in front of the vacant seat beside me. If it wasn't because of what he just said, I would have maybe questioned his cooking skills, but how would I when he just revealed that I kissed him last night?
"Nicklaus," I called out to him. He paused and gave me a quick stare before rounding the kitchen island, and I turned in my seat. He halted behind the long seat beside me and sat on it. He was seated facing me, his one leg between mine and my one leg between his.
Why the fuck was he comfortable like we were besties?
He gazed into my eyes, "I have always wanted to apologize-"
"Wait, Nicklaus-"
"Muna," he called out to me, and a sigh escaped me. I rested my gaze fully on him, the intensity of his brown eye distributing chills to my body. I felt his hand on my kneecap and jerked, feeling tingles settle all through my body.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, taking his hand off me and I nodded. "I am also sorry for what happened at the gym, it was stupid of me to call you dumb because clearly, you are not." He said, and I nodded agreeing with him. "That person isn't who I am, I was only having a bad morning and I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. I don't want you to hate or dislike me, whichever one you like to call it." He paused, and I smiled at his last words. "I hope we get along well and be friends now."
If he hadn't said that I kissed him, I would have maybe had a lot to say but right now, I was not only processing his apology but also, I was trying to remember what happened last night. The memory piece was difficult to put together right now, and I was curious to know more.
"It's okay, I have moved past that especially since you helped me last night."
"Good, the food is gonna get cold," he said, grabbing the fork from his plate and I mirrored.
I cut from the pancake and placed it into my mouth and surprisingly it tasted good, better than what it looked like. "Thanks for the food," I said and he nodded. "Can you tell me what exactly happened last night? I mean after we got home, how I ended up in your apartment and..." I shrugged, "Ki- kissed you." Saying that had me feeling like a weirdo, and I felt worse when my gaze dropped to his lips. Maybe I was weird because I felt bad for kissing those lips and not remembering. Gosh, what had gotten over me?
He smiled, chewing on his food, and after he swallowed he dropped the fork on his plate and said, "After we got to the apartment, you wouldn't wake up and when I tried to get your purse, you held it to yourself and wouldn't let me touch it so I decided to bring you here." He glanced around his apartment. "Then after I put you to bed, you held onto me and then, called me Carl, said you missed him but realized I wasn't Carl and then kissed me." He shrugged like everything he said wasn't an abnormal thing to do.
I gasped, feeling flustered all over again. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry about that."
And why the fuck did I call him Carl? Thinking about Carl while drunk made me almost want to throw up again. Wait, did I throw up on him last night? It was better not to ask.
"I'm not in any way offended," he smirked.
Why wasn't he offended?
"You were drunk so..." He shrugged.
Wait... could he read minds?
"I'm not always like this-" My ringtone filled the air interrupting me, and I reached for my purse.
Whipping out my phone, my eyes darted to my phone screen, "it's Andrew." I glanced between my phone and Nicklaus, whose brows were now slightly furrowed.
"Put the call on speaker."
I was taken aback by his tone which changed to something a little cold, but I went ahead and did as he said. Maybe it was because I kissed him without his consent, I didn't have it in me to argue with him or maybe I didn't want to get sued. What happened last night might be ruled as sexual harassment, and being drunk might not save me.
"Hey Muna," Andrew's voice seeped through the speaker filling the space.
"Hey," I remembered I didn't even pay nor did I know how he got home.
"Gosh Muna I was worried about you, thankfully Nicklaus said you were fine."
"I am and what about you?" I glanced up at Nicklaus, who now had a soft scowl on his face.
"I am okay," he said, and the sound of toilet flushing filled the speaker. "Muna let me buy you lunch as an apology for last night."
"Last night?" I questioned, confused at what he meant. "What happened last night?"
"I wasn't careful with you and Nicklaus was-" Nicklaus cleared his throat, rising to his feet and Andrew paused. "Wait, are you with someone?"
Before I could reply, "Yes and Muna isn't having lunch with you." Nicklaus said, and lines grew between my brows.
"Why would you speak on my behalf?" I asked, glancing at him.
"Wait... Muna you slept over at Nicklaus's?" Andrew's voice came on again, asking.
"Send me the time and location," I said instead, avoiding his question and Nicklaus, who was now standing at the sink gazed intently at me.
"Okay, I will," Andrew said and the call ended.
I went through my phone, which had lots of notifications from the pictures I posted on Instagram yesterday. A smile dawned on my face as I read some of them, but I wasn't ready to get soaked in by social media right now. Especially not when I was thinking about how I managed not to pay my share of the bill at the club last night, and also ended up kissing the man I disliked.
"We are going together..." Nicklaus said, drawing my attention to him. "...for lunch," he nodded at my phone. I couldn't help but wonder why he was acting weird earlier.
I hummed, glancing down at my phone. Of course, it was his friend inviting me so every one of them would be there. "But why were you acting that way earlier? Did something happen at the club? Did Andrew piss you off?" I asked.
"He did but I have other reasons."
"Okay," I said, eyes still on my phone and after some seconds of no further reply from him, I decided not to push it but then he spoke up again.
"I don't wanna share you with my friends, Muna." His words filled the air and I snapped my face up to him. Maybe I didn't hear correctly because he was staring at me like he didn't just say something weird. "Finish your breakfast." He nodded at the plate and my gaze slowly lowered to it.
On placing another fork-full of pancake into my mouth, a text dinged into my phone distracting me from the thought of what Nicklaus just said. My eyes fell on the text box and I clicked on it, but upon reading through the text, I felt a sting of pain in my heart. What in the hell was Carl doing?
Satan- Hey Muna, It's me, Carl.
I miss you, baby.
We need to talk.
And don't block me.
Those few lines of his were all it took for the pang I had put to sleep to awaken in my heart. Baby? I breathed deeply, rereading the text carefully making sure it was real. Did I drunkenly evoke Carl back into my life? What was he doing?
"Are you okay?" I didn't know when Nicklaus got beside me, but I saw myself quickly locking my phone and placing it on the island top.
"Yes," I managed to say, smiling and he stared down at me, a serious expression etching his face as he studied mine.
I struggled to fight back tears threatening to fill my eyes as the thought of the day I walked in on Carl cheating on me flooded my mind. I hated this feeling and no, I wasn't okay now.
"Give me your phone," Nicklaus said and I blinked at him.
"What?"
"Give me your phone," he repeated, having his hand out this time.
"Why?" I pouted, pushing the thought of Carl to the back of my mind, or wait, did Nicklaus see through me? I wouldn't let Carl spoil my mood for the day, I would never give him that power over me again.
"I still don't have your number, Love or you still don't want me to have it?" He slurred and the deep tone that weighed on his voice was all I needed to reach for my phone from the island top.
"Here," I managed to smile, handing him my phone.
It's Christmas tomorrow guys, Merry Christmas to all of us.
Please don't forget to hit the star button.