She knew she loved him when 'home' from being a place, became a person.
-E. Leventhal
Leah's Pov:
"It's rainy heavily isn't it?" I say, hearing the raindrops pelt loudly on the steel roof above our heads. In the news, they did mention that for a few days there would be heavy downpour. A weather man is always right, so I was a bit thankful to have an umbrella in my purse.
It's been a few weeks since I first met him. Slowly I've begun to enjoy his company, even though he isn't much of a conversationalist, he has been improving a lot.
As a bolt of lightning strikes, I jump from my seat making Ryan chuckle. "Are you scared of thunder?" he asks, failing to suppress his laughter as he looks at my terrified face.
I hear the booming of thunder again, this time it's louder and clear like a whip. I secretly scoot my chair closer to his, to feel safe and do it softly, hoping that he wouldn't notice but he does clears his throat. He was clearly waiting for my reply. I squeeze my eyes shut and grip his shirt for comfort.
"Yes," I mutter in softly.
"I'll drop you home then," he calmly says, making me feel relieved.
He takes my hand and places my stick in it and we walk out the front door but as I hear the pouring rain, I shrink away in fear. "Hold my hand, I won't let anything happen to you, don't worry," he reassures me as he places his hand over mine. The mere gesture makes me feel tingles all over and as we walk, every step I take with my hand in his just quickens my heart beat.
Am I falling for him?
It's cold outside since it was pouring heavily just minutes ago and it's only drizzling now, yet he holds an umbrella over my head as we walk as I tell him the directions to my house. We don't talk much. Usually I'm the one who starts the conversations, but now I'm feeling a bit nervous. Why do I feel so shy and embarrassed all of a sudden?
"A left here?" his voice interrupts my thoughts as he leans in, his breath fanning over my face as I jump in shock.
"Yes! I'll go home now. It's very dangerous for a guy like you to drop me off home. You can leave now," I blabber as I slowly let go of his large rough calloused hands and start walking with a fast pace, feeling my heart beat erratically in my chest.
"Watch out!" he yells suddenly and I feel myself falling.
A puddle.
How foolish of me, I should have been more careful. I close my eyes and wait to hit the ground but feel a firm pair of arms snake around my waist instead and hold me steadily. As I place pressure on the leg I suck in a breath and wince as my ankle twists. "Does it hurt?" he asks me gently.
I then feel his hands on my feet. "It's swollen," he states.
"I'm guessing you sprained it. You should have been more careful," Ryan gently chides.
"I'm sorry," I mutter, bending my head low.
"Hop on."
"Excuse me?" I ask, confused.
"Hop onto my back," he repeats.
"What?!" my voice cracks and my lips go dry at the very thought of my body pressed against his.
"I'll carry you. Anyway, it's just a ten minute walk from here," he explains, pulling me towards him and guiding my arms around his shoulders and grips my thighs firmly on either side of his body. I nearly faint of embarrassment as my chest presses firmly against his hard-broad back.
I'm really falling for him, more and more....
Ryan isn't the type of person to swear, at least he doesn't when he's with me. "What. The. Fuck?" his cuss makes me giggle as I imagine his astonished face as he gapes at the stairs in front of him
"Who the hell invented such a thing as stairs? How do you climb these stairs?" he asks, holding the rickety wooden railing with one hand and my thigh with the other as my grip around his neck tightens.
"I'm sorry, the apartment is cheap because no one liked climbing these endless stairs," I softly mutter as he grunts with every step he takes.
He must have thought that he was such a gentleman, because when I tried to slide down his back, his grip on me tightened. "It's difficult for you, I weigh a ton."
"You are as light as a feather Leah. Don't worry, I won't let you fall. Ever."
His words make me smile against his shoulders, because now I know that in case I fall, there is someone there to catch me now.
As we reach my door, I hand him the key and he lets himself in and places me gingerly on the couch, "Where is your first aid kit?" he asks.
I can imagine him inspecting my room, wondering why it feels so dark and cold. "In the kitchen, top shelf," I finally say.
He returns quickly and holds my foot lightly before applying a pain relieving spray and wrapping my ankle in a tight bandage. "Don't apply pressure on that foot and place a hot compress on it every night before you go to bed."
His motherly advice makes me smile. "Wow, it seems like you've had quite an experience with bandages," I joke.
He turned quiet. "More often than I wanted to," he mutters softly, making me more curious to know him better.
***
Ryan was sweet to take me home. Although he acted like I was light and easy to carry, I knew that he was tired lugging me up to my house. I feel that the stairs were a form of exercise for me to keep in shape ever since I stopped dancing. Though it takes me a long time to walk up and down the, it's worth it.
As I stand watering the flowers in the nursery, I think of ways to repay him for his kindness. No guy would take so much of trouble to carry a girl on his shoulders and walk up a flight of stairs, would they?
"Leah."
"Yes, Mrs Brown?" I answer the kind old lady who gave me the job.
"I have some tickets to a fair, my son bought them but he won't be able to go and the fair ends in two days. My youthful days have long gone, but yours hasn't. Take perhaps a young man with you. I remember the times my husband who sneak in a kiss when we stood by the merry go round! So much can happen over a floss of candy dear," I feel her hands shiver while placing two firm pieces of paper in mine.
I blush and shake my head. "I have no one to invite, and especially not a man," I lie, when in fact a certain person's name pops in my mind when she mentioned it. How could I invite him? Would he be willing to come with me?
****
As I lift my hand to knock, I sense the door open so I let myself in. "Ryan?" Sounding unsure of myself, I call into the silent room. Maybe he went out. I turn around and bump into a wall that reaches out and steadies me.
"Leah?" I have lost count of the number of times he has caught me from falling. He must think I'm such a klutz.
I clear my throat uncomfortably due to the lack of space between us. I lift my chin to look at the black blur that I imagine is his head. "I have free tickets to the fair and I don't have anyone to go with so would you like to come?" I finally ask, feeling a little surprised at myself for sounding so calm.
No, I wouldn't want to ask anyone else.
There was a long pause. "Sure," he finally says making my heart soar.
"I'll pick you up from your place."
***
As I enter the parlour, a faint smell of incense hits my nose. "May I help you?" asks a women with a slight Asian accent. I've crossed Liu's Beauty parlour multiple times on various occasions but never had a reason to go in, until today.
" Yes, I would like a haircut," I reply. I think by now she must have realized that I am blind, because her voice becomes an octave lower.
"Follow me dear," she whispers, taking my hand gently in hers and leading me to a room.
"You should take care of yourself more. You are very beautiful," she comments as she tuts sadly as she examines the state of my limp hair.
I hear the sharp and precise snip of the scissors as my hair gently falls to the floor," So who is the lucky guy?" she asks as she continues to comb through my hair and continue cutting the split ends of my damaged hair.
I fail to hide my shock at her sudden question. "Because you are glowing dear," she continues.
"When people fall in love, they have a glow on their face. We all need to be loved and you, my little Értóng, deserve every bit of it."
I feel a tear slide down my cheek. After all I've done, I doubt I deserve to be happy.