CHAPTER SEVEN:
Sergio's POV:
After the engagement party I received quite a few texts from Iris explaining to me that she was caught off guard and that what almost happened never should have. I found it all pretty funny seeing as I had her all set to fuck me. I was never going to, I just had to know if she was at least considering it as an option.
Like I've said a thousand times, I am not a homewrecker, but that doesn't mean I can't show Iris what she's missing out on. Teasing and flirting was never off the table for me. Besides, when I tried to be as nice as possible all she could do was accuse me of sleeping with her, so I thought, why not step it up a little. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, especially when it comes to this.
If it wasn't obvious already, Iker chose me as his best man for the wedding, and no surprise here, Iris is the maid of honor for Lia. I found it all to be a little too coincidental but I wasn't going to say anything. According to Lia, Iris and I had to coordinate and get things planned for the wedding. Basically it meant Iris and I had to sit around making calls and, in my case, using my fame to get them everything Iker and Lia wanted for their perfect wedding.
Lia also gave Iris a lot of creative liberties for the interior design of the wedding. It made sense I guess, she was a designer after all. Lia also told me I could help, I guess I was supposed to be Iker's voice in the whole decorating process. So besides making calls, Iris and I had to visit different stores and work together on some designs.
Iris actually invited me to her work space in the city every few nights so we could work on stuff, after all the wedding, at this point, was a little more than three months away and there was still so much to do. So that's how I found myself heading into downtown Madrid with take out dinner in my passenger seat.
I had really gotten close with Iris in these last few weeks, friendship wise anyways. As far as she was concerned, the engagement party never happened, and I didn't bother pressing it too much. I parked underneath the building and made my way to the twenty third floor. The elevator shot up and when the door opened the office was quiet.
"Iris?" I shouted to the large, dark floor, cautiously glancing around as I stepped off the elevator.
"Down here!" A voice shouted and I followed the voice to a better-lit part of the office, take out still in my hands.
"Hey, I brought us some dinner. I hope Japanese is okay, I still have to watch what I'm eating." I smiled at her and set the bag on the table.
Iris smiled at me and brushed some hair from her face, "That's perfect, I love sushi. Why don't we eat first and then I can show you what I've been working on." She said before rifling through the bag of food.
I sat down at a large design table close to Iris as we shared some sushi. I'm glad it worked out that way, I would've felt bad if she didn't like what I brought.
"So I saw you in the papers today." Iris broke out comfortable silence, wiping her mouth.
"Oh yeah? What'd they say now?" I couldn't help the playful smile that crept onto my face. "I thought I was being good this week." I laughed and so did Iris.
"It wasn't anything bad." She trailed off for a second and picked at some of her food. My full attention was on her now. "Uh, just what caught my attention was what you were wearing." Iris looked back up at me.
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, curious about where this was going, however I had a feeling I knew.
"Yeah, I didn't know you bought something from my collection. It means a lot." She gave me a small smile and laid her hand on mine, rubbing it slightly.
"Of course, I thought that shirt was so cool, I had to have it." I smiled. "I'm glad I bought it when I did. I told you that collection would go fast." I winked at her and she blushed a little.
I just couldn't help myself from supporting her. She had designed this button up short sleeve that incorporated masterpieces from the Museo del Prado.
"You really thought it was cool?" Iris looked at me hopefully.
"Absolutely, the whole collection was fantastic, but that shirt, come on it was totally something I would wear!" I answered enthusiastically.
"It really means a lot that you did that, and to wear it out where paparazzi would take photos, you really didn't have to." She looked down again before reaching for another roll to eat.
"People have to see the amazing work you're doing, and if me wearing it in public gets you that attention, then that's great. I just bought it because I liked it." I shrugged. "And I wanted to support you."
"Well thank you." She wiped her mouth again and set her chopsticks down. "Now let me show you what I've designed for the tables." Iris stood up and grabbed some sketches.
***
"You really think it's good?" Iris asked me as I leaned over the design table next to her. I looked down at her and smiled gently. We had accomplished what we were trying to for the night and she wanted to show me some new designs she had come up with for a new line.
"Absolutely." I answered easily. "I'm surprised Carolina Herrera hasn't recruited you yet. You have an eye for fashion and it shows." I could see her eyes sparkle at my response. "It's what you were meant to do." I said softly and reached over to take her hand.
Iris didn't pull her hand back like I had expected, in fact she didn't even flinch. My thumb gently rubbed against the back side of her hand as it rested on the table. Iris and I maintained eye contact for a few moments before she looked down.
"Uh, god what am I doing?" She whispered to herself and backed away slightly, letting my hand go.
I frowned and looked at her, "what do you mean?" I stepped closer but she put a hand up.
"Just stop." She stated and looked back up at me. I was beyond confused at this point and I think she realized it.
"Stop what?" I asked.
"Stop doing this." Iris hastily gestured to me. "All this." She added, getting a little louder.
"Iris, I really don't know what you're on about." I stepped closer again, and this time she didn't back up.
"Stop being so nice to me. You come around and you dress nice, and you smell nice, and you just you're so nice to me and I don't get it. It's messing with my head." She explained and I could only stare, my face scrunching slightly in confusion and frustration.
"Iris I-" I tried but she cut me off, putting a hand up between us.
"No Sergio, I know what you're doing. I have a boyfriend and I can't just leave him." Iris interrupted
"Hey whoa, I didn't say anything about that." I put my hands up to portray my innocence.
"You keep showing up in my life, and treating me like I'm the greatest girl you've ever met and it's fucking with my head!" She yelled back at me.
"I show up because we have the same best friends Iris, and so what if I like spending time with you? Is that a crime?" I said in a calmer tone, hoping to settle her down.
"Well- no, it isn't but- but it's making me think about things. I mean shit Sergio I was ready to fuck you in Iker's bathroom a month ago, and we're supposed to act like we're just friends and everything is fine?" Iris looked at me, hoping I had a magic answer. "That's exactly what you were going for weren't you? You wanted to tease me like that, you enjoy having power over women, or is it just me?" She asked.
I was silent for a few moments, thinking. Was this really happening? "I just wanted to see what would happen, you really pissed me off when you assumed we hooked up and in reality all I did was stay up half the night making sure you didn't choke on your own vomit! So maybe I just wanted to get back at you." I answered, starting to get upset with the situation.
"And I apologized! Christ, Sergio you've got this whole nice guy act down to a science, pretending to care about my job and my interests. You want to convince me you're the best thing for me so that you can get in my pants and put another notch in your bedpost and then oh yeah, act like nothing happened!" Iris was getting so worked up and all from me grabbing her hand. Sure I was coming onto her a little bit, but I didn't think this would happen. She seemed genuinely upset.
"Sergio I'm just confused, I never know what the truth is with you and how you act because it's different every fucking time I see you." She added, this time in a softer tone.
I stared at her hard for a few moments, "The truth, Iris? That's what you want?" I asked in a very calm, but calculated tone. She nodded and I took a deep breath.
"I treat you like you're the greatest girl I've ever met because that's what I see when I look at you. Watching you work, hearing you talk in detail about your passions and your life is something I've come to really enjoy. I can't help my feelings Iris. I know you have a boyfriend, why do you think I've been trying to be so nice? Maybe then I can cope with it, because lord knows if anything sexual happened you'd go crying and running back to him. You'd be forever convinced that I'm the man everyone says I am. I want to give you the world and I can't and I'm trying my hardest to deal with that. Can you really fault me for testing the waters once in a while?" I looked intently at Iris, neither of us breaking eye contact.
"If it isn't obvious, I want you Iris, I want you bad; but I can't have you and it sucks." I couldn't bring myself to tell her the whole truth; that I'd fallen for her quite a bit. That I thought about her every day and missed her on days when we didn't get together to plan this wedding.
I wanted to show her how a real man would treat her, in bed, on a date, in life. She deserved someone who valued her career and her personality, her fervor for life. There was no way she was satisfied by Joey in all those categories.
I just wanted her to choose me.
***
Iris's POV:
"You can't wait around for me Sergio. I don't know how long it'll be." I said softly, still maintaining our eye contact. I suppose it was my fault we were in this situation, seeing as I freaked when he touched my hand. The way I see it though, this conversation was inevitable and at least here in my office it was just us, no interuptions.
"It's fine, I'll wait." He responded without missing a beat, taking a step closer to me.
"I already told you, it could be long time, if it ever happens." I looked away, folding my arms.
"I'm not busy with anyone else, right now I can wait as long as it takes." Sergio answered coolly, like he had thought about this conversation many times.
"But what if one day you don't want to wait, then what?" I looked back at him. He smiled softly and licked his lips before answering.
"Then I move on." He shrugged, stating it as if it all were that simple. "But I don't think I'll have to wait that long." He added and I narrowed my gaze at him.
"And why is that?" I asked him, realizing how close together we were now and gulping slightly. He always smelled so good, and right now was no exception.
"Because." He stated before moving down to my level. I found myself following his movements and closing the gap between us, left without a complete answer to my question.
I wasn't sure if he was attempting to tease me again, but as I saw him close his eyes, realized he wasn't. I didn't bother fighting him on this, what was the harm in a kiss anyways?
Our lips met and I swear I felt a spark. His were soft, although with a self-care routine like his, I don't know why I expected anything different. Sergio was delicate with his movements and something about the situation felt familiar. My thoughts led me to believe that this was how our kiss went at his house. I couldn't remember exactly, but something told me we did not kiss torridly that evening.
I unfolded my arms from across my chest and wrapped them around his neck. I felt his grab my waist and pull me closer. Sergio exhaled heavily before deepening the kiss, his tongue teasing my lips slightly. One of his hands moved up to cup my jaw and cheek while the other arm wrapped itself around me, keeping me in his grip. The way he kissed me told me what he said, he really meant. It wasn't rough, rather it was forceful, with some intensity.
Sergio, I had come to notice had a certain aura of passion that surrounded him, must be his Spanish roots. That passion manifested itself in much of what he did, and here was no exception to that. To be kissed by someone with that kind of desire and fire inside of them was an experience I had not felt in quite a long time, maybe not ever. After growing weak from his teasing I obliged and cautiously parted my lips, my tongue hesitantly reaching out to meet his.
What surprised me the most about this whole situation was that Sergio seemed satisfied enough with just a kiss, albeit a very heated one. I was expecting him to press me more, to feel his fingers fiddle with my belt. It was a pleasant change of pace to kiss someone who took pride in how they went about it all. His experience was obvious, he knew how to pace things out, not that there was any rush anyways. No one would be back in this office until the morning.
The thought of staying here and kissing him all night was enticing and he was doing a fantastic job at making that option as tempting as it could be. He wasn't aggressive with his tongue, but more curious than anything else. He was just as surprised as I was that I had let this go on for as long as it did.
His taste was unique, it was a little sweet, but that could be from the large quantities of rice and ponzu sauce he had consumed earlier and then finished off with some bubble gum. Thankfully he had spit that out a while ago. In any event, the taste of his lips and tongue was something worth savoring, and as a woman in a relationship kissing a man that wasn't mine, that was problematic. I certainly wasn't going to do anything about that now though.
My fingers cautiously reached up to gently play with his hair, slowly working their way up the longer strands on the top. Most of the styling product he had put in it this morning had worn off by now. I didn't mind at all because it made it soft and malleable, two things I loved when playing with hair.
One of my hands drifted to his cheek, feeling the sharp stubble against the pads of my fingers. My thumb stroked across his cheek as we continued to kiss. By this point we had grown more familiar with the other, tongues had gotten a little more bold, pushing and prodding more so than before.
Minutes ticked by without either of us knowing or minding. Sergio knew how to lead a kiss because at some point he had hoisted me onto the table and moved himself in between my legs. It's worth repeating however, that he didn't press further than that. Neither of us broke the kiss either, for as long as it carried on. I think we both feared that once we did, our lips would never meet again.
My thoughts however jumbled they were at this point, couldn't help but wonder what those experienced lips would feel like on my neck, or how that stubble would scrape against the sensitive skin in regions more south. He would be good at that, there was no doubt in my mind, but tonight, or any night close to it was not the time to find out, no matter how much my curiosity was peaked at this point.
With a gentle bite and tug of Sergio's lower lip, I broke our kiss that seemed to last forever. It was a nice change to just kiss someone without it being a precursor to sex. I think once you get into a long term relationship, you forget how nice that can be.
Sergio's eyes slowly opened as my lips left his. He leaned in once more and pecked my lips quickly. "Because you kissed my like that." He gave me a small smile before helping me off the table. By that point the blush on my cheeks had become a burning red, no way of hiding it.
We were left with a somewhat comfortable silence, as I hastily reorganized the papers and designs that had been disturbed, flustered from the whole situation.
The night ended with a little small talk and casual conversation. Neither of us bothered to talk about what had just happened, the conversation and the long, long kiss were left to sit in our minds, idling for now. We took the elevator down to the parking garage, and Sergio ever the gentleman, walked me to my car.
"I'll see you on Friday to get some of this ordered." He pointed to the stack of folders in my hand.
I nodded, "Friday it is." I smiled gently at him.
So I guess he was right, there was a chance he wouldn't be waiting that long. I was however, left in a very, very sticky situation at this point. I still deeply cared about Joey, he was a sweet man, but had his off days, like everyone else. Lately, I was getting the feeling that I was second to his job and that put some stress on our relationship. He was growing jealous at the attention I was getting in my field, and Sergio wearing the shirt I designed did little to calm his fear of Sergio stealing me away. I suppose me kissing Sergio didn't help either.
Even if I were to dump Joey tomorrow, rushing into something with Sergio could only lead to disaster. While he claimed he was ready, I had a feeling he would find it difficult to immediately switch to an exclusive relationship. No matter how much he assured me that he was not the huge player everyone swore he was, there was as seed of doubt in my mind. Old habits die hard and I did not want to be the one who led him to feel tied down and suffocated. I also didn't want the constant worry of him being away and around other beautiful women.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I had thought about a possible relationship with Sergio more than I was willing to admit, and I was still left with some doubts and some of my own insecurities that I needed to address and deal with before I made any big changes to my life. For now, until things and my feelings could be sorted out, I have to keep Sergio at a distance, which was task that was growing in difficulty every time I saw him.