ZACHARY ZOOMED ACROSS THE Siren as if the devil was on his ankles. He grabbed Aura's wrist, forcing her to keep up with his pace. She let him pull her around seeing as she was still dazed from the past events.
The wine was starting to stick to her skin under her clothes. Her voice had left her as if she was Ariel and Ursula had taken it. She didn't know what to say, but just let Zachary lead her wherever he was going.
They passed the main lobby, crossing paths with a few pretentious middle-aged couples, who frowned in their direction, no doubt left aghast by the hideous red stain over her attire.
Zachary punched an elevator button, and soon they boarded the cart. He never let go of her wrist as he pushed the button for the top floor. When the doors opened, she was met with a luxurious hallway. Golden lights beamed down at them creating a resplendent halo atop of Zachary's head as he led the way to the farthest door.
He reached for a key from his pocket and opened the door for Aura. She didn't have time to register how incredible the room was before he was pulling her to the right, saying something about the laundry room.
He opened another door, to a room that was double the size of her bathroom back home in California. He flicked on the lights, and she realized they were in fact in the laundry room as he had mentioned. Racks of towels and cleaned t-shirts covered a wall from top to bottom. She wondered why they would have that there, but decided it was best to follow his lead.
Zachary took a t-shirt from the rack and spread it over the washing machine beside him. Its light blue fabric contrasted with the stainless steel of the machine.
"Change into that and lay out your clothes. I'll be back in a minute." Without another word, he closed the door behind him, leaving Aura in a state of shock and confusion. She stared at the light blue t-shirt in disdain and decided she had nothing to lose.
She stripped from her outfit, peeling off the crop top and pants. She stood clad in her nude strapless bra, lace panties, and golden heels. The cold air hit her skin like a wave, so she stumbled forward to cover herself with the big tee.
The shirt fell down her body like a dress, covering her every curve. She sighed and shook her hair out from the collar. She pursed her lips, not knowing how the night had turned into such a disaster.
Out of everything Millie could have done, she decided to spill red wine on her outfit. Aura would've preferred her unnecessary snappy comments all night, but what was done was done. She couldn't believe a grown woman would act so immaturely, all because she was jealous.
There was nothing wrong with being jealous. Everyone felt the emotion. However, it was how she let it control her actions that made her ugly. Maybe that's why she never landed a big modeling gig. That air of arrogance and entitlement made her stunning outside appear hideous. Her attitude created a mist over her physical beauty, which warned people to stay away.
She wondered what she had done to stay in that group of friends. Not even Iris seemed to be that way.
Aura shook her head. There was a difference between having accidents, and then whatever that was. She had gone through many disasters before, and it was normal. Sure, upsetting in the moment, but she learned to deal with it. Millie could excuse what happened all she wanted, but it was obvious she did it with malicious intent; and that didn't sit well with her.
Zachary opened the door just as she was placing her new outfit on top of the washing machine. He came back with a dishwashing detergent and hydrogen peroxide in his arms.
"I'll fix this," he said. Aura moved to let him do whatever he promised to do. He made a mixture of the dishwashing detergent and hydrogen peroxide, and let it soak over the red stains of her crop top. She frowned as the stains began to fade.
He moved over to her pants, where the worst of the stains stared back at them. She bit down on her lip at how terrible it all looked. He soaked it with the mixture, and she watched as it faded away slowly.
Once the stains seemed to be mostly gone, Zachary loaded the washing machine and placed her clothes inside.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," he said, after finishing up.
Aura nodded as he picked up the detergent and hydrogen peroxide and placed it to the side. He turned to her, studying her face before reaching a hand to her.
Without a moment's thought, she met his hand with hers, interlacing their fingers together. They stood there for a second, just basking in each other's presence as the washing machine continued its cycle.
"I'm sorry for Millie," Zachary said. "She can be a bit much sometimes." He shrugged, as if he had seen that type of behavior many times before.
"It's whatever." Aura sighed. It wasn't like she could do anything about it. At least her clothes weren't ruined and they were getting cleaned.
"It's not," he argued. "I invited you to dinner so we can all have a good time together, and she's acting like a kid." He huffed and let go of her fingers. Leaning onto the drying machine and staring at the blank wall in front of him, he ran a hand through his blond hair as she stepped closer to him.
"Thank you for dinner, by the way," she said.
He looked down at her and opened his arms for her. She stepped in obediently. She was careful not to press her face on his white shirt, but let her forehead lightly graze his shoulder.
His closest arm wrapped around her waist, bringing her closer to his body. Her heart raced as she looked up at the clouded, stormy sky that was his eyes.
"From the moment I met you, you have been something like a dream. I fear that if I reach out to you, you might disappear."
Aura blushed, not knowing what to say. After such a long time being the one tiptoeing around the other person, she never knew what it was like to have a guy do the same around her. She wondered if he would end up like most of them: wanting an actual relationship. She didn't even live there, so that would end in a disaster. But gazing up at those eyes, she realized she didn't mind being swept up by the storm.
"Poetic much?" She managed to say.
He smiled, and it was like lightning. Maybe not physically, but that's what it felt like in her heart. She anticipated thunder.
"You caught my eye, Aura Chandler." He hooked a finger under her chin, forcing her to stare directly into the storm. "What do you suppose we do about it?"
She placed a hand over his heart, feeling every rise and fall of his chest. With his other arm, he tightened his grip on her.
She resisted the urge to smirk, seeing as he was the one making all the moves. She didn't want to throw him off. Moreover, after the red wine incident, she wasn't in the mood to set it all up to knock it down. She was more than fine to let him lead her to wherever refuge he found.
"You tell me," she breathed out.
His lips tilted upwards as he leaned down to meet hers.
That's when the thunder rumbled all around. She felt like she was flying away in the winds of the storm.
It was that cheesy. It had been so long since she had felt that thrill. Since that one guy who literally fell to his knees, pleading for a relationship.
She smiled into the kiss, and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer.
"Whoa," he breathed out. His voice had gone an octave lower. He brought a hand to cup her cheek as she stared at his inviting smile.
"Agreed," she giggled.
They were about to connect again when the washing machine beeped, ending its cycle.
Zachary frowned and turned to her once more. "Eh, it can spare five minutes."
She laughed as he picked her up and placed her on top of the drying machine. She hooked her legs around his waist and sent a mental thank you to Millie. Her plan to ruin Aura had truly blown up in her face.