by Anna T. Pope
“Hello, Aria.”
The Invitation
She didn’t have to turn around to know who was behind her because she could have recognized that smell anywhere; William Jones.
The feeling of him pressed against her back, so close without actually touching her, with his hot breath tickling Aria’s ear and neck and the smell of the same expensive cologne that Will wore the last time they were this close, all made her feel like she was intoxicated. And then she heard him whisper, “Hello, Aria.”, and almost moaned at the sound of her name on his lips.
Even though she didn’t want it, his voice alone affected her more than she thought possible.
Goosebumps spread across her arms, a shiver running down her spine and she had to fight down the crazy urge to lean back and rest her head on his shoulder so she quickly turned around. She sighed inaudibly since, impossible as it was, the man looked even more gorgeous than before.
After the night when she had embarrassed herself in front of him, Aria had spent all of her energy trying to avoid William and was quite successful in it. She knew that he wanted to talk to her since the man’s eyes followed her around every time they were in the Club, but she had ignored it the best she could. After all, Aria was sure that nothing good could come out of any sort of relationship with him since she already liked him too much to just be friends with him, and Will deserved someone better for anything else.
Aria thought that Will would stop pursuing her once he started flirting with the other girls, but she was wrong.
Afraid to look into his eyes, she directed her gaze on his chest and said,
“Hi Will.”
“Hello, Aria. How are you?” the man asked her politely, and she could almost feel his intense gaze on her, making her shiver.
“Good, thank you for asking.”
“I am glad to hear that since I was worried about you. You ran away from me, yet again, before I could make sure you were alright that night. And then you kept avoiding me any time I tried to talk to you, that it got me thinking that I did something wrong.”
Aria frowned, feeling horrible for making him think that. It was never her intention to hurt Will and yet she still somehow managed to do it.
“I am so sorry, Will. I wasn’t trying to offend you.” she said while looking at her feet.
“It’s okay, you just scared me by running away like that, especially because of the state you were in only a half an hour before. I will forgive you, under one condition though.”
“W… what condition?” Aria asked, suddenly feeling nervous until she felt warm fingers under her chin making her look up.
“Have dinner with me?” Will said, with a soft smile on his lips.
Even though he phrased it as a condition, it came out as a question, effectively telling Aria that Will didn’t mean to pressure her into anything that she didn’t want to do.
And she didn’t know what to do, as a part of her screamed at her to say no and run, but in the end, the bigger part, the one that was tired of running and hiding all the time, won out and she found herself agreeing.
“Okay.” she whispered breathlessly, not sure if Will even heard her, but the wide smile that suddenly spread over his lips told her that he probably did.
“Is tomorrow around 7, good for you?”, the man asked and she nodded, her minds still fuzzy at sight of that gorgeous smile.
“Y… yes, it is.”
“Great! I’ll pick you up then, and since I can see your brunette friend getting anxious over there, I’ll leave you to get back to her.” Will said, and leaned down, as he whispered in a low tone that sent shivers down her back,
“See you tomorrow, Aria.”
~
Aria was a hot mess.
By the time she left Meg’s house the previous day, she was feeling all jittery and confused. William kept giving her these long, smoldering looks throughout the day that left her furiously blushing and aroused, but the thing that seriously messed her up was what happened after she had gotten home and gone to bed.
The dream started out simply, the memory of them in Meg’s office, her in Will’s lap, as he caressed her back and whispered words of comfort making her feel warm and cared for. But that’s when all similarities ended. In the next moment, Will’s mouth was on her neck, kissing it slowly as she moaned out loud.
By the time she realized what they were doing; his hand had already started traveling south from her hair, pinching her nipples on its way until they were hard beneath her shirt and further down her stomach, making her breath accelerate.
After finding its place between her legs, caressing gently and applying minimal of pressure, Aria heard herself scream as if from afar, and that’s when her eyes flew open and she realized that she had been dreaming.
Jerking out of the memory, she looked at the phone and saw that it was ten minutes before Will was supposed to pick her up, and she started shaking with nerves.
This was the first date she had accepted since she was 18 years old and she felt terrified, as all kinds of horrible scenarios started running through her mind and making her feel sick.
She was sure that Will would see right through her, and once he saw what kind of a pathetic mess Aria truly was, he would kick her to the curb.
She ran her hand through her hair and checked her appearance again in the mirror over the sink in the bathroom.
In a moment of desperation that afternoon, she had ended up calling Nura to ask for her help in getting ready which, of course, meant that she was then forced to tell her about the date with Will and that then resulted in an hour of gruesome questioning about every single detail related to it. But once Nura left, Aria was looking better than she could ever remember.
She was dressed in tight, black, thin strap dress that showed off her figure quite nicely and high, nude heels, leaving her looking elegant and put together- the exact opposite of how Aria truly felt.
There was suddenly a knock on the door, so she quickly left the bathroom and went to answer it, almost tripping in her haste, completely unused to her new footwear. When she opened the door though, all cognitive functions left her in a rush, as she felt all the air leave her lungs at the sight that greeted her.
Leaning against the door frame, dressed in a dark blue suit that hugged his figure in all the right places, William looked breathtaking. Aria felt her cheeks warming up when she realized that she had been standing there for God knows how long gawking at him, so she quickly looked away while trying to hide her embarrassing reaction.
“Good evening, Aria. Are you ready?” Will asked her and she shook her head, as she scrambled quickly for her jacket and keys.
Finally dressed and out of reasons to stall further, she made herself look up to those damn green eyes and whispered,
“I am ready.”
Broken Kisses
Will felt better than he did in a long time as he watched the beautiful creature sitting across the table looking back at him.
They were currently in his favorite restaurant in the middle of dinner and Will was pleasantly surprised at how well it was going considering that Aria was such a shy person and so he had kind of expected her to be quieter around him.
When they first arrived at the restaurant the girl was visibly nervous, but as time went on, she slowly started to relax and open up.
“How do you know my sister, if you don’t mind me asking? She didn’t want to tell me anything without your consent when I asked her about it. I couldn’t help but notice that the depth of your relationship goes beyond the boss-worker one.” he said and could see Aria immediately tense up, so he put a hand over her smaller one and started rubbing a thumb over her wrist in slow circles. The motion managed to calm her down and she whispered,
“I met Meg a little over a year ago. I was… um... I was homeless at the time and she took me off the streets, gave me a job and a place to stay until I was able to afford my own. I owe everything to her.”
“You were homeless? For how
long?” Will asked, feeling shocked at her abrupt confession. He had suspected that Aria has had a hard life, but the fact that she had been homeless before meeting his sister had caught him completely off guard.
Aria was such a cute and sweet person that he could not picture her out in the streets completely alone and just the thought of it made him want to hug the girl and protect her.
“Yes, for a little while, six months maybe but I am not sure. That time of my life is in a bit of a haze, even for me.” she said quietly while avoiding eye contact, clearly feeling uncomfortable with the topic of their conversation.
Will felt even more curious after that and he wanted to know more, but he knew that he shouldn’t push her. After all, they have just met so he had to give Aria some time to get to know him and to start trusting him enough to tell him her story.
He touched her cheek, for just a second, which made her finally look up.
“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Just know that I will be there to listen, when or if you are ready to share your story. I would never pressure you to say or do something you do not want to do. And I apologize if my questions made you feel uncomfortable, that was never my intention.” he said.
Aria’s big, blue eyes crinkled at the corners as a small, barely-there smile spread across her pretty face. “Thank you.” she whispered, and touched William’s hand, before quickly pulling it away.
As he stared at the little piece of skin that was until a moment ago covered with Aria’s Will came to a sudden realization that his heart was in a serious danger because the petite girl had managed in a handful of days, what no one had in years; she made him feel something other than apathy. What, not even he was sure yet, but something none the less.
William has been in love only once in his life, and it had made him feel invincible. He had loved and cherished that person and done everything in his power to make them happy. But certain things happened and all their plans for the future along with all of Will’s hopes and dreams were crushed with a snap of a finger.
Afterward, the disappointment and hurt made him grow colder by each passing day and he had sworn to himself never to fall in love again. But just like years ago with his ex, life had other plans for him.
Now, as he looked at Aria, Will realized that he had been wrong and that he could fall again and the thought made his stomach flip in dread.
~
They stayed at the restaurant for a long time, talking and laughing, as neither wanted the night to end. Aria told him funny stories about her best friend Nura, the brunette from the previous day, and Will could see that she loved her very much by the way her eyes sparkled and her smile grew wider whenever she talked about her.
She also spoke about school, her job and her dreams of traveling the world, visiting exotic countries and learning their customs which made Will almost wish to experience it with her.
He, in return, told Aria about his company, and about being adopted at the age of six and he could tell that she didn’t know that by the look of a shock on her face.
“So, you and Meg are not blood-related? She talks about your family all the time, but she’s never told me that both of you were adopted.”
“Meg doesn’t like to talk about that part of her life. She’s had a tough time while she was in foster care, until she was adopted but not even I know to what extent.”
Aria just nodded with a sad smile on her face and something told him that the girl now felt even more connected to his sister with this new revelation.
Once Will realized that they were the last ones in the restaurant, he quickly paid the bill, leaving a hefty tip, and then they left.
Once in the car on their way back to Aria’s apartment, they sat in comfortable silence. Aria was looking through the window with her head pressed against it and a relaxed smile on her face. Will kept glancing at her, Aria’s face pulling him in like a beacon that he barely managed to avoid crashing them a few times.
When they finally arrived, he stepped out of the car and quickly jogged to open the door and offer her his hand, prepared to be rejected due to her obvious wariness of being touched but she surprisingly took it without a second thought.
“Thank you for letting me take you out tonight. I had a wonderful time, and I hope you did, too.”
“I... I did.” Aria whispered while peeking through her long lashes, her cheeks reddening by the second.
Will couldn’t help but step closer to her as if possessed, invading her personal space and wrapping a hand around her small waist. His fingers ran gently up and down Aria’s back, coaxing shivers out of her. With her cheeks still blushing hotly, the girl glanced back up into William’s eyes as he leaned down, resting his forehead against hers.
The brunette looked breathtaking as his eyes study her with silent intensity. Her warm breath ghosted across his face and made goose bumps spread across his skin. She suddenly shut her eyes, letting out a small whimper and it was that soft sound that was his breaking point, her following gasp muffled by Will’s mouth, as he captured her soft lips.
The heat seemed to travel through his veins, warming him up as he pulled the girl closer. Just as he felt a rush of arousal trying to overwhelm him, she started to draw away breaking the kiss.
When he opened his eyes what he saw had him instantly freeze. Aria was shaking with her blue eyes full of tears, which made him feel confused.
“Aria, are you alright?” he quickly said as the dread washed over him at the thought of hurting or offending her.
“You shouldn’t have done that… I... I am sorry Will, but I can’t do this.”
“What do you mean? Look I am sorry if you felt pressured or something, it will never happen again, I promise you. I won’t even touch you until you say otherwise.” Will promised, not even caring that he probably sounded a bit desperate by that point.
He got so caught up in his desire to touch her that he didn’t even spare a moment’s notice to her feelings on the matter.
He watched with growing dread as the girl kept going backward, shaking her head, while tears threaten to spill down her face.
“I am so sorry Will but I can’t do this. Please, just go and leave me alone.” she whispered, and then quickly stepped into her apartment and shut the door in Will’s face.
Hide and Seek
She was hiding under the bed, her breath coming out of her throat in gasps and her body trembling as the sound of them laughing and calling her name and treating this whole thing as some sort of a twisted game of hide-and-seek, grew louder.
“Come out; come out where ever you are!” Aria heard their voices from the other side of the door and started shaking, her breathing becoming harsh and broken, as she tried to muffle the broken sobs aware that she needed to keep quiet lest they found her.
Why was this happening to her? The question kept repeating in her mind in an endless loop.
Was she being punished? She didn’t know what was it that she had done wrong since she had tried to be a good girl.
Just leave me alone! She desperately wanted to scream out, the words already halfway up her throat, but she managed to catch them since the last thing she desired was for them to find her.
The door creaked as it opened and she froze.
“I know that you are here pet; you can’t hide from daddy. You have been a very bad girl, Aria, and bad girls deserve to be punished…”
~
Aria woke up feeling exhausted once again, since the dreams kept repeating every night, now even worse than before, leaving her tired and depressed more than usual.
She climbed out of the bed and dragged herself into the bathroom. Splashing cold water over her face she looked up into the mirror and grimaced; she looked horrible.
The bags under her eyes kept getting bigger and bigger and her face was all blotchy and pale.
The last couple of weeks had been bad on her as Aria became an emotional mess ever since her failed date with Will. She felt bad for reje
cting him like that and for unintentionally leading him on, but letting him go was the right thing to do.
When William kissed her that night, Aria felt incredible. She felt desirable and cherished for the first time in forever, but that was also when she realized something. William wanted her, and if not that night, then soon he would want more. But once he saw Aria, truly saw her, he would certainly run for the hills, leaving her heartbroken.
And the worst part was that Aria wouldn’t be able to blame him, because who in their right mind would want to be with someone as ugly and damaged like her?
So, she told Will to leave her alone and thought that that would be the end of it, but the stubborn man had proved himself insistent. For three whole weeks, he kept calling her, leaving voicemails and begging her to call him back.
Aria’s resolve was slowly starting to crumble as the days flew by, but then yesterday the calls stopped.
William left her one final message, telling her that it would be the last one and if Aria didn’t call him by the end of the day, he would leave her alone. And he did.
She knew that she should be relieved since that was what she’s wanted, but all that she did for the entirety of the previous day was cry because she had ruined everything and had no one else to blame but her pathetic self.
~
Aria was at school, looking at the blackboard and feeling her eyes starting to drop; it was the last class of the day, and she couldn’t wait for it to end.
