This is a one-shot for i luv hardy.
I'm doing this as a thank you, because she was the writer of the 100th review for my story Design For Life.
This is a Maria / Jeff pairing.
I hope you enjoy it.
Maria Kanellis cursed as she got her heel caught on the sidewalk. She managed not to fall over, but her heel was almost completely detached. She sighed as she hobbled over to a park bench and inspected the damage. She had only bought these shoes a couple of months ago, and they weren't exactly cheap. The redhead took off her shoe and held it in her hand. It looked like she was going to have to get home with one shoe on.
A cab drove past and went through a puddle. Needless to say, Maria was now wet and shoeless. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This wasn't her day at all. She felt that it was beginning to rain now. Tiny droplets were tapping onto her face. She opened her eyes and was shocked to meet with a pair of beautiful green ones that were looking right at her.
"Can I help you?" the redhead asked.
"I was about to ask you the same question." The owner of the eyes replied.
He was tall and muscular with multicoloured hair and some tattoos and piercings. He wore a black vest and combat pants with bright green sneakers and a matching green pendant that looked like a letter h. He was certainly attractive to look at. Maria wondered why he was out here without a jacket.
"I'm Jeff Hardy." He said, extending his hand for a handshake.
"Maria." She took his hand and smiled.
"I live above this café, I saw you were having a bit of trouble." He smiled.
"You could say that." The redhead smiled at the stranger.
"Would you like to come in out of the rain?" he asked her.
"Um, I er..." she wasn't sure.
I think I have some glue that might fix your shoe." he nodded at the broken heel.
Normally Maria wouldn't take up the offer. She didn't know this guy, but he seemed very sincere. So she nodded and stood up from the bench. He smiled and led her over to his door. They went inside and up a flight of stairs. The stairs opened into a large studio. There was a lot of canvases and painting equipment.
"Do you paint?" Maria asked.
"I'm an artist, that's my job." The handsome stranger replied.
"That's great." The redhead said, eyeing a large sculpture.
"And what do you do?" he asked her.
"I'm a dressmaker. I mainly do wedding gowns." She replied.
"That must require a lot of skill and creativity." Jeff said.
"I guess." she blushed.
Jeff disappeared into the other room and returned with a small tube of glue.
"Let's see if we can fix this." He said, taking the broken shoe from Maria's hand.
He sat down and motioned for Maria to do the same. She sat on the two seat white couch and admired the pictures that were hanging on the walls. Jeff set to work fixing her damaged heel. The redhead picked up a nearby CD case and smiled. It was one of her favourites. She placed it back down and suddenly a picture caught her eye.
"Oh my God, is that me?" she asked.
"Um, yeah." Jeff blushed.
Maria was sure she had a crazy man on her case, but there was something about Jeff that made her think twice. He looked across at her with those sincere green eyes and she knew that she ought to give him a chance.
"Care to explain?" she asked him.
"I see you walk past every day. One day I needed some inspiration and I saw you. You looked so perfect, with your red hair and those big green eyes." He explained.
"So I was just your inspiration?" Maria asked him.
"I guess so." he smiled and blushed slightly.
It occurred to Maria that maybe Jeff had a crush on her. So what? She was more taken with him by the moment.
Maria didn't want to leave him now. There was some kind of magnetism pulling them together and she was quite enjoying it. There was a certain familiarity there, as if they had met before. She knew that she would have some work to do once she got home, but one wedding dress could wait. Jeff was enticing her and making her wonder why he had never approached her before now. He looked sad as if he wanted her to stay longer. He looked up and smiled. The redhead looked at the shoe in his hand and had a thought.
"How long will that take before it's done?" she asked him.
"I think this glue takes a couple of hours to dry." he told her.
"I don't have anywhere to be." Maria smiled.
"Great, do you want to go downstairs for a coffee?" he asked her.
"I'd love to." she smiled and linked his arm.
"Hold on, you don't have any shoes." Jeff stopped and ran into the other room.
He returned with a pair of bunny rabbit slippers and passed them to the redhead.
"Here, wear those." he said.
"Thank you." Maria smiled and slipped them on, although they were slightly big on her.
The pair enjoyed a coffee together and Maria was able to thank her knight in shining armour with the promise of a date.
Hope that was ok.
Please review if you wish to do so. xxx