"Anastasia!" Christian found me sobbing wet in the pouring rain. He gawked at me with horror. Before he arrived, I was observing the several small cuts on my feet; yeah, not my brightest idea. I did my best to keep the envelope Giordano dry in my pocket; though I'm not sure how well that was working out. My head shot up when the rain suddenly stopped falling on me, and I found Christian standing there holding an umbrella over me. Boy, he did not look pleased- not at all.
"Christian?" "What are you doing?" His eyes gave me a once over. That's when he saw my sandal-less, bloody feet. I pursed my lips together, also glancing down embarrassed. "It's nothing!" I tried to brush it off- nope! "Why are you barefoot? Where are your shoes?" His voice was as stern and upset as you can imagine. "Uh, well… I accidently wrecked my sandals at the cathedral." His mouth opened in the most unimpressed and concerned manner. "So you've been like this the whole time?" "W-well, yes?" "Seriously?" He raised his voice slightly. That's when our eyes met and I grinned; I'd be home soon anyways, no reason to get upset. Christian didn't see it that way however….
"Dammit!" As he swore under his breath, I observed him unpredictably kick off his fancy shoes. My eyes grew in shock and astonishment. "Put these on," he then bent down to turn them towards me. I saw his feet- which had black socks on- already starting to get drenched. Christian… I didn't want him to go shoeless now because of me. "It's fine, Christian…." "Right now!" Ok then! I carefully slipped my feet into them; they were much too big for me but neither of us cared about that at the moment. Then he removed his coat and placed it over my head; I was already in love with the way it smelled. Our hands reached for each other's naturally this time. "Come on," with that, we run down the street together under his umbrella.
As I double-checked to make sure no nuns were around, Christian snuck into my room. He locked the door and went to get a fluffy pink blanket while I went to get changed. I'd never worn pajamas in front of a man who wasn't my father before, but I think it was fine; I had very conservative pjs. He was already waiting for me when I emerged from the bathroom decked in my jimjams. He stood beside the bed with his arms planted firmly on his hips. I knew I was in for it now.
"Have a seat," he motioned for the bed. I did as I was told without a word. Christian took hold of my arm half way to the bed, gently guiding me down; my feet were really starting to hurt right now. Once I was securely down, he let out a sigh and went to get this mini first-aid kit. This warm, fuzzy feeling began to fill me as he knelt down on one knee and turned his attention to my sore feet. Without a word, his hand grabbed one, bringing it onto his lap. He pulled out an antiseptic and hesitated for a moment.
"This is going to sting, but please hold still." Wait, what? Sting? I never signed on for that. Too late; he was already applying it. I let out a little gasp in pain. Oh great- more stinging, just what I needed. He paused immediately, looking up at my face. "It needs to be cleaned, Anastasia. Just hold on a little longer," more reapplication. I bit down on my lip and curled my fingers. Next came the bandaid, and finally…. I tried to pull back my foot when he got out the gouge wrap. "I'm fine. I don't need that." Of course he carefully yanked my foot right back to where it was. "No, not yet."
I watched him the entire time he wrapped my foot. He was so attentive, so caring….. so gentle. Christian noticed me staring before he was done, pausing for a minute to peak up at me. I smiled… I smiled so warmly. Neither of us said anything, just merely, painlessly admired the other. In that moment right there…. that… that was a happiness I'd never experienced before. I didn't know someone could make me feel like this; I didn't know such feelings existed. You hear about them in song lyrics, but you never think it could happen to you. And yet, here I was, with it happening to me… me and him.
Christian's eyes slowly closed as his brought his face up towards mine. It took me a second to realize that he was about to kiss me. And for the briefest of moments, I almost let him…. It took all my willpower to pull back, placing my hand on his shoulder. His eyes opened, revealing some confusion. I sadly grinned down at him, rubbing my thumb on his shirt.
"We can't." "Why not?" "Please don't get the wrong idea; I do like you, Christian- a lot. But…" "But what?" "It's…. it's impossible." "You still haven't said why, Anastasia." "Because…."
Because the next man to kiss me will be head of the Dollars.