Hello everyone :D I'm so very sorry that this has taken over a week to update! I just haven't been writing as much as I'd hoped! I wrote all of this when I woke up this morning, so I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 6:
I politely held open the door as Sophia glided through, my jacket making a ruffling sound against the fabric of her dress as she moved. Once inside, she kept walking until she reached the centre of the block of light coming in from the window. She stopped, and then twirled to face the wall of stain glass. After bolting the door to the balcony, I looked in her direction, to see panels of red, blue and green light falling onto her face.
"I would give up all of the useless rooms in my home for just one like this." She muttered, eyes flickering wondrously over the waves of glass.
I chuckled at her remark. Frankly, if I had it my way, I would do the same thing just so I could make the stain glass room bigger.
"My mother herself commissioned this room to be built." I mentioned, walking deeper into the room, but still sticking to the shadows. "She used to sit with me every day here. Me, being a young child, of course." My hands found their way into the front pockets of my pants. I sighed heavily, my expression neutral. "This was our favourite room; still is."
"I think it's my favourite, too." Sophia spoke. Her face turned towards me, eyes squinting in order to see me through the contrast of light and dark. Then she smiled. The corners of her delicate glossed lips curved up, radiating a feeling of kindness and a warm touch...
I jumped, hearing a noise that snapped myself out of the daze I had been in. The now low-burning fire had begun to crackle. Sophia's eyes had caught the source of the small pops, as she had started walking towards the fireplace, not too far behind my back. She wordlessly passed me, walking in a delicate yet confident manner. I wondered what she was up to. I spun around, just in time to see her crouch down, pick up the fire-poker and prod at the charred logs.
"No no! Allow me!" I rushed past the sitting chairs and over to her side, "A young lady such as you does not need to worry with such a task." I persuaded, holding out my hand to get the poker back.
Sophia huffed, a challenging smirk surfacing under the orange flicker of the fire. Her mischievous-looking eyes went back to the fire. She swiftly used the poker to make space between the two burning logs, before rising back up and returning the poker to its holder on the left of the fireplace. Next, Sophia picked up another log of wood from the pile in the corner, and threw it into the fire with ease. I was still crouched in the same position as before, still deciding where to direct my astonished expression to; the now roaring fire or Sophia. I noticed a few sparks fly up, but they were not close enough to me to be a threat. I had to remember to close my open mouth before I finally chose to look at Sophia. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and she reflected assurance. A hand lifted to fiddle with the end of her braid.
"Just because it is classified as a man's job, Mr. Herzen, doesn't mean that a woman cannot perform it as well!" Sophia preached. She winked at me, then moved back to sit in the latter of the leather chairs.
Now I was sure that I had never met a girl like this before; and I doubted that I ever would again.