Daydreams And Little Stories

It was a rainy afternoon. I was baby sitting babysitting mum’s boss’s kids. Mrs. Carter and Alexis were away for the weekend for a football match. That sort of made me feel relieved. Alexis did not like me much, for whatever the reason was. “Who wants blueberry muffins?”, I asked the kid who was watching Mr. Bean animated series in the living room. “Me!”, Lily cheerfully replied. ‘I want more than Lily”, Nicholas, the four-year-old said. “Hey, I am your big sister. You will get one muffin less than me”, Lily huffed. “Mommy says boys eat more”, Nicholas argued back. “But I am older”, Lily defended herself. That’s when I jumped in, “How about I give both of you three each? Mommy gives you two, right? I will give one extra each, okay?”. Both grinned, nodding eagerly. I heard someone at the front door, wiping my hands on the apron around my waist. I rushed to attend. I opened the door, to see a drenched Andrew. His eyebrows were slightly raised in surprise at my sight. “What are you doing in my house?”. “Babysitting, of course. You expect me to be a robber?”, I crossed my arms against my chest. He let out a laugh in annoyance, “Exactly”. “Now, am I to ask you to get out of my way?”. “Why not?”, I questioned, smirking. “Sweetheart, it’s my house”, he rolled his eyes, bumping shoulders into me as he walked past into the house. I rolled my eyes. He seemed to have some huge problems with me. We were in the same class yet never actually talked. If we ever talked, it ended up this way. I couldn’t help but stare at his long raven hair, tied into a low ponytail, sticking to his jacket. His hair was always beautiful, but I had never seen him this way. Drenched. I should be doing my job rather than being fascinated by the jerk who could never be polite to me. “If you are done staring at my back, may I know why you are babysitting again?” he turned over his shoulder. A slight blush covered my cheeks at the realization, “Oh, Alexis has a match… so I was asked to look after them until evening”. He gave a long blank stare and then turned around, walking up the staircase. Shaking the thought out of my head. I walked into the kitchen. Muffins were slightly cool now, ready to eat. Putting three muffins each on two plates, I took them to the living room. “After eating, bring the plates to the kitchen alright?”, I placed the plates on the coffee table. “Okay”, both nodded. “They smell so yummy”, Nicholas squeaked, grabbing one as Lily grabbed another. “I will be back in a while okay?”, ruffling their hair, I walked back to the kitchen. The washing machine chimed in the laundry. Taking out the washed clothes, I put them on the hangers to dry. “So now you are a maid as well?”. The voice suddenly made me jump. It was Andrew now in a fresh pair of trousers and hoodie and his hair almost dried. “What do you want Andrew?”, I asked, folding the dried clothes, “Kids took a bath. So, I thought I would wash the clothes as well”. “Yeah, whatever”, he walked into the kitchen. “Why are you back home early today?”, I asked, following him to the kitchen. “Do you have a problem, Hatter?”, he asked, taking out a cold drink from the fridge. “No, I mean, you don’t usually return home until late night”, I replied, putting the remaining ingredients into the shelves. “What am I to call you… a stalker?”, he asked. “It’s not my mistake if your bike roars that loud at night when I sit just by the window to complete notes”, I said. “Those are some good muffins”, he munched on one. “Thank you”, I replied, feeling butterflies in my stomach. He never complimented, but now. That strange feeling crept into me like the first time I was clutching at his jacket for my dear life when he rode down the street. Mrs. Carter did not want me to walk back home alone and asked Andrew to pick me up. We hadn’t talked a word the entire ride. But I would be lying if I said it wasn’t oddly ecstatic. I perched on the counter, grabbing a muffin for myself. One last muffin remained on the plate beside me. I finally thought I had to ask it. “Why are you always so rude to me?”. He who was leaning against the fridge looked up from the muffin in his hand that he was staring at. “Have you got a problem?”. “I’m trying to be friends since we are neighbors, and all you do is attack me with your mean comments”, I candidly replied, daring to look straight into his piercing eyes. They were cold and mysterious even when the orbs were hazel. He took the last bite of the muffin and walked up to me, closing the distance between us. I scooted backwards until the wall hit my back. I could feel his toned abdomen at my knees. “What the-“, I was cut short by his, “Don’t my actions make it clear enough? I don’t want to be friends with you”. I felt my gut drop. I did not expect him to say that to my face. I did not want to face him right now, let alone have him staring at me. I did kind of develop a tiny crush long ago when he indirectly helped me get out of the party when things were suffocating. “Okay”, I replied, “I gotta do… dishes. So, you should move”. “Should I?”, he leaned his upper body forward, resting his knuckles on the counter, dominating. “Y-yes”, I replied, watching him smirk. “Your face is red”, he commented. His height was his advantage in being able to lean so much that our faces were only inches apart. “I finished the muffins”, Lily’s voice made us both jump apart. I took the opportunity to quickly get off the counter. “How was it?”, I asked, taking the plate from her. “It was delicious and sweet. I liked it so much”, she grinned widely. “That’s nice”, I smiled back, “Now go and watch Mr. Bean. I will come to play after washing the dishes, yeah?”. “Okay”, she waltzed out. Quietly, walking to the wash basin, I began washing the dishes. He was still in the kitchen finishing his cold drink. In a minute or so, the empty can was tossed into the trash can. “You haven’t asked me why I don’t want to be friends”, he spoke again. “I think it’s not my business”, I muttered, putting the plates into the cupboard. “Really?”, he asked. But this time, his voice sounded too close to me. I turned around to see what he was up to. Again, he was invading my personal space. I felt his fingers wrap around my wrist. I flustered again. “W-what are you doing Andrew? Take your hand off me”. “I’m telling you why we can’t be friends”, he replied, leaning in. I was stuck between him and the counter behind me. Tilting his head slightly, he asked, “You have a crush on me, don’t you?”. “So what?”, I asked, feeling my face grow hotter every second. “Now that you confirmed it”, he muttered. His forehead grazed against mine. “I-I have to baby sit your siblings”, I said. “That can wait for a couple of minutes”, he replied, looking at my face, “Are you still not going to look at me?”. I shook my head vigorously in reply. His fingers reached to cup my face. As he leaned in further, loose strands of his hair touched my shoulder. I closed my eyes as I felt him gently place his lips on mine. He was being gentle. Very gentle in contrary to his regular tough and cold attitude. Was he even for real? How can a man be both? With that, he kissed me softly to make the world around me turn blurred. I wanted to freeze time just to have him hold me that way. Gently. I reached my wet hand up to his hair, leaving my fingers in his hairlocks. It was like a squib that he placed on the smallest part which ignited too quickly in my body. Some call it fireworks. Gradually he pulled apart, still cupping my cheek. “This is why I don’t want to be friends with you”. “You wet my hair again”. “Oh, um, sorry. I was washing dishes, so what can you expect?”, I replied, fighting back a smile. “Nothing at all. Now that I have made things clear between us”, he turned around, “Kids must be waiting for you”.