Chapter 5

Just before we stepped into my apartment, I suddenly remembered something. “Wait” I said, stopping in front of the door. She paused, looking a little confused. “What happened?”. “Nothing, it’s just–uh, I have dogs. Will you be okay with them? I mean, you don’t have to be afraid or anything. They’re both really sweet”. She raised her hands with an easy smile, reassuring me, “No, totally fine. I love dogs. I actually have a dog myself, so…”

“Really? What’s his name?” I asked, even though I already knew. “Wait–how do you know it’s a he?”. Fuck. Just, fuck. “I don’t” I said quickly, grasping for anything. “Lucky guess”. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, his name is Goodwin by the way… I got him on my 13th birthday, so we’ve got some serious history” she chuckled. “That’s so cute” I smiled, unlocking and pushing the door open. The second I did, both my dogs ran straight to me, tails wagging like they hadn’t seen me in a year. They’d only been without me since the morning, but they are dogs so…

“Hello, boys” I said in that embarrassingly weird voice I always make when talking to animals. I caught myself mid-sentence when the realization hit and immediately tried to move past the cringe that possessed me by clearing my throat and introducing them. “This is Rocky, and this is Oscar” I added.

“Aww, they’re so cute!” Sabrina smiled and crouched down, gently stroking Rocky–my smaller, calmer dog. Meanwhile, I was holding Oscar by the collar. Important context I forgot to mention; Oscar was a mixed breed–half Malinois, half Doberman–and probably taller than Sabrina when he stood on his back legs.

“That’s a big dog” she laughed, pointing at him.

“Indeed” I chuckled. “But he’s super friendly. You’ll absolutely love him once you move past the ‘holy shit he could kill me’ phase”

“I’m sure I will” she said, looking up at me with a warm, amused smile. We locked eyes. Neither of us said a word for a few seconds. We just stared. And then–I got nervous as always and looked away. “Come on” I said, clearing my throat. “Let’s get you a clean t-shirt” I led her toward my bedroom. Thank God my cleaning lady had come by earlier–otherwise, the place would’ve looked like a battlefield. I guided her through my room and into the walk-in closet. She stopped at the entrance, stunned by the size of it. Her eyes wandered over everything.

“Take anything you want” I told her. “Literally–whatever you like. Just take it”

“Oh, that’s not–” she began, but I cut her off gently.

“I insist. It was my fault” I said, lowering my head as the memory of earlier flashed across my mind.

“Hey” she said softly, “it’s fine, really. Don’t mention it again, okay?”. I nodded, still avoiding her gaze.

She took one last look around, then pulled a t-shirt from the rack and held it up “What about this one?”. I nodded quickly. “Yeah. Take it. It’s yours now”. It was one of my oversized tees–black, soft, with a vintage print of The Beatles and the words ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ in delicate calligraphy. I’d worn that exact shirt the day I left for New York so it meant a lot to me.

Suddenly my phone buzzed. A message from one of my assistants. I glanced down, checked it–nothing urgent–then ignored it. When I looked up again, I froze. She was taking her top off. “I’ll let you change” I said quickly already turning away, my face burning red.

“No” she said.

I stopped in my tracks. “I mean… I don’t mind” she added in a low, unreadable voice.

I turned my head slowly. She was wearing a black lace bra, her hair cascading down her back like silk. I swallowed hard. My eyes lingered. I couldn’t help it. I was absolutely eye-fucking her–and she didn’t even care. She took off her bra slowly and pulled my t-shirt over her head, and all I could think was how lucky that stupid shirt was to cling to her bare, hot skin like that. 

That was it. 

I was losing my mind. 

And then–she looked at me. “What?” she asked, that mischievous smile tugging at her lips. She knew? No. No way. That was impossible. “Nothing” I said quickly, looking away before I completely lost composure. She chuckled, clearly enjoying making me nervous. “Want something to drink?” I asked, already thinking about alcohol. “Sure” she said–and something about the way she said it made me think we were on the exact same wavelength.

I walked over to the cabinet and pulled out the best bottle of champagne I had. “Champagne, huh?” she smirked when she saw it. “The best for the star of our campaign” I replied with a sly grin, handing her a glass. She raised it slightly, “Cheers”. “Cheers” I said back, clinking mine to hers. But truthfully, the only thing running through my head was how stunning she looked in my t-shirt, with nothing underneath. 

I reached for her hand again–our second time–and softly said, “Come here”. I led her to the living room, toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sunset was bleeding into the sky in colors too gorgeous to even describe.

“Oh God, y/n… this is beautiful”

You’re fucking beautiful, Sabrina, I wanted to say. But instead, I just smiled and nodded like a coward. She finished her glass, and I slipped away to grab the bottle and pour her more. My hands were shaking a little. I didn’t know if it was from the alcohol or her.

“What do you love the most about sunsets?” I asked, then immediately regretted how cheesy it sounded. She smiled. “I… I don’t know. The colors, the atmosphere… It’s like time stops, and you just kind of lose yourself in it”

“Mhm” I replied, even though I hadn’t heard a single word. The way the golden light framed her face, casting soft reds and oranges across her skin–it was unreal. She looked like something sacred. And I would give the whole world just to be near her like this again. She looked divine. I don’t even– uh…

And I wanted to kiss her so badly–it physically hurt.

“Hey, are you listening?” Her voice snapped me back to earth. I’d zoned out for good. 

I laughed softly. “I’m… sorry. I got distracted”

“By what?” she asked, her tone suddenly sharper.

“You“

Her eyes locked with mine.

She blushed and looked down. I kept staring, tilting my head slightly. Memorizing her.

“I think I should go… my boyfriend” she said suddenly.

Oh hell no.

Fuck that guy.

Why did he even exist? Like, who was he?

“Yeah, sure” I said frowning, trying not to make my disappointment too obvious. “Well.. thanks for the t-shirt. And the champagne…” She stepped closer. And then she hugged me.

Oh, so this is how I die.

I hugged her back, not too tightly, and God, her hair smelled like flowers and springtime. I didn’t want the moment to end. She slowly pulled away, and then stopped.

We were face to face, just a few centimeters apart. I could feel her breath on my lips–warm, soft, so close. That was it. That was the moment. I was going to kiss–. The door opened. “Y/n? Are you here?” Enzo’s voice rang out. I pulled away instinctively, and she did too. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. That could’ve been it. I could have kissed her. Real kiss, not in-my-dreams kiss.

“Yes Enzo, I’m in the living room” I called, unable to hide the irritation in my voice.

“Okay, I brought Mexican” he shouted from the entryway. “How was your coffee date? Did you…  get some?”. My eyes widened. My face turned red. I hadn’t felt this embarrassed in my life. Sabrina, on the other hand, was laughing. “Get some coffee? Yeah. Yeah, I did” I said, trying to fix the unfixable.

“No, I mean did you–“

“You know what, Enzo?” I cut him off, mortified. “I think you should stop talking”

He finally walked into the living room and froze in place when he saw her. “Oh. I didn’t know…” he said, eyes wide open. “Yeah” I replied sharply, hoping he’d take the hint. Suddenly Sabrina moved closer to him and extended her hand. “Sabrina” she said with a wicked smile. “Enzo,” he said bemused “nice to meet you”. “Yeah, me too” she said, glancing back at me with a smirk.

“We… um, didn’t get to look at the videos. Do you–“

“I’d love to come over tomorrow” she said, cutting me off before I could finish. “Or another day, if you’re not free”. Wait, did she just invite herself back to my place? After what Enzo said? After that almost-kiss?

Holy. Shit.

“Yeah, totally. I’m free tomorrow. Come by at… like, 7-ish?”. The ‘ish’ cracked my voice, and Enzo nearly lost it. I shot him a glare. “Yeah, great” she chuckled. “So… see you tomorrow on set then?” I hesitated. There was a meeting I couldn’t miss, no matter how much I wanted to be near her. “Um, actually… I won’t be at the set tomorrow” I said half-hearted. “Oh. Okay… see you at 7-ish then” she imitated my voice crack and all three of us burst out laughing.

I walked her to the door, my heart still racing. We said goodbye, and then–she was gone.

“Enzo, what the hell?!” I snapped the second the door shut. “How could you say something like that in front of her?!” I was furious. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t even know she was here! But yeah… I’m sorry”. He actually looked regretful, genuinely guilty–and I couldn’t stay mad at him. Not for long. “Okay” I sighed. “But next time, maybe–I don’t know–look around? See who’s in the damn house?”. He grinned. “Yeah, yeah. Got it. Now… are we gonna we eat fajitas or what?”. I couldn’t help but laugh. The rest of the night was a mix of food, teasing, and Netflix. 

“Was she wearing your shirt?” Enzo turned to me at some point. I burst out laughing. “Heck yeah she was”. He cracked up too. “Damn. What even happened? I thought you guys were just going out for coffee or something”. “Oh, we were” I said, biting my lip. “Until a waiter tripped over my bag and spilled a drink all over her”. “You didn’t”. His jaw dropped. “You messy bitch!” he cackled. “Okay, say whatever you want. I got her here, we almost kissed and she left wearing my clothes. Sounds like a win to me, don’t you think?” I said, throwing on my awful British accent to sound more sarcastic. 

“Wait, you kissed?” His face went blank with shock. “We were this close, I could feel her breath on my lips and then you walked in and ruined it all!”. He stared at me like he just saw a ghost. “You dawg! I didn’t think you had it in you, y/n! Holy shit!”

“Oh my God, that was so cringe, Enzo. Seriously? ‘Dawg’?” I rolled my eyes, but I was laughing too. “But I said almost kissed” I clarified, sobering a bit. “We didn’t, unfortunately”. He gave me a mischievous look. “Girl. You are down bad“. “I am, Enzo. What am I gonna do?” I groaned dramatically. He pulled me into a hug, and we collapsed into laughter until I felt like I had grown a new set of abs. Which, let’s be real, I might actually need, because in less than 24 hours, the hottest woman I’ve ever known was going to be sitting next to me again.

Fuck.

I should really find something good to wear.

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Heyyy!! Hope you liked this one and i know we should get rid of that boyfriend of her’s fr 🙄 But it’s, i repeat, a slow burnnnn lol. Anyways, yall are the best!!🫶 

✨byeeee✨