Sincerely, Yours

Chapter Three

I stood there, frozen, with my shirt twisted up in my hand from wringing it in the sink, my mouth slightly ajar and gawking at the delicious chocolate man in front of me.

Finally, I saw his face. He stared at me intently, his dark brown eyes drinking me in slowly, almost ... almost like he could see right through me. I gripped the shirt tighter in my hand as I seemed to be unable to breathe. I scanned his face and I noticed a scar on his forehead. Immediately, I wondered how he had gotten that. Was he in a fight? Was this a troubled young man? Lord, is this man a drug dealer?

"Are you okay?" he asked me again and it snapped me out of my daze. Realizing my half nakedness, I unwrapped the shirt and quickly covered it over my chest.

"Yes, I'm fine," I responded and made a nod towards the sink," The damn faucet head broke on me."

He glanced behind me and look at the mangled faucet and chuckled, his bright white teeth showing themselves proudly to me. You can see this man spends a pretty penny at the dentist. For a minute, I began to wonder about my teeth. Wait, why am I second-guessing myself for this man? He smiled at me and said," Do you need any help? I can change that faucet before Rose gets back."

By Rose, he was referring to Mrs. Madell. He's been here long enough to feel comfortable calling her by her nickname. I almost wanted to reject his offer but I didn't want Mrs. Madell to come back and meet her faucet murdered.

"What's your name?", he asked me, his dark brown eyes seemed to be drinking me in once more. 

"Racquel. You?" I felt anxiety build up in the half a second it took him to respond with," Cole." He gave me half-a-smile and that made my insides flutter for some reason.

"Rose keeps a cupboard with some extra shirts in the second bedroom. You can get something dry to put on while I get my tools," Cole motioned to the direction of the bedroom to me while he went off in the direction he had come.

*****

"So how long have you been working for Mrs. Madell?"

I sat on a chair a few feet from Cole. Unfortunately, I knew nothing about plumbing so I couldn't be of much help besides passing a few tools to him when he asked.

He chuckled. "I've been here for about 5 years. Rose and my mother used to be very good friends. When my mother died, she gave me the job of basically being in charge of the grounds of her house. Rose kept me out of trouble and kept me sane. I never left."

As he spoke to me, I could hear the emotion in his voice despite how I noticed he tried to mask it. I had decided to myself that I would hold this short conversation to heart as it was the first piece of information I have learned about him.

So far.

Looking down at him, I noticed that he liked to bite his lip while he worked and how much focus he put into his task at hand.

"So," he said, startling me while I was lost in my thoughts, "How did you meet Rose? I've never seen you before."

I blinked a few times while I tried to gather myself. He glanced at me in the corner of his eye as he awaited my answer. For a moment, I found myself unable to form words. Something about this man was throwing me all out of wack and I was NOT here for it. I shrugged my shoulders. "I actually live like 20 minutes from here. I'm more of a 'stay-at-home-and-avoid-all-other-forms-of-human-life' kind of person.  

He chuckled and gave me a small nod as he seemed to be tightening something under the sink. Again I must say, I know nothing about this type of work. " I know exactly what you mean", he said after a moment, "I'm the same way. I don't leave my house unless it's work or something meaningful."

"Exactly!" I exclaimed. "Finally, someone who gets it."

Cole paused for a moment and looked up at me with a serious look on his face. He seemed to be searching my face for something and for the life of me, I couldn't figure it out. We stared at one another for what seemed like hours until he broke eye contact, making me almost whimper from the loss of small contiguity. Cole got up with a grunt and dusted his hands on the back on his pants. 

"Annnnd, drum roll please," he said and looked over at me expectedly. I picked up on his hint and it brought a smirk to my lips. I beat my hands on the counter-top, giving Cole the drum roll he desired and he turned the handle. Water began to pour from the faucet in a strong, clear stream then Cole turned it off. 

"We are in business," he said in a proud tone and looked at me with that pearly white smile that was slowly melting my insides. Cole put up his hand to give me a high five and I returned it. 

I glanced at up the clock and saw that the time was approaching for Mrs. Madell's return. With appreciation probably dripping from my tone, I thanked Cole for his help in fixing the faucet.

"It's not a problem, anytime." He bent over to pick up the few lone tools he had left on the floor and began to pack everything up." I'll leave you to finish up your work. I have a few things I need to finish up myself. Enjoy the rest of your day, Racquel." He shot me a smile and turned to leave as I sat there quietly, waving to say 'good-bye'. 

I watched as he disappeared through the back door and into the garden he so perfectly maintained.  Looking around me, I sighed at the wet floor, grabbed the mop, and began to tidy up.

*********

'If You Just Let Me by Sinead Harnett' played gently through the speakers as the day came to a lovely end. The drizzle outside along with the light thunder outside indicated to me that the rain was soon coming and I wished I had held my umbrella. 

As I pulled my oatmeal cookies out of the oven - specially made for Mrs. Madell since I recently discovered they were her favorite -, I swayed my hips to the calming beats that echoed through the house. My mind drifted back to Cole multiple times after he left earlier. I found myself often glancing at him through the window while he was working and wondering if I crossed his mind too. 

I scolded at myself. It's just a stupid crush. It's just stupid infatuation. So what did it matter that he was like the hottest thing since sliced bread to me? I mean, come on. For all I know, he could be married with 6 kids or living with his girlfriend of 5 years, probably recently engaged and expecting their first child. 

God, why did I have to freak myself out like this? I shouldn't stress about it too much anyway. Cole is off-limits. It's never good to mix business and/or work with pleasure. I'm sure he's not even interested anyway.

I covered and secured the cookies for Mrs. Madell and left her a small note which said," Hope you like the cookies :) See you tomorrow!"

Giving the house one last look-over, I felt satisfied that I had done all I needed to do for the day and locked the door behind me as I stepped out. 

"Leaving already?"

I jumped at the voice behind me and turned around fast enough to give me whiplash. The sight of Cole brought an instant blush to my face that I so desperately wished I could hide. "Um, yeah..yeah. I'm done for the day," I replied sheepishly.

Cole nodded with a straight face. "That's good. I'm just wrapping up here myself. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Definitely," I said and immediately regretted it. Why did that sound desperate?

He shot me, once again, another smile that melted my insides a little more. I smiled at him too and I turned slowly to the entrance gate. He walked a bit in front of me and opened the gate for me. I thanked him softly since my voice decided to betray me at that moment. We stared at each other again and I saw his eyes filled with curiosity as he studied my face intently. Was he trying to figure me out like I was, him? Cole broke our gaze once again, but I didn't feel that loss again. I felt something slightly different as I watched him walk away, back into the garden. Maybe it was just me or my mind trying to drive me crazy but...

I think he likes me.