Sweet and Simple

“Um.”

Dom watched her, an eyebrow raised; he was waiting for her to slap him, or swim off, or a combination of the two.

“Um,” she repeated, her eyes drifting away from his to the other end of the pool. “I should probably go inside. Gotta get up…early…and stuff.”

He cocked his head to the side playfully. “Are you always this inarticulate after someone kisses you?”

“Probably,” she replied thoughtfully. “Yes.”

“It’s refreshing,” he laughed, dropping back into the water the swim around her. “It’s nice to see you not so uptight.”

“I’m not always uptight.” Her voice was indignant, and had she not been trying to stay afloat, she would have had her hand on her hip.

“No, I can see that,” Dom remarked lightly, standing up and pushing hair from his face. He became serious suddenly, which caught her off guard. “I’m sorry for kissing you. I know I shouldn’t have. I know you don’t fancy me, so---” He stopped talking, shrugged, and went towards the ladder. “I should probably--” he motioned towards the house.

“Wait.” She didn’t know what had made her say that.

Dom turned around and swam slowly back to her before popping up beside her. “Yeah?”

“It’s okay. I mean…” She groaned loudly, raising her eyes heavenwards. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”

“That’s a first,” he quipped, grinning.

Ariel would have laughed, had she been able to concentrate on anything other than his lips, and the tingling sensation they’d left on her own.

“We can just forget it happened, if that’s what you want.”

She turned to look at him, to see if he was serious, or if he was only saying that to save himself an imminent rejection. His eyes betrayed nothing; they were stoic, beautifully gray under the moonlight, and staring at her.

“No, I don’t want that.” Once she said it, she realized it to be true.

“What do you want, then?” Dom questioned, coming a bit closer to her; his voice was soft and he reached out to place his hand gently on her cheek. His thumb rubbed her cheek, and she was pretty sure she was going to drown because she wasn’t sure if she could stay upright much longer.

“I don’t know.” Ariel’s voice was barely above a whisper, and she felt breathing a very difficult task to perform.

He let his hand drop back into the water; she wished he hadn’t.

Suddenly Ariel’s mouth was terribly dry and she longed to dip her head underwater and swallow the entire pool, but she couldn’t move.

Dom remained silent, just watching her; there was nothing more for him to do. He’d said his piece, and it was up to her now. He’d abide by her wishes if she said she never wanted to see him again, and he would kiss her senseless if she said that she did.

“You’re wrong,” Ariel said suddenly, her voice hoarse.

Dom didn’t smile, nor grin, or move. His voice, when he spoke, was blank. “Oh?”

“I do fancy you.” She closed her eyes, tight, mentally berating herself for admitting it aloud. She’d promised herself when she got this job that she wouldn’t let anything get in the way of completing it; she promised herself that she wouldn’t get sidetracked; she promised herself and her editors that she wouldn’t let anything happen that could jeopardize her job.

But then something had happened. Something unexpected, and something named Dom. And there wasn’t anything she could do about it now.

“Do you.” His voice held undertones of amusement, but mostly he was curious, wondering if she meant what she said. “You do know what ‘fancy’ means, don’t you? It’s not a codeword for ‘loathe.’”

She opened her eyes, laughing. “Yes, I know that---”

Her sentence, however, was cut short when his lips came down upon hers; she fell backwards slightly, but Dom’s arm was there, around her waist, stopping her from tumbling into the deep end.

*

“Gooooood morning,” Elijah called, entering the kitchen and heading straight for the coffeepot. “Sorry I’m up so late.”

He turned around and nearly dropped his mug; Ariel was not sitting there, glasses perched atop her head, a laptop in front of her, and miles upon miles of papers strewn about the kitchen table.

She must be up, he thought, because the coffee was on, but there was no sign of her. He hadn’t realized when he’d entered the kitchen that there was no sound of a keyboard being tapped at constantly.

“Ariel?” He yelled, glancing outside to see if she was on the deck, working at the table. She’d been staying with him for days, and every morning she’d been right there at the table early in the morning.

But not this morning.

“Ariel?” He ventured again, setting his mug down and going to the stairs.

Laughter filled his ears as the front door opened and Ariel and Dom spilled inside, smiling at one another.

“Oh, Elijah! Hi!” Ariel grinned at him as she went towards the kitchen, Dom at her heals.

“Morning, Lij,” he called over his shoulder.

Elijah entered the kitchen a few moments later, looking horrified.

“We went for a walk to get some bagels.” Dom held up a paper bag. “Want one?”

“Uh, yeah.” Elijah slid into a chair on the other side of the table. He took the bagel Dom offered him, but didn’t make a move to eat it.

“You okay?” Dom asked him, slipping his arm across the back of Ariel’s chair. He kissed her lightly on the hair, and then took a huge bite of his breakfast.

“I’m fine.” He swallowed. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Ariel nodded, smiling.

“I think he’s going to swallow his tongue, love,” Dom remarked, drinking from Elijah’s forgotten mug of coffee.

“I knew this would be a bit of a shock to him. I hope he’s not angry.” She looked at Elijah, who was gaping at them. “You’re not angry, are you?”

Elijah’s face relaxed into a smile. “No. No, I’m not angry.” He laughed. “Confused, maybe.”

“I won her over,” Dom explained, winking.

Ariel rolled her eyes, but didn’t comment.

“I was wondering when she’d fall victim to your obvious charms,” Elijah replied; he was obviously over the shock now, which was a relief to the other two.

“What charms?” Ariel asked, her eyebrows narrowing in confusion.

Dom chuckled sarcastically. “Very funny.”

“This won’t affect my performance, I promise.”

“Performance?” Elijah echoed, breaking off a piece of bagel and popping it in his mouth.

“Yeah. It won’t affect the script. I‘ll still work as hard as I was before. I just want you to know that.”

“Oh!” Elijah laughed. “I’m not worried about that. You’re not the type to be flighty.”

“No,” Dom answered solemnly. “And I have tried time and again to change that.”

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