Maisara's pov
"There you go. Maria Gomez special tea," Maria announces cheerfully, wheeling over her vintage tea cart until it clinks gently to a stop beside our table. The floral porcelain set glints under the soft sun light coming through the tinted glass windows. The scent of cardamom and something citrusy wafts into the air.
I shoot up from my chair. "That's where you went? You could have told me! Why did you—"
"I would tell you to make my special tea?" Her eyebrows shoot upwards dramatically, her voice laced with mockery. I feel the heat rising to my cheeks. Here it comes.
"You can't even make normal tea properly, Mia Cara." She flashes me a wicked grin. I grumble, rolling my eyes as I reach out to help her unload the tray. "I make normal tea just fine, old lady."
She slaps my hands away, throwing me a glare. "Did I ask for your help, young lady? Sit down like a good girl and give that boy company. He's here for you."
My eyes go back to 'that boy who's here for me'. And of course, I find a smug grin on his face with his eyes already on me. As soon as our eyes meet, he winks. Before I can say anything, he beats me to it. "Maria is right. You should give me company like a good girl you are."
The sarcasm in his voice is pretty clear. Still, that phrase 'like a good girl you are' manages to run a shiver down my body. I shake my head trying not to let it get to my head as I sit back down on the chair. At the same time, Maria places two cups before me and Felix respectively.
"You’re not going to sit with us?" I ask her, watching her handling the teacups. She stops what she is doing and gives me a look that says 'Are you serious right now?'. I shrug in reply. Her mouth twitches with a teasing grin. She shakes her head as she replies in a playful tone, "Nope, sorry. Not today."
I open my mouth but the nagging feeling of Felix's eyes on me shuts me down. So I look back into his eyes and keep staring. A silent challenge passes through us, a challenge for a staring contest. I gladly accept that and hold his gaze the same way he's holding mine. The only difference is his eyes are full of amusement while mine probably resemble glare.
"So you are Felix?" Maria grabs our attention, now pouring tea from that gorgeous kettle into both of our cups.
"Yes, I am," he replies, of course, with his eyes still locked with mine.
"And you are Maisara's..." she trails off, waiting for one of us to fill in the gap. I can feel her looking back and forth between me and him. Heck, I can even feel her giving a knowing smile. Still, I refuse to look away while I take the initiative to answer, "Acquaintance."
One of Felix's eyebrows goes up as well as the right corner of his lips. I don't even know what it is that he's finding so amusing but that's exactly what's irritating me the most. I make sure to reflect this feeling into the glare.
"Well, then, I'll leave you two to yourselves. Have a nice meeting." Felix is the one who finally breaks eye contact and looks at Maria with a widened grin. "Thanks, Maria."
The silent victory in this silly challenge brings a satisfied grin to my face. I follow his gaze and nod at the kind old lady. She gives me her infamous pointed look which makes me roll my eyes. As she walks away with her elegant tea cart, I turn my attention back to the amused guy seated before me.
"You can't seem to take your eyes off of me today." Those are the first words that come out of his mouth with a mocking grin. I watch silently as he pulls up his cup to the very same mouth and touches it to his lips. He waits for my comeback while taking a long sip. I offer a tight-lipped smile of my own before mimicking his actions of drinking the 'Maria Gomez special tea'. "Same goes for you."
He places the cup back on the table and folds his hands. I swear I see the look in his eyes changing when he replies, "If it was possible for me, I would never take my eyes off of you."
What? Is he still drunk? Does he even know what he is talking about?
I ignore the fluttering sensation in my stomach and try to logically make sense of his words. Last night, doing this, flirting and everything, was one thing. But, right now, it's another thing. He doesn't even look drunk.
"Are you still drunk?" I ask him with a frown, just to be sure. He rolls his eyes but those golden orbs are still shining with amusement.
"Drunk in your beauty? Of course, I am, darling," he says it like that's the simplest thing he has ever said. Like it's the most normal conversation we are having. He even adds a shrug at the end.
I sigh, grabbing the cup and bringing it to my lips. It's getting harder and harder to pretend that his words are not affecting me in any way. I need this special tea before I can talk back to him like a sane person without doing something inappropriate. I don't know what he's trying to do with all these flirting and fluttering but I'll soon figure it out.
When I gather my thoughts and come up with a reply, I clear my throat once before opening my mouth. "If you're done talking nonsense, I have a few questions for you. Would you mind answering them for me?"
"Of course, I won't mind, my dear Maisara. I'm ready to answer every single questions you have in mind for me." He flashes his too-white teeth at the end and that's when I notice it. He's just messing with me. Yeah, that's exactly what he's doing.
Too bad choice, Felix Reyes. Too bad.
"Well, you know what, now I don't have any more questions." I finish the tea and place my empty cup a little too loudly before giving him a tight-lipped smile. "It was nice seeing you again. You can leave after finishing the tea."
"Nope." I notice he has finished his tea as well when he places it on the table beside mine. "I'm not here to go back, dear." He crosses his arms on the table and leans forward. A hint of seriousness crosses his eyes. "I have some questions for you too if you would like to answer."
When I don't say anything in reply, he lets out a small laugh and leans back in his chair. His eyes leave mine finally after another staring contest. Those bright eyes sparkle more as the change of light catches in them when he runs them over the surroundings taking in the scenario.
"I would love to attend this Q&A session while you show me around the library," he says with a nod in my direction when his eyes meet mine again. And for the first time since he came here, I finally let myself feel the full effect of his words. The butterflies go free in my stomach and my heart starts thumping against my ribcage.
"You are interested in...this?" I move my hands around in a gesture that indicates the library. I want to say 'stuff like books and library' but for some reason that doesn't come out of my mouth.
However, he didn't seem to have any trouble understanding that. "Books and libraries? No."
And just like that, everything dies down, those butterflies and speeding heartbeat. I take a deep breath. Yeah, of course, he's not interested. What did I even expect? Why would he—
"But there must be something special about them that managed to excite you like that. I would love to find out. I would love to see the world from your eyes. I would love to travel to your favorite fictional world with you."
Uhm.
What has he just said?!
He hasn't just—
Okay. Okay. Okay. Calm down, Maisara. He hasn't said anything that much—
No freaking way! Has he just said that he wants me to talk about my favorite fictional world? He has just said that he wants to go with me to my fictional world, hasn't he?
Oh my God! No way! No way! No way! No way! No way!
I abruptly jump up from my chair, scrapping it against the floor with a loud scratching sound. Felix's golden eyes shine again with amusement as he follows my movement. I turn around quickly and start walking towards the ceiling-high shelves hiding the spreading smile on my face from him skillfully.
"Follow me," I announce as calmly as I physically can over the flying butterflies in my stomach and the rapid sound of heartbeat in my ear. I still can't believe he has willingly told me to share this whole wonderful feeling with him! He has no idea how much of an interesting journey it is gonna be. I'll make sure to give him the best possible experience and make him a bookworm just like me!
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