Chapter 3
I woke up and I realized that I was still on the couch. As I got up, pain suddenly hit me and I was sore all over. Playing with May all day yesterday really zapped my energy. I went to my room to get dressed for, as I like to call it, work. I noticed my watch beeping and saw I had a message from Miguel that read “Meet me in my office in ten minutes”...it was sent over an hour ago.
Miguel’s pov
I heard Arabella come in. “You’re late,” I growled out. She crosses her arms under her chest, “I was sleeping.” She said with a bite in her voice. I made my way to where she was standing. “The concept of rest is probably foreign to you, seeing as you hardly, if ever, take a break.” She said sassily while looking up at me. I honestly forget how small she is until I’m towering over her. “You must get a real kick outta pushing my buttons, huh?” I asked huskily. This wasn’t her first time testing my patience, and I knew it definitely wouldn’t be the last. Arabella smirks, “Maybe I do.” I roll my eyes after that statement. It took a lot of resolve for me not to focus on the curve of those lips. It was enough to drive me crazy. “We’re going on a scouting mission. There were signs of an anomaly, but they suddenly disappeared.” I lied. Well more like I told her a half-truth. There really was an anomaly, but I had already taken care of it. The little voice in the back of my head had gotten louder. I wanted to be around her, no I needed to be around her. “Alrighty, well lay it on me.” She says, and I give her the false details for the fake mission.
We stood atop of a building, admiring the scenery. Well at least Arabella was, I was admiring her. The city was beautiful, yes, but it pales in comparison to the way the sun hit her caramel skin just right. She looked like she was glowing. “This place reminds me of Coruscant,” She chuckled and I raised an eyebrow. She looked over at me then quickly back to the city, “It’s a Star Wars thing. Nerd stuff yknow?” she said and laughed lightly. Hearing it was beautiful. It wasn’t the first time hearing her laugh, but hearing it now, whilst alone…it pulled at my heart’s strings. “Nerd stuff, huh? I’ve never heard of Star Wars.” She laughs again, that damn laugh, “It’s really popular where I’m from.” She looked over at me, smiling, and she held my gaze until it hurt. God damn it all. Her smile. Her laugh. The way she was looking at me. I wanted to yell I love you Arabella. You make me feel things. You make me happy. Every time I look at you I swear I get a glimpse of heaven in your eyes. I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips. CoñoMiguel, bésala! The little voice screamed at me. She licks her lips and lust glazes her eyes. A small curl falls in front of her face, I tuck it behind her ear and gently cup her cheek. I wrap an arm around her waist and I pull her closer to me. Arabella releases a shaky breath as I lazily drag my thumb down her lips. She closes her eyes and I swallow hard. I leaned forward. We were inches apart, sharing breaths.
“Miguel, there’s an anomaly on Earth-65” Lyla interrupts. We were so close, yet so far. I curse under my breath and Arabella giggles. “Sorry I uhm, I gotta go.” I said as I gently caressed her cheek. She smiles and tenderly puts her hand over mine, “It’s okay, it's part of the job.”
Arabella’s pov
After Miguel left, I stood there utterly dumbfounded by the events that unfolded. My thoughts were left racing with so many questions left unanswered. Was the anomaly just an excuse to be alone with me? If that’s true then was this a date? Was Miguel about to kiss me? Does he feel the same way, or is he just messing with me? There’s no way. I lean back over the railing and look back at the Coruscant reminiscent city. “I have to be dreaming.” I mutter out to myself.
It was almost midnight when I got home. I still couldn’t believe what just happened. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. One question plagued me…was he going to kiss me? There couldn’t be any other explanation, right? Why else would he have been that close to my face?! I bury my face in my hands. “God how dare you play with my feelings,” I groaned. I layed there in bed hugging my pillow. There really wasn’t anything I wanted more than to get closer to him. Break down those stone cold walls he has up. I want to get to know the man behind the cold facade. I thought of what would’ve been a tender kiss before I drifted off to sleep.
“Hey Arabella!” I heard Jessica shout. I turn to her and greet her. Next to her is a blonde girl, looks no older than 15. “Arabella, meet Gwen Stacy.” Jessica introduces the girl to me, and she shyly smiles. “It’s nice to meet you Gwen. I gotta get going.” I look over to Jessica and excuse myself. I wanted to talk to Miguel…about yesterday. His office doors loomed over me. Dread set in. Should I approach him about this? I had to. If we left it unsaid between the two of us, it could affect our teamwork. I take a deep breath and walk in. “Hey, uhm, Miguel?” I shout, and my voice echoed off of the walls, “You here?” I shout out once more. Okay well maybe he’s not here, lets just turn around and g- “Oh, Arabella, I didn’t expect you to be the first thing I see when I enter my office.” I heard Miguel’s voice say from behind me. I flinched, startled, “Oh Miguel, there you are I was looking for you,” God I sounded like a nervous wreck. “I gathered that much, since you’re yknow here,” He said as he smirked and made a general motion to his office. “I wanted to talk to you about something”
“Go on,” I swallowed hard, “Uhm, do you wanna swing by my dimension and watch Star Wars? You mentioned you hadn’t seen it yesterday. It’s fine i-”
“I’d love to. I’ll come by around 6?” He cuts my rambling off. I smile nervously, “Yeah 6 is good. Cool, cool, cool. Well it’s a date then. I mean not a date, I…let me go.” I rambled again, and I saw Miguel smile faintly before I left. Are you kidding me Arabella?! You had one job! ONE! Ask him if he was gonna kiss you yesterday. NO, you go and ask him if he wants to come over to your place to watch STAR WARS of all things. I mentally kick myself for being so dense.
Soon enough…6 rolls around and Miguel is ever so punctual. It was awkward at first, but slowly it became comforting. He’d constantly ask questions about the movie and I’d happily answer them. “I’ve seen a dimension that kinda looks like that,” Miguel points out, referring to the field where Padme and Anakin were sitting. I looked at him in disbelief, “Really? Ugh, it must've been beautiful.” I say, and a faint smile crosses his lips. “It was, I ought to show you one day.” He said, sweetly. I felt warmth bloom onto my cheeks and I reverted my focus back to the movie. Not long after, I fell asleep. I felt Miguel pull a blanket over me and ruffle my hair before leaving through a portal.