Page 43 of Becoming His Muse
He studied her for a moment before walking around her desk. He turned her chair and placed his hands on the sides of her neck. Olani brought her hands up to his wrists.
“You’re burning up, Sweetheart.”
“Yeah, I’m not feeling well. I was getting ready to leave when you walked in.”
He removed his hands from her neck, and she let his wrists go. “Why don’t you finish packing up, and I’ll take you home. We’ll get some fluids and some soup into you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
Olani turned back toward her computer and finished her out-of-office message. She grabbed her tablet and purse, only for him to take them from her. He stepped aside and allowed her to lead the way out of her office. She told her receptionist she was leaving for the day and would see them all on Monday.
Once outside, Elion led her to his car, telling her he would bring her back to get hers when she felt better, and she didn’t protest. She just wanted to get home and take a nap.
She gave him directions to her house, and when he pulled into her driveway, he opened the passenger side door and helped her out. She led the way to her front door, unlocking it and leading him inside.
“I would give you a tour, but all I want to do is lie down.”
“Don’t worry about it, baby. You lie down, and I’ll make some soup.”
She went down the hall into her bedroom, placing her purse and tablet on the dresser. She sat on the bed, and Elion walked over, taking her shoes off and setting them aside. He kissed her forehead before telling her he’d check on her soon. She lay down, and it didn’t take her long to drift off to sleep.
Olani’s eyes slowly opened, and she looked at the clock sitting on her nightstand. She’d been asleep for two hours and could honestly sleep some more, but her bladder demanded that she relieve it. She sat up and stretched, feeling several of her bones pop before she stood and went into her en suite.
After emptying her bladder, she washed her hands before grabbing a face towel and washing her face. She brushed her teeth and left the bathroom, turning the light off. She walked down her hallway, and the delicious aroma of spices guided her toward her kitchen. She found Elion standing at her stove, stirring what she assumed was soup. He turned to look at her as she entered.
“Did your nap help any?”
“A little,” Olani responded.
“Well, I ran out and got you some medicine and orange juice. The soup is just about ready.”
“Thank you. Did you find everything you needed okay?”
Elion nodded. “I did. You sit down, and I’ll bring it to you in a few minutes.”
She didn’t have to be told twice as she walked into her living room and sat on the couch, pulling her feet up beside her and propping herself on one of the pillows. She grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned the television on. There wasn’t anything in particular she wanted to watch, so she stopped on the first thing that caught her attention.
True to his word, he walked into the room a few minutes later carrying a tray that housed a bowl of soup, a glass of orange juice, some medicine, and napkins. He sat it on the table in front of her, and Olani thanked him as he placed some napkins under the bowl and handed it to her. Instructing her to eat and then take some medicine before heading back into the kitchen.
Grabbing the spoon, she stirred the soup, taking in the diced vegetables, small cubes of chicken, fusilli pasta, andthe thickness of the broth. He hadn’t gone to the store and bought her cans of soup. He’d bought the ingredients to make it homemade, and the smile on her face couldn’t have been stopped if she tried. That was sweet of him. He’d gone out of his way when he didn’t have to and could have bought the cans instead.
She blew over the top of her spoon, cooling it down before taking it into her mouth. Her tastebuds were still intact as the soup’s deliciousness engulfed her mouth. That was a good sign, and she was glad that what she had wasn’t something more severe than possibly a bug. She’d had soup probably hundreds of times in her lifetime, but she didn’t recall any of them being that good.
If his soup was that good, she wondered if other things he made tasted that good. Maybe she needed to think about one of their dates being another cooking class, but this time, instead of dessert, they made a main course.
When Elion returned to the living room, it was with his own bowl of soup. He didn’t have to eat it with her, but she assumed he did so she wouldn’t feel as if she was stuck eating soup while he indulged in something better. With the way this soup tasted, he’d have to be eating the world’s most expensive steak made by Paetyn Silva himself for her to feel that way, but it was appreciated that he was being thoughtful.
Once she finished eating, Olani took twoTylenol: Cold and Flupills. She went to stand, but Elion wrapped his hand gently around her wrist.
“I’ll get it. You relax. We want you to feel better, and exerting yourself when your body isn’t at its best will not help you do that.”
“You know, I took care of myself when I got sick before we started dating,” she teased him.
“You do what you have to when you’re single, but you aren’t now. So, sit your gorgeous ass on this couch, watch television, and allow yourself to heal.”
Olani nodded as he released her wrist. She watched him place their bowls on the tray, leaving her orange juice and taking it into the kitchen. As she watched his retreating back, she wondered if she wasn’t sick, would her body have jumped him at the tone he’d given her, the way her brain was demanding her to?
