Zemira

As adaptive beings, humans behaved well to challenges. They could adjust to fit with the change in the environment or society.

Over time, mankind had evolved based on the concept that when given a challenge, they would raise to the occasion and perform.

On that late summer night when I walked back to the threshold of the balcony, standing on my naked feet and readying to retake Leonardo's challenge, I felt more alive than ever.

Blood rushed underneath my skin, warming my body. My heartbeats reverberated in my ears, my breath pacing up as I focused on those few inches to the other side of the door frame.

"What are you doing?" Leonardo asked. He moved closer, evaluating the place I stood at. "And why are you standing on the door sill?"

"You said I failed in my challenge. That I'd lost. I'm here to prove I didn't."

"Kiera, listen to me." Running his hands into the back of his neck, he looked up into the sky. And back at me. "I'd said all those things to make you understand you were drunk. It's easy for a sober person to walk a straight line."

"Really...Then you do it."

"Fine." Crumpling his face, he moved me to a side and gingerly walked over the distance. Turning to face me, I watched as his eyebrows slid into his hairline. "Happy now? I'm sober. And so are you. You don't have to prove anything now."

"I want to...prove. That I can do anything."

I wanted something to distract me from remembering that by tomorrow morning, I would have to render my decision to Antonio.

I moved back inside, curling my legs up and sitting on the bed. My arms coiled over my chest as I watched Leonardo move across the room, popping open another beer can.

"You'd not let it go, would you?"

Swiping his thumb over his lower lip, he wiped residual alcohol. Mirth danced in his eye when he moved closer, pulling the chair with him.

"Fine. Here's your new challenge. Reverse count alphabets. And you only get two attempts."

"Done." This time, my hand hovered close to him, waiting for him to shake. "What does the winner get?"

He looked around the room, checking each corner. When nothing tempted him, he turned. "What do you want?"

"You've to say I'm the best. And you're a loser."

He chuckled. Then nodded. "Fine, kindergarten kid. I'd say that if you win."

"Okay." I took a deep breath. Leo placed a finger over my lips, halting me to speak.

"Not so fast, bullet train. What about me? What do I get if you lose?"

"My utmost respect."

"What?" He fell back on his chair. His shoulders moved up and down and the sound of his soft, almost inaudible laughter, made me smile. "And what would I do with your respect?"

"You can encash it." I winked.

Hissing air from the gaps in his teeth, he tilted his head. "You're one hell of a woman."

"I know. Now can I start?"

Upon his nod, I took a deep breath as if preparing to run a marathon.

Leonardo placed his chin over his intertwined knuckles, watching me breathe through my mouth. "Any minute now."

"Okay... Z, X, Y... Wait...Wait..."

"Err..." He moved his arm and his head in tandem; a gesture of victory. "One down, one last chance to go."

I got off the bed and walked around. The sheer pressure to prove myself, in a twisted and childish challenge that I shouldn't even have undertaken, was growing on me.

My shoulders felt the weight of Leonardo's intense gaze. I walked over to the extreme side of the room, holding onto the door and leaning against it.

"Did you leave?" He shouted. Then chuckled. "Because I'm desperately waiting to encash that respect and pay for the room services."

I walked back, twisting my face and rolling my eyes. "Not funny."

"You say that a lot but I know you like my jokes."

"Dream on..."

"So, are we doing it or not? Or shall I get you drunk again and we can see if you can walk a straight line."

There was something about Leonardo that both allured me and drove me mad. The way he kept smiling at me as if he had concluded how the game would turn out, pricked my chest.

I jumped up and down, flapping my arms out. "Z.Y.X.W.V.U..."

My brain turned to mush as I recalled the alphabet chronologically and placed them backwards. It took time as I delved into being right than doing it fast.

"T...S...R...P...Q..."

"Lalalalalalalala..." Leo's singsong voice echoed in the room as he began moving his hands around.

"You're disturbing me."

"What's a challenge without any distractions..."

"We didn't agree to this..."

He moved closer, his alcohol-infused breath feathered the side of my face.

"I didn't agree to anything, Kiera. You wanted a challenge. So, I gave you one." My mouth dried, feeling him closer to my body when he moved around me. "Now you complete it and I'd do everything to distract you..."

"Fine..." I grunted. "Where was I?"

"In this room," he said as he winked at me and moved away.

"Fudge you, mister."

"Brownie you, lady." And he flipped me off.

Grabbing the sides of my torso, I ballooned my face to recollect the last alphabet I'd stopped at.

"Got it... It was Q..." I jumped around, fluttering my lips. "So... Q...R...S..."

Leonardo's smile widened. Crossing his legs on the chair, he heaved. His arms rose in the air.

"Yasssss..."

"Nooooooooo..."

My knees crashed on the carpeted floor. I palmed my face, coiling my body and my self-esteem over my chest.

I wanted to forget I'd lost...Again.

More than that, I wanted to not see Leonardo's smug face. I could hear his feet taps as he danced around me, making weird sounds.

"Ka-ching... Pay up, looser."

"Shut up." My voice was muffed by my hand cage and my coiled form. "Go away."

"Where would I go? It's my room."

For a long time, I heard him mimic my dialogues. He tried hard to rile me up and tempt me to look up. Then silence befell. His dance moves and his singing stopped.

I felt the warmth of his hand over my back, running circles. He didn't say anything but when he gently patted the crown of my head, the burden I'd been feeling over my chest, melted.

"You didn't lose,'' leaning near me, he whispered. "I just succeeded in distracting you."

I tilted my head to look, still coiled over. Leonardo meant what he said. The way he nodded at me, his gesture to ease me into accepting that I didn't lose a stupid bet, gave me the courage to look up.

"You did good," he said.

Sitting alongside me, we peered into the wall and the muted television screen that displayed an old black and white movie.

"I don't know why I wanted you to challenge me. I just wanted to..." Grabbing the roots of my hair, I inhaled.

"You wanted to be in control. Something about winning this would have made you feel elated."

He turned to face me. Unknown to him, he had worded my feelings. He had read me better than I could convey.

"I don't know what you're going through, Kiera, but I feel like you were seeking temporary distractions. In here. And even at the bar."

"How can you say that?" I wanted to know. I needed to understand how he was able to read me when nobody else could.

"I don't know. I just felt it." Leaning over, he grabbed the last beer can and popped it open. "Like how I'm plying myself with alcohol to sleep peacefully." He gently raised the can at me. "The same way, you are drowning yourself in challenges and bets and whatnots to forget."

Sliding my arm around his back, I leaned over him. For a moment, his eyes darkened, looking over my shoulders before easing into my hold. Our bodies aligned as I swaddled over him.

"You've my utmost respect," I said.

Accepting defeat was second nature to me. But today, I wanted to accept that being defeated by a man who could read me so well was worth it.

His simmering smile, intense breathing and the way he held the sides of my hips, gently rocking me over him, paced up my heartbeats.

"You're accepting defeat? I didn't think you would-"

I tackled his words, sealing it with a kiss.

My brain was ready to deliver a perfect response but when he smiled, when his musky scent tickled my senses, rationale left.

I had no defense for kissing a stranger. I had none for accepting a stranger's marriage proposal either. Yet, there I was, doing everything a sane woman might not.

Be bad for once. Kiera's words revved up in my mind.

Leonardo's hand roamed over my robe, sliding it off. His lips trailed fire over my jaw and his tanned face blurred with our proximity. Our kiss – a medley of beer, cigarette, and passion – took me by surprise. Residual inhibitions melted like snow, warmed by his gaze.

"You want this?" he asked, breathing down a taut muscle near my neck. "I don't want you to carry any regret."

"I won't regret it."

"Sure?"

I nodded.

"You are sober, right?" he asked, his gaze glued over my lips.

I nodded again, letting his calloused palms course electric snaps and fire over my body.

The world melted away, drifting into a vacuum. The sound of hovering choppers, distant sirens, and the music from the adjacent room dissolved in the air.

Our heartbeats echoed, louder with anticipation.

When Leo pulled me to the bed, my thoughts paused. Only sensations prevailed. Golden hues burst behind my eyelids when his fingers trailed over my naked body. Our muffled moans, as he kissed me feathered my hearing.

With the caring hold of a provider and the urgent need of a predator, he invited me. I drowned with him. I drowned in him.

For a long time, my numb heart had been my only companion. The one person I longed for could never become my reality. But one careless night with Leo twisted everything. I wanted to be held again. Cared for again.

Afterwards, when Leo had drifted into a deep slumber, I grabbed my dried, chlorine-smelling attire delivered at the door. Penning a note, I slid into my dress.

"Stay with me." His sleep-laden words right before he drifted off, replayed in my ears. I watched the dawn peek from the horizon.

Before I left, I turned around to look at the man who had succeeded in making me feel alive, even if only for a night.

I walked out to coil the doomed decision around my neck. Soon, the Brenton-named noose would tighten to choke my happiness, snap my existence but breathe life to my wishes.

~

I hope you liked Leo and Zem's chemistry and their battery but supportive side.

Please do let me know your thoughts in the comments...

I'd love to hear from you all :)

Want to know what Leo felt? Then go on and turn the page.