Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Vida

Vida's Apartment, New York City

"Please, please, make it work."

Vida peeked through the glass doors of the microwave and watched the ceramic container spinning around.

That night, Vida decided to cook lasagna for Colter. She found a recipe on Pinterest that required no oven and wanted to try it out. She just hoped that it would look and taste the same as what was promised in the pin.

As she waited for the lasagna to cook, she went to the bathroom to freshen herself up. She took her time brushing her hair. Her brush had never seen the light of day. She always finger-combed her hair, because why the hell not?

But after being asked on a date by Colter, she opted to start using her brush in an effort to tame her locks.

Speaking of the date, Vida shuddered at the thought of it being a bit of a flop. She still thought about what went wrong. Everything was going fine until that almost kiss.

Did I do something wrong? Vida thought. Maybe he got turned off by her unkempt hair. It was a pretty windy day after all.

Vida shook her head. She had decided that it was a fluke. Colter might have been uncomfortable with public displays of affection.

"Yes, that might be it." Vida said confidently.

Although, another theory popped into her mind: he might have someone else back home.

"No, no, no." Vida shook her head at her reflection. "Vida Vance, you are overthinking things. It was a normal date. He's just being a gentleman and would not want to make the first move on the first date. Chill the fuck out."

As she took a deep breath, beeping filled her ears and she knew that the lasagna was done. She took one last glance at herself in the mirror and gave herself a pep talk. "Everything's fine, Vida. You guys are good."

She ran back to the kitchen and carefully took out the lasagna. She peeled off the aluminum foil covering the ceramic and was amazed by the result. It looked good enough to eat. It smelled heavenly too.

Vida quickly grabbed spatula and the bento box she bought at the dollar store. It had tiny rabbits on it which she found super adorable. She then carefully scraped all the sides of the ceramic to make it easier for her to pull up a slice. Once that was in order, she cut the lasagna into equal parts.

"Well, what do you know," Vida said as she raised one portion to transfer into the bento box. The mozzarella cheese pulled perfectly. "Great job, self. You pulled off the impossible."

She finished assembling the bento box by placing store-bought garlic bread that she cut into small cubes and a mini-chocolate bar.

"This ought to do it." Locking the lid onto the bento box and placing it in a paper bag. Vida hoped that Juien would like her little peace offering. This would hopefully be able to thaw out any awkwardness between them.

She could not have been more grateful that her landlord, Benjie, agreed to rent out the unit that was a few doors down from hers to Colter. It seemed like Colter's charms worked even on a penny pincher like Benjie.

Vida was actually feeling a little nervous. It was ridiculous really. Colter had never given her any reason to be awkward around him, it was all probably in Vida's head.

She opened the door to her apartment unit, and as she was stepping out, she bumped into someone who was also incidentally in the hallway, right by Vida's door.

"Watch it," Vida said, not realizing who it was.

It was the subject of her overthinking: Colter. Both of them looked at each other's eyes for a while before they started speaking at the same time.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to block the hallway."

Vida paused. Colter also stopped his train of thoughts.

"This is for you." Vida held out the paper bag containing the bento box.

"I bought you this," Colter handed out a paper bag as well.

It was kind of crazy how in sync they were.

"Thank you."

"I appreciate this."

They grinned at each other.

"Vida, can we talk?

"Colter, I think we need to talk?"

Vida's heart pounded. So, now they were in the 'we need to talk' phase. Trying not to sound suspicious and to stop herself from being awkward around him, she decided to agree.

"Sure!"

"Lead the way."

They hesitated in which direction to go.

"My place or yours?"

"Your unit or mine?"

They were full on laughing now.

"I guess, we'll go with mine." Colter said. "Come on, I could not wait to see what's inside."

Vida thought her encounter went well. It was rather too well, she thought, as Colter reached for her hand.

Oh boy, here we go.

---

Colter

Colter's apartment, New York City

They had decided to continue their conversation at Colter's apartment unit. Again, it must be fate's liking that they met in the hallway.

His apartment smelled of lilacs with a hint of something sweet that he could not place. Honey? Or was it buttermilk? But what Colter knew was that it was Vida's signature scent. He would recognize that scent anywhere.

"I'm glad you had settled in yourself," Vida remarked as she sat down on the rundown couch.

"Yeah," Colter said, proceeding to the kitchen and placing the brown paper bag Vida had brought him. It was a comfort that all the units in this building were symmetrical. It helped Colter get accustomed to moving about since he was used to Vida's unit.

One thing he noticed, though once he moved out on his own, was the emptiness of the space. He was so used to Vida being around all the time that on the first night in his new home, Colter had trouble sleeping.

"It was kind of Benjie to lend me some furniture while I save some cash." He unloaded the contents of the brown paper bag. As he opened the lid, the smell of delicious food filled his nose. "Oh, wow. Did you make this?"

Vida replied. "Yup. It was just some recipe I found on the Internet. I wanted to try it out and see if I could maximize the use of the microwave. I can't keep treating you ramen all the time."

Colter laughed. "Don't worry, I love ramen."

He then carried the box of food toward the couch where Vida was sitting. Unlike Vida's unit, he did not have any surface yet, so he settled in the food on his leg which was still warm to the touch.

Once he was seated beside her, he noticed how Vida was fiddling with her hands. "Are you alright?"

She nodded and bit her lip. He knew that she wanted to get whatever was on her mind off so she could loosen up.

Colter cleared his throat and began to speak. "So, uh, I wanted to talk to you because of what happened on our date." He took note on how Vida was pulling on her sweater. "It's nothing to be alarmed of, I just wanted to apologize since it did not end well. I also wanted to assure you that I only want what's best for you: and that is to make you feel safe and comfortable around me. I did not want you to think of me as someone who would take advantage of you just because I got into your good graces. My mother did not raise me like that."

Vida could only nod, her eyes fixated on the hem of her sweater.

"So, I do apologize if you have ever taken it the wrong way. The way I saw you avoided my eyes everytime we were at work, I knew how it must have come off to you. I promise that I do not intend to lead you on. I am true to my word that I want to get to know you on a deeper level and not just to bed you."

She looked up at him, her face flushing. "I, uhm, that's not what I think of you. No, I don't think you're that type of man."

Colter nodded. "Well, I'm glad that's cleared up on your end then."

"Okay, my turn." Vida raised her leg to face him on the couch. "I'm sorry for letting my awkwardness get between us. I should not have let it affect our friendship. I felt bad that I had to avoid you at work, when I knew that it wasn't that big of a deal anyway. And I also want to thank you for being you. The amount of respect you have shown me, Tessa, and all the women throwing themselves at you at Burn's is something out of this world. Your mom must be so proud of raising a son like you."

Colter smiled at her words. "I hope you're right about my mother. That's all I ever wanted to achieve: make her proud of me."

"I'm sure she is," Vida placed a hand on his arm. "So, are we back to normal Vida and Colter?"

"Normal Vida and Colter was never gone anyway," Colter said.

Vida drew out a breath and said. "Whew, glad to have that baggage out of the way."

Colter laughed. "I can finally enjoy the food you brought for me."

"Yes, you should probably eat it while it's still warm." Vida smiled. "Go on, give it a bite."

Colter nodded. "I could not wait to sink my teeth into this."

As he took a mouthful of the gooey goodness, a burst of flavor greeted his tongue. It was savory and he liked it very much.

"This is phenomenal," Colter said, while still chewing.

Vida looked doubtful. "You think so?"

Colter hummed his approval as he took another spoonful. He closed his eyes, savoring the taste of tomatoes and some herb he was not familiar with.

"You should, uhm, try it with bread." Vida croaked.

Colter took a look at Vida and her eyes were different. There was something in them that also stirred within the depths of Colter's core.

In his mind, he wanted to indulge his heart but he knew it was wrong. If he ever wanted to keep his powers, he better keep his hands to himself.

But another part of his mind kept saying that it wouldn't hurt to try just a little bit, to feel how soft and supple her lips would feel against his.

"Here," Colter scooped out a fair portion and raised it to Vida's mouth. "The chef should have a taste of her own creation."

Vida visibly swallowed and opened her delicate mouth. Colter fed her the serving of food and watched as she ate it.

Colter realized that he should not have done that. It only made things worse. Not just for him, but also for Vida. Her eyes were hooded with desire.

He cleared his throat. "You got something on your lip." Before Vida could wipe it off, Colter did it for her and ran his thumb gently across her full lip.

Colter knew he was playing a dangerous game. But he had to or else he'll explode. His heart was beating too loud that Vida could probably hear it.

"Vida," he sighed her name as he closed his eyes.

"Colter," Vida whispered back.

The amount of self-control he had was astounding. He did not know where it was coming from, to be honest.

He rested his forehead on hers and breathed her scent in. It was calming.

As his eyes were closed, he was jarred back to reality with what he saw: the palace back at Howard being stormed by creatures of the night, chaos and bloodshed were on the streets.

He immediately opened his eyes. Vida was still there with him, leaning to his touch. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and pulled away.

Nothing beats seeing your Kingdom being razed to the ground as a cock-blocker.