Is this destiny?

~ Chicago ~

October 5

Ellie is standing in front of the door of Jasper\'s penthouse. She was excited to see him after two days, but now that she is right here… she is nervous.

The doorman who greeted her with a big smile and let her in without even making a call to Jasper made her even more uneasy.

Ellie would probably not be in this tense state if she didn\'t talk to JoAnna previous day. And then that array of messages this morning. Really. Why did JoAnna ask those silly questions about liking someone and even mentioned love? Ellie was so distracted by her conversation with JoAnna that she could not make herself respond to Jasper\'s text messages. There is no way that she can tell Jasper that she likes him. She can imagine that smug smirk becoming his permanent feature if she ever tells him. It will be beyond irritating.

She looked at the door in front of her. Her options are to ring the doorbell or to head back. And she can\'t go back, she is already here. And she wants to see him.

Her finger barely touched the doorbell button and Ellie is not sure if she even pressed it enough to make the expected ding-dong sound when the door in front of her opened abruptly.

"You are late."

Ellie looked at Jasper\'s half-stern face and then observed that he is wearing a light green t-shirt and blue jeans… and it seems that they are matching. Her t-shirt is few shades darker than his, but it\'s still a light green hue. And she has jeans pants as well.

Ellie knows that it can\'t be more than few minutes after noon. Why is he accusing her of being late in a tone like she is late by hours? She collected herself and hoped that her appearance does not show how nervous she is. "Is this your way of saying that you missed me?"

Jasper had an unreadable expression for a second and then he pulled her in his embrace. "I\'m glad you are here."

He saw this morning that all his messages had status \'Read\' and he was beyond anxious by every passing minute that she didn\'t respond. Jasper started thinking that maybe something happened. Did she change her mind? Why else would she not respond to his messages? Is she not coming? Is she planning to tell him that she does not want to see him ever again? His mind was a mess.

But she is here now. And that knot in his chest is dissolving and allowing him to breathe again.

He asked himself many times how is it possible that he has these kind of \'I-miss-you-immensely\' feelings toward the girl he saw a handful of times? They didn\'t even go beyond kissing… It\'s not logical. Nothing related to Ellie makes sense.

The only explanation Jasper came up with is that she is a piece of him that was missing all this time. This woman in his arms puts him at ease, and the fact that she hugged him back makes him smile. Knowing that she accepts him makes his heart swell. He will not mess this up. He can\'t afford to mess this up.

"Are you going to invite me inside? Or do you plan to hug me in the hallway for the rest of the day?", Ellie\'s voice pulled Jasper out of his thoughts.

Jasper inched away and observed Ellie\'s face. "No. My plan is to hug you inside for the rest of the day."

Ellie rolled her eyes and pushed him away. "Shameless."

Jasper smiled while watching Ellie get inside his apartment. He closed the door and caught up to her in few quick steps.

"What is the plan for today?", Ellie asked Jasper as she accepted a glass of red wine. She observed that he poured one for himself as well.

"Are you hungry?", he asked instead of answering her question.

"Not really. I had a late breakfast."

Jasper nodded in acknowledgement and took a seat next to Ellie on the sofa.

"Plan for today? I told you, hugging mostly." Jasper laughed when he saw Ellie\'s half shocked and half outraged expression. "Honestly, I didn\'t make any plans other than spending the day with you. Tell me what you feel like doing and I will do my best to make it come true."

Ellie was avoiding Jasper\'s gaze while thinking what she want to do... with Jasper. Other than hugging and kissing nothing much came to her mind. \'Damnit, Anna!\', Ellie cursed silently because JoAnna\'s teasing came back to her mind. Why is she hearing JoAnna\'s voice asking in a suggestive tone if Jasper can please her? And to make things thousand times worse, she can feel her cheeks heating up. \'Crap, now I\'m blushing?\'

"I will give you whatever you want as long as you tell me without holding back what is on your mind right now."

Jasper\'s words made Ellie hold her breath. Of course, he saw that she blushed! And based on the heat level, her whole face is probably red like a ripe tomato!

"I\'m thinking how this wine is much stronger than I thought.", Ellie said awkwardly while keeping the glass on the table.

"Hmm… I don\'t believe you. Try again."

Ellie slowly turned toward Jasper and she could swear that it\'s not just his smirk… even his eyes are teasing her! She grabbed a decorative pillow her hand rested on and threw it at Jasper.

Jasper didn\'t expect the pillow-projectile, and dark red wine from his glass ended on his t-shirt and the light gray upholstery of the sofa and on Ellie\'s t-shirt (in that order).

"I\'m so sorry…", Ellie said after few seconds of initial shock.

She dashed into the kitchen and returned with a wet cloth before she started dabbing the stain on the upholstery.

"I appreciate your efforts, but you know that you can\'t remove a wine stain like that, right? Come, t-shirts can be salvaged. Leave sofa to the professionals." Jasper pulled her up and wrestled the cloth out of her hand.

Ellie was not sure at what point they reached the bathroom. But she remembers flexing of every muscle on his back while he removed his t-shirt.

"Do you need help to remove that top?", Jasper asked while pointing at the sink where his t-shirt was soaking already.

She was dazed while staring at him and totally unresponsive as he got the stain remover liquid from who knows where. And his smug expression told her that he noticed.

Ellie unglued her eyes off from his toned body with difficulty and realized that he wants her t-shirt. She hugged herself. "I\'m fine. Thanks."

Jasper smiled and walked out. Few breaths later, he returned and handed her a white shirt. "Here, you can put this on."

"Hurry up. It should be soaked before it dries off.", he reminded her before closing the door behind him.

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