by Kimmy Love
“Would you like to see it?” Oscar gave a cheeky smile back to Tessa. They both knew what else he was asking.
“I’d love to. Just let me get changed out of these work clothes.”
Luckily, Tessa had kept a change of clothes in her purse along with her stain remover. Otherwise, she’d have to visit this man’s home wearing a white button up and work pants. Throughout her adventure across Europe, she quickly learned that you didn’t always know what was going to happen next when you were staying at a friend’s house.
All too often, a party would pop up or she’d spill something and not know how to get back to a change of clothes alone. It was best to keep some backup supplies in her purse at all times. She was definitely one of those girls who always had a secret hiding in her bag.
She slipped out of the basic uniform and into a shoulder-less black dress she had balled up in her bag, along with a pair of foldable flats. She gave herself a quick spray of perfume and just had to fluff her curls after letting them down from her ponytail. Tessa normally didn’t wear makeup often, but when she did, she usually went full glam.
As an artist, she felt like makeup was just another way to express herself. She dug around in her purse but realized she only had some rose-colored lip gloss. She decided to just use a bit on her cheeks and lips and decided that would be enough. She somehow managed to look like she had planned to go over to a stranger’s place all night.
She was supposed to meet Oscar in front of the gallery, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a black car with tinted windows pulled up and the back door opened. Oscar was sitting inside. “There you are!” Oscar replied.
She crawled into the car and they left the gallery. “Well this is a pretty nice setup, huh?” she asked, referring to the transportation situation. Tessa felt a little strange in a car with a personal driver. She was used to taking cabs and rideshares all over Europe and in the U.S., but never had she taken a journey with a personal driver.
“Yeah, I’m not the best at driving around this city. It’s best to have someone help me out,” Oscar explained. “Also, thank you for helping me out. If you hadn’t given me a reason to leave, I’d probably spend the rest of my night talking to a bunch of people I hate.”
Tessa laughed. “Happy to be of service,” she responded.
“Wait you’re not the press, are you?” Oscar said. Tessa couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not.
“The press? Nope. Just a girl helping out a gallery.” She laughed.
“You didn’t look the type.”
“The type? What type do I look like then?”
“The type that might get mad if I say the wrong thing, so I’m going to choose to not answer that question.” Oscar laughed.
“Good answer.” Tessa laughed too.
They didn’t have a long ride and eventually stopped in front of one of the most gorgeous apartment buildings Tessa had ever seen. Most of the ride was spent playing stare-hockey like they had been all night. Before Tessa could even reach for the handle, Oscar had run to the other side, opening the door for her. She certainly didn’t need anyone to open doors for her, but it never hurt to have a guy show that they cared.
She followed Oscar into the building and up an elevator all the way to the top floor. Oscar used a key to open the elevator, and Tessa quickly realized they were in the penthouse. When they got off the elevator, she immediately saw the Cronus. She didn’t even care that you could see almost all of Athens out of his apartment windows. She was only concerned with the beautiful painting that was hanging in front of her.
“It’s the most stunning one I’ve ever seen.” She was frozen by the beauty, just like she had been the first time her eyes met Oscar’s. The painting was similar to the view he had out of his apartment window, soaring high over the city of Athens. It was a day-scene, a stunning contrast to the view Tessa had from the apartment windows.
“I thought so too, which is why I had to buy it.” Oscar handed Tessa a glass of wine. She hadn’t even realized he had opened a bottle. She took a sip and turned towards Oscar, who was also staring at the piece. The way he glared at the painting made him even more attractive to Tessa. She could tell he was really interested in the piece and not just pretending.
As an art student, Tessa ran into a lot of phony people. There were always guys who would claim to be into an artist, only for Tessa to realize that they couldn’t even name one of their pieces. Too many times had she run into guys who threw out big names to try to impress the girls around them. Tessa could normally see right through that.
When it came to Oscar, she could tell he was the real deal. He turned and gave Tessa the same long and deep look. “You said you’re leaving soon, so I hope I can make one of your last nights here memorable.” Oscar set his wine glass down and grabbed Tessa’s face with both of his hands.
He kissed her deeper than any kiss she had ever felt. Although his kiss electrified her entire body, he had a softness to his touch that filled her with warmth. He moved his hands down her neck and towards her backside. He squeezed her body hard, pulling her close before moving his hands back up to her arms.
His hands flowed perfectly up and down her many curves. He grabbed the wine glass from her and set it down, freeing her grasp so she could return his embrace. His hair was like silk running through her fingers. She gave it a squeeze and pushed his head deeper into hers. They spent what felt like a combination of a millisecond and a year kissing in front of the beautiful painting before Oscar pulled back.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be so forward. You’ve just looked so irresistible all night. I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss you.” Tessa couldn’t even say anything back as her breath was still gone from when they first kissed. She leaned back in for more, this time getting lifted all the way into his arms.
She wrapped her legs tight around his torso, freeing his hands so they could continue to move all over her body. He carried her to the bedroom and laid her down on what felt to Tessa like a cloud. She had so far only seen his foyer and bedroom, not realizing that she was probably in one of the most expensive apartments in all of Athens.
She remembered being nervous about the outfit she had quickly thrown together until he started to slowly peel it off her body. He treated the garment like it was made from delicate thread, slowly pulling it down her arms and then again over her hips. He kissed each new inch of skin that was revealed as he took her dress off, making sure to not miss any part of her velvet skin.
Tessa was paralyzed by his touch, trembling with anticipation as she watched him take his own shirt off. She sat up and helped remove his pants, wanting to kiss his torso as passionately as he’d just done to hers.
He crawled over Tessa and kissed her harder, unlatching her bra and spending twice as long kissing each breast as he had to the rest of her body. The entire time he was on top of her, he thrust his pelvis into hers, making her body throb with anticipation. She hadn’t been this ready for a man in a while.
He couldn’t get enough of her smooth skin and worked his way down to below Tessa’s waist, proving that he was the best kisser she’d ever been with. He kissed her thighs, slowly and carefully, as if they might crack if he kissed too hard. His hair tickled her legs, making her all the more excited for what he was going to do next.
She grabbed the blankets beneath her to help control some of the emotions she was feeling. No one ever made her feel this good. He lifted his head, and she knew she couldn’t take much more without bursting, motioning for him to kiss her again. He climbed back on top, putting pressure on her naked body underneath him.
He ran his fingers up and down her side, every so often grabbing and squeezing her breasts. She pushed him down onto the bed, pulling down his underwear to reveal what she had only felt through fabric before. She spent a good amount of time kissing him all over his body before climbing on top and taking every bit of him inside of her. They spent the rest of the night making love, barely comin
g up for breath.
Chapter2
It had been a little over a month since Tessa had last seen Oscar. She had thought about him every single day since the encounter. The way that he kissed her like no one else had before, the way that he felt connected to her magnetically, and like something bad might happen if she had chosen to let go. When they were together, something just felt right inside of Tessa. Their bodies formed into each other like puzzle pieces and when their skin touched, she felt drenched in warmth, in between their moments of passion.
Tessa and Oscar spent their time staring into each other’s eyes, talking about absolutely everything. Not only was it incredibly easy for Tessa and Oscar to have a sexual attraction, they could talk to each other like old best friends. Often, Tessa felt alone in her own thoughts and wondered if other people felt so deeply for things the way she did.
When she talked to Oscar, she was able to see herself in his way of thinking. She felt as though she had known Oscar forever, and that she would never get sick of the two of them talking to each other. This kind of connection was incredibly rare for Tessa.
For the most part, she spent her time wondering when conversations with others were going to end. If she was sticking to her original plan, she should have been back in the States. Instead, she was right where she wanted to be, hanging paintings inside the same gallery from the night of the charity event.
After the night of the gallery charity, Maria had been asked to accept a full-time position working with the gallery. This opened her internship spot, and Tessa was the best candidate. She had planned to look for temporary work in the States that would help grow her experience and art knowledge.
Instead, she managed to land in one of her favorite places: Greece. The internship was only meant to be for a year, and since they were fully staffed, Tessa wasn’t so sure that she would get a permanent position once the internship ended. Regardless, she was ready to work there if they’d like her to.
After the internship was over, Tessa still had plans to head back to the States and attend graduate school. She could only hang paintings and hand out pamphlets for so long. Tessa was also a little disadvantaged in the gallery. She spoke poor Greek, and a lot of the people who came in would ask her questions she didn’t understand.
At times she felt lonely, but the excitement of living in a place that she knew little about was all worth it. She got to see new art coming in weekly, always having something fresh and inspirational to discover. She missed her mom and her sister, but luckily, they would be visiting her soon enough. How often does one get the opportunity to live somewhere different and work somewhere exciting?
Tessa had wanted to teach for as long as she could remember. Though she always looked up to her mom, she often found a lot of heroes in the teachers she was assigned. Her art teachers were always the ones who truly pushed Tessa to create something amazing. Of course, she was a painter, but she knew it would be hard to always make a career of her work, and teaching was something she wanted to do anyway.
She also had several bad teachers throughout her life that inspired her into the career just as much as the good teachers had. She would have teachers that weren’t passionate about their lessons and would only do the bare minimum when it came to mentoring their students. Seeing this happen devastated Tessa.
She loved knowing everything there was to know about all the subjects she studied in school, but a bad teacher would always turn her off. She hoped to become a better teacher than all the bad ones she had, and only wanted to help inspire others.
Although Tessa has always wanted to be a teacher, she wasn’t in any rush to be back in school. She loved learning and expanding her mind, but sometimes, the monotony of school took a toll on Tessa. She grew tired of doing the same thing day after day, and got bored easily. She didn’t like the pressure that comes along with having to turn assignments in on time. She also feared critique of her own work and didn’t like getting a letter grade on a piece that she spent weeks agonizing over.
She knew that education was what she needed to do to reach her goal of becoming a teacher, and she hoped to be able to teach all ages of children and teens and wanted to work artistically with young minds.
Graduate school would always be there waiting for her, so Tessa decided to take her time getting back into it. She felt that the best place for her to learn and grow was right there in the gallery. She had only wished she was closer to her family and other friends. Having Maria was nice, but she was tired of being her American friend among the rest of the people they would hang out with. She loved the Greek language, but she felt uncomfortable when someone would make a joke in Greek and she would be the only one who didn’t understand.
Tessa only had one regret since making her way to Greece: not getting the man’s phone number. The only thing that she had known about him was that his name was Oscar. She didn’t even get a good glimpse of the apartment and took a cab home, so she didn’t remember how to get back.
She left without saying goodbye because she figured she was leaving soon. She had originally had a flight booked for the following Monday after their passionate night, so she figured that she would never see him again. That was what she had to accept as someone who had been traveling. If only she had known that she was going to be staying for another year, she certainly would have asked for his information and to see him again.
When she found out that she was going to be staying, she frantically searched all of her tips from that night to see where the one with his number was. She had no luck, and figured the bill got mixed into someone else’s stack that night. She was so frustrated with herself for being so careless! Normally, she would have never let a $20 get out of her sight, but that night, she was blinded by Oscar’s dreamy stare.
She asked Maria to get his number from the invitations list, but even she didn’t have access to that personal information. She just wanted to see his face one more time. She wanted to feel his lips all over her body again and felt pain when she thought about how she might never again hear his deep soothing voice.
She was doing her rounds in the gallery picking up trash, adjusting frames and making sure everything looked nice when the first person of the day walked through those doors. Tessa almost fell over right then. It was him. Oscar was standing inside the gallery staring at Tessa with his illuminating smile and crystal blue eyes.
He looked at her just the way he had the first night, the same look he gave her every time their eyes met. A look of lust, admiration, infatuation, all in one. No one had ever looked at Tessa like that and she never felt this much just from one person’s stare.
“It’s you,” he said with the biggest smile.
“It’s you!” Tessa teased back, pointing her finger right at him. She wanted to send her hands flying around him, but a hug might be too much right then.
“I thought I’d never see you again.” He was amazed that she was at the gallery. “Here you are! I was just walking around when I decided to see what differences there were from the last time I was here.”
“Well there are quite a few.” Tessa was so happy she couldn’t even think about the gallery.
“So, what are you still doing here? I have to be honest, I fantasized a little bit that you might have stayed. It was that great night, wasn’t it?” Oscar was still beaming.
“We did have a great time, but no, something else came up that kept me here. I’ve accepted an internship! I’ll be here for about a year.” Tessa didn’t want to think about real life again. She just wanted to be back in Oscar’s bed, kissing and holding him all night like they had the first time they met.
“Well that’s just lovely, isn’t it?” Oscar was probably never going to stop smiling the rest of his life.
“It certainly is.” Tessa could stare at him all day. They both just smiled at each other. They probably looked crazy to anyone who saw them, but she could stare and smile at him all day.
“Can you go out for dinner when you’re off? I’d
love to spend more time with you.”
“Of course!” Tessa almost couldn’t keep her excitement in and wanted to leave the gallery right at that moment. “I just have a few things left to do, and I’ll be off at 6.”
“Okay, well, I’ll let you get back to work. Here’s my number. Text me your address and I’ll meet you at your place at 7.” Oscar scribbled down his number on a scrap piece of paper and handed it to Tessa. “See you then.”
Tessa smiled and watched him leave. It was strange that he left so quickly, but surely, he had to go make dinner plans or get ready for the date. He hadn’t just come in to see what changed at the gallery. He was definitely looking for Tessa, but she didn’t care. He found her.
As soon as Tessa got home, she called her mom. Although it was hard to be so far away from her family, it was nice that she was able to video chat with her so often. The time difference made things tricky sometimes, but her mom and sister were usually on their lunch break when she got home from work. They normally went to Tessa’s mom’s house, so they could talk to her every other day.
“Mom! You’ll never believe who came into the gallery today!” Tessa was still beaming.
“Our dad?” Tessa’s sister, Jade, was there too. She was always making jokes about her and Tessa’s dad, something that Tessa wasn’t completely comfortable with. That was just Jade’s type of humor. Their father had walked out on them when they were young, so it wasn’t the most cheerful of subjects.
“NO! Oscar! The guy I told you I met at the gallery!” Tessa couldn’t control her excitement.
“Oh, honey that’s great!” Tessa’s mom was always incredibly supportive of her daughters. They were her life. “Will we get to meet him when we come?”