HOT CHOCOLATE

Dazed by his frustration and furiously fighting back tears, Denwen raced towards the lecture hall at full speed. One last turn and he would be in time for the last fifteen minutes of his hour long lecture. To his dismay, he caught a glimpse of a silhouette in his peripheral view just as he made the turn. Hard luck for whoever I’m going to hit into he thought to himself. As if things couldn’t get any worse, he realized he would hit into a female. She didn’t even look stunned by the sudden turn of events. Did she just smile at him? He snapped back to reality as he twisted his body sharply to avoid her, crashing into the corridor wall within sight of his destination. At this point he wasn’t sure what was more important to him. Finding out who the unidentified smiling female was or his education. He was remarkably flattered a female would ever smile at him. His moral compass shook violently when he heard a voice say, “I’ve never seen someone try so hard to get to class despite being so late.”

Denwen momentarily lay on the ground before propping himself up on his elbow as he turned in the direction of the voice he had just heard. His insides tightened when he came face to face with her cleavage as she stood over him. He was embarrassed at how long he stared and forced himself to blink. After a hard fought battle to set his eyes in the right direction. He finally noticed her smiling face and outstretched hand. As if her gaze had hypnotised him, he raised his hand with complete compliance. Eyes still transfixed on hers, he couldn’t make out her pupil behind that alluring dark brown iris. She was darker than most females he knew but he was still undeniably drawn to her. He felt all kinds of stirrings and yearnings he did not know his body had the capacity to process.

He could tell she took good care of her skin, the results spoke for themselves. Made with utmost perfection, whatever deity had created her had used the finest earth to mould a human this perfect. She emitted a somewhat angelic aura as if she were the goddess of beauty herself.  Her cupid bow lips had parted to reveal a set of dazzling white teeth. So perfectly arranged and she was smiling at him. The perfect embodiment of femininity at its climax.

He stood up slowly, all his belongings clattering noisily to the ground in the process. At this point he wasn’t concerned, she giggled at his lack of concern. They were exactly the same height. Time seemed to stand still as he took in the full view of her beauty. He could find no flaws in her.

“Aren’t you a clumsy one, I thought I was bad,” she said. Every word she uttered pierced his soul. “Well, I was going to - ,” he started when he could finally find his voice. “Attend that class?” She pointed at an empty classroom which looked like it had been abandoned for centuries. The lights were off and there was no sign of human activity. Dylan stared incredulously at the empty classroom amazed at how he had convinced himself that he was going to make it in the nick of time. "Yes, that class’” he responded with a dumbstruck look on his face. She patted him on the shoulder sending shivers down his spine. “It’s okay I have all the notes, come to my apartment later this evening I can help you out,” she said suggestively. “As a matter of fact I have all the notes for the entire course,” she winked. His heart skipped a beat. Did she just invite him to her apartment? After finding his voice, he mustered enough strength to say courageously. “It would be great to be able to study in advance and not have to go for that boring class anyway.” “Great! I’ll see you later,” she turned around to leave before she paused to ask. “Aren’t you going to ask for my phone number? Unless you already know where I live?” He felt his cheeks flush while he fumbled through his pockets trying to find his phone almost dropping it in the process. His body had a mind of its own and just didn’t want to cooperate with him. He pulled himself together stood straight and asked, “What's your phone number?” She looked at him and smiled, “You’re not really into girls are you?” The question cut through him like a hot knife through butter. “Don’t worry I’m just joking it's kinda cute,” she grabbed his phone punched in a few numbers and gave it back to him. “I hope you like burgers, that’s what I’ll be making for supper today. I’m not your conventional woman in the kitchen; you have to bear with me,” she said with a shy smile on her face as she looked down. “Burgers are great! I’m a huge fan actually,” Denwen replied emphatically. “Really?” She looked at him gleefully, “I see we’ll get along just fine. She turned around to leave with a quick turn. “Wait!” He suddenly blurted out. “You didn't tell me your name.” “Funny you would ask me that,” she answered cocking her head to the side. “Look at your phone, what does it say?” He cursed himself in his heart for failing to seem smooth. Glancing down at his screen the name Maura Caruso had been saved with a red heart emoji. “whoa!” He exclaimed,” ‘It’s a beautiful name never heard it before. “Yeah, I get that a lot,” she said nonchalantly as she tossed her hair to the side. “Wanna know what it means?” Denwen hesitated before nodding his head vigorously. “What’s funny is you can actually see what my name means.” His brow furrowed with confusion. “What complexion am I?” Maura asked. “Uhm, well I would say you are ... that you are dark skinned he replied. “Exactly, don’t ask me about my surname I have no idea what that means,” she laughed. “What about you?” Denwen looked down at his feet and shuffled them nervously. “Denwen means a serpent deity.” Her eyes grew wide with astonishment, “That is so cool!” He looked up sharply and stared at her in disbelief. “You mean that?” “Yeah! It's way cooler than mine,” she responded. “I never tell people because most start to make fun of me about it, so I tend to keep it to myself,” he explained. “Don't worry,” she winked. Comically zipping her mouth, “Your secret is safe with me. I gotta rush. Things don’t buy themselves when you’re left home alone you know. Ciao!” Without giving him a chance to respond she disappeared.

Daylight dragged on interminably making him feel like a vampire trapped under a bridge craving the darkness to creep in over the horizon. He had just made his confirmation call with Maura. So far everything was going swell, he took a moment to admire his reflection from head to toe. Sporting his trusted pair of Saint Laurent Wyatt Chelsea boots fashioned from black leather and suede. He wore black denim Levi's 512 ripped slim-fit jeans. Ripped on the knees in a rough but classy type of way. Topped off with a simple plain short sleeved black t-shirt from the thrift store down the street that he loved so much. Cherry on the cake was his father’s knee length Dolce & Gabbana cashmere double-breasted coat. He shuddered at the thought of what his father would do to him if he got caught for stealing it. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission he shrugged.

Denwen had always been embarrassed by the fact that he still came from home unlike his classmates who were living it up in apartments. Today he felt justified, he would not have been able to pull this off on his own. “Thank you mum and dad,” he smiled as he blew their family portrait a kiss.

He had cautiously settled for the Volkswagen Polo GTI, the family car for errands. He knew even the gods of Olympus could do little or nothing against his father if he dared to touch his father’s custom interior Audi q8. Maura had sent directions and with the aid of GPS he was at her house in a short space of time. He was stunned just by the sheer size and magnificence of the gate. Before he could wrap his head around the immaculate design and the family Crest embedded in the centre of the gate; he was interrupted by the electronic sound of the gate opening. Astonished he jerked his head upwards and stared into the robotic glare of a surveillance camera. Without thinking he drove in completely marvelled by the splendour of the mansion that was in front of him. He was completely oblivious to the whirring sound of the gate closing behind him.

He allowed himself to be dazzled by the magnificent structure that stood in front of him. There was not a single brick insight, this was truly the climax of engineering. It looked like a beautiful glass box merging itself with nature.  Maura cheerfully waved at him from the front door which was clearly massive judging by how it dwarfed her figure. She was casually dressed in a white crop top and black sweatpants accentuating her figure. Even when she wasn’t trying she was still a marvel.

He stepped out of the car to meet Maura and he was received with a warm embrace. “I find it hot when a guy is right on time,” she whispered in his ear. He lost his breath for a moment feeling the exposed skin on her waist. “Come right in,” she invited. She led him into the living room.  “May I take your coat?” Denwen was caught unaware by the question he wasn't used to such hospitality. She examined the rich material, “This must have cost a fortune, I love it! Where did you get it? She asked inquisitively. “Oh! It was a gift from my dad for my 21^st birthday,” he replied with feigned nonchalance. “Should I take off my shoes?” “Nah, its okay. It’s a wooden floor and it gets quite chilly,” she mentioned. “Wait ... “he started.” Is that the sky? Or you have a sky painted ceiling? He gasped. She grinned at him. That is actually the sky. Let’s take a better look.

She led him to an exquisite white leather chair and plopped down on the seat with a beaming smile. He sat down next to her. “Pull the lever on your right and stretch your feet to recline the seat all the way back,” she instructed. Denwen eased into it and found himself staring at the sky. He was enthralled by the view, he felt her hot breath on his ear. He turned and found himself face to face with her. His heart pounded furiously in his chest. He was afraid he would breathe too loud and she would know he was nervous. He could see every detail of her lips, he could even count her eye lashes. “I’m glad you came,” she whispered rubbing his cheek with her palm. She planted a soft kiss on his lips, giggled and stood up abruptly. “I’ll go get us a snack, make yourself comfortable”. He lay there motionless, wondering which god had smiled upon him favourably. He was definitely going to keep paying his tithe if this was the reward. He sat up, restraining himself from dancing with joy.

It was only now that he took a good look at his surrounding, an open house with almost everything but bedrooms and bathrooms in sight. He could see the kitchen counters, stove, microwave and other appliances. In front of him was the most beautiful fire place he had ever seen.

Whatever that was, wasn’t even fit to be called a television; it was a screen built into the wall. He felt his inner caveman protest at all the modernity he had to process. Suddenly the lights went off. The room got cold, so cold that his teeth began to chatter. Well, this is unexpected he thought to himself. It was so dark he couldn’t even see his own hand when he held it out in front of him. An ear splitting scream tore apart the eerie silence, sending chills down Denwen’s spine. The house went silent again before he heard the sound of a body falling to the ground with a loud thud from a room whose location he could not figure out. Before he could open his mouth to call out her name. He heard a slithering sound, as if something heavy was dragging itself towards him. He listened intently trying to make out the direction accurately. He groped around blindly hoping to find something he could swing to protect himself. “This one looks tastier than the other one,” came a low hissing voice in the darkness. Denwen froze, he felt his heart sink with despair. “This couldn’t be real,” he thought to himself. This wasn’t how he was going down. He dashed in the direction he remembered he entered the house from, stumbling over what he came to realise was the coat hanger stand. “The door must be here somewhere,” his mind was racing wildly. “Maura!” he shouted finally finding his voice. “Maura!” there was no response. He grabbed what felt like his coat and made a run for the door. Soon as his fingers touched the door knob. He felt an ice cold hand grab his neck and pull him backwards. “Not so fast,” came a soft voice. He whirled around and lunged in the direction he felt the hand come from. Only realizing that he recognized the second voice when he was already in motion. If he was going to die whatever it was in front of him was going down with him. “Alexa, turn on the lights!” Maura cried. In an instant the room lit up, blinding Denwen as they crashed to the floor as he landed on top of her. “I got you, didn’t I?” she asked triumphantly. Distracted by her chest heaving up and down Denwen forgot that he was terrified and about to run for his life. “You – you sure did.” He stammered, trying to get his breath under control.

“I’m sure you’ve figured it’s a smart house by now. I just lowered the air conditioning settings and used the surround sound to play something pre-recorded from a movie.” She suppressed a giggle trying to maintain a straight face. “I hope you’re not mad at me,” she said. Staring into his eyes imploringly. His heart melted and he felt himself getting weak in the knees. “I don’t think it’s possible to be mad at you,” he replied. “That was your punishment for failing to ask me for my number.” With a loud sigh Denwen looked up at the ceiling and muttered under his breath, “Thank you God. Thanks an awful lot.”