23 Valeria

23

Valeria

(Valeria first person, Khalid third person)

My body kept tensing and relaxing as I tried to control my breathing, sitting naked in front of Khalid while he painted me. I didn’t know what to do. I felt nervous with anticipation. My skin was prickling with anxiousness. My fingers clenched the soft suede of the armchair he had asked me to sit on.

Even the air seemed thicker and boiling with tension in Khalid’s room. It had been like that since Zara left us alone. I had told him that I was feeling much better than before, and he had asked me to have a painting session.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to talk to him.

But all my courage left when I had to expose myself for the umpteenth time in front of his piercing eyes in his childhood room. Which smelt of something musky with his signature masculine scent.

Khalid dropped the paintbrush with a sigh as he stared at her face. “Valeria, what is troubling you?” He asked, wanting to know what was causing her so much discomfo