Carpet Stained Red With Merlot

Aurora Prescott stared at herself in the mirror. She could barely recognize herself, it has been a while since she was on a first date. It must have been three years since Jason left her for her former best friend. Aurora's caramel-colored hair was curled to perfection, they fell in waves, her dark eyes popped with the dark eye make-up she had not worn in a while. Despite the three years of not being with anyone, her body was still stunning; a flat stomach and slender long legs said it all; she was a yoga instructor. Aurora leaned in closer to the mirror and she uncapped the red lipstick and slowly painted her lips into an approving red.

"Hi, I'm Rory," she said to the mirror and she stuck out her hand towards it as if she was going to shake hands with the reflection. "That's stupid," she told herself.

"Hi, I'm Rory," she said once more with a head tilt.

"Hi, I'm Rory, it's so nice to finally meet you face-to-face," she said and she smiled at herself in the mirror with approval. Taking in a deep breath she grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter and headed for her blue Nissan Rogue SUV that stood in the driveway. The car beeped signaling that it was ready to go, she drove down the winding curves of the road and finally got to the destination. A valet opened the door for her.

"Madame," he said and he held out a white-gloved hand. Suddenly, Aurora felt like she was too old for the dating game. To have someone call her "madame" when she was only thirty-two years old made her feel like she was suddenly forty. She got out of the car and passed the keys to her driver.

"Take care of her," she told him as he got into the car. She watched him drive off and the ticket attendant passed her a number, she slid it into her pocket.

"Aurora?" asked a British voice from behind her. Well, his profile failed to mention that, she thought as she whipped around she came face to face with a handsome man, just like his profile, maybe even more handsome. He had gorgeous brown hair that was thick and it was evident he gave it a lot of thought, his brown eyes were almost puppy dog-like. How could such a handsome man be on a dating site? Was it really hard for him to find beautiful women? or did he have many women?

"Yes, Hi I'm Rory by the way," she said, she stuck out her hand and he was going for a hug, her hand smashed into his chest and she could feel his toned body under his coat. "Sorry, I was going for a handshake," she told him and he laughed easily.

"No worries, shall we?" he said and he gestured towards the entrance to the restaurant. She took the first step forward and he followed her closely behind and he ran to open the door for her. Jason would have never done that for her, she stepped in and gave her coat to the host. He looked extravagant in a burgundy suit, it brought out his eyes even more. The host led the way to their table and Noah pulled out the chair for her and she sat down.

During the dinner, they learned about each other, she laughed a lot and suddenly had forgotten that she was a divorced woman, she forgot that he might have other women following him, she forgot that he was a stranger that she had just met. Together, they walked down the street, she moved in closer to him so that she could smell his cologne, his arm brushed up against hers and Aurora could feel the warmth coming from him, then as if they both decided their hands intertwined.

"Would you like to come inside?" he asked and she at first hesitated, but then again, she had shaved legs...and it has been a while since she was with a man.

"Sure," she said and they stepped into his townhouse. Elegant marble was in his front entryway, the hall led down to a living room, the carpet was white to match the marble floors. He took her coat and together wandered into the living room, he pulled her down to the carpet and opened a bottle of merlot. He uncorked the bottle and poured her a glass.

"What are we doing all the way down here?" asked Aurora.

"Well Rory, There's this thing that I love, when that window is open," he said pointing towards the back window. "The light hits the carpet perfectly and..." he trailed off and turned on the electric fire "I can feel the warmth of the carpet, it brings me back to a simpler time I guess," he said.

He sipped his red wine and a bit remained on his lips, she leaned in closer to him and she could smell the faint smell of merlot, he gazed into her eyes and his stare lingered down to her lips. They drew in closer feeling each other's breath, then their lips lightly grazing against each other, when finally their instincts gave in, Aurora let herself go and their mouths collided and time had stopped. Without paying attention to where her wine glass was, she knocked it over with her foot. The red merlot stained the white carpet. Immediately Aurora jumped up.

"I am so sorry! You have this thing with the carpet and it's completely gone through! I should have looked!" she exclaimed, he stared at her. Aurora had no idea what he was going to do. He took her hand and led her back to where they were sitting.

"There is nothing to be done, the carpet will still get warm when the sun hits it," he said calmly.

"But the carpet, it's stained," she argued.

"Right, but maybe it was supposed to be stained by you tonight, after all everything happens for a reason," he said.

He kissed her and it knocked down his own glass of merlot. Eventually, in the heat of the moment everything happened all at once, her shirt was pulled off, his belt was undone, she no longer cared for her perfectly curled hair as it fell into the pool of the spilled Merlot. He kissed her neck and his lips started to graze her collarbone. She pulled his shirt off in a swift motion and threw it across the room. They moved into the bedroom and the door shut closed.

The morning light streamed through the cracks of the window blinds, Aurora looked to her left and he was already awake, his warm brown eyes stared back at her and for a moment they both said nothing, but just stared into each other's eyes. She noticed the freckles in his eyes, they were speckled with hints of gold. Without a word he rolled out of bed and he walked into the living room, she could still see him from the bed, he sat down on the merlot-stained carpet and put his hand on the surface. Aurora got out and followed him, she sat down across from him and put her hand on the dried stain.

"See I told you, the carpet would still be warm," he said and she smiled back at him.