Chapter 38, Part 2 — Golden Lady
Lena pulled back just enough to look at him, her hands still resting against his chest.
“You couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”
Michael gave her a sheepish smile and shook his head. “I tried.”
A laugh slipped out of her. “Michael.”
“I had my script open and everything,” he said, looking down, shy but pleased with himself. “But I kept reading the same line over and over, thinking about you.”
Lena finally noticed the small overnight bag hanging from his shoulder. Her brows rose before her smile broke wide. “You packed a bag?”
She tugged him into the room. “Come in before someone sees you standing out here being adorable.”
“You’re wearing shades in a hotel hallway at night.”
Michael glanced down like he had forgotten that part. “That’s fair.”
Lena shook her head, smiling as she shut the door and turned the lock. When she faced him again, the sweetness of it hit her all at once. He was really there, in her room, with his little bag and his shy smile and his cap pulled low, all because he had missed her too much to stay away.
“You are impossible,” she said softly.
“I know.” His expression gentled. “I just really wanted to see you.”
The honesty in his voice stripped away the last of her teasing. Lena stepped closer, and Michael met her halfway, his hands finding her waist as he kissed her. It started soft, then deepened with the relief of finally being near each other. Her arms slid around his neck, and he held her carefully, like he still couldn’t quite believe he had made it there.
When they parted, he rested his forehead near hers.
“Can I stay?” he asked quietly.
Lena smiled. “Of course you can stay.”
“Yes.” She glanced at his bag. “You can sleep in, come with me to the post office in the morning, or sit here pretending to read whatever you brought.”
“I don’t pretend to read.”
She gave him a look he could only describe as stop lying and sighed. “Michael.”
His mouth twitched. “Sometimes I pretend to read.”
“That’s what I thought.” She said with a faint eye roll but a smile.
From the bathroom, the low sound of running water reminded her of the tub. Steam had started to drift into the bedroom, carrying lavender and vanilla with it.
“Oh,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “I was about to take a bath.”
Michael immediately stepped back, polite almost to the point of panic. “That’s okay. Go ahead. I’ll stay out here.”
“Yeah. I’ll read or watch TV or something.”
Lena studied him for a second, amused by how careful he was being. “Make yourself comfortable.”
She disappeared into the bathroom and turned off the water.
Michael stood in the middle of the room for a moment, still smiling to himself, then took off his cap and set it on the dresser, placing his shades beside it. He unzipped his bag, pulled out his script, and sat on the edge of the bed.
But the room was too full of her. Her perfume near the vanity. Her shoes by the chair. Her folders stacked neatly on the desk. The faint sound of water moving in the bathroom. The soft splash of her settling into the tub.
Michael looked down at the script. Read one sentence. Read it again. Then a third time. None of it stayed.
A few minutes passed before Lena called from the bathroom. “Michael?”
He looked up immediately. “Yeah?”
He stood, suddenly unsure of his own hands. “You need something?”
“Just come here. Please?” She asked lightly.
Michael walked to the bathroom doorway and stopped. For a moment, he forgot whatever he had planned to say.
Lena rested in the tub with her arms along the rim, steam curling around her face. Her hair was pinned loosely on top of her head, curls slipping free at her temples and the nape of her neck. Her skin glowed in the soft bathroom light, warmed by the water and the oil shimmering over the surface. Bubbles clung to her shoulders, and her eyes looked heavy and bright all at once, like the day had finally let go of her.
Michael stood completely still.
Lena tilted her head, amused by his silence. “You okay?”
He blinked, then gave a shy little laugh. “Yeah. I just…”
“You look like…” His voice softened with wonder. “Like an actress from one of those old pictures. From the forties or something.”
“The forties?” she asked, smiling.
“Yeah.” He leaned lightly against the doorframe, his gaze staying respectfully on her face. “All soft lights and curls and pretty eyes. Like you’re supposed to be in black and white, but somehow better.”
Lena’s smile changed, touched in a way she didn’t try to hide.
The steam curled between them, making the small bathroom feel even smaller.
“Come here,” she said softly.
“No.” Her eyes flicked toward the water, then back to him. “Here.”
Michael’s eyes widened. “In the tub?”
“It’s just a bath.” She gave him an easy smile. “We can just talk.”
“I know.” He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly shy. “I just don’t want you thinking I came over here to rush anything.”
The sincerity in his voice softened her completely.
“I mean it. I wanted to see you. That’s all.”
“I know.” Lena rested her chin on her forearms, looking up at him through the steam. “And I want you here. Just to talk.”
Michael held her gaze for another second, caught between nerves and wanting to be near her. Then he nodded.
“All right,” he said softly. “Just talk.”
Lena reached for the towel she had set near the sink and held it out. “I’ll close my eyes if you want.”
Michael caught it, his smile bashful. “You don’t have to. I’m just trying to be respectful.”
“I know.” Her voice softened. “That’s why I like you.”
His cheeks warmed at that.
“You can look if you want,” he said, quieter now. “Ain’t nothing you haven’t seen already, I guess.”
“True,” she said, turning toward the wall and covering her eyes. “But since you’re being respectful, I’ll be respectful too.”
Michael smiled to himself, then stepped out of his bottoms first. When he pulled his shirt over his head, it caught awkwardly, and he muttered under his breath.
Lena’s mouth curved. “You okay over there?”
“My shirt’s being difficult.”
A second later, he bumped softly into the wall.
Lena gasped, then laughed lightly. “You nervous?”
Her smile turned tender. “Me too.”
That eased him more than anything else could have.
After folding his clothes neatly on the counter, Michael took a breath and stepped into the tub, one hand on the wall to steady himself. The water rose warm and fragrant around him, and he let out a quiet sigh as he settled opposite her, knees bent carefully so they weren’t tangled too much.
“Can I open my eyes now?” Lena asked.
He laughed softly and reached for her hand. “Yeah, girl. You can.”
When their eyes met, something sparked between them, quiet but unmistakable. Neither of them said anything for a moment.
It should have felt strange. Maybe it did, a little.
But more than that, it felt honest. Two people who had spent all day missing each other, now close enough to stop pretending they were fine with waiting.
Michael glanced at the bubbles, then at her. “You always make baths this fancy?”
“When I’ve had a day like today? Yes.”
She gave him a look, “You mocking my oils?”
“No.” He leaned back carefully against the tile. “I respect the oils.”
“You better.” She quipped with a smile.
His smile widened, then slowly softened as the warmth of the water began to loosen him. Lena watched his shoulders lower with each breath, the tension leaving him by degrees.
For a while, they talked quietly over the hush of cooling bathwater. About the meeting, Carl’s questions, Michael’s call times, and how filming was about to swallow him whole. About Lena needing to run to the post office in the morning. About how she still hadn’t found decent coffee near the hotel. About wanting to explore Harlem in the next few days and maybe find a temporary hair salon.
“I’m a little over my hair right now,” Lena admitted, lifting a damp curl from her neck. “The curls are pretty, but Lord, they are hot.”
Michael only stared at her, hopelessly caught, his eyes soft as they moved over her face.
“I like your hair like this,” he said quietly. “Makes you look almost unreal.”
Lena’s smile flickered, shy at the edges.
“Sometimes when you’re asleep, your curls brush my nose and wake me up,” he continued, his voice low with affection. “And other times, you’re tucked against me so peaceful, and your hair spreads around you like a little cloud.”
His thumb grazed her cheek.
“Like heaven decided to rest right there on my pillow.”
Lena’s eyes dropped for a shy second before finding his again.
“You always make me sound prettier than I feel,” she whispered. “But when you say it…I believe you.”
Michael’s expression softened.
“Lena,” he said quietly, like he needed her to hear every word, “you are, by far, the prettiest girl in the world. Don’t ever forget that.”
A comfortable silence settled between them. Lena felt so safe in it that her eyes began to drift closed, her body sinking deeper into the warmth as she let herself enjoy the moment.
Michael watched her, quiet and open in a way that made the room feel even warmer.
“I missed you tonight,” he said.
“I can tell,” she murmured, opening one eye with a small smile.
“I mean, I really missed you.” He looked almost embarrassed by the admission, but he kept going. “I got used to seeing you. When I couldn’t, everything felt off.”
Lena’s teasing faded. “I really missed you too.”
His eyes lifted to hers, hopeful. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She rested her cheek against her folded arms on the edge of the tub. “I did.”
Michael laughed softly, then grew quiet again. His fingers drifted beneath the water until they found hers.
“I keep thinking about how fast this is moving,” he admitted.
Lena looked down at their hands, his thumb brushing slowly over her knuckles. “Too fast?”
“No.” He shook his head, but his voice stayed careful. “Not too fast. Just…fast enough that I notice it.”
Her fingers curled gently around his. “I notice it too.”
Michael’s eyes lifted to hers, shy and searching. “Does it scare you?”
“A little,” she said honestly.
His face softened, but something uncertain passed through his expression.
Lena squeezed his hand before he could pull it away. “Not in a bad way.”
“No.” She shifted closer, the water rippling between them. “It scares me because I like you more than I planned to.”
Michael went still, then slowly, his thumb moved over her skin again. “I didn’t plan on liking you this much either.”
A small smile touched her mouth. “You packed a bag after ten minutes of trying to read, so I figured.”
He laughed under his breath, embarrassed. “I know. That didn’t help my case.”
Lena nodded, her gaze softening as she looked at him through the steam. “Yeah. It’s nice being missed.”
Michael’s expression opened at that, tender and relieved.
“I missed you,” he said quietly. “All night.”
He brought her hand closer beneath the water, holding it between both of his now. “I just don’t wanna do anything wrong with you.”
The honesty in his voice made her chest ache.
“Michael,” she said softly, “you’re allowed to want me. You’re allowed to miss me. You’re allowed to show up because you couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”
“You just have to keep being honest with me.”
“And I’ll be honest too.”
He nodded. “I want that.”
Lena leaned in slightly, enough for her knee to brush his beneath the water. “Then we’re okay.”
Michael looked down at the small point of contact, then back at her.
She smiled. “We’re more than okay.”
His smile came slowly, warm and bashful, and he lifted her hand just enough to press a soft kiss to her knuckles.
“Good,” he whispered. “Because I really like being here.”
Lena’s fingers slid gently through his.
“I really, really like you being here.”
For a moment, the room went quiet again, filled only with the soft movement of water and the steam curling between them.
The hotel room beyond the doorway stayed still. The city carried on outside. For once, there were no phones ringing, no bosses calling, no schedules demanding either of them pretend this was casual.
Eventually, Lena sighed and leaned her head back against the tub.
“We should get out before we turn into prunes.”
Michael glanced down at his fingers. “Too late.”
She laughed softly. “Come on.”
He climbed out first, reaching for a towel and turning away so quickly that Lena rolled her eyes with affection.
“You are committed to being respectful.”
“I know.” She smiled as she stood carefully, keeping one arm across herself while reaching for her robe. “And I appreciate it.”
Michael kept his back turned until she said, “Okay.”
When he faced her again, she was wrapped in her robe, damp curls clinging to her cheeks and neck, her skin still glowing from the heat. He looked at her like he had forgotten the rest of the world existed beyond that bathroom.
Lena caught the look and pointed at him. “Don’t start with the forties movie star thing again.”
His grin gave him away. “I was thinking it.”
She shook her head, smiling as she stepped past him into the bedroom he followed a moment later, towel low around his waist, still warm and dazed from the bath, from her, from the strange, gentle intimacy of simply being allowed to stay.
Lena rubbed lotion over her shoulder before reaching for her pajama top. Michael watched her with a quiet smile, careful not to stare too long and failing just enough for her to notice.
“What?” she asked, amused.
“That face doesn’t scream nothing.”
His smile turned shy as he stepped closer. “I was just thinking….’bout one kiss.”
“Maybe two.” He gave her a big smile.
Lena laughed, slipping into her pajama top. “You are terrible at counting kisses.”
“And yet I keep letting you try.”
Michael stopped in front of her, close enough that the warmth of him reached through the soft cotton of her pajamas.
“That’s ’cause you like me,” he said softly.
Lena looked up at him, her smile easing into something tender.
“I do,” she said. “Very much.”
Michael’s whole face softened. He kissed her once, slow and sweet, then once more since he had already admitted he was terrible at counting.
Outside the windows, New York kept glowing, restless and gold, but inside, the room finally felt still. Lena climbed into bed first, leaving room for him without making a show of it, and Michael turned off the lamp before sliding in beside her.
For a moment, they lay facing each other in the dark, close enough to see the shape of each other’s smiles.
Lena shifted closer, resting her head near his shoulder. His arm came around her carefully, like a question, and she answered by settling into him.
He pressed a soft kiss to her hair.
This time, neither of them had to hang up.
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