The Repository

Excerpt:

He stepped inside the entryway, and immediately froze. She was a bloody goddess in human form, and in the split second he had to look her over before she realized she wasn’t alone, he knew with some deep, primordial certainty that this was right. All his previous misgivings fled from his mind.

“Who the hell are you?” she exclaimed, standing up so suddenly from her seat that it nearly toppled over. When it dawned on her who he was, she took a step back. “You are very clearly in the wrong room!”

He smiled softly. “No, this is my room.” He held up the keycard that let him in and watched her squint at his hand. It was his opportunity to take a lengthy perusal of her physical form, in all her splendor. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel an immediate need to touch her many glorious curves, but it was her bright blue eyes that truly did him in. They were altogether extremely different, but also very much the same, as he pictured when he dreamt about her. He knew they were blue, because she had said so. However, his expectations did not compare to how amazing they were, especially now that they stared right back at him.

Albeit, staring at him critically.

“Oh… oh… then I’m in the wrong room,” she said, breathlessly. Opal turned away from him and reached for her purse hanging from another chair.  She straightened up, meeting his eyes briefly before blushing and looking away. Just checking to be sure her eyes hadn’t deceived her, probably. “Fuck, sorry. Now I know why the girl downstairs looked at me like I was crazy. Clearly you wouldn’t be having someone like me show up to your room. I’m so sorry…”

That statement killed him. Why the fuck would she think that? Why would she think she wasn’t worthy of him, when he was not worthy of her? He hated that she thought these things about herself.

She pulled out her phone.  “I’ll just text my boyfriend and work this out. Give me a sec.”

When she sent her text, she glanced back at him cautiously. His phone chimed in his pocket; Opal visibly startled at the chime. Her plump, pink lips parted slightly as she let out a squeak of disbelief.

He set down the juice bottle and took out his phone. He silently read the words. Cleared his throat.  “Yes, I do know that Henry Cavill is staying on this floor. And you are in the right room.”

“Holy fuck.” Opal collapsed back into her seat. She looked like she’d seen a ghost, but eventually a deep red blush surfaced as the silence stretched between them. Finally, she looked at him again and held his gaze. She spoke softly, faintly, “Hank?”

He nodded. “That’s what my family calls me. I am Hank in my brothers' phones. I think I’m just ‘Number 4’ in Mum and Dad’s... but I’m so glad you are here Opal.”

He watched her face change with a whole host of emotions. He wanted to say he could read them, but if he could read a woman’s thoughts, then he wouldn’t be an actor. He’d be selling his secrets to men all over the world for billions of dollars. “But you’re... you’re Superman.”

“Among other things.” He smiled.  “I am mostly here because of Geralt.”

“You’re fucking Superman. You… you’re famous,” she stammered.  “Oh, fuck. I feel lightheaded.”

Henry closed the distance between them and knelt before her, taking her hands in his.  She didn’t jerk away from him or seem to be angry, so he figured that was a point in his favor. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I felt like if I did, it would have ended before it even got started. Who would believe it? I just... damn it, Opal, I love your heart. You are incredible and you make me so happy. And trust me, this is not at all how I expected this to go.”

“But the last time we were going to meet, you cancelled?” She looked at him. “What… why?”

He smiled his little boy sheepish smile.  “Reshoots. I really did want to see you then and sweep you off your feet.”

She reached her hand out and slowly touched his face. “You are… you’re really him? That sweet, gentle man from the internet?”

He pressed the palms of her hands to his cheeks. Her long fingers were warm to the touch but lit something else in him, as well. Something primal and insatiable. “I am, in the flesh. I'm really that sappy and romantic in real life. I promise. I am who I say I am, only my career is a little different than I said. The Henry everyone sees is the façade that I put on. You know and see the real me, and that’s because we got to know each other without my image getting between us.”

Her fingers moved slightly, along the ridges of his cheeks, as though the tactile perusal was enough to convince her that this was real. That he was kneeling here in front of her. He turned his head and brushed his lips against her palm.

She shuddered at the contact. “I can’t believe this is real.”

“It is, Opal.”

“But you’re the nerd who builds his own computers and games online for hours,” she said, her voice wobbly with emotion. Her beautiful eyes turned glassy with unshed tears. Her delectable lower lip quivered slightly. “You can’t be... you can’t be... you.”

“I assure you, it’s me. And you’re the only girl I have thought about since we met. Everyone else pales in comparison to you," he said, with all the certainty that he felt, deep down. He prayed she would understand.

The tears in her eyes finally spilled out onto her cheeks. “You don’t mean that. I’m not going to be good for you. I’m not your type.”

Henry looked at her.  “Are you a human female?”

“Yes?”

“Do you have a heart that I love?”

“Yes?”

“Are you the girl who I have spent the last eleven months, two days, and four hours fretting about? The girl who I want to give the world?”

“I guess?”

“You are.”

She shook her head again. “I just don’t understand... maybe I’m tired.”

He inched closer to her, placing his own hands on her face, using his thumbs to brush away the tear tracks. “Opal, I love you. Every single inch of you. I don’t have a type. I like women. So, you fit the bill. But it’s you that I’m interested—your brain, your heart, your soul. Forget about all that other shit.”

Opal nodded at him.  “If you say so.”

“I do,” he whispered. “Forget whatever you think you know about actors. It’s not all true.”

She gave him a watery laugh.

“Let me prove it to you this weekend,” he said. “The world is our oyster. And I intend to spend every minute of it together convincing you of it.”

“Even when I go to the bathroom?”

Henry threw his head back and laughed with her, the tension between them breaking. This was the woman he had fallen in love with, not the wilting flower who didn’t think she belonged with him. “If want me to, I’m up for anything.”

Opal chuckled. “That’s okay... I think some mysteries are good.”

“Just not this one?” he asked, motioning to himself.

“It’s not a mystery now.” She grabbed his hands and squeezed them in reassurance but removed them from her face and physically distanced herself a bit more by sitting back in her seat. “We have a lot to talk about, but I need to eat. My lightheadedness wasn’t all from shock.”

Henry nodded and rolled back onto his feet to stand. He didn’t like this distance one bit, but he figured he needed to give it to her, so she had time to come to terms with this. So he sighed and motioned to the table, “Please, eat.”

Opal sighed heavily, the last of her weighty emotions seemingly releasing from her shoulders. “Only if you join me.”

“As my orc princess commands.”

-------

The same, but in the style of Shakespeare:

He stepped within the entryway, and did freeze, For there she stood, a goddess in human form, And in that fleeting moment, he didst see That this was right, and all doubts did flee.

"Who the hell art thou?" she did exclaim, As she stood up, her seat did nearly maim. But when she saw him, she did take a step, And with a voice of fear, she didst yelp.

"Thou art in the wrong room, I do suppose," But he did smile and show her the key he chose. He gazed upon her form, in all its glory, And felt a need to touch her, a love story.

Her eyes did meet his, blue as the ocean, Different and yet the same, as his dream had shown. But she didst think herself unworthy, it seemed, And this thought didst make his heart ripped and screamed.

She didst take out her phone and text her man, But when he read the message, he didst take a stand. "Thou art in the right room, my love," said he, "For I am Hank, known as Superman, to thee."

She didst stare at him in disbelief, But as the silence stretched, her emotions did cleave. She looked at him and spoke softly, "Hank, thou art Superman, and famous, truly."

He knelt before her, took her hands in his, And spoke of love, and how it didst begin. He apologized for not telling her before, But her heart he loved, and that was the core.

She didst feel lightheaded, but he was there, To hold her hand, and show her he didst care. He was Superman, but to her, just Hank, And with her love, his heart didst thank.