THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

"Damn!" Camilla surprisingly let out an expletive. "That's my lasagna getting burnt." She freed herself from Zachary's entanglement and ran off to the kitchen with a sense of urgency. She didn't even bother to put on a single piece of clothing.

Zachary's eyes naturally followed her departing figure, his eyes drawn to the tantalizing swaying of her hips. His heart raced, and his throat seemed to go dry. He was drawn in by the 'optical nutrition' presented before him.

Then, Camilla disappeared through the kitchen door, and Zachary caught himself. He smiled awkwardly and pushed himself off the sofa. In a matter of seconds, he put on his boxers before following after her.

"Damn it! I spent hours preparing this dinner. Damn!"

The first thing Zachary's ears picked up when he stepped into the kitchen was unexpectedly a string of more curses. Camilla was in the middle of pulling out a tray of charcoal — no — a tray of what was supposed to be lasagna from the oven.

Her countenance at that moment was a tremendous contrast to how happy and sensual she had been only a minute ago. She looked totally dejected as she carefully placed the tray atop the granite kitchen counter.

Zachary's heart winced slightly. He quickly opened the kitchen window to let out the smoke and smell of burnt food before stepping toward Camilla and patting her shoulder. "Sorry," he said in a soothing tone. "Don't mind the food. We can make some more dinner later."

"Okay," Camilla said, nodding and seeming to calm down. Then, she pointed at the mess of burnt food before her and continued, "I'm sorry about all this. I really wanted to make you some good dinner. But, I messed up greatly."

"No, we messed up greatly," Zachary corrected, smiling at her. "Don't forget that it takes two to tango. And don't forget that I have already feasted on the most delicious dinner in the world." He winked and eyed her unclothed silhouette suggestively.

The corners of Camilla's full lips curled into a smile. A sparkle appeared in her emerald-green eyes, and she stepped forward and hugged Zachary. "You, bad boy!" She purred, caressing his bare back.

The sensual way she had said those three words ignited Zachary's bestial nature. In one swift motion, he swept her into his arms and rushed off to her bedroom.

In a matter of seconds, the two of them were atop Camilla's enormous bed, engaging in nature's most primal and intimate ritual. Their passion was burning hot and urgent, and they explored each other for another thirty minutes before taking a shower together. Then, they dried themselves and put on casual clothes before returning to the kitchen to think about dinner.

"We're really sloppy and negligent," Camilla said, eyeing the tray of burnt lasagna they had left sitting on the kitchen counter minutes ago. "What will we do about dinner now?"

Zachary grinned. "No need to worry. We can order home-delivered dinner online through Foodora or Wolt.com. They have efficient and fast delivery services. For instance, we can order pizza. It will arrive in less than fifteen minutes."

"Then, pizza it is," Camilla agreed. "You can go make the order online. Meanwhile, I'll pour out the burnt food, clean the tray, and prepare some fruits for us to enjoy with the pizza.

"Okay, I'll go make the orders," Zachary readily agreed. He then smiled at Camilla encouragingly before stepping out of the kitchen.

-----

Twenty minutes later, Zachary and Camilla sat at the table in the kitchen, enjoying their home-delivered dinner. The artificial lighting of the place cast rosy glows upon their faces as they swallowed down chunks and chunks of Italian pizza. Their smiles were bright, their eyes glittering, and their postures relaxed as they ate with relish. They were obviously enjoying their meal and each other's company.

"So," Zachary said after wolfing down another piece of pizza. "I'll be joining Juventus for the next season." He finally breached the topic that had mainly brought him to Camilla's place.

"I'm aware," Camilla replied, sighing. "I heard in the news. Congratulations. I'm really happy for you."

The way she responded made Zachary think she wasn't happy, but he didn't deliberate much about the issue. "Thanks," he replied as he locked gazes with her. "Now that I'm moving to Italy, how do we maintain our relationship? Turin is thousands of kilometers from Trondheim!"

Camilla raised a brow and planted her elbows on the table. "What exactly are you implying?"

"Is there a possibility of you moving to Turin with me?" He asked, meeting her gaze. "We could also move in together after arriving there."

During the two months Zachary spent in Bukavu, he had done some introspection. He had constantly asked himself whether it would be easy to find another incredibly gorgeous, caring, and understanding girl like Camilla. The answer was that the prospect was extremely difficult. After having bad experiences dating all kinds of 'slay queens' during his previous life, Zachary knew deep in his heart that women who were both beautiful and down-to-earth like Camilla were as rare as four-leaved clovers. You could search through dozens of cities for years without finding one. That was why Zachary had resolved to ask Camilla to follow him to Turin.

Camilla glanced at Zachary with widened eyes. She was clearly surprised and caught off guard. She breathed in deeply — as if to calm herself down and said, "But I have a job here in Trondheim. I'm under contract with Audi to work here in Norway. I can't get up one day and decide to leave. That would be unprofessional."

"Oh!" It was Zachary's turn to get caught unprepared, and his mind blanked out for a moment. He recovered a second later and was about to argue that she could work around the contract or find a way to allow her to move to Turin. But just then, a jolt went through his mind, and he stopped suddenly.

He had just realized that if Camilla really wanted to move to Turin with him, she would have jumped at the chance. If she really wanted to move in with him, she would have at least tried to think of the loopholes in her contract with Audi. That was because there was always a way where there was a will to make things happen. That was the simple and harsh truth.

"Oh, Zachary!" Camilla said from across the table. "Don't put on that sad expression. We can still continue our relationship, even if I don't move to Turin."

"Really?" Zachary was a bit skeptical. The only way they could continue their relationship was over a long distance. And from what he had heard, agreeing to a long-distance relationship was like welcoming a pot of troubles. You might even go six months without seeing your partner, and in the end, she might cheat on you with another nearby and convenient guy.

"First listen," Camilla hurriedly said. "I know you might think that long-distance relationships usually fail. But that doesn't have to be the case on our part. We can be the exception and make things work. For instance, I could visit you often to ensure we don't fall apart. On top of chatting regularly by phone, I could also come to your matches every weekend. You won't even feel that I'm not living in Turin. I'll always be there when you need me. That's even how it has been between us here in Trondheim. I only come to your place for one or two days each week. But our relationship has stood strong for about a year. Isn't that so?"

Thinking about the issue carefully, Zachary immediately came to a realization that their relationship was as Camilla had described. While he was busy training, they could go even weeks without a meeting, but they hadn't faced any serious problems in their relationship.

"You do have a point," Zachary agreed after deliberating for a moment. "Then, if you're okay with it, we can continue our relationship over a long distance."

"Of course, I'm okay with it," Camilla said, beaming. "I'm the one who brought up the idea. Let's continue with dinner and forget the sad stuff."

"Okay."

****    ****

The following morning, just as the day dawned crisp and clear, Camilla said goodbye to Zachary. She kissed him, then escorted him down the stairs before watching him drive away in his Audi R8 GT.

Just then, memories of their previous night's conversation played within her mind, causing her expression to flicker with a trace of regret. She sighed and shook her head as she watched Zachary's car disappear around a corner in the distance.

Honestly, she had been tempted to accept his offer. A large part of her had wanted to throw all caution to the wind and follow him to Turin. But after considering a few issues, she had exerted all her will to say no to him.

First, there was the issue of him never showing too much attachment to her. If she didn't try to call him more often, he might even spend weeks without talking to her. That begged the question of whether he was really into her.

Then, there was also the matter of Zachary never telling her about his plans or hardships. He would always first talk to his beautiful agent before informing her of anything important. And that begged the question of whether he really saw her as his potential life partner or just a trial-and-error girlfriend.

After considering all that and a few more issues, Camilla had hardened herself and politely rejected his invitation to Turin. She had decided to remain cautious and see how their relationship could persevere through the test of a long distance. Then, she would confirm whether they were meant to be before encouraging the next step of their relationship.

****    ****