Nefelibata
His words made me laugh.
Words like "Musn't" and "Alas" and "Fret."
He said these things on a daily basis.
But there was one particular word that made me duck my head and cover my mouth with my hand to muffle the soft giggles and hide the red cheeks.
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He named me with such a kind and gentle title that put images of boot buttons and parasols into my head. Occasionally it was "dear" and "love" but most often it was
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He always said it in a friendly way, taking my hand with a flourish and brushing his lips against the skin of my knuckles or offering me his arm in such a classy, but obviously joking, way.
It was all in good fun, with an air of humour and no implications of romance, but that word always managed to make my face flush red.
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