Just A Favour

THIRD P.O.V. "I really like her, Anna!" Alex grumbled like a distressed teenager and chugged the leftover alcohol in his glass. "Can you stop repeating that, Alex. I'm trying to enjoy my drink." The brunette took a sip of her drink, trying to keep herself from being mean to her brother. "She's so beautiful and smart." He said dreamily and folded his hands in front of himself, leaning on the bar island. "I'm guessing she is. You broke up with your girlfriend for this girl." Anna rolled her eyes. She was starting to accept that he wouldn't let her topic go.  "You should ask her out." She added  "Don't you think I wanted to?" Alex reasoned, "Everything was perfectly set. I asked her out for dinner. She even said yes. And then she canceled the plan last minute. Do you think she knows? What if she freaks out and never sees me again?"  Panic-filled the Almond-shaped brown eyes searched for distractions, he signaled the bartender to get him another drink. "What did she say when she canceled the plan?" "She said it was work. A group of activists was saving some…some girl." He raided his shoulders, not believing the excuse from the very start. "That's a lame excuse. Who could they be saving at this hour?"  "Exactly!" "I'm so stupid." Alex mumbled and squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose briefly. "That you are." His sister chuckled. "You know, you are not helping." Alex snapped. "I'm not helping?" She quarrelled back, "I'm the one listening to you whine like a baby at 11 p.m. in a bar. How is this 'not helping'."  What could she possibly do? "I really like her a lot. She is not mean like you." He chanted. "Oh my God." Anna said softly and looked up at the roof in disbelief. Unable to understand what magic did Tori hold on her brother. A loud buzzing tone distracted the siblings. Alex was quick to reach out to his pocket and check his phone.  "It's Victoria!" he swiped to unlock the screen with eagerness marked on his face. Anna glances at the screen the message belonged to the contact name 'TORI'. Her brother reminded of a girls' sleepover in high school. She smiled at the idea of her brother being twenty-nine years old.  "She says she's sorry for canceled dinner." He looked up at Anna in anticipation. "And?" she questioned. His face fell, "What do I reply?" he quickly glanced at the screen, worried because that the message was marked read. "I don't know." Anna looked like she was caught off-guard. "Anna. Help me." he begged. "She's typing…" he yelped. Anna opened her mouth to say something but she was cut by her brother, "She wants me to come over. She needs a favour." She closed her mouth and bit back a smile. "Wow, Victoria is quick." "I have to go, Bye." He got up quickly and rushed out of the door. "Sir, Your drink!" the bartender called out. "I'll have that, don't worry about it." Anna assured the bartender. _*_*_* Alex checked his breath before formally knocking on the big mahogany door. Victoria's house looked extremely fancy on the exterior, big mahogany door and white exterior walls with creeper plants sprawled on them.  Alex smiled with content and he before he could register what was happening the door in front of hi Opened.  "Alex!" the tall girl's eyes twinkled when she saw one of her closest friends standing in from of her. "Hi." Alex's full lips stretched into a smile, allowing his pearly white teeth to show. Even though Victoria was a good five feet and nine inches tall, she had to go on her toes to embrace the man into a warm hug, "I knew you would always come to help me!" she said while she continued to hug him, not even realizing how she loved it. Alex could feel his world freeze around him, "Won't you invite me in, Tori?" he broke away from the hug, hoping she hadn't noticed his drumming heartbeat. "Of course, I will." Victoria grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him into the house. Alex was not given a chance to recover from the grip on his wrist, he stumbled into the living room and tori wrapped her hands around his arms, "Meet Emma." She spoke excitedly. It was for the first time since Alex entered the house that he noticed someone else's presence apart from Tori. "She's the girl we rescued today. " She chirped proudly. Alex looked at the shy figure sitting on the sofa, head bowed down, she sat as still as a stone. Hundreds of questions ran through Alex's mind, from what had Victoria saved a woman like Emma? If this was real, was the message true? Was she actually busy?  "From what?" He asked sheepishly not realizing how the stranger recoiled in her seat. Victoria nervously laughed, " We saved her from a bad man." She gave the tall man a urging look. "Master loved Emma." The shy velvety voice spoke from the other end of the large room. 'master?' Alex mouthed, making no noise, terribly confused. Victoria shook her head disapproving the term, she nudged the man and he glanced at Emma. It was the first time he saw the piercing blue round eyes. "Hey Emma, that's not true. He hurt you. That's not good." Victoria moved towards the perplexed girl and sat beside her. What was Alex doing this whole while? Starring at the two girls dumbfound. "Is this some prank Tori? Because all this seems really ridiculous." the man was visibly irritated. Could Victoria go up to this extent to get rid of me? "No, Alex! Wait." Victoria was conflicted. Nevertheless, she found herself concluding that explaining the situation to Alex was more important at the moment. "Wait. Okay…I know this seems crazy and you have a million questions to ask. If you don't mind, can we meet over coffee tomorrow." She finished, "Alone?" Suggestively raising her eyebrows. "Fine. But why have you called me here?"  "Alex. I know it's a lot to process at the moment. But you are the only person who I trust at the moment and I need your help." You are the only person I trust…The words rang repeatedly in the young man's head. Victoria's words were worn by him as a badge. "What seems to be the problem?" "Well.." She clasped her hands in front of her and sighed, "My parents are coming to visit and their flight lands at 4 a.m. today. And if they come to know that I'm letting an unknown person stay at my place." She nervously added, "They'll stop my allowances or worse…they might just take me back to London." By the end of her sentence, Victoria was mumbling and she had looked away. "Tori?" Alex called out lowly, when the curly-haired girl didn't respond he went ahead and held her shoulders, "Tori?" he tried to shake her out of her thoughts. Forced to meet Alex's deep brown eyes she felt herself calm down instantly, "Alex." She said his name and it worked like magic. "I need to hide Emma for the next five days." Alex knew where this was going, his grip on her delicate shoulders slightly tightened. "How do you want to do that?" He sheepishly questioned. "Can she stay with you? Please, as a tenant. I'll pay you." She knew she was asking for too much. "You'll pay me?" he chuckled, " Why don't we take her to a good hotel, hmm?" he suggested, the tingling in his chest not leaving. "That's the thing, Alex. She's recovering from too much. And she trusts so little. I can't leave her alone and my parents are gonna show up in the next four hours." Panic set in the women once again. "Okay! Breathe. Breathe, Tori." That's when he did his magic again, captivating her into those brown eyes. "I'll take her home for tonight, she can sleep in my guest room. You can settle down and spend some time with family and we could meet tomorrow evening for coffee to figure this out." "You can do that?" Victoria whispered, not believing how easily Alex could handle the situation. "Yes, I can." his lips stretched into a slight smile, enjoying the innocence across Tori's face. Before he knew it, Tori had wrapped his arms around him once again. Between the string of endless Thank You's, Alex's eyes landed on the silent girl who was watching the two of them. His smile fading away as her gaze fixated on the two of them. Not only did Alex feel uncomfortable but he also made his discomfort evident by clearing his throat and breaking away from the hug. "Relax, Beautiful." He made a mental note to focus on Victoria.  focus only on Tori.Nothing else. "I'm sorry. I know I'm asking for too much." She mumbled, feeling more and more grateful by the second. "Relax!" he let out an exasperated breath, "It's just a favour." He added and smiled. "Just remember that you owe me one." He finished, trying to keep a straight face, before he burst into laughter along with the girl he had liked for the longest, Victoria. __________