Enchanted by the Demon Wolf

Chapter 10

Alex enjoyed her dinner with Piers, the foods were amazing and there were so many to choose from. What was only lacking was the conversation. They ate their dinner mostly in silence. She had tried severally to start a light conversation with him at the table but he gave her at most just a three-word reply. Their lack of conversation made the atmosphere a bit tense and she could tell he was enjoying it.

"It was such a lovely dinner. I would have loved to thank the chef personally if he was still around", she said with a genuine smile on her face.

"Wait until tomorrow", he said, barely looking up, as he finished up his meal.

"Did you enjoy the meals? You barely said anything throughout dinner", she stated.

Alex's forthrightness with her thoughts made Piers look up in her direction. She seemed to have finally succeeded in drawing back his attention to her. 

"I like to eat my dinner in silence, I am used to it", he said, as he looked at her. 

"I am here now, it doesn't have to be that way, we can have a light conversation at dinner", she said.

He chuckled at what she said and she noticed it.

"You assume you will still want to work for me by dawn, if you think we are going to share a conversation at the dinner table tomorrow and the day after", he said.

"Yes Mr. Piers.  I already told you before, I never quit and I am the best at what I do. I'll last a month here and still help you fix whatever may be wrong with -".

He interrupted her, not waiting for her to finish her sentence. 

"Look at the time!", he said, getting up at once. The wall clock showed the time was 7:45 PM. She felt he was being rude, the way he cut her short in such a manner.

"I think we are done having dinner and you should be heading back to your room".

"Okay, I'll have to wash and put away my plate first", she said, pointing to her plate on the dining table. There were many other plates too and they needed to be cleaned as well. She was hoping they could both do it together.

"No, you don't have time for that!"

"Get up and leave the dishes, tomorrow they will be cleaned!", he ordered. He practically raised his voice at her and it scared her.

He spoke to her in the same way he spoke to Arthur 2 hours ago and she didn't like it one bit.

"Okay, if you insist, I'll leave!'' she said, getting up. She only wanted to share a light conversation with him but he ended up ruining it.

He seemed pleased now she was standing up, as he smiled faintly and for that she didn't think he deserved a good night greeting coming from her. She walked away from the dining room towards the door leading to the living room, leaving him standing by the dining table.

"Dr. Alex", he called out. His voice sounded more polite this time around and she stopped in her tracks, just in front of the door.

She turned to face him as she once again caught sight of his charming and seductive dark eyes.

"I forgot to add, stay in your room tonight and do not wander about in the mansion. Lock your doors with the keys and listen! LISTEN is the only thing I want you to do tonight and tell me what you hear and think in the morning", he instructed.

She felt even more insulted by what he said. He thought he called her back to apologise to her for the way he spoke to her but he didn't. It was to pass out more instructions. He was beginning to sound as rude as Arthur.

"I am going to do as I please. I am not going to live in his mansion as a prisoner", she thought to herself, as she turned and left in annoyance without saying a word to him.

***

Alex, in annoyance and frustration, sat on the couch in her room. She didn't even know why she imagined Piers Anderson would be nice to her. She quickly took off her tan strappy heels.

"I am only here because of the bet I made with him, he wanted me gone as soon as he saw me!", she said, getting up. She was too animated to sit down, as she paced around the guest room.

"I must be silly to think because he was cordial with me at the therapy session he was somewhat going to continue to be that way with me. And now he wants to boss me around, like he does to his staff!

"No! I am not going to follow his orders, I am not going to stay in my bedroom like he ordered. I am going to explore the mansion with or without his approval!"

She was too impatient to change her dress into something more casual, instead she put on her memory-foam slippers. She seemed to be in a hurry to explore the mansion.

As she got out of her room, she heard the grandfather clock strike the hour hand. She looked at her wrist watch and found that the time was now 8 PM.

"It's a bit strange that the longcase clock rang out at 8 O'clock. It hadn't ringed since I had arrived at the mansion", she said to herself.

"Maybe that's Piers' bedtime, even better! Now I don't have to worry about walking into him in the passageways".

The passageway was well lit in all directions and it felt like it was morning inside the mansion.

"Where should I start from?", she said to herself, as she placed her right hand on her chin. The mansion was indeed big and it would take her at least 1 hour exploring it.

"I think I should finish the tour Arthur was giving me earlier in the day, I should start from the first floor", she concluded happily. Her memory-foam slippers had a soft sole and she knew she could walk around the mansion without disturbing the sleep of Mr. Piers.

She got down the helical staircase and made her way back to the dining room, just to be extra sure he wasn't still there and when she got there he was not there as expected but she noticed something was different.

"The plates on the dining table have been cleared!", she said in amazement. Everywhere was now sparkling clean.

"He must have placed the dirty dishes in the kitchen unwashed", she said,  as she made her way to the kitchen. It was just by the side of the dining room, separated by a wall.

When she got into the kitchen, it was as beautiful as the rest of the house and clean too.

It had the same White marble floor from the dining room, white walls, an inbuilt kitchen cabinet in the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen and a stove with 4 burners. It had another cabinet built into the opposite wall that was made of glass and wood, and was even more luxurious. There were 2 large black table cabinets at the centre of the kitchen, the second had chairs that could serve as a second dining table.

"Where did he keep those dirty dishes?", she queried. She couldn't find them anywhere as she opened the dishwasher and found it empty. Still not satisfied, she opened one of the drawers of the table cabinet and found the dishes, cleaned and dried.

"He washed it all by himself, that's so sweet", she smiled and then she heard a beastly snarl.

She was startled. It made her jump from the floor leaving her memory-foam slippers behind and landing on her barefoot.

"My gosh, what was that?!", she thought to herself, as she quickly crunched behind the second table cabinet. The snarl seemed awfully close by - too close for comfort.

"Does he have another pet I have no knowledge about?!", she thought to herself, she was too scared to even utter a sound. She was visibly shaking but she stayed  quiet not to draw it's attention to her. 

She figured out the snarl came from the living room based on how loud it was. It was not yet in the dining room or in the kitchen, so for now she was safe. 

"Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't come over this way, I hope it goes somewhere else", she wished deep inside of her.