The familiar stranger
1285 Words
“What is your name?” Kate broke the silence as she headed to sit beside him on the couch and he flinched in surprise.
Her eyes had a little smile as she stared at the nobleman, flattered by his gaze. She wondered why he had been around her for the past few days like a guardian.
He lifted his gaze, staring right into her eyes, he smiled shortly and replied.
“My name is Andrew,” he said with his hoarse voice.
There was silence in the room, the air was trembling with suspense as they paused and stared at each other while tension began to rise.
He was a good-looking man she thought, and he found her to be pretty attractive.
They had yet to have the time to bond with everything going on, but he had been as close to her as though doing that was his duty.
There was a unique familiarity between them like they knew each other for a long time. She walked towards him majestically in her appealing robe as she sat next to him.
“Why don’t we watch a movie?” she suggested, hoping to change the unpleasant mood she found herself in after seeing her brother on the news.
“Of course,” he said with a smile across his face. “Let me go get the cups” he added.
He leaned forward as he was about to get up, but her tender grip around his wrist startled him, his eyes met hers and she nodded, signaling him with her eyes to sit back as she stood up instead.
“I’ll go get it,” she said in a little whisper.
The room was heavy with unexplained chemistry and filled with unspoken words hanging, they were both adults who lived their lives with traits of weakness, and submission wasn’t a thing for either.
She came back with two cups in her hands as she majestically walked and sat once again by his side. She crosses her legs and stretches out her arms offering the empty cups.
“Here you go,” she said with a smirk on her face
“Thank you,” he said.
He poured in the Champagne in both cups. As they clink their drinks, a sense of anticipation fills the air.
They shared a delicious dinner, their conversation flowed effortlessly, and in that moment they connected by their anonymous feelings.
“So what do you do?” She asked with curiosity.
“Me?” He stammered as he asked.
“Of course,” she said with a resting face.
“Well, can we save this for later?” he suggested
“But why” she asked curiously.
“Is there something you are hiding? Are you trying to get close to me cause of my wealth? Or are you with my brother? Andrew, Who are you exactly?”
As the questions continued, Andrew's face shrugged. His discomfort becomes profound, obvious in his shifting body language and hesitant responses.
“I feel someone else is meant to do the introduction,” he replied in a calm tone.
“And who could that be?” She asks again. Her eyes squeaked in curiosity as she moved her head to look carefully into his face.
“Now, how can I trust you?” She pushes on without hesitation, her face had doubts written all over.
“I don’t know, but you can. Or have I given you a reason not to.?” he asked, and his eyes met with hers, his jaw tightly held together as he gnashed his teeth together with his mouth closed.
She could see his unease adds a layer of tension. He wasn’t pleased with the suspicions she had on
him.
She let out a sigh and decided to change the topic.
With a smile, she made a suggestion
“Okay, we could just watch a movie then”
He nodded in agreement.
The tension eased as they sat comfortably for a cozy movie night.
Kate's eyes slowly opened in discomfort as she tried to adjust her position.
The room is bathed in a soft glow of morning light. She realized they had both slept off on the couch.
She sat upright and looked around the room, and through the transparent glass of the window, the sun was barely rising.
She stretched out her arms and glanced over to see Andrew still sleeping. She gently eased off the couch and walked towards the window.
Her unprovoked movement caused Andrew to wake up. He watched her as she walked towards the window in her beautiful robe, admiring her figure quietly.
She stood out on the balcony and ran her fingers through her hair excelling deeply Into the fresh air.
A few moments of peace as nature caressed her skin. Andrew was lost in admiration until a phone buzz cut through the silence. It was so loud that Kate could hear it all the way.
She turned around and he quickly shut his eyes, pretending to still be asleep as she rushed back in to pick up her phone.
It was a quick call. She didn’t get to say a word. She dropped her phone and rushed to take a shower.
He wondered what the call was about. He got up from his couch and went to the bed where she left the phone to have a look. It was an unsaved number, Could it be from the hospital? He asked himself.
He put back her phone and and grabbed his coat to take his leave after seeing the time, he had other matters to take care of. He paused at the door in a fit of hesitation but forced himself to leave, hoping to see her another time.
She stepped out of the shower, wrapped in a white towel as droplets of water trailed down her hair. Her eyes wandered about, she noticed the room was unexpectedly empty. She wondered where he had gone too, a hint of concern creeps in as she pauses in thoughts.
“Hello?” she called out, her voice slightly echoed as the silence in the room answered back.
She proceeds to her wardrobe as she swiftly dons her clothes, a sense of urgency fills the room.
She was stepping out for the first time since the day her brother sent her away from the hospital.
She was still filled with rage but determined to defeat him in his game. She stepped out in a white gown, as she walked out, she paused in front of Andrew’s suite for a moment.
Her hands hover over the door but instead of knocking, she hesitates. A flicker of uncertainty rests in her eyes and without a word, she turns away with the deep unsettled emotion she carries within her.
She arrived at the hospital to find her mother, but the echoes of her argument with Jacob still lingered in her head.
As she cautiously approached her mother’s room her eyes observed the absence of her siblings. The air was tight with suspense.
She rushed to the room and discovered it was empty and eerily quiet. Panic gripped her as she hurriedly went to the front desk to inquire about her ailing mother who was missing. Her questions fumbled out in a frantic cascade.
“Room 318, the patient is gone, where is she?”
The moment taken by the secretary to inquire seemed like forever to Kate.
“Oh her son and lawyer took her away this morning and who are you?” The lady asked Kate
“the will” Kate gasped as these words escaped her lips. She was lost In an abyss of thought.
- Writer
