Come Closer

Chapter 15

In the following days, James started to distance himself from Lyena, little by little. He went to his office early and worked till late at night in his office, and came home late. When he was home, he didn’t talk much with Lyena. On some days, he didn’t even speak ten words with her. They no longer had their meals together. They no longer watched movies together. And, they no longer spent their time with each other.

James thought it was best to distance himself from Lyena. He still loved her, but he thought that he would end up hurting her. When the rare occasions he eats with Lyena occur, he chooses not to talk with her, and settles himself by just staring at her secretly. When Lyena looks up at him, he would turn his gaze away, before Lyena could notice him. Though it was hard, he contented himself by loving her from a distance. It felt like one-sided love to him.

On the other hand, Lyena was sad and confused about this behavior of James. She was confused about why James started ignoring her. She missed those times they would argue on little things. She wanted him to open up with her. When she decided to approach him and discuss this matter with him, he ignored her. She didn’t know what to do but went with the flow.

It was late at night when she heard a sound in the living room. She looked at the clock, hanging on the wall and saw that it was 11p.m. She frowned. James usually comes home around 10.30p.m, and he should be sleeping now. She stayed still for a minute to hear any sound. There was only silence. She decided to sleep again but her mind was telling her to go and check downstairs.

She carefully went down the stairs, avoiding making any sounds. She saw the lights had been turned on in the living room. She peeked inside to see, JAMES DRINKING!?

There were pieces of glass scattered on the floor. He was staring at them. He slowly bent forward and took the bottle on the table and took a long sip. It seemed the bottle was empty afterwards. He looked at the bottle, annoyed and slammed it on the table, making it break into pieces. Lyena got startled and jumped a little. ‘James is not in his right sense’. She thought.

She walked towards James and held the bottle tightly that he had just opened and was about to drink. He looked at Lyena in anger. “Go away!” He said.

“Stop drinking you’ve had enough”

James laughed sarcastically. “Had enough? Yeah, I’ve had enough of this s**t. Leave me!” James yanked Lyena’s hands away from the bottle, and drank from it. Lyena took the bottle from James’s hand forcefully and kept it on the table.

“You are going to be sick at this rate. Go to your room now and sleep” she said.

James glared at Lyena and tried to reach the bottle again. Lyena moved the bottle further away.

“Leave me alone!” James shouted.

“No! You are going to your room now” Lyena stated and pulled him, making him stand up from the chair. James stood still and stared at her for a second. He grabbed Lyena’s wrist and dragged her to his room, and closed the door. “James what are you doing?” Lyena asked in an alarmed tone as she saw him proceeding to lock the door. He turned around and started to walk towards her. Lyena was freaking out from the inside. “JAMES STOP!” She said in a warning tone.

James didn’t say anything and kept coming closer. Lyena looked around the room for an escape route and took a step back. But James was quicker. He leapt forward and grabbed Lyena’s wrist and pulled her towards him. Lyena’s head hit his chest. She quickly tried to go away from him but he held her pressed against him by wrapping his one arm tightly around her waist. Lyena placed her hands on his chest and pushed him to get away from his grip, but he didn’t budge. He stared at her face.

Her eyes, cheeks, lips were perfect for him. He let his gaze linger on her lips. Lyena saw his gaze and understood what was going to happen. She drew breath to tell him to stop. But, before she could utter a word, James had placed his lips on Lyena’s. He kissed her like he had been desperately waiting for it for a long time; a very long time. Lyena tried to turn her head in another way but James’s hand that had already placed behind her neck made sure that she stayed in place. She had shut her eyes tightly under the impact of the kiss. She tried to push him away but he was stronger than her. He didn’t let her slip away from his hold. Unable to resist, Lyena slowly stopped pushing him away and stayed still.

The kiss that had started so harshly, devouring Lyena’s lips, slowly became a tender one. James slowly broke the kiss and looked at Lyena. She was looking down, breathing heavily. He smiled a little and placed his finger under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. He stared into her eyes and gave her a small peck on the lips. Then he hugged her and rested his head on her shoulder. They stayed for a while like that. She could feel his breath on her shoulder. His weight got heavier with the passing time and Lyena felt like he was resting his whole body on her, and it was getting harder for her.

“James?” Lyena spoke in a soft voice. As she didn’t get a reply from him, she turned her head and looked at him, only to see him sleeping. She smiled to herself, and placed him on his bed. She laid him down and covered him with a blanket. She moved the hair that had fallen on his forehead, away. ‘ He is like a child.’ She thought. “Sleep tight!” She said and went towards the door. She could hear his little snores when she went out of the room.