Broken Together

Chapter 3: Challenge

                                                                                    CHAPTER 3 

                                                                                      AMELIA 

“This is YOUR house?!” I turned around to face him, wide-eyed. I can’t believe it. His house is situated somewhere in the middle of a forest. A huge black box full of glass windows and doors. Then I remember him wearing black earlier. What is up with him with the colour black. 

He looks amused as I study the house’s exterior. “Yes.” 

I grunted as it dawned on me that I cannot leave this place without him or somebody to drive me back to the city. “So, what now? Since you already kidnapped me.” I rolled my eyes and went back into the room. 

“I mentioned earlier that I want to eat dinner with you.” He said walking behind me then stopped as I sat on one of his leather black chairs. His room is exactly what a bachelor’s room would look like; a king-sized bed with grey sheets and black cushions, grey brick walls, white curtains hanging from his headboard, shiny marble floor mixed of black and white.

I looked back at him standing at the foot of his bed, arms crossed. “I already told you that a simple “Thank you” will do, right?” I said giving him a fake smile. 

“And I told you that I DON’T take no for an answer.” He said giving me a smug smile in return; crossing his arms too. 

I let out an exasperated sigh, uncrossing my arms and throwing it in the air. “Okay fine! Let’s go. Let’s get that dinner!”

 “Thank you,” I said to the lady with brunette hair and a warm smile on her face as she places my plate in front of me. As she backed away, I looked at the brooding guy on the other side of the table. Come to think of it, I don’t know his name yet. I contemplated for a minute if I should ask for his name because I’m pretty sure that after this, I won’t see him again. Not like it mattered. 

“I haven’t gotten your name yet…” He said in a calm voice and a smirk on his face. 

Oh, why not. “It’s Amelia. You can just call me Mel.” I gave him a small smile.

“Thank you for having dinner with me, Amelia.” I rolled my eyes at him for using my full first name and he just smiled at me, clearly amused. 

“Thanks for having me,” I said then looking down at my plate. I have no idea what this is but it’s pasta. 

“It’s fettuccine alfredo,” the man from the other side of the table said, I shot him a glance and decided to dig in. It sure smells good. “And my name is Vincent, in case you would like to know.” He smiled at me as I devoured the food in front of me. I sighed inwardly, enjoying the feel of actual homemade food in my mouth. 

“So, what do you do, Vincent?” I asked after swallowing a chunk of pasta. 

“I’m a pianist.” He simply said while cutting his steak. 

“Okay,” I paused as I remembered what happened when I first saw him, “By the way, what happened earlier at that alley?” I leaned forward looking straight at him. 

He looked at me, pressing his lips together. It took a good minute before he replied, “I just decided to help an old man. Stupid idea, by the way.” He shrugged before taking a bite of the steak he cut out. 

“How did you recover so quickly?” I said as I calculate in my mind the time he was rushed to the hospital and the time he showed up at the bookstore. 

After swallowing, he reached for the wine in front of him, “I’m not yet recovered. I’m just good at acting that I am.” He said then taking a sip of the wine. 

He must’ve seen how confused I am still about what he said, I just don’t think it's possible. “Okay,” he placed his elbows on the table, leaning forward, hands clasped in front of him. “When I was in transit to the hospital, my bodyguard traced my phone and he followed the ambulance and took my unconscious self, home. Then our doctor applied bandage and antibiotic and I took off after that to find you.” He said, smiling to himself like he has an inside joke. 

I leaned forward on the table, “So, let me get this straight… You are most probably still bleeding underneath you buttoned-up shirt, and you’re not completely recovered, yet you still went to the place I work at and now, having dinner with me… why?” I demanded. I don’t understand this guy. First, He should be resting right now. Second, why is he pretending that he’s okay and Third, why is he wasting his time on me?  

“I have no f*****g idea.” He said as he leaned back on his chair and looked straight at me, looking confused also. 

I decided to look down to my plate and picked up my fork, “Well, since we already had dinner, I’m sure that this will be the last time we’ll see each other.” I said shooting him a glance and then stuffing my mouth again with the pasta. 

“Maybe.” Something in his voice made me look up and find him staring right at me. His eyes turned green under the fluorescent and his smirk is different from the previous one. Every part of my body sends an alert in my brain that this guy is dangerous. I don’t know how dangerous but I just know, just by the way he’s staring at me, I know that this WON’T be the last time we’ll see each other. Whether I like it or not. 

“Sir, Mr Ashford is heading here.” Gustav suddenly appeared in the room and it made me physically jumped from my seat. 

“Stall him,” Vincent said without taking his eyes off me but his smirk is now gone. 

“Yes, sir.” Gustav disappeared from the room. 

“You can ask Gustav to drive me home,” I whispered. He stood up and walked towards me. Something about Vincent’s sudden mood shift makes me think that whoever “Mr Ashford” is, Vincent doesn’t want him to see me. 

“You’ll stay in my room.” He extended his hand as he approached me. I didn’t take it though; I appreciate the gesture but I can stand up for myself.

“No. You or someone needs to drive me home. We already had dinner, now you have to bring me back to the city.” I demanded as I crossed my arms. 

He ran his hand on his hair, brows furrowed and pursed lipped. I don’t want to spend the whole night here. 

He leaned forward, levelling his eyes to me. “I do find your stubbornness quite charming sometimes but please don’t make it difficult right now. I will drive you back to the city, to your apartment, first thing in the morning but please stay here for tonight.” He spoke. “and besides, I don’t take NO for an answer.” 

Here we are in his room, standing in front of each other, arguing again. 

“I’m sure you have other rooms in this house, right?” I said, holding my ground. I will not sleep in his room again.  

“We do, but I don’t have time right now to do a house tour.” He answered sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at him and he looks frustrated again, he ran his hand on his hair and his jaw clenched. I admit that I can be very stubborn at times, it’s not like I do it intentionally. I just know what I want. 

“Look, I already agreed to stay the night so you have to let me pick a room to sleep in,” I said to him so that he’ll relax. He looked at me again for a few seconds then he sighed. 

“Okay, you can pick whichever room you like.” He said turning around, heading to the door. “I need to go.” 

“Thank you,” I said, giving him a small smile. He stopped to look back at me and he returned my smile then left. 

I walked the hallway of his house, hunting for a room to sleep in. I am tired and sleepy. This happens after I eat, I always feel the need to sleep. 

The interior of his house matches its exterior. The theme is black and white and something in between. The floor is marble everywhere, the paintings and statues make this house more like a museum. 

I saw a white door at the end of the hallway, I figured it would be the best place to sleep in. Three rooms apart from Vincent’s room. 

I walked toward the white door and touched my hand on its knob, twisting it open. 

As I opened the room, I get a whiff of fresh linens. Everything in the room is white and the bed is facing a huge window. It seems that this room has never been used before, everything looks new and clean. I walked towards the window and the moon is shining brightly, filling the room with its glow. I can’t see the road in and out of his house because of all the trees surrounding it. First time I spent the whole night outside. I sighed as I turned around to look around the room again and thank God this room has its bathroom. I hurriedly walked toward it and open the switch on, it’s also all white and clean. 

I look at myself in the mirror. I look like hell. I can’t believe Vincent kept staring at my messed-up self. I groaned as I tried to fix myself. My black hair is all over the place, no longer in that tight bun I worked hard to make earlier today, my mascara took up most of my eyebags making me look like I haven’t slept in years. Despite my best efforts, whenever I put on a little make-up, it always gets smudged. 

I splashed my face with water and wiped my face using the towel neatly folded near the sink. Next, I tried to bun my hair. As I fix myself in front of the mirror, I went back to the conversation I had with Vincent earlier. He said he took off to find me after getting somehow treated by their doctor. He didn’t give me exactly an answer to why he needed to find me. I am still baffled as to why but what’s more baffling is why on earth, I ended up here. I tried to backtrack and rationalize everything that happened today but all points to HIM. 

Everything happened so fast and I can’t slow it down. As much as I want to but if I’m being completely honest, a part of me is a little relieved that I won’t get to spend another lonely night in that apartment. At least I get to see a different view. 

But still, this isn’t right. I can’t have myself get used to these things. An amazing meal, a beautiful view and a huge bed. I live in a completely different world. Ever since I lost everything. 

As I finished fixing my hair, I looked at my clothes. I guess I’ll be sleeping in the same clothes and that’s okay. Not the first time anyway. 

I switched the light off and walked out of the bathroom and headed straight to the bed. I laid down and looked up at the ceiling. As I slowly drift off, blue eyes stared at me and I fell asleep.  

I groaned as I heard a knock on the door. 

“Coming,” I muttered as I tried to push myself out of the bed. I heard another knock and for some reason, I just know that it’s Vincent, based on the impatient knocking. I reached the door and I opened it to find him completely dressed in the same fashion when I saw him in the alley yesterday. 

He smiled and I’m not sure if it's his smile that’s making the room bright or if it’s the sun rays piercing through the window. 

“Well, for someone who kept insisting to go home last night, you sure slept soundly.” He said, absolutely enjoying himself knowing that I slept SO well that I crawled out of bed. 

“What time is it?” I asked my eyes adjusting to the bright light pouring from the window. Vincent walked past me, entering the room. 

“It’s nine am.” He said calmly as he closed the curtains. 

“What?” I blinked rapidly as it slowly registered in my brain that I am late for work. “You…” I cleared my throat as I point my finger at Vincent who still has that smirk that I’m slowly getting used to. “You need to drive me back to the city,” I said hurriedly putting on my shoes. 

“That’s the plan.” He said walking towards the door, “I’ll wait for you downstairs.” He winked at me before leaving me to struggling to tie my shoelace. 

After making me look a little presentable, I head downstairs to see Vincent on the phone, standing in the living room with his back facing me. 

“Yes, mother. I will attend.” He said, his voice clipped. “No. I won’t take anyone with me, including her.” Her? He must’ve felt my eyes on him because he turned to face me and then he smirked, “I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up the phone and walked towards me, “Let’s go.” I nodded and he gestured me to go ahead first. 

As we stepped outside, a white car is waiting in the driveway. Gustav appeared next to Vincent, handing him his car keys. Gustav is a little older than Vincent, well, I’m not sure but he looks older than him and he always gives me a polite smile every time I eyes meet. 

“I’ll call you if I need you. Thank you, Gustav.” Vincent said to Gustav as he opened the car door for me.  

“Take care, sir,” Gustav said to Vincent and then gave me a small smile before Vincent closed the passenger door. 

As we drive away from his equally brooding house, I steal a few glances at Vincent as he drove. He is handsome and rich. I wonder what can he possibly want from me that he ran off to find me, even though he’s not yet recovered and why on earth would someone like him, waste his time on someone like me. I leaned more against the car door and look at the view from outside. It’s like a straight road surrounded by trees and Vincent steered to the right to reach the main road. 

“Should I drop you off at the bookstore or your apartment?” Vincent said, startling me. We sat in silence after leaving his house and this is the first thing he said since then. His eyes are on the road and his brows furrowed. I am not quite sure what he’s thinking but he looks troubled. 

“Ahm… at the bookstore,” I said plainly. I focused my eyes on the road also and we sat again in silence. I’m not completely sure of how I feel. I just feel uneasy. 

The car suddenly stopped and it made me scan the surrounding. It looks like he pulled over alongside the open road. I turned to look at him and he still looks troubled, his fingers tapping the steering wheel then he turned to look at me. He spoke after a few seconds of staring at me, “You don’t have a seatbelt on.” It took me a few seconds also to register in my brain what he said. Is that what’s been bothering him? 

“Oh, right,” I said innocently as I looked to my side to reach for the seatbelt then all of a sudden, he leaned towards me, making me look at him and I froze as I stare at his face. I am yet again intoxicated by his scent and it’s not helping that he’s this close to me, much closer than our little encounter at the bookstore. His blue eyes felt like its burning holes on my eyes and I feel like melting, especially when he has the same smirk he had during dinner. My hands itching to trace my finger at his perfectly sculptured jaw and when his lips parted a little, I swear it made me feel like I’m about to combust. My brain stopped working altogether. I can’t think anymore and the next thing I know, his lips is now inches from mine. His breath hot against me and I just braced myself for the impact. 

                                                                                    VINCENT

I used a lame f*****g excuse again just to do this. I had to, No, I need to.

I watch her slowly giving in to me. I just can’t let her go without marking my territory. I’ve been beating myself up ever since we left my house, trying to find a way for her to want me, to make her go crazy for me, to make her cling to me. It’s making me f*****g impatient. I had this stupid thought that the time we spent together would make her want me. I guess I got used to girls throwing themselves at me and it’s fine because I can get off but it can get boring.

 I didn’t know I was looking for a challenge when I met her. 

 Now, with our lip’s inches from each other, I gotta have her.

 Her lips parted and her eyes glossed over my lips to my eyes and man that f*****g made me lose my s**t. She smells heavenly and her cheeks flushed pink. I reached for her cheeks as I slowly leaned into her, I just can’t imagine what her lips would feel like pressed to my lips and just when I was about to find out, her eyes opened wide and her lips pressed into a thin line. She cleared her throat and turned to look at the window. Leaving me hanging and hungry for her.

 She’s a real challenge indeed. And I’m not sure if I should be delighted about that now.