A World Just for Us
345 Words
The following evening, Alexander didn't take me to a gala or a boardroom. Instead, he drove me to a quiet, secluded pier overlooking the Lagos lagoon. The city lights twinkled in the distance, but here, it was just us and the sound of the water.
"No cameras tonight?" I asked, looking at him as he leaned against the car, the wind mussing his perfectly styled hair.
"No cameras. No grandfather. No Isabella," he said, his voice surprisingly soft. He reached into the backseat and pulled out a small picnic basket. "I realized that since you moved in, we’ve only eaten at long tables with twenty other people. I thought you might like something... normal."
We sat on a blanket on the wood of the pier, eating simple sandwiches and watching the boats go by. For the first time, Alexander laughed—a real, warm sound that made my heart do a somersault. He told me about his childhood, about how he felt the weight of the Sterling name since he was five years old.
"I never had a choice, Bliss," he confessed, looking out at the water. "Everything was a transaction. Until you."
I looked at him, my breath catching. "But I’m a transaction too, Alexander. A three hundred million Naira debt."
He turned to me, his eyes dark and filled with an emotion I couldn't name. He reached out, his fingers tracing the palm of my hand before lacing them with mine. "At first, yes. But now? I’d pay ten times that amount just to hear you laugh like that again."
He leaned in, his face so close I could feel the heat radiating from him. He didn't kiss me, but he rested his nose against mine, a sweet, intimate gesture that felt more real than any contract. "You aren't a debt, Bliss. You're the only part of my life that doesn't feel like a job."
As the moon rose higher, I realized I was in deep trouble. I wasn't just playing a part anymore. I was falling for the man behind the ice.
- Writer
