Lynn
He drove us to the Eastlake Hotel parking lot. From the reaction of the guards you could tell they already recognized his presence. We stayed in the car for almost a minute, in silence. It was like none of us wanted to leave the car first. Then I remembered the girl at the reception, her warning. How awkward was it going to be, me and her boss she boldly warned about walking to my room? She was probably going to hate me or live in fear of me telling Kai about what she said.
"Can I wait for you here or you'll love to welcome me in for a cup of tea"
"That choice is yours to make" I said and opened the door, walked away without looking back.
When I got to the lift there was no sign of him. Perhaps he, had decided to sit back in his fancy car. I opened my door, dropped my handbag on the couch and started undressing on my way to the shower. The warm water on my skin relieved the tension I was feeling after meeting Kai again. My judgment was divided, a part of me, concealed and suppressed, felt relieved to see him and then there was this part that just saw him as the person everyone said he was. Pretending to win me over, fooling me. I switched off the hot shower and dried my body with a towel.
For our second date I settled on a silky plain white round neck sheath dress and a pair of white kitten heels. A matching white purse carried my credit cards and some cash. I exhaled sharply and opened the door, two men dressed in black suits were standing there and they seemed unshaken by my presence. The bigger one looked familiar.
"I can remember you from the club"
"Glad to see you too mum, please, after you" He said showing the way.
"He send you didn't he?" I said leading the way to the lift in short strides.
"Yes, am sorry if it makes you feel uncomfortable but he cares for you so much"
"We only met once"
"It doesn't matter to him"
The less talkative one rushed to get the lift for us. It felt awkward to have everything done for me but thrilling at the same time. We got in the lift, I was sandwiched between their huge scary bodies that made me feel safe at the same time. Not that I ever felt unsafe. The guards led me to the car, he had already swapped to a Rolls Royce and changed his clothes to a maroon three piece suit. His suits perfectly fit like a second layer skin.
"Thank you Arthur" He said his gaze fixed on me, "You look lovely tonight" He said opening the door for me.
"Thank you" I mumbled sliding in.
He got in and the guard shut the door. The car rolled out of the hotel parking lot, Arthur was in the front in a mustang and behind us a couple of two other high-end cars. I could spot a Lexus and a Toyota V8 logo.
"Thank you for agreeing to go out with me" he said politely.
"Can you just stop pretending Kai? Am not that special, just be yourself"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Arrogant billionaire, irritable, social misfit, with no regard for women. Girls are just like toys to you since you can change them like you change clothes and cars. I've heard the stories and you can bet am not going to be another girl on your hit list!"
All that while he had his head hanging in shame as though my outburst was having an effect on him. Or maybe it had because he said nothing to defend himself and I was starting to get cold feet. Was that too harsh? Was it out of order? The suspense in his silence was eating me up to an extent I couldn't even look at him. What was going on in his pretty weird mind?
"We are here" He finally said when the car came to a halt.
"Am..."
"Don't ever be sorry for speaking your mind" he interrupted.
Arthur opened the door. To my surprise we were by the ocean shore. A date by the ocean. Wow! He skyrocketed my guilt. It was time I looked at the bright side because truth be said, I wasn't infallible either. That gave me no right to judge him by merely reading about him on the internet and heeding to people's opinions.
A few meters from where we parked was a tent. Glowing in blue, green and yellow Christmas lights all round. In the middle a table with two chairs. A couple of nicely dressed maids standing alert, dressed in white and black. The fresh Smell of the ocean engulfed me as we walked holding hands, my gaze fixed on the saying trees and rising and falling tide. The wind blew my hair into a mess.
"It's beautiful" I mumbled inaudibly.
"Sometimes I come here to clear my head" He said and pulled a chair for me.
"Thank you"
He just winked and took his own seat. The maids started us on wine, the aroma of roasted ribs filled the air from a small cooking area they had set up at a distance.
"How did you prepare all this within short notice?"
"The beauty of having wads of money and Arthur around me"
"I see"
Food was served. Nicely simmered rice I could almost count the pellets, roasted ribs with a green salad served with both mayonnaise and vinegar. A bowl of flame seedless grapes and all the necessary cutlery with napkins. Our glasses were replenished with more wine. It was officially dinner time. Despite that cold wind of fear sweeping across my belly I was enjoying the meal hoping he was going to give me a chance to apologize about my outburst earlier on. We ate in silence, chewing the rice gently, ripping meat tendons off the rib bones and occasionally sipping from our glasses of wine.
"Can we talk about what I said in the car?" I just couldn't ignore it any longer.
"You're still feeling guilty about that, well, go on"
"Am sorry, I barely know you and I shouldn't judge you based on what people say and write about you online. That was stupid of me"
"All of it is true" he said confidently wiping the corner of his mouth with a towel, his chewing was thoughtful, almost fearful.
Kai
There was no point of hiding the truth from her. I had not done a good job when it came to protecting my public image from juice hungry paparazzi and bloggers. On the bright side, she lied about not thinking about me. There was a spark of interest and that's all I needed to build my hope around.
"So you're comfortable with that image of you to the public?" She asked surprised.
"No I don't but there is little I can do to change that unless I start working on myself"
"And are you?"
"Yes, look. Am not that monster you've heard and read about at least I wasn't born like this"
That was the farthest I had talked about my problems with a female. I stole a glance at her and she was listening to me, paying attention. Her eyes were glowing with curiosity.
"Am not pretending to like you"
"So you think you like me?" She asked shaking her head before she sipped on her wine. I envied the glass and wished those were my lips and she was drinking my mouth.
"I know and strongly believe I like you and am ready and willing to change..."
"Kai, we have been on a single date. Don't let your d**k do the thinking"
"You know what I don't like about you?" I asked angrily raising my voice, my fist was clenched and I could feel vein full of blood popping across my face. I quickly escaped from that phase of anger and raised my gaze shyly. She was just looking at me calm like she found peace in my violence and anger, "am sorry"
"Never apologize for speaking your mind, remember?"
"Okay, my words against me...you belittle yourself too much and it's getting on my nerves. You know what I see when I look at you?"
She shook her head.
"Beauty obviously, but something else. And this one I spotted in your dancing, defiance, non-conforming, and above all deserving of love and care" I ran out if words, she was innocently looking through my heart.
"And let me guess, you want to give me that love?"
"If you allow me. I'll make you happy"
"Kai, do you realize you're promising me heaven when you're stuck in hell yourself?"
She was right about that though. My entire life since our pack was attacked and my mum died was pure hell. I couldn't remember a day since that I felt genuine joy.
"You don't need me to be happy"
How could I tell her that he needed her to be happy? I was just restraining him with the bane or else he would have already threatened to come out and scare her.
"Sadly am convinced I do need you and I understand if you don't feel the same way but am telling you the truth Lynn. I feel good around you, and the feeling is priceless"
"You're a great guy but recently me and love have been on the crossroads, we don't see eye to eye"
"Allow me to revive that feeling"
"When last were you in love?"
Was I ever in love? Never. The answer to that question was going to prove decisive, if I said never then she was going to feel like just another girl on the long list of women I'd been with and if I said ever then I had to come up with an imaginary girl we dated for a year and she broke my heart by sleeping with my best friend. At least that’s what guys say in movies and it works for them am sure it could work for me. Or what do you think?
Authors note
#Vote#
Would you trust and love someone who admits they have never been in love before? Tell me what you think Kai will say.