Beauty Pageants

15

"Beep beep"the alarm rang.

"haaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuwwwhhh" Louis yawned and looked towards the alarm clock.

"It's almost 8 am I should get ready for office"he said.

"I think I should not wake Hope. She needs rest."he said while looking at Hope. He tried to get up from the bed but couldn't as his hand was stuck under Hope.

"God what should I do now. If I tried to remove my hand she will wake up and I don't want to her to wake up and yell at me. I better call Nathaniel to inform him that I won't be at work today after all I have to take Hope to the hospital too" he thought and called Nathaniel.

"Hello sir" said Nathaniel.

"Nathaniel I won't be able to come to the office today"he said.

"Sir today is holiday don't you remember"he said.

"Oh right sorry to disturb you"Louis said and hung up the phone.

"God you are so loud" Said Hope in a sleepy voice while rubbing her eyes.

"I am loud. Now I can't speak in my own house"he said.

"Mmm let me sleep"she said and got on top of Louis. Her chest was placed on his chest and her hand was placed on his hand.

"Okay so now I am your big comfortable bed"he said and snuggled inside the duvet.

His hands gently caressed her back, her arms, her shoulders. He kissed her on her head and surrounded her with his arms.

"I am sorry for what I did to you. I hurt you because of some one I thought I loved. Because of me your one and only wish did not got full filled. Because of me you stayed away from your family. I made you cry. I bullied you. I even touched you without your consent but still you were there for me when I needed support. Now I promise I am gonna make things right for you" he thought.

At finally Hope woke up. Seeing herself on top of Louis made her feel uncomfortable. She got up and sat on the other side of the bed.

"I am sorry"she said.

"No it's okay. I actually liked sleeping with you."he said.

"Umm I need to go"she said and rushed towards her room.

She said on the bed and thought " God what was I thinking. I shouldn't have slept in that room. What would he be thinking about me. How can I fell asleep on top of a man. God I am so stupid. How am I going to face him. I..I am just going to tell him that I did it unintentionally."

She groaned.

"How can I be this clumsy"she said.

"Well I think you are pretty wise"Louis said who was standing on the door.

"How long have you been standing here ?"she said.

"Not long I was just passing by. You seemed quite troubled what's wrong?"he said and sat on the couch.

"Nothing I was just thinking about"she said.

"About what"he said.

Hope ignored Louis's question and walked towards the changing room. Louis got up and grabbed her hand.

"Where are you going?"he said.

"To the changing room"she replied. He pulled her closer and said, "Listen if you are thinking about what happened this morning than it's completely okay. I don't mind if a girl sleeps on top of me. I am used to it".

"What that means I am not the only girl that slept with you"she said.

"No that is not what I meant"he replied and hugged Hope.

"What are you doing?"she said and tried to push Louis away.

"Shh can't you like this for a while."he said and Hope calmed down.

"I know you hate me and you have ever reason to hate me. I ruined your whole life. Now I am going to make things right for you"he said left Hope.

"I don't hate you. It's my fault. I just care too much. I can't even differentiate between people who love or hate me. I don't know even if Bob loves me or he was just pretending" she said and tears rolled down her cheeks. Louis cupped her face and wiped her tears. She felt something in her heart. Her heart started beating fast .

"It's not your fault. I promise I will things better again"he said while looking straight into Hope's eyes. Desire to kiss her burned within him.

"What happened"said Hope.

"Nothing"he said and moved back.

"I will wait for you downstairs. Come quickly we will have breakfast together"he said and left the room.

After few minutes Hope came downstairs. The breakfast was served and Louis was already there.

"Come quickly I am starving"Said Louis.

Hope sat on the chair.

"Sir May I serve the breakfast"said the maid.

"No we can have it our selves you can leave now"he said.

"Yes sir" she said and left.

"Shall we start"he said. She nodded. They started eating breakfast. Louis stared at her while she ate breakfast. He never found her this much beautiful.

"God is he looking at me" she thought and smiled at Louis. He kept staring at her.

"Stop looking at me like that"she said and stopped eating.

"Like what"he said.

"In that way. You are making me uncomfortable"she said.

"I am not staring at you. I am looking at the painting I just ordered. Look it's just right behind you and you are not that much beautiful"he said and pointed towards the painting.

Hope turned around and looked at the picture.

"Who is that in the picture"she said.

"It's my mom" he said.

"Can I see it from close"she said.

"Yeah"he said.

Hope went near the picture and Louis followed her.

"She is beautiful"she said.

"Yeah I know. Edith said she was most kind tender beautiful and hardworking woman."he said.

I am sorry for your loss. I thought you didn't care about your family"she said.

" It's okay. I care but I don't know how to express it. You lost your mother to"he said.

"Yeah but I am over it now. Sometimes I miss her very much that I don't even realize when tears start rolling down my cheeks"she said.

"Who took care of you after your mother died"he said.

"Bob my mummy's boyfriend and Nancy's father. He took care of me. He helped me through my thick and thin. He never treated me as a foster child. He always used to tell me his beautiful moments with my mommy. He used to sing me songs whenever I missed mom. He Is the one who signed the beauty pageant competition for me" she said

"Seems like a very nice guy"he said.

"He is a father figure for me"she said.

"Are you going to tell him about what Nancy did to you"he said.

"No I can't. I don't want to ruin their relationship."she said and sat on the chair. She cupped her face with her hands.

"You are so nice. You are still having a soft corner for the person who tried to ruin your whole life. She wanted you dead Hope"he said.

"Death was even better than what you did to me"she said.

"Listen I know what I did was wrong. I regret it. I do I really do. After that day my feelings for you have also changed. I don't What is going on in my heart. What I have done is unforgivable but can you just not give me second chance. I have messed your life. I wanna make things right for you." he said and got closer. Hope closed her eyes. He kissed her on the forehead.

"Louis Louis"she said.

"I think I am about to puke"she said placed her hand right in front of her.

Her stomach contracted so violently that she had no time to reach the toilet bowl. Chunks of food from her stomach were propelled into the air and splattered the carpet. Her face looked white and she was weak. She fell on the ground.

"God are you okay" said Louis while lifting Hope up in his arms. He called his servants and asked them to clean the mess. He took her back to her room and laid her on the bed.

"Wait here i will be right back"he said. After few minutes he came with piece of cloth and water.

"I will help you get cleaned"he said and soaked cloth in water. He gently cleaned her face and her neck.

"Stop I can do it myself"she said and tried to get up but was very weak to do so.

"Can't you just stay still for a while"he said and cleaned her chest. She pushed him back and covered her chest with her arms.

"I said I can do it myself!"she said.

"Hope what is wrong with you. Can't you just let me do what I am doing. Why do yo want the things go hard way I don't want to force you"he said and continued to clean her.

"Here you go. Now you can go and change your clothes"he said and got up.

"Hey wait help me get up"she said.

"I didn't heard the magic word"he said.

"Pl..please"she said.

"Okay fine"he said and lent his hand to her. She grabbed his hand and got up.

"Now you can leave. I don't want you to disturb me while I change my clothes"she said.

"So I get nothing for my service"he said.

"Well what do you want"she said and crossed her arms.

"A kiss"he said.

"In your dreams"she said.

"Okay then I won't leave"he said.

"Okay but on the cheek"she said.

"Dah on the cheek. Where else did you think I wanted a kiss"he said.

"I thought..well never mind"she said and got closer to Louis.

"Can you close your eyes"she said.

"Yeah sure"he said and closed his eyes. She pecked Louis on the cheek and ran towards the changing room. Louis smirked and left the room.