Loving my Former Enemy

Chapter 11

Alina POV: 

After dressing, I zipped back up the suitcase and grabbed my phone, sitting down on the bed.

Just before I decided to turn it back on, my consciousness warned me what could happen if I did. I would be in risk of him finding me.

Not that I really didn’t want him to, because I missed him like hell. But then my point to leave him in the first place would be for no reason if he ended up finding me so soon.

So I threw the phone on the bed and stomped out of the room, annoyed and drained of energy.

Just as I was stomping out of the room, I almost collided with Lucas. What was with him and I encountering so many times today?

But this time, I noticed something different about him. Maybe it was because he was so close to me….?

”Your…..eyes?” I said, looking intently with a weird expression.

Lucas chuckled lowly, almost nervously. “What about…my eyes?” He asked me.

I blinked, putting me out of my trance. “Are those contacts in your eyes? I can see your contact lens.” I told him.

He inhaled deeply, as if he was trying to stay composed for some reason. His actions and the fact he was wearing eye contacts were giving me more of a reason to doubt him.

”Uh….yeah, it is.” He finally replied, confirming my question.

“But why would you wear contacts?” I asked him.

”Well, I just wanted to try something new, you know? I got extremely tired of having the same eye color.” He said.

I raised my brow. “Are you sure I can trust you? And better question….are you sure the contacts aren’t also to hide your real eye color, your identity to the world?” I asked.

He seemed shaken up by my response, causing me to ask even more questions. “Is my question bothering you because I am right? Are you trying to hide your real self from me, Mr. Lucas?”

Lucas blinked. “Uh….heh. No, no not at all.” He said quickly. I knew he was getting nervous.

”Take then out.“ I told him.

”Wh-what?” He said back, his eyes widening.

Crossing my arms to my chest, I refrained from smirking. ”I want to see your real eye color….show me them.”

”But…why?” He asked.

”Look, I want to see them because I need to trust you in order to let you be around me. If you‘re hiding your real looks from me, how am I supposed to trust you? What if you turn out to be like….some serial killer on the loose or whatever?” I asked him.

”What? How could you even think that? If I was a serial killer, I would have killed you the moment you walked through the door of your home, but no. I gave you an explanation and provided you with food, shelter, safety, and company if you needed it.”

I sighed. He had a point, but so did I. Even if he wasn’t a serial killer, what if he turned out to be one of Tristan’s enemies who wanted to use me for bait. The chef back in Germany surely was a demon in disguise, so why would I take any chances with this man.

I gave him a skeptical look. “If you really want me to trust you, then show me your eyes.” I said again.

He sighed. “Fine….I’ll show them to you, but only if you let me take you out to see this wonderful town.”

”Why would I do that, if I can’t trust you?“ I replied.

He gave me a look of defeat. “I know my actions haven’t given you much of a reason to be sure about who I am and what I want, but I promise I am who I claim, and my intentions with you are purely what I have already told you. So please, just like you want to trust me….I want to trust you too.” Lucas said.

I frowned. “Now why wouldn’t you trust me to show me your real eyes?“

”Maybe you‘re right about me trying to hide myself, maybe it’s for good reason for my safety….but I assure you that I am no threat and you’re completely safe with me.”

”But how can I trust that theory of yours if you don’t give me a reason to. You want me to trust you….then you’ll have to trust me first.” I said back.

”This isn’t some weird twisted ultimatum. First, let me take you out to see Manchester’s best places, and in return….I’ll show my real eye color.”

I sighed out loud. He wasn’t gonna give up and this would end up being an argument, so I nodded.

”Fine, but I’m brining a knife with me for safety precautions.” I said, storming towards the kitchen and grabbing the sharpest knife closest to me.

His hands raised in surrender. “Woah….slow down, Alina…“ He said. “Have I given you a reason to walk around with knife before?”

I shook my head slowly, but kept the knife tightly in my hand. “No, but that doesn’t mean I can trust you.”

”Just….you’ll have to. You had to trust me enough to allow me to bring you out here alone with me. That should be enough trust there.” He reminded me of my careless thinking.

”Yeah, well when I agreed….I wasn’t thinking straight. Now, I am….and I just can’t trust you when you are hiding things.” I said back.

”Fine, then…bring the knife if you honestly think I am a threat to you…but don’t hurt me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Do you really think I’d bring this knife to like…kill you or something intentionally? This is for self-defense, to keep me and my baby protected. So as long as you don’t give me a reason to use it on you….you’re safe.”

He exhaled in little relief. “I swear I won’t. I never have since I met you…” There was uncertainty laced in his tone.

The way he put that sentence, had me thinking about the depth of it…the meaning and how deep it is. His words ‘Since I met you…‘ He made it sound like we knew each other for decades instead of two days.

The way he seemed uncertain with his meaning of the sentence, that he’d never hurt me and never have, it gave me even more restlessness.

There was something more behind his wording that he obviously wasn’t sharing with me. Though, whatever he really meant by those words….the uncertainty in them was there.

”Let’s just go…” I said and took my mind off of everything. If not….I’d drive myself to madness.

He nodded and slowly walked in front of me, taking cautious steps forward and looking back at me intently….or the knife….every few moments.

The way he looked a little anxious by the knife, gave me courage and strength that I was intimidating enough. That alone kept my mental health safer that I could be feared, but my physical health….who knows?

We both hopped inside his Range Rover and he started the vehicle and pulling off after I put on my seatbelt.

I left my doubts and mad questions at the back of my head for later, ready to get this day over so I can see what he was hiding beneath those eye contacts.

Like honestly, I couldn’t shake the feeling that his every word and action was fake…he didn’t even seem to be who he really claimed to be. So why should I trust him.

But one thing was clear to me and that was the fact that his reasoning made no sense.

What would hiding your eye color really change? But my question is….why was he hiding them in the first place?

I looked over to my side at him to see his full attention on the road. I sighed, shifting my gaze outside the window and watching as we passed through trees and little shops.

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After a while, we finally arrived at a place called currier museum of art, where he showed me different art sculptures and paintings, with a huge lecture on them.

Once we finished looking through the entire museum, I was already tired and ready to just get to the point. But he wasn’t done yet.

After that, he brought me to various ponds and parks. I told him that I was tired and ready to go back, but every single time, he replied, “A few more places….this town is awesome and I want to show it to you.”

We were out for so many hours that I couldn’t keep track of, and when the sun started to go down….I was beyond exhausted and very much annoyed.

He looked over to my side where we were standing looking at ducks.

”Hey, are you good?” He asked me.

I narrowed my eyes as I turned to look at him. “I am tired and annoyed that I have to stand here and watching ducks doing nothing!” I snapped loudly.

“I‘m sorry, I just wanted to show you around.” Lucas’s face had a little worry etched onto it, but anyone could see that it was fake.

”Don’t Sorry me, because if I’m being totally honest….It looks like you’re just trying to waste as much time as possible so you don‘t have to show me your eyes.” I told him.

”You really want to see them that bad? Fine then, you know what? We can go right now…” he said and walked to his car.

I followed behind him, hot on his heels. “You don’t get to be aggravated, Mr. Lucas….I have every reason to respond this way.”

He didn’t respond, instead he got back in his car and ignored me the entire way back to the safe house.

I didn’t try to bring up any conversation with this man, all I wanted was for us to get back so he can reveal why he was hiding under eye contacts. It surely wasn’t for the reason he implied….couldn’t be why since his actions didn’t match his words. But my theory surely did match them…..

The very second we got back, I went straight inside and sat down on the couch in the living room.

He sat down on the other one and proceeded to take the contacts out of his eyes.

The moment he took them out and looked up at me, my eyes widened in shock.

His eyes were not blue….his real eye color was grey, but the reason I am shocked is because they seem so familiar.

My head flashed back to what he called me and now his eyes, then Ms. Kathy’s real name.

But he couldn’t be who I think he is….no, not a chance. Besides, Ms. Kathy looks nothing like the Katherine I knew back then. It wasn’t her.

This was just a coincidence, I thought and forced myself to breathe.

”Now….you’ve seen my real eyes.” He said to me.

My mind focused on his voice. Why did it sound familiar? Why didn’t I notice it before?

Who was this guy? Who was he really?

”Who are you? Don’t lie to me….” I told him warily.

He gave me a sympathetic look. “It’s sad you still can’t believe me. I am who I say I am, Alina….”

Even the way he said my name gave me an odd chill. My heart was thumping in my chest with irregular speed, as if it was trying to tell me something that I couldn’t figure out.

”No….you don’t seem to be who you say you are.”

”And why would you think that?” He asked.

”Because….you wouldn’t seem so familiar to me if you were. Why is there something telling me that everything about this situation isn’t what it I thought at first?”

He shrugged. “You’re just being paranoid. I haven’t met you before two days ago, neither have you.”

I wanted to believe him, but my consciousness was most definitely hinting to me that something was off.

”Then why did you hide your real eyes in the first place? Why did you call me the nickname only one person knows and used to call me? Why do you act so strange and give me so many reasons to doubt that you aren’t who you say you are? I have so many questions that even if you answer….I don’t think I’ll believe your response.” I finished.

His eyes were downcast and his mouth was closed shut. He didn’t say a word back to me. So I asked another question, and another.

”Why did you hide it in the first place? And who is Ms. Kathy supposed to be to you? Why did you honestly bring me here? And mostly…..

Why do I find that you are the one person I can’t stand to be around? Your eyes, they are not just some coincidence. I remember how his eyes looked and yours are practically a replica of his.”

“I continue to say….you’re not him….so why do you act like him and why do you two have the same eyes?” I asked.

Lucas furrowed his brows in confusion, but behind his mask of oblivion, I knew he had an exact idea of what I was talking about.

”What are you trying to say to me? And who are you talking about?”

I inhaled deeply before replying to him. “You and Louis….there is something about the two of you that makes me wonder if you really are him, but I’m still telling myself you can’t honestly be him.”

His furrowed brows deepened. “Who is Louis?”

Even the way he said Louis’s name reminded me of when Louis himself told me his name for the first time. Their tones….their voice was almost the same.

”He broke me so bad, I couldn’t trust another after him.“ I told Lucas.

”What? Why….?”

”You not need to know the details of my past, we aren’t on a same-to-same level basis and most probably will never be. Just let me make this clear that I want you to stop trying to keep secrets from me. And….I also want you to stop acting like him, because every single second…It makes me question if you know him, by blood or not. Or maybe even more than that…” I said.

”What do you mean by, even more than that?”

”I mean….you act so much like him, it makes me wonder if my doubts of you could actually be true, though I hope it isn’t.”

”And what exactly is your doubts of me?” Lucas asked me.

”That you might be him….that you might be Louis, and all this time everything you said was a lie to cover yourself.” I said back, even though I knew that he wasn’t Louis.

But my heart, the one that Louis broke himself…..it said otherwise….

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