Almost Always You

Chapter 16

I woke up sweating. I tried to move, but something was holding me down. I turned on my back and saw Xander lying on his stomach shirtless. His hand was still around my waist. I tried to move his hand, but he pulled me tightly towards him and nuzzled his face in my neck.

“Xander, I’m feeling hot; please move your hand.”

“Hmm, baby, you’re always hot,” he snuggled into me. I was suffocating. I tried to push his hand but couldn’t. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“Alex, honey, are you in there?” It was Mrs. Matthews.

Shit! We’re screwed. Xander sat up and looked at me.

“Yes, Mom. What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Oh honey, Ella’s not in her room. Do you know where she is?” I looked at him panicking.

“She might be outside at the garden, Mom. She told me yesterday she wanted to explore it.”

“Alright, honey, you come downstairs for breakfast. I’ll send Marie to get Ella.” I widened my eyes.

“No, Mom,” said Xander quickly. “I’ll go find her. You need Marie in the kitchen anyways. I’ll be down soon.”

“Okay, honey. Bring her back soon; the food is getting cold.” Mrs. Matthews left.

I got up, and Xander groaned. I looked back at him and saw him staring at my legs. I realized I was wearing just his shirt and my underwear. I blushed and picked up my clothes.

“I’ll go and change and meet you outside in ten minutes. We can go downstairs together.”

Xander was still staring at my legs and just nodded. I smiled and rolled my eyes at him. I opened the door and looked around to see if anyone was there. The hallway was clear, so I got out and closed the door quietly. I turned around to come face-to-face with a strange girl. She was wearing a maid’s uniform. I guess she’s Marie, but she is really young and beautiful. Might be just a year or two older than me. I gave her a small smile. She looked at me up and down. She rolled her eyes and walked away. It was really awkward.

I went into my room. I brushed my teeth and changed my clothes. I put on light makeup. I made my way out and saw Xander coming out of his room. He smiled at me and pecked my lips.

“I think I saw Marie. She saw me getting out of your room.”

“She did? Oh, she is going to tell Mom.”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah! You know how old people like to gossip.”

“Old? The girl I saw was really young. Might be just a year or two older than me.”

“Oh! Then you must have seen Skylar. She’s Marie’s daughter. Don’t worry, we are safe. She’s studying to be a bariatric surgeon, you know, an obesity medicine specialist. She helps around whenever she has time to make some extra money.”

“Oh. That’s great.”

We made our way to the dining hall. Everyone was already seated. I saw Skylar looking at me weirdly. I ignored her and sat down. I greeted Mr. and Mrs. Matthews.

Emma greeted me and said, “I want you to play with me today, and you can also tell me everything a princess does.”

“Of course, Emma.” I smiled at her. I looked at the table, and it was filled with various items. Wow! Mrs. Matthews really went all out. There were eggs, bacon, sausage, some kind of salad, and waffles.

An older woman came in with bread and orange juice. I guess that’s Marie. She smiled at me. We began eating. I took bread and eggs and some bacon too. We ate in peace.

“Take some more bread, my love. If you want, I can spread some butter on it,” said Marie. I was about to say no to her when Skylar said

“I think she doesn’t want to gain any more weight, Mum. Stop forcing her.”

There was an awkward silence. Everyone was looking at me, and I looked down at my plate. Does she mean I’m fat? She might know better, as she’s going to be a doctor. Marie scolded her.

“Sky, it’s not how you talk to a guest. Say sorry to her right now.”

“Why should I? I never said anything wrong. I said what I saw. She might not be comfortable eating all that fat,” Skylar said and left the room.

“I’m sorry, my love. She has never said anything like that. I’m sorry, Mrs. Matthews,” said Marie and followed Skylar. Everyone got back to their food.

“Ella, honey, why aren’t you eating?” Mrs. Matthews asked.

“I’m actually full. I ate a lot. It was Marie who kept filling my plate. Excuse me, guys,” I said and got up. I looked over towards Xander. He had a concerned look on his face. I gave him an assuring smile.

“I’ll be upstairs. Emma, you should come to my room after finishing your breakfast.” I said and walked upstairs with tears in my eyes. I am gaining weight again. My mom will be so upset. I have to stop eating junk food. I got to my room and went into the bathroom. I removed my top and looked at my stomach in the mirror. It looked bloated. Skylar was right; I’m getting fat. I opened the toilet and dropped on my knees. I didn’t want to do this, but I have to. I pushed two fingers deep down my throat and made myself throw up like I used to do back in my junior year in high school.

I emptied all the contents of my stomach. I flushed the toilet and cleaned the toilet seat with some paper towel. I rinsed my mouth with some mouthwash and wore my top. I was feeling a bit better. I went back into the room and lay down. I thought maybe that’s the reason Xander never wanted a blowjob from me. He knows I’m fat and doesn’t like my body. I should break our deal so that he doesn’t have to feel disgusted with my body. There was a light knock on my door. I got up expecting Emma, but when I opened the door, it was Xander. He came inside and closed the door.

“Are you alright? You should ignore what Skylar said. I don’t know what came over her when she said that. I’ve never seen her talk to a guest like that. My dad has given her a warning.”

I gave him a fake smile. “I’m alright, Xander. Don’t worry about me.”

"I think she's jealous that you're so beautiful."

"Xander, why would she be jealous of me? I mean, she's so beautiful."

"Yeah, but you are more beautiful than she is, plus your body reacts to mine way better than hers." He said with a sly smile.

"Oh my God! You hooked up with her?"

"A few times, but she wanted a relationship from me, and I don’t do that."

I rolled my eyes at him.

Xander came near me and looked down at my lips. He was about to kiss me when Emma barged in.

“Come on, Ella. Let’s go to my room. I have an extra tiara. You can have it.”

She pulled me outside. I didn’t look back at Xander.

Emma’s room was really beautiful. It had light purple walls and a little bed. There were many toys lying around. I sat down on the chair of her playset. She said she will make tea, and then we can talk about everything a princess does. She was talking a lot. I was not able to pay any attention to her. All I could think about was how to tell Xander that I wanted to break our deal.

Emma gave me the fake tea she made, and we pretended to play princess. She asked some questions in between, and I answered them as if I were a real princess. We played till lunchtime. During lunch I ate only a little, and everyone noted it. But they never said anything. I know everyone thinks I’m fat and I should lose weight. I avoided dinner, saying I had a headache. Xander came to my room after dinner. I pretended like I was sleeping. He just looked at me and left. No kisses, nothing.