CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: A NEW SET OF RULES
1807 Words
He held my face and pressed his lips onto mine. I closed my eyes, shutting out all of the voices screaming at me to stop this madness. His head lowered to my neck and dropped lingering kisses over my body.
I pushed him to the bed and climbed on him. His eyes widened at my action. His hand grabbed my waist and pulled me down, my chest colliding with his.
“Do you know the meaning of this?” He asked gently, as if he was trying to be sure that I was not making a mistake. I wasn't even sure myself, so how could I assure him?
“I don’t want this to be another one-night stand.”
He was right; I sat up and shook my head with a sigh before getting off him. I stood in silence with my back to him for a while before his hand snuck gently around my waist. I tried to spin in his hands, but his hand stayed tight on me.
“We don't have to rush anything.”
I waited for him to assure me more. Why did I want him to assure me?
“I want you, but even more than that, I want you to be comfortable with me, so even though I don’t want to…” He stopped and took a deep breath. “I will wait.”
“Do you think we can spend another night here?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could think my decision through.
I didn't want to pop out of this nest just yet. Returning would be going back to the truth and the reality. The truth is that Soren might never be mine, no matter how much I crave him to be.
“I really love the sound of that,” his mouth nestled near my ear as he whispered, his voice and breath sending shivers down my spine and a long tingle in my stomach.
By the time my eyes fluttered open the next morning, my head was nestled in his chest, as it belonged there. My stomach felt like a storm had happened in there, with a headache that was brewing worse every time I tried to do anything.
I watched Soren for a minute before I forced myself out of bed and washed my face to try and wake myself up. Lora was waiting, making breakfast again; she lit up when she saw me.
“You stayed an extra day.”
“We just decided to stay a bit more,” I lied. We didn't decide that; I had decided it on my own and pushed it on him.
“There is always something about this villa,” she said, like it was something she was proud of. “I mean, love always blooms,” she finished with a loud laugh.
“Is there a pharmacy around?” I asked quietly, and she turned to me fast. Her eyes glanced over my body.
“Are you feeling sick?”
“I think it is the trip, but I have been feeling very weird.”
“Oh, well then, I will have the driver take you.” She stopped, like she had remembered something, and turned to me. “What of Soren?” She suddenly asked.
“He is still sleeping, and I do not want to cause an alarm for no reason,” I added.
She nodded like she understood what I meant before disappearing and reappearing a while later with a younger man who was supposed to make sure I got to the pharmacy safely.
The pharmacist looked at me and pointed to the aisle of the pregnancy kit. “You might want to take a test.”
“I am not pregnant; I am celibate.”
As I heard my words, I realised I was not celibate. There was a night three weeks ago when I slept with Soren. Could I be pregnant, or was this man just trying to sell a test to me?
“Oh, I am sorry,” he said as if I had snapped a bandage off his hand.
“On a second note, I will take the test,” I said, walking over to the aisle and snatching three tests from the shelf, because I had heard that sometimes these tests could fail, so it was good to do it more than once.
“Is there a bathroom?” I asked, and he gestured to the door at the end of the hall with his body.
The ten minutes I stared at the stick were the longest time of my life. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing, and no matter how I tried to scroll on my phone, it seemed to be taking a lifetime.
Once the timer went off, I took up the stick, and two lines stared back at me. Was I pregnant? Was I pregnant with my boss? All the alarms in my head went off at once. Things were getting more complicated by the minute.
The more I thought about it, the quicker my heart rate quickened, and my stomach walls clenched. That would explain the reason for the constant morning headaches and fatigue. I was so sure I had been coming down with something fatal.
But I was pregnant. I hadn't thought of having a baby for at least another year, but now I was pregnant for my boss.
Lora was waiting for me. She rushed to me as soon as I got in. I was glad I had insisted on going alone. How was I going to explain what had just happened?
“Are you okay?” she asked. I smiled and nodded. I was not sure what I was supposed to do now: tell them about it or keep it until I decided if I wanted to keep the baby or not.
I had just got my life on track; wouldn't a baby slow me down now?
“I just have a little flu.”
“Soren was worried,” she said.
Soren walked in almost immediately. “Oh, thank goodness, Lioraé.” Soren rushed to me and held me by the shoulders, his eyes running over my body. “You should have told me that you were sick. Are you feeling better now? Do we need to go to the hospital?”
“I am fine; it was just fatigue.”
He stared at me long and hard as if he didn't believe I was telling the truth.
“Are you sure?”
His voice softened. I swallowed hard and tried to hide how nervous I was about the baby in my womb and the man standing in front of me.
“Oh well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds,” Lora suddenly announced and moved out of the way. Soren moved me to the room. We were leaving today, and he had taken the liberty of packing up our bags while I was gone.
“Lioraé, I am serious. I want to court you for real.”
I wasn't expecting him to bring it up again. It was like he was waiting for my approval before he went on with his decision.
“If I say no?” I tried to stay calm, pushing the thoughts of the baby to the back of my mind.
“I will give it a rest and ask you in about a week,” he said smugly.
“Okay, but there would be rules.”
“Rules?”
“Number one, I want full transparency.” I paused and waited for questions. “With everything,” I finished.
I was not going to repeat the same mistake I made with Evan again. This could be different if I got it right from now.
“Number two, at the office we are boss and assistant.”
“And after that?”
“After work, we can try to be a couple,” I added, ignoring the tumbling in my stomach.
“And…,” he drew out, amused by my absurd set of rules.
I hadn't even thought of that too much; I just knew what I wanted.
“Number three.” I raised three fingers in the air and shook them. “No expensive, outrageous gifts.”
His eyebrows lifted almost immediately. “Are you asking me not to get you anything?” That seemed to be the only thing he didn't like about the rules.
“I am saying that I won’t take anything I can’t afford.”
“Why?” His voice was sharp with shock.
“I don’t want people thinking I’m with you for money. There is already such a wide gap between us; if you gift me expensive things, then how am I supposed to convince them that it is not true?”
“Are you dating them or me?”
“You but…”
“Then you shouldn’t bother yourself with what others are going to say.”
Of course, it was easy for him to say because he wasn't the one who was going to be dragged for his actions. No matter how the story was spun, I was always going to be at the short end of the stick.
“Those are my conditions; do you not like them?”
“I guess I have no choice but do you think we can review these rules after some time?”
“Of course,” I said with a nod, almost too quickly. I folded my lips and pressed them together.
The ride back home was awkward at first, especially for me, but I learnt to settle into his aura too quickly. When the car stopped at a familiar house, one I had been to once, I felt my heart flip.
I was sure that since it was a Monday afternoon, we would go to work, but he drove me to his house.
“I want to make you some dinner,” he announced.
It was obvious he was not giving me a choice, and honestly, I didn't mind distracting myself with whatever it was this was. I knew that as soon as I settled, I was going to be thinking about the baby and what to do about it.
In that moment, I wanted to come clean, but what was going to be his reaction? Would he be as pleased? Would things stay the same? How much more were things going to change now?
“Are you going to cook yourself?”
“You seem shocked? Why?” He asked with narrowed eyes.
“Oh, nothing.”
“You don’t think I can cook.”
“It just seems unlikely for a man like you.”
“I guess I will have to show you then.”
- Writer
