Chapter Seven.

“It could be worse.”

Williams resisted the urge to sigh in frustration and looked up at her. Actually, well across the sitting room at her.

Celine may look like Natasha, she may sound a little like Natasha, but she was different from Natasha in every other way. Like two sides of the same coin.

Williams was relieved about this. Celine, despite her face, didn’t bring up memories of Natasha anymore. Not as she had on the street car. Not like when he had woken up this morning.

 For one moment there he thought he had died and gone to…wherever the other side was called. He thought he was going to be with Natasha again even though it was in the world of the dead. But no. It turned out to be just her talkative, annoying lookalike.

They’d been in here for two hours since he woke up to the shock of his life. And Celine had not sat down since then. Or shut up. She had been talking nonstop for hours. To herself, to him, to the house.

She saw him looking and went on as if that was encouragement enough to keep blabbing.

“I mean, we could be locked up in a house without a full pantry and a well stocked fridge.”

She’d been noising around in the kitchen for close to an hour and was now setting the dining table with what looked like a full breakfast.

Williams hated to notice, but a mouth watering smell was tingling his nose. And he was hungry…hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning. His stomach had been growling for a while now.

“None of those things belong to you.” He said instead. Couldn’t she hurry up and invite him to eat already?

Celine snorted. “It’s not stealing since we are going to leave cash payment for them.”

“Who’s we?”

“When I say we, I mean you. I have nothing that closely resembles a bank note on me.” She smiled sweetly. “But my lockdown companion is one of the richest men in the world. How luck shines bright on me today.”

Williams glared at her. “I only spend money on services and goods I consume. How do you expect me to pay for food that I’m not going to eat?”

She started over, her face still cheerful despite his attitude. “Come on now. You must be hungry after everything you’ve been through. I heard your stomach growling earlier. The sound of it was way louder than anything my belly could ever produce. Like a playlist album.”

Williams wasn’t one to be so easily embarrassed, so he kept his expression stoic and composed. Hope his face wasn’t red and blushing?

“It’s just food, and I’m a really good cook.” Concern flooded her face. “You still look a bit pale. It would do you some good to get something into your body. We are stuck here for the rest of the day, you know.”

“Whose fault is that?”

“I take all the blame. I’m guilty as charged, and would accept any sentence you dish out to me, my Lord. But only after breakfast. Well, brunch since it’s the middle of the day.”

Williams didn’t need anymore persuasion, but he made a show of thinking about it and hesitating before standing up.

Celine beamed. “Now, how hard was that?”

She led the way to the table and pulled out the seat at the head of it.

Williams cleared his throat, and gave her a pointed look.

She stopped short, confused. “What?”

He nodded at the seat in her hands.

“This is not one of your board rooms Mr. CEO.” But she simply sighed and moved over to the next seat. “The throne is all yours, Your Highness.”

Williams said nothing as he sat. He was noticing a change in her behavior by the passing seconds. The first few minutes of them being in here together she had seemed nervous around him. Almost panicked. But not anymore. Her true nature was unraveling. He didn’t know what that meant.

Looking down at the food, saliva filled his mouth. Everything looked delicious. She had managed to put together a diced chicken pasta with poached eggs and salad sauce. There was also milk tea.

She was staring at him in anticipation. “Say it already.”

“Say what?”

“It’s okay to give compliments where they are due, you know.” She dug into her plate and shoved a spoonful into her mouth. And moaned as she chewed. “My God! Who would’ve thought that I’m such a good cook?”.

Williams was equally surprised as he started eating. The texture and spice level was perfect. Even the tea was not too sweet…just the way he took them.

They ate in silence for…two minutes! Two minutes before she couldn’t take it anymore.

“You are different from the picture of you I had in mind.”

Williams would’ve preferred not to indulge her, but he was curious.

“What did you have in mind about me?”

“You’re wealthier than a good number of countries combined. You should be arrogant, loud, pompous, evil, terrible.” She smiled. “Except for the cold silence and glaring, you’re kind of easy to be around. Quiet but thoughtful. Reserved.”

“You hardly know anything about me.” He said simply. Her spot-on observation was unnerving.

She shook her head. “Of course I do. That’s the thing about being famous. Everyone gets on your business like ants to sugar.” She gulped from her mug of tea and licked her lips. “You are a Herringbone. That makes things worse for you. Ok, I know you have a girlfriend who you proposed to last month. Engagement party is set for early March. Your favorite restaurant is the Filler Flay in Scotland. You love Opera and swim as a hobby.”

Except for the bit about his engagement, Williams knew nothing about the others. Every magazine had their own opinion of who Williams Herringbone was.

Speaking of engagement, his mind flittered to Alicia. He had not spoken to her since yesterday, when he had called to cancel their dinner date.

He thought he loved her, but after the diagnosis of his mother’s approaching death he had been looking at his relationship with his fiance from a different angle. He couldn’t tell what but it seemed there was something missing. Something that was necessary before two of them could be complete.

He made a mental note to think deeply about it later. When he got out of here. When Celine wasn’t looking at him quizzically.

“It’s rude to stare.”

She shrugged, and refocused on her plates. “It can’t be helped. It’s not everyday I meet a global celebrity, or have brunch with one.” She paused thoughtfully. “I’m really sorry about how everything happened. You were only trying to help me out yesterday when you came to my defense. If you hadn’t shown up…I hate to think about what would’ve happened.”

He noticed pain in her voice, and on her face.

“You saved my life too.” He said quietly. “We are even. We both did what anyone else would’ve done in our situations.”

“Not true. Not everyone would’ve spoken up for a girl being ambushed by two hulking men. You went on to hand them their butts like modern day Bruce Lee.” She was smiling now, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “And I know you didn’t think it would turn out this bad for you. You have a business to run and loved ones to be with right now, but instead you’re stuck in here with me. I’m sorry.”

The sincerity in her words made him speechless and a bit weird inside, so he decided to change the topic.

“Tell me about you.”

She snorted. “There’s nothing interesting about me. Do you want to know what brand of tissue I use or the type of perfume I wear? How about where I work…well, used to work as I’m practically fired for what I did last night.” She pointed her fork at him to accentuate the point. “I’m a nobody.”

He let that sit for a while. He took a cut of the chicken and chewed. Tender and thick. Perfect. Celine had prepared something so savory for him, but he was about to give her something bitter.

“That’s a lie.” He said quietly.

She frowned in uncertainty and chuckled in a nervous way.

“That’s a little too direct. How do you know if I’m being honest or not when you…”

“You have no social media account. No record online. Neither family nor friends. No relationship whatsoever. Nothing. You are truly a nobody, Celine.”

The resemblance between her and Natasha had been too real to ignore. So immediately after getting out of the hospital, he’d called his personal investigator. Four hours later, a file had appeared in his electronic mail. It had only a single page.

 The content had been both interesting and suspicious. Bringing up too many questions. Questions he needed answers to.

She dropped her spoon and sat up straight. Her expression shifted to panic.

“What are you talking about?” Her voice was strangled.

“Celine Winston didn’t exist until a year ago. You are not Celine Winston.” He stared hard at her. “Who are you?”