Carlos stepped forward to hug Crystal, but she stepped backward. She gave him a look of disgust and said, “Did you honestly think that I would wait for you?”
Carlos flinched at her words as if he’d been struck. “I know that my proposal is very selfish,” he mumbled, “but why are you so hard on me? Is it because of Nathan Davis? Are you two serious? I know you’re not actually together. You just want to make me jealous, right? Crystal, an unreliable man like him, is not suitable for you. He will never take you seriously!”
“He’s unreliable?” Crystal hissed. “Compared to you, he is a saint!”
Carlos’s face turned white as Crystal’s words sunk in, and he finally let her arm go, and when Crystal walked away from him, he made no further attempt to pursue her.
I hate this! - Crystal thought to herself, as she crossed the street at the next corner- it wasn’t supposed to end this way for us!
By the time Crystal arrived home, the sun had set, and when Susie saw her, she walked out of the kitchen to greet her. After exchanging formal greetings, the housekeeper said, “Your husband, Mr. Davis, has gone out for dinner. There is food in the kitchen.”
My husband-Crystal thought morosely.
“Thank you,” she replied. “Susie,” she added, “do you have a spare key to all of the rooms in the house?”
Susie: “Yes. I have a ring of keys in the locker in the storage room, I’ll get it for you.” Susie went back to the storage room and took out a ring of keys. Before leaving, she said, “Crystal, hurry up and eat, or your food will get cold.”
“I’m not hungry,” Crystal replied. “Thank you, though. I’ll heat it later.”
“That’s fine,” Susie replied as she returned. with the keys. “I’ll put it in the fridge for you.” Crystal took the keys from the housekeeper with thanks and then went up to Nathan’s room.
The door to his room was open, as it usually was, so Crystal went right in. The room was neat and tidy, and the bedside table’s bottom drawer was locked uptight. Fortunately, she had a key. Crystal hunkered down and began to try the keys one by one. Some were too small. Others were too big, but she finally found the one that fit perfectly. She turned the key nervously, and once she heard the click that meant the lock was open, she pulled at the drawer, only to discover that it was... empty- EMPTY? And the diary was gone!
“How can this be?” she cried. “It was just here!”
Crystal cursed Nathan in her mind - That fucking lowlife! That scum! That perverted child fucker! That good-for-nothing wh*re-of-a man! - but the drawer remained empty, and all of her effort and anger was for naught.
Once Crystal had regained her composure, she returned the keys and went into the kitchen to get her dinner. Then, just as she was taking the food out of the refrigerator, her phone rang. She took the phone out of her pocket and answered the call: “Hello?”
A soft and flattering voice sounded through the receiver: “Hello, is this Crystal? My name is Tiffany Ford. I’m one of the teachers at the university you attend. Anyway, at my father’s request, I have called to apologize to you. What happened yesterday was all my fault. I would like to invite you to have a meal with me so that I can apologize to you in person. When are you available? How about right now?”
Crystal rolled her eyes and said, “I’m busy. I’ve only just now arrived home.”
Tiffany: “How about I drive over and pick you up? If you just got home, you must not have eaten yet. You must be hungry. There is a restaurant very close to your home. Please, give me a chance to apologize in person. I feel terrible about what happened.”
Crystal did not want to go out again after the tiring day that she’d had, but she didn’t know how to refuse Tiffany’s sincere attitude, especially because she was one of her teachers, so she felt like she had to accept the offer. “Okay fine, Crystal said.
Tiffany was there in under ten minutes, and she took her to the Rossini Restaurant, where she had booked a private room in advance. The room was called The Aries Room.
Meanwhile, Nathan was throwing a Welcome Back party for Owen, and as irony would have it, he was running late. He was the host, and he was going to be the last one to arrive!
Owen thought that it was delightfully hilarious, and he couldn’t wait to tease Nathan about it. While he waited, he leaned back on the sofa, took a grape from the fruit plate, and threw it into his mouth.
Nathan had originally only invited a few old classmates, but someone had spilled the beans, and the guest list had grown exponentially, and their enthusiasm moved Owen. Unfortunately, after meeting with a few of his female classmates, it seemed that they were not all that interested in him after all. They had only come because they wanted to see Nathan. And the other two or three male classmates were there to talk about business with Nathan. Thus, Owen felt decidedly Unwelcome at his Welcome BackParty.
Nathan was a low-key guy, and he didn’t like such large gatherings, so Owen was trying to think of ways to make Nathan feel less uncomfortable. Unfortunately, he didn’t have many ideas, and when the crowd arrived, chaos ensued. Everyone got up, and they all began to clamor for his attention. One person said, “Oh, my god! Nathan! Nathan Davis is here!”
A second person said, “He’s getting more handsome by the day! How can he be so good-looking?”
A third person turned to one of the ladies and said, “Amy Fowler, why don’t you say something?”
Amy said nothing, and a fourth person said, “She is entranced by Nathan. Everyone knows Amy has liked Nathan since High School.”
Amy stared at the man at the door. He’s more dazzling than ever! - she thought The aura around him was too powerful and charming to be ignored.
Nathan sensed Owen’s discomfort, and he patted him on the back, saying, “Never mind them. They are like cool clocks strung up too tight, and they will never get what they want. You wouldn’t want that kind of attention. It is pathetic and annoying! Do you see what I see?”
“I suppose so,” Owen replied without much conviction.
Nathan thanked everyone for coming to welcome Owen back, and then the two men took a seat on the sofa, with Owen on Nathan’s left and Amy on his right. Once they were comfortable, Amy took Nathan’s hand and asked him what he had been up to lately. “You have so much going on,” she said. “You must not have a lot of free time. Am I right?”“Busy, busy, busy,” Nathan agreed, “but you have been busy too, yes? I saw your broadcasting show yesterday on TV. Who would have guessed that you would become a television anchor? I am proud of you. When will you introduce us to your boyfriend?”Owen winked at Amy and said, “Come on. Be serious. Amy is a very popular television star. She can afford to wait for her dream man to come along.Amy was somewhat embarrassed
As chance would have it, Crystal and Tiffany were dining at the same restaurant where Owen’s Welcome Back party was being hosted, and they were arriving at the same time that Amy was rushing off to the Ladies’ Room. Once they were seated, Crystal excused herself to use the washroom, and as she finished at the sink, she was accosted by Amy, who was just coming out of one of the stalls.“Hey!” someone shouted at Crystal. “Stop it!”Crystal looked up and saw the woman behind her in the mirror. The woman wore a black Chanel silk dress, and she was frowning at her.Amy was annoyed after having been humiliated twice by Nathan, and she saw the appearance of the meek girl as an opportunity to vent her anger. “You got water on my dress. just now!” she hissed. “My dress wa
Crystal did not want Nathan to visit her later that night, so she agreed to visit him at his table. She sighed as she put her phone away and turned to face her companion. She smiled and said, “Ms. Ford, as chance would have it, Professor Davis is also here at the Rossini Restaurant, and he has invited us to join him.”When Tiffany heard this, her face lit up, and she said, “Really? Let’s go.” Tiffany immediately grabbed her bag and took the lead.In the Aries Room, no one except Nathan knew that Crystal was coming, so when Crystal and Tiffany entered the room, they were surprised, and they focused their attention on the two women that stood before them. One looked mature and intellectual, and the other looked plain and malnourished.Nathan looked towards Crystal, whose hair was unexpect
Everyone turned to Crystal, and they began to demand a toast. They banged their fists on the table in unison and shouted, “Toast! Toast! Toast! Toast!”Amy handed Crystal a glass of wine, and she accepted it nervously. She lifted it in the air and said, “A toast to Professor Davis,” but Nathan refused to raise his glass.Owen looked up at Crystal and said, “Nathan won’t accept your toast.”Crystal: “Why?”Owen: “Because you are a woman.”The room went silent, and Amy smirked. She was unable to hide her pride or her feelings of victory over Crystal. Amy watched as Crystal stood awkwardly with her glass held in the air, and because Nathan didn’t raise his g
It occurred to Crystal, then, that her situation was hopeless, and she stopped struggling. Then, instead of fighting off his advances, she began to return them. Her hands began to climb up his neck, her fingers passed through his hair, and she returned his kiss with vigor-and they continued to kiss passionately until they were both breathless.Crystal’s lips were red and swollen, and when Nathan brought his hand up to touch them, she bit down hard on his fingers. Nathan shouted out in pain and anger as he pulled his hand away. “You bitch!” he hissed. “Are you a dog? Is that the reason why you like biting people so much?”Crystal growled and said, “I am a she-wolf, and I do like biting very much, but I never bite humans. I made an exception for you, though, because you’re not much of a man!”
Crystal raised her eyebrows as she ran her cold fingers across the top of Nathan’s silky shirt. She paused in the middle when she came to the top button, and she rolled it like a gem between her thumb and forefinger. She looked him in the eyes, smiled, and slipped the button free from the eyelet. One button - she thought to herself, and then two.Nathan raised his lips into a playful, sexy smile.Three buttons - Crystal was counting each in her head and using it as a device to keep herself calm- Keep Calm and Chive On- she told herself.The tip of Crystal’s finger accidentally touched Nathan’s chest muscles as she exposed them to the air, and he flinched- Four Buttons. His chest was flat and hard, and it felt very hot. Suddenly, Nathan grabbed Crystal’s hand, and she couldn’t move. She
Nathan knew immediately what was going on, and he reached out to grab Crystal, but he was yanked back into the car by his seatbelt. And before he knew it, she was free. He shouted after her, “Crystal, get back here!” Nathan quickly undid the seatbelt, and even though he was half-naked, he got out of the car. Crystal was about half a block away from him, and she was waving his shirt in the air so that, instead of a shirt, it looked like a victory flag - not only had she escaped his clutches, but now she was mocking him!The cold wind blew hard, it hit Nathan’s bare chest, and he flinched away from it. He had never been outside without a shirt before. However, from his education, he knew what would happen if he did not rectify the situation quickly. Furthermore, if one of his peers were to see him, he would be deeply embarrassed.Nathan watched
Nathan looked at the topless pictures of himself on Crystal’s phone and laughed. “So what?”“Aren’t you afraid that I will upload them to my Instagram account?” Crystal asked.Nathan smirked and said, “If you do, then you will have to explain why you were in a car with a half-naked man, and you will face more ridicule than I will!”Crystal was surprised by Nathan’s quick answer. She sat silently back in her seat and pouted all the way back to the house. As the car was stopped in front of the yard, Nathan gently touched her hand, and then he clamped his fingers tightly around her wrist. He stared into her eyes and said, “The past is over. It is better. to look forward to the future and enjoy the present.”C