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 unexpectedly braided, revealing her thin neck, and when Crystal felt his eyes on her, she turned to look at him and frowned. She didn’t appreciate the manner in which he’d summoned her.
Nathan raised their eyebrows slightly and smirked lightly. His bright eyes were like glazed tiles, and his lips looked like they’d been carved with a thin gold pen, and in a room full of people, he stood out. He smiled at Crystal and said, “Come here.” Nathan’s voice sounded like the echo of a ghost, and it would not be denied.
Crystal immediately understood Nathan’s intentions. She turned to his guests and said, “Hello, everyone, my name is Crystal. I am one of Professor Davis’ students.” She put stress on the last word, so there would be no question about her relationship with Nathan.
Crystal gave Nathan a complacent glance. Nathan naturally knew what she was up to, but he did not get angry. Instead, he laughed, and the smile lines in the corners of his eyes stood out as evidence of his good humor. He didn’t say a word, but his smile caused Crystal to tremble uncontrollably - and when she heard about their marriage agreement, she felt faintly uncomfortable.
One of the men looked at Crystal and said, “Wow, she is so beautiful. I thought she was the wife of a god. Who would have guessed that she was just a student?”
A second man turned to the first and said, “Thankfully, she is just a student. That means that we still have a chance with her!”
Some of the other people turned to Tiffany, and one of them said, “So, this must be Nathan’s wife?”
Wife? - Cold sweat appeared on Crystal’ forehead. Did he already announce our marriage? - Crystal wondered - I thought he was going to keep this on the down-low...
Tiffany immediately shook her head and said, “No, I am not.”
One of the women said, “Stop staring at her, or she will be shy.” She turned to Owen.
“Owen, you are close to Nathan. Is this other woman his wife?”
Owen only knew Crystal from Nathan’s painting, and he had only seen the canvas once, and that had been a few years ago. It seemed to him that she must be his wife, but he couldn’t confirm it. “I don’t know,” he admitted.
Crystal hadn’t been listening to the conversation. She was only thinking about how to get herself out of the private room as quickly as possible.
Crystal recognized the woman that had just spoken to Owen. Her name was Amy, and she was the one whose dress had gotten wet in the bathroom. At that moment, Amy was staring at Tiffany and giving her the Evil Eye. It was apparent to Crystal that Amy was interested in Nathan, and she saw the other woman as a rival. From the way Amy was looking at Tiffany, Crystal thought that she wanted to strangle the other woman half to death.
Crystal had not expected that bringing Tiffany over would cause such a disturbance. It didn’t bother her, though, because the most important thing to her was keeping her identity from being exposed. Furthermore, Tiffany seemed to be happy to be the center of attention, so this was a win-win situation for them both.
When Crystal saw the way that Amy was glaring at Tiffany, she raised her eyebrows and happily smiled at Nathan. After a moment, she said, “Professor Davis, I accidentally splashed some water on this lady’s dress in the bathroom, and she was unhappy about it. I want to apologize to her again and help her dry it. Her dress looks quite expensive. She had originally wanted me to compensate her, but I can’t afford to.”
Some of Nathan’s guests turned to Crystal, and they felt some sympathy and pity for her because of her innocent tone. Amy frowned when she saw the way everyone was looking at Crystal, and she said, “It’s fine. Don’t worry. It’s just water. It doesn’t matter.”
“Didn’t you say that it’s made of real silk?” Crystal asked. “You said that it would be ugly if the watermarks didn’t come out. You also said that it was imported from France, specifically for this party...”
Amy’s face turned red. She hadn’t wanted anyone to know that the dress was new or that she’d purchased it specifically for this party - and now that the cat was out of the bag, she was so embarrassed that she felt like ripping off her clothes and standing naked in front of everyone.
Nathan did not appreciate the way that Crystal had shamed Amy, and after apologizing to his guests, he turned to Owen and said, “Get on the phone with the Chanel Dress Company and order the lady a new dress!”
Owen: “Boss, the one you want is out of stock.”
Nathan: “Then have the designer brought here tonight from France so that a new one can be made!”
One woman gasped and said, “Wow! Not only is he compensating for the cost of the dress, but he is sending it to the designer from France to make her a new one. He is so charming.”
“I wish that water had spilled on my dress,” another woman said. “I would also like a new designer dress!”
Despite Nathan’s attempts to smooth out the situation, Amy was still upset that Crystal had shamed her in front of her friends, and she was determined that she would not let the matter go so easily. She turned to Crystal and said, “Crystal, you are lucky that your Professor has your back. I suggest that you raise a toast in his honor.”
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
With her head resting on Nathan’s shoulder, Crystal dreamt that she was a young girl again. She had been afraid of the dark, and her Mother was comforting. Her Mother gently hugged her, patted her on the back, and hummed a lullaby.Crystal wanted more of her Mother’s warmth, so she pressed her body against her and nuzzled her head against her chest. She could smell mint on her breath, and she began to feel dizzy. Why does my Mother smell like mint? - Crystal wondered. Her Mother had never smelled like mint before!When Crystal opened her eyes, she found herself in her bed, with Nathan hovering over her. And she began to panic. She tried to get up, but Nathan had her pinned down. She watched in horror as he lowered his head. “What are you doing here?” s
Crystal started and restarted her phone, but she was still unable to edit her Contact List, so she posted her problem to Instagram, and within minutes she was flooded with suggestions.Re: What is the phone model? Why can’t you edit it? Try rebooting the phone and try again.Re: Look at the manual and click on the Contacts. You are supposed to edit them directly from there.Re: Show me the model.Crystal took a picture with her old phone and added it to the comments, and the replies continued to fly in.Re: Isn’t this the latest and most expensive model?Re: Yes. It’s an iPhone Princess Plus!Re: The phone is studded
Crystal took the phone card of her old phone and inserted it into the iPhone Princess Plus for temporary use, and as soon as it was installed, the phone vibrated, and a text message from Serenity appeared. It said: “Crystal, Are you insane?!?!?!”Crystal: “Calm down and tell me what happened!”Serenity: “You posted a selfie with Frank on Instagram! What were you thinking?”Crystal: “What are you talking about? There isn’t a photo with Frank and me on Instagram!”Serenity: “Oh! What happened to it? Is it gone? Did you feel so guilty about it that you deleted it?”Crystal: “Never mind that. Where are you? You should have been here already.”