Nicole;It's finally the day. I ignore the nervousness jangling in my nerves as I take in my appearance in the mirror. After alot of contemplation within a very limited amount of time, I finally went for a white dress. Why not? I've worked so hard for this project, handled the whole ingredients research with my team back at my former workplace and came to do more work at the Galaxy. As exhausted as I am, I do feel like a brand ambassador and I have to dress as one. To top it all up, I got to shop for free at the Galaxy Couture. And I went for something expensive.The long dress is made of a clingy material, hugging all the soft curves of my body in all the right places. It's sleeveless and on the neckline, there's a sharp V cut that gives a sexy tease of my cleavage. There's only so much I can do with my short hair so I decided to tight curl it. For a moment, I did miss my long hair but when I was done, the feeling was no more. The tight curls look gorgeous and I was glad I went for t
Nicole;It isn't such a hard job like I expected, gently but firmly holding on to Alex's arms while smiling like a pretty doll. The journalists are throwing so many questions at us, some about the project and the upcoming night and some others about our supposed relationship. Listening to them is a hassle so I simply don't, instead choosing to focus on the aggressive clicks of their cameras. Just when the discomfort begins to set in, it's almost like Alex can feel it. He pulls me in just a tad closer and together we make our ways inside. It's only when the door closes behind us and their voices become muffled that I extract my arm Fe Alex's and let myself sigh in relief. Alex looks down at me in mild concern."Are you okay?". He asks. I nod just a bit too fast and his eyes narrow at me suspiciously."Nicole….". He takes a step closer to me and I glance around in a mild panic, scared of someone seeing us. Thankfully, the enormous lobby doors have been shut behind us, blocking out the j
When I hear the voice behind me, I feel my mouth twist into a sneer. This party is literally the gateway to hell, and it's creatures are slowly crawling out. I take a leisurely sip of my champagne before turning around and there Jared is, dressed in a horrendous blue tuxedo. "That's ugly". I say, my eyes fixed on the three-piece as I take another sip of my drink. He chuckles loudly and glances down at himself. "So I thought too. But this shit cost me $7500. Ain't no way in hell I'm not wearing it out". "Good for you". I mutter under my breath, disgruntled. From the corner of my eye, I see Alex at the far side of the room, making small talk with some executives. The product will be launched by midnight and we hope to hit a sales record in less than an hour. And it'll all be displayed live here. The excitement in the air is palpable and for once, I feel like it's only moments like this that these people allow their feelings align towards a common goal. In the end, they are all hoping
This is the moment they've all been waiting for and I should be anxious that I'm feeding it to them but with Alex by my side now, I don't. I drag him along with me to the bathroom, flashing a smile to anyone who is unfortunately enough to meet my eyes. I can hear the slight hesitation in Alex's steps and I understand. But we need to talk privately, and it has to happen now. We enter the luxurious bathroom area and I pull him into the male bathrooms with me and lock the door behind us. When I let go of his arms and turns to face him fully, his eyes are fixated on mine, a certain excitement obvious in them. I hate to break it to him but that's absolutely not the reason why we are here."Apparently your friends are just rich. They aren't exactly good at pretending that they aren't staring at people". I say leisurely as I stroll towards the washbasin and look at myself in the mirror. Alex chuckles silently behind me and I rest my both arms against the sink, eyeing him in the mirror. "How
Nicole;I grope around in my head to find a reason why I just did that. There's only one thing I can tell myself. I just wanted to confirm. Am I really a fool? Or has my facade of 8 years grown on me, hardening my frail heart? By the way my nerves are going haywire, I can confirm that I am indeed the greatest fool to have ever existed. I still yearn for this man, I still want his attention and his touches still drive me crazy. That kiss….that little kiss filled up a hole in me I didn't even know existed all this while. Yes, I'm still very much into Alexander Van Lewis, and I'm a fool for that. I make to turn away but I feel his fingers wrap around my arm as he halts me in my step."Why did you do that?". He asks in a whisper. I cringe inwardly. I spin around slowly to face him."I….I just wanted to confirm something". I say. His eyes darken intensely and he takes a step closer to me."What? Hmm? What was that?". I stare up at his eyes, drawn to their ethereal beauty. Slowly, I raise a
Nicole;My body stands in the same spot, taut and stiffened with fear as I glance around the whole room, my eyes as wide as saucers. Another live update has come up and through the roar in my ears, I hear the people's whoops. He's watching me, I feel it. He's in this room with me. I step back instinctively and bump into an usher carrying a tray of drinks behind me. To my horror, a glass of blood red wine spills over, splashing all over me and my white dress. The cold feel of the drink jerks me back to reality and suddenly, I can hear the people again, their oohs and aahs and no long my pounding heart or the blood in my ears. Slowly, I glance down at myself. The drink has splashed generously on me, creating a large red map all over the front of my dress. Around me, I hear the horrified gasps of the guests and the usher practically has tears in her eyes as she apologizes profusely. I shake my head to clear it of the clear fog before nodding at the girl in understanding and making my way
Nicole;I'm filled with awkwardness as I sit opposite Alex in his limo. He's on the phone, scrolling through intensely. I'm guessing he's keeping up with the updates. Sighing softly, I fold my arms across my chest."You really should have stayed back. There must be a lot of work for you to do"."I'm interested in the updates, Nicole. I'm not particularly interested in spending one more minute at the party". He puts his phone into his pockets and looks at me properly for the first time in a while. As awkward as I feel, I hold his gaze. He sighs softly and leans forward."How do you feel about a private investigation?". My brows furrow in confusion."A private investigation? On who?"."You". He says that flatly and I feel my brows shoot up to the sky."Why the hell would you run a private investigation on me?". He stares at me for a good moment before he replies."If you don't want to talk to me, I'm going to have to find out in my own way right?"."Shouldn't it be my business….."."Tha
I couldn't have heard him properly. I keep my eyes trained on him suspiciously but when his face doesn't break into laughter, I know it's real. He isn't joking. So I do that laughing instead. It bursts out of my chest in a loud rumble and that's when I really begin to feel the humour. Alex wants me to follow him….to see his family. Talk about the funniest things in the world and I'm definitely going to mention that line. I throw my head back and let the laughter rock my body and by the time I'm done, I literally have tears coming out of my eyes. Now that was funny. I look at him through the blur of my tears and I see that his expression is the same as ever. He's staring at me plainly, his eyes flat and humourless."I appreciate the humour". I say in between pants. "That's the hardest I've laughed in a long time. Thank you"."I'm not joking, Nicole". He says coldly."No…no..no, you have to be. And I understand. I really do….."."I'm. Not. Joking…..Nicole". That has me pausing. Whatever
My heart thuds loudly in my chest. What the hell have I done? How do I convince a smart, grown man that he heard me wrong. Of all my truths, this was the one thing I wasn't ready to divulge. How did I get so into my feelings and give myself away like that? "Alex…. it's not what you think". I hate the way my voice comes out small. I have always been a bad liar so if my voice doesn't tell already that I'm lying right now, my face must. Either ways, I'm caught. "Nicole, then tell me what it's like". He still manages to exercise good control over his voice. I'm impressed. And I need to learn that at least from him. "Alex….". So fast, our roles have been switched. Suddenly, I'm the one who wants to slide closer and reach for his hand and make sure I'm holding him close to me so he doesn't go away. I resist all urges to do that as I wring my hands in my lap. "Alex….I have something to tell you". I look at him tentatively through my lashes. His face is impassive, just staring at me directl
When I open my eyes the next morning, it takes a little while before my brain processes my surroundings. For the past two weeks or so, I've been in one space, waking up in the same bed, to the same ceiling and to the same warm, reassuring hand wrapped tightly around my torso. Today, things are different. Much different.I roll over on the bed onto the side of my good arm and just….stare out the window emptily. Slowly, my brain does a reboot of everything that lhappened yesterday. This is it. As hard as it was, I finally managed to talk about the weight that's been holding me down, hanging over my head and shoulders. That alone brings a small smile to my face as I register the light feeling in my chest. It sure feels good to offload to someone. It seems like a thousand year's worth of weight has been lifted, I guess talking about all of it was good for me afterall. But now that I have….what now? What next for me? Are things really going to stay the same between Alex and I?My mind flas
Alex pulls the duvet up to my chin, tucking me in fully before coming to settle beside me. As he stares at my face, for some weird reason, I can't stop imagining what he sees. Does he just the red eyed, puffy faced me, or perhaps….is there a layer of disgust over it? Not that I'd blame him one bit. I hold my breath as he brings a hand up to caress my cheek lightly, his gaze burning fiercely into mine. And yet, he doesn't say anything. I suddenly feel the need to break the silence."I ran away when I was 15". I say, my voice hoarse. He sighs softly and just continues to stare straight at me. It's almost as if he's afraid to say something, scared to have the moment crumble away. I'll take that as my cue to continue. "One day when my mum went to work and Ace was in school, I snuck back home from school and took my things. I never looked back ever since that day. But perhaps that was a mistake because he found me in New York". One of Alex's eyebrows go up in surprise but he still doesn't
My heart thuds lightly in my chest as I follow Alex to the bedroom. This is the exact moment I've been avoiding all these days. All along, I knew Alex seemed to be fine with me but he's only human and I know a huge part of him probably still wants to know everything going on. Or rather, that went on. It's been nearly two weeks since the incident and so far, we've both done a good job of acting like something life changing didn't go on. As sick at it is, a part of me actually hoped he'd have forgotten. Like he could. I'm such a fool. I focus on the ripple of muscles on his back as we make out, racking my head actively for what to say, anything at all to lessen the tension."How was it at the hospital?". I ask quietly. What I really mean to ask is how is he? I'm a bit scared of that answer. Because I know I don't want him to be fine."He's….the same". Alex says, his voice neutral. I resist the urge to let out a sigh of relief. He's stitin the coma. Why the hell won't he just….die alread
I seek his lips desperately as we make our way upstairs. We crash through the door blindly and make our way to the bed. Despite the heat of the moment, Alex places me on the bed gently, taking time to ensure that my arm isn't a position that could potentially hurt it."Where did you say that zipper was again?". He asks, mocking resignation in his voice. I chuckle and reach for the little pink hook, sliding it open. Alex gladly takes over, opening it the rest of the way and parting the dress on either sides of my body. I'm well and truly naked in front of him now and I can't wait for feel his skin against mine. He positions between my legs. I firstly think he's going to part me wider and slide into me already but he seems to have other plans. He lowers his head and kisses my face tenderly. He doesn't stop there. He continues to trail the tiniest, more featherlight kisses down my cheek, neck and finally, my chest. I arch upwards, inviting him to take my nipple in his mouth but he has ot
My heart rate quickens as he claims my mouth again. Every single nerve in my body seems to be alert. He brings an arm forward to wrap around my waist, pulling me tightly against his frame, making me feel what I'm doing to him. The bulge in his pants is hard, proud and unflinching. He wants me to feel it, and that's exactly what I do. With my semi-good arm wrapped loosely around his waist, I reach down with my good arm and reach for his zipper fumbling around awkwardly for it. When I finally pull it apart, I feel that front of his briefs staining against the pressure of his cock. It wants free, and I'm here for that. Before I can reach for his waistband, I feel his hand snake under the hem of my short dress and reach upwards. The breath catches in my throat at the delicious sensation and my nails embed crescents into his back as I dig them into him. He takes his time, hiking his fingers up my inner thighs, leaving after him a delicious trail of heat that tingles my core. Subconsciousl
By the time my arms starts to heal, I'm damn well already tired of staying in bed. But Alex is strict about it, not letting me up for longer than necessary. When the bullet wound finally healed enough for me to move my arms, I was more than elated to let him know.I'm just in bed when Tori brings up a lovely bouquet of roses. I groan but inside of me, I'm screaming and melting. Ever since I got shot, Alex has pointedly given me the best of attentions. He brings me flowers every single day and makes sure the words are barely out of my mouth before my wishes are met. Tori has been a lovely help by his side and if anything, I was really glad to see her again at least. On the times Alex had to leave me to be present for work, she kept me good company and this little development got us even closer than ever. It's official, I genuinely like her and she seems to like me too. As she brings the flowers up, the smile on her face is unmatched."Here we go again. This man is going to overload thi
My mind regains consciousness first before my body does. As I come to, I take the deepest breath I can manage and the first thing I notice is the fact that the air smells of….flowers. Lavenders, roses….and something else. I can quite place a finger on it. It…. really can't be, can it? There's no way I made it to heaven. The Lord must have had a lot of mercy on my soul to have put me here. I must say though, the flowers smell way too earthy. I'd think the flowers in heaven would be different. And so slowly, I let my eyes drift open as I prepare to be bewildered.I take in the pearly white ceiling above me first. When it finally seems like I might have enough control over my body to swivel my neck, I turn at small angles to glance at either sides of me. My brows furrow in mild confusion as I take in all of my surroundings. It somehow looks…. familiar. I try to push up on my arms but a pain so sharp shoots up right into my arm's length. I wince loudly and plop back on to the pillow. That
I see his eyes widen as he rushes forward. I'm full on crying now, the tears streaming down my face and obscuring my vision. It feels like a miracle, perhaps this is the one miracle to make up for all the years of misfortune I've gone through. "Nicole!!!". Alex rushes forward and firstly reaches for my hands that are still taped behind me. "Are you okay? Fuck, what the hell is even going on?". His breaths are coming hard and fast as he works on freeing my hands. From the sitting room, I hear Ace's grunts as he probably tries to get on his feet. Alex's blows must have landed well. When I hear his grunts coming closer, I feel a sense of panic settle in my chest again but thankfully, the tape comes undone around my wrists and for a moment, my hands feel too good to be mine. The blood flows right in my arms again and it's the most delicious sensation ever. Ace walks in through the door right in that moment and I see that the lower half of his face and a good fraction of the front of his