FIVE

Faint knocks grow louder at each passing second Cara refuses to wake up. Cara throws her blanket over her face, groaning as her sleep-induced state slowly fades. She mutters a few unladylike words before sitting up, pushing her blanket away from her body. She slowly opens her eyes adjusting to the lightening of the small room.   

Cara and Cassie rented this apartment 2 years ago, not big but affordable. The house is always clean so you may not be quick to notice the old furniture that they use.

Cara groans loudly when the knocks increase, she places her feet on the cold marble floor, getting accustomed to its coldness before standing up.

She wonders who is at the door, everyone that she knows, know that you are waging a war when you wake Cara up. Cassie wakes up by 5:30 am to prepare Sam for school and cook breakfast, all these she does as quiet as possible because she doesn't want to wake Cara up. Cara is nothing near a light sleeper but she gets really cranky when someone wakes her up.

She drags her feet across the room, still in between being awake and asleep. She doesn't know how she manages to get to the front door in her state but it didn't matter she is already there, ready to see the idiot that woke her up. She places her hand on the metal handle of the wooden door and pushes down on it before opening the door.

The door reveals Alex, neatly dressed, suited up and looking uneasy. The minute he rode into Cara's street until he parked and got down, he has been getting weird stares. Maybe it's the Maserati he drove in or the Armani suit he has on but he knows he has to get out of the neighbourhood as soon as possible before he gets abducted or worse.

"I need..." Alex begins to speak but he is cut off with a door to his face. Cara slams the door on the billionaire not thinking about what she has to lose.

It's 8 am, an odd time for Cara to be awake. She walks back to her room, throwing herself on the bed before drifting into dreamland.

~~~~~~

Cara rolls to the right side of the bed and then to the left, a smile creeps up on her face as she does the same movement again. She can feel how comfortable the bed feels and how good her sleep was, almost immediately, the smile fades and her eyes shoot open.

Her bed is far from comfortable.

Her eyes widened in fear as the first thing she can notice is chandeliers hanging on the ceiling.

Her house has no chandeliers.

Cara sits up as she scans her surroundings with her heart beating inhumanly fast. She is sitting in the middle of a queen-sized bed, in a room bigger than her entire apartment. The room is absolutely mesmerizing, with high walls and draped ceilings, a huge curtain covering the light from penetrating and the walls painted white. A couch in the middle of the room, a long mirror resting on the wall, a table and leather chair also resting on the wall.

Cara comes to the conclusion that she has been abducted by a senseless person. He is senseless to abduct a person as broke as Cara. So she realizes that there's only one thing to do, she screams her lungs out, calling out for help.

Not smart, she knows.

Cara picks up the pillow beside her as she hears movement coming from the door, she lifts the pillow up as the doorknob twists. Cara gulps ready to see her abductee's face, her heart beating hard.

"I have a pillow," Cara announces placing the pillow up in a defensive mode.

"Good to know." The familiar voice accompanies the opening of the door.

Cara throws the pillow at Alex but it didn't get anywhere near him. He looks at the pillow on the ground in amusement then at the woman who threw it.

"How am I here?" Cara asks because she recalls slamming the door on his face this morning. And also some images of Cassie alongside but she doesn't know where to place them.

"O My God, did you drug me?" Cara gasps, pointing at him. That's the only thing that could have happened, the douche drugged her.

Alex slowly works in, he bends to pick up the pillow, and he is not comfortable when things are not in the right places. He walks over to the bed, Cara holds tight on the blanket, bringing her knees to her face.

"Don't come any closer?" Cara warns, not because she is scared of him. Actually, she is scared of him. She spots a lamp at the nightstand which will be thrown at him if he takes another step.

Alex throws the pillow back on the bed, not taking another step.

"No, I didn't drug you. Didn't need to, you sleep like the dead." Cara has always been told about her sleeping habits and now she thinking about it, he may not have drugged her.

Lucky him, she does not have to assault him with a lamp. At least not yet.

"I ran into your friend, sweet girl, she advised that waking you up is no use. I had things to do and places to be, so I had one of my bodyguards carry you here. Your friend is so helpful, she showed me where you packed your bags." All Cara could understand from all these is that Cassie is dead, she needs to learn how not to betray friends when it comes to handsome men.

"Still didn't give you the right to take me," Cara argues. She certainly does not appreciate being carried to places while she is sleeping.

"If we are talking about rights, you would be in prison." Alex spits out.

Alex pities her, with the way she sleeps, she will be dead soon.

"Classic." Cara rolls her eyes. He is going to remind her for the next 9 months that she is supposed to be in a prison.

Fun, really fun.

"Get dressed, we have a doctor's appointment." Before Cara could ask a question, he walks out.

"Asshole," She whispers under her breath, falling on the comfortable bed.

If this is the place she is going to stay for the next 9 months, Cara won't mind, it's magnificent.

She can get used to this.

~~~~

Did she call the room magnificent? Well, it's nothing compared to the mansion. She has been walking aimlessly after she got dressed. She spent over an hour in the bathtub, soaking herself in the soapy warm water of the amazing bathtub. If it's possible, she will live there. Cara finally finds the stairs, taking several steps down as she admires the architecture of the house. At the end of the stairs, she sees a man standing still, with his hands falling at his sides.

"Madam, Sir Alexander has been waiting for you." He stretches his hand to the left, Cara stares at him weirdly.

Maybe she is focusing on the old man's British accent that she didn't catch what he is saying and why his hand stretched to nothing.

"Hmmm, what?" Cara faces the direction he's hand is gesturing to.

"If you don't mind Madam, I will take you to where Sir Alexander is." He still kept his hand-stretched in that direction.

"Oh, sure." Cara steps down from the last stair following the man walking ahead of her.

Cara gasps as she sees things in this mansion that she can never afford, this is place is like heaven.

"Sorry, I did not catch your name?" Cara smiles at the man who has been frowning since they met. Cara knows she will need allies if she wants to make it to the 9th month in this house, Alex is an enemy.

"Jonathan." He answers.

"Well Jon, I am Cara." She introduces herself. Jonathan continues walking resisting the urge to correct her, his name is not Jon.

Jonathan stops right in front of a large glass door, he gestures at it, as he did earlier.

"Sir Alexander is outside." A frown still on his face, Cara knows that he is going to be one hard nut to crack.

"Thanks, Jon." Cara smiles at the grey-haired man.

Jonathan bits his tongue again, he doesn't want to correct his new boss but he can't deal with another Liza. She always called him Jonny even when she knows he hates it. Alex really knows how to choose them.

"Do you have a special breakfast request or you will have what Sir Alexander is having?" Jon opens the glass door for Cara as he asks.

"No, I am good." Cara walks past him, she stops facing Jonathan. "Don't call me madam, call me Cara." Cara smiles,

"Call me Jonathan." Jonathan closes the door on Cara's face. Cara smile fades slowly as she wonders what just happened.

So much for being friendly,

He is just like his boss and he is going to regret having her has an enemy. Who the fuck needs allies? Not Cara Green.

Cara turns and before her is a jaw-dropping view, a large swimming pool in the middle of a beautiful garden. Cara spots Alex under a shade, reading the newspaper in his expensive suit.

Can this guy get any boring?

Cara walks over to the shade at the end of the garden, she turns around a couple of times like a child and jumps a little, taking the opportunity of Alex being occupied.

"Hey," Cara says out of breath as she walks up to him.

"Took you long enough," Cara ignores his statement, her focus is on the mouth-watering breakfast before her.

Where will she start?

What is special breakfast could she have ordered then the before her?

She decides to start with the pancakes then the blueberries, she will definitely not touch the salad, the cake, those fruits, she is definitely going to have the pie.

How will she finish these?

"Your house is amazing." Cara compliments.

Alex picks up his mug, taking a sip from his coffee. He looks up at Cara, his eyes travel down and then back up. He drops his mug, trying not to say something offensive but it always just comes out.

"What are wearing?" Alex's eyes in his newspaper, he is not focused on it but it's to prevent him from staring at her.

Cara is wearing a cropped shirt, her red bra almost showing, faded shorts and ankle boots. She has light make up on with a bold red lipstick.

Cara looks down at her clothes, not seeing anything wrong.

"It's called clothes." Cara glared at the man who is trying to make her uncomfortable in her skin. Alex doesn't respond to her sarcastic statement, she has a way of getting on his nerves.

"Okay, let me break it down for you, C-L-O-T-H-E-S." Cara spells it out for him.

He continues to ignore her which is pissing Cara off, he is the one that started the conversation.

"Hello Alex, Xander!" Cara snaps her fingers at him like she's calling on to a dog. And again he ignores.

When Cara attempts to seat down, Alex drops his newspaper and stand up.

He takes steps forward while Cara steps backwards, not wanting to be too close to him.

"Listen up, you are going to change into new clothes. Things are bad enough, I don't want the press thinking my baby mama is a whore." Taking several steps forward as he speaks while Cara takes several steps backwards,

"Whore or hot?" Cara's eyebrows wiggle suggestively, not taking offence to his statement as Alex would have wanted. "And besides if I don't change, what are you going to do?" Cara taunts him.

With a step backwards, Cara realizes she is near a wall standing, now they are both standing dangerously close to each other. Her heart racing at the proximity, she feels weak in her knees as his frame overshadowing hers, intimidating her and making her know who's in charge.

His perfume hit her nostrils, he smells like something she can't identify but she knows it's definitely expensive. She tries not to show any weakness but it's hard with him this close,

Alex bends his head a little, before whispering into her ears. "I will carry you upstairs and change you out of those clothes myself." His hot breath fans her earlobes, her breathing becomes forced, heart racing and skin craving touch.

He is bluffing, right?

No one threatens Cara Green, no one.

~~~~

Cara finds herself back upstairs staring at clothes she could change into.

Alexander: 1, Cara: 0

~~~~