Chapter Six

LISA

I get dressed and head out. Lore insisted we go for dinner at a restaurant,of course my first answer was a No. I asked if we could just eat from home instead because public appearance means me playing the romantic newly and happily wedded wife. He'll have every right to touch or kiss me and I'll have no choice but to let him. Of course he didn't take no for an answer,so here I am,being picked up by his driver on the doorstep.

The moment we get to the restaurant,I'm escorted to the table where he is.

When Lore sees me,he pushes from the chair and takes my hand to place a kiss at the back of it,then he leads me to my chair.

"You look perfect."

"Thank you," I try my hardest to smile.

We order our meal and he tells me about his childhood then asks me about mine. I tell him the highlights of course,in perfect Mona style,without, looking at him of course.

"Hmm,you and your sister are obviously close but different, you're so well collected and poised, while she seems to be...wild and out of sorts."

I pause.

"What?"

"What I mean to say is I've heard she's still living in the teenage years and very rebellious. Most of them tend to compare her to you, saying she should have been more like you."

My tongue itches to speak but I bite it. My hand tightens around the fork and I count to five while breathing slowly,but the next thing he says has me losing control.

"She must be very notorious,that's why my eye caught you I guess,i can not even imagine having a rebellious wife,that would be a handful."

"It might seem like Lisa has always been the rebel,but people don't really understand her, especially my parents. They don't see the good in what she does, sometimes,she secretly sacrifices a lot for others and ends up being the bad guy for it. She's also perfect in her own way,it's just that nobody cares enough to see that."

I stab the piece of steak as if I have a grudge against it.

There's silence on the other side,so I lift my head and my eyes lock with his.

Shit!

He stares at me silently, unblinking and I get trapped in his stormy grey eyes. Did he catch anything in what I said? Mona would never act like this,not even while defending me.

What if I just messed up? Oh no Lisa,what have you done!

"So the only way to get you to look at me is by talking about your sister."

He smiles,which has me frowning in confusion.

Did he just bait me?

I open and close my mouth at a loss of words.

"I can agree they were right about one thing,and that's you defending her at any time."

"Meaning?"

"I don't judge people by what others tell me,that's not how I am Mona. I would only trust my own observations. You're right,they "think," they know Lisa but they obviously don't. I wouldn't judge her because I'm sure there's someone special behind what everyone can't see past and I'm sure she's been a wonderful sister and has sacrificed a lot for the people she loves."

I pause, nobody,and I mean nobody, has ever said such words about me.

"Selfless women are a gem and that quality is rare. Whatever Lisa does,if it's for the sake of others like you say,then she is a gem,because In every chaos,there's a spark of beauty."

I lift my eyes and they lock with his grey ones.

I can't look away even if I wanted to.

Once again,he's said something no one has ever said about me.

I search his face,I knew he was very handsome and good looking but this is the first I've taken time to really examine him.

Grey eyes that have a trace of black,long think eyelashes,straight aristocratic nose,sharp jaw and cheekbones,lips that are a purplish pink colour and a dip in his chin.

My eyes move to the two beauty spots on his cheekbone then to his lips that look soft.

He's more handsome than I ever thought.

When my eyes meet his again,i swallow. He watched me watch him and now embarrassment starts to creep inside me.

I look away and continue eating but I can feel him still watching me.

After dinner,we leave for his house,I know I'm expected to call it my home but no,it isn't. This is Mona's home.

I'm about to make my escape to the library like i usually do every night but that doesn't seem to be the universe's plan for me tonight.

Every night when I hear Lore's car outside,I leave a note then rush to the library,then wait until i hear him walk past the doors,only then do i sneak back to the room and by the time he's back from his study,he finds me asleep. On other nights when i'm not sleepy,i just pretend to be fast asleep,just like i did that day when he caught me off guard by gently touching me like i was a delicate flower he didn't want to destroy.

He gently grabs my wrist and turns me around,then he gets dangerously closer than I want him to get.

I feel heat spread on the spot where his hand is touching me,then I start to have a mini mental panic attack. No wait,who the hell am I kidding? I'm having a major mental panic attack right now and in a few minutes,it's going to be physical too.

"Why do you do it?"

"What?" I whisper in confusion.

"Why do you run away from me,Mona?"

Oh.

For a moment there,I thought he was asking why I'm pretending to be my sister.

"I don't." I don't dare look him in the eyes,I've never been good at eye contact when I'm lying.

I blink,no matter how hard i chant to myself not to whenever I'm lying,i always blink,twice.

Two fingers rest under my chin and I feel like my heart has stopped beating,I might as well be a statue right now because my whole body freezes.

He lifts my face but my eyes still don't meet his.

"Look at me," he whispers softly.

I don't.

"I want to see your eyes."

Against my own mind's will,my eyes lift and meet his.

"Did I do or say something wrong?"

He searches my eyes and my mouth goes dry at seeing the emotions swirling in his rare beautiful ones.

"N-no," I whisper almost low for him not to hear but he does.

"Then why are you building a wall between us?" He keeps searching my eyes and I'm forced to look away again.

"I'm not."

I bite my tongue after another lie.

His thumb softly brushes my lips and I jerk,my eyes snap to his and I'm taken aback by the way he's looking at me. It's almost like he loves Me. Just me and not anyone I'm trying to be.

No,no Lisa. You can't start having such thoughts. You're only thinking that way because no one has ever said such things about you like he did in that restaurant.

"Hey," he gently presses on my bottom lip and it's then I realize I just cut off the eye contact again.

He starts to lean closer and I watch as everything happens in slow motion.

Stop him.

Stop him.

There's still time.

His lips come closer and his eyes close,my eyes cross as I stare at his face inches away from mine.

I take a step back and opens them, then he straightens.

"Thank you for dinner,I really enjoyed it," I say.

He stares at me unblinkingly, searching my face,then he nods.

"I'm glad you did."

There's a stretch of silence between us, after a few seconds,i speak again.

"Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I move around him and go up the stairs,I can feel his eyes on me with every step I take.

The minute I get inside the room,I lean against the door and close my eyes and take a deep breath in.

Pulling out my phone,I dial Mona's phone and pray that this time,it finally goes through but the response is the same.

"The number you have dialed is not available."

I throw the phone on the bed and flop down on it, holding my head in my hands. I can't stand this anymore,how long do I have to stay like this? How long do I have to endure being with a person I don't love? And I also can't keep hurting the man I love,I can't keep hurting Silas like this,I need to see him. I need assure him that I'm still fully his,that I belong to him.

He hasn't been replying to my messages for two whole weeks but I still try,and I won't stop until i get him back.