3. No way!

Two weeks later



Can a girl dream? Dream like dream dream?

Ask me how I got to stay with Cherry in the Banley's mansion for fifteen freaking days and I'll have no clue on how to answer that question. It just happened to be so, we got to be friends with cherry way too faster than for everybody else's liking. Yeah, firstly because I was a complete stranger to her, so I blamed her for trusting so easily.

But my question was, our friendship, was it possibly real? I loathed her brother who happened to have stayed at his business trip for an insanely long duration of time thus making me more angrier and impatient. I knew better than to let my cool slip anyway.

Life was soft and sweet to be honest. For fifteen days, I lived like any girl or some girls for that matter. I could wake up from my guest bed, the room next to Cherry's, take a slow shower or even enjoy a warm bath in her bathtub when she was at school. Then I will go for breakfast. It wasn't exactly breakfast, it was a combined breakfast and lunch because I normally used to wake up at ten and I'll go down by twelve noon.

Talk about making yourself at home in an enemy's freaking castle. But that doesn't mean my foehood grew a little less, I still loathed him with all his guts.

I could help Maggie make lunch sometimes, but he used to dismiss me most of the times. I used my free time spying around, scanning everything else around. I wanted to be familiarized for that place.

The first week was spent touring the place, taking everything in. The second week, I spent it reading novels Cherry got me. I was getting comfortable with that luxurious life and I should say that I hated every part of it because I was at my foe's place, but unfortunately, I loved every tad bit of it.

Cherry had taken me to her school on some Thursday, she gave me a tour around and I sure envied every person who went to Fordham university. I envied them because for all I know, they had homes they came from, they had parents or guardians, they had friends, they enjoyed their childhood, they schooled like normal kids, generally they were exposed to the world. Me? I had none of that.

I had enjoyed the little tour and the shopping we did afterwards at the mall. As usual, I watched kids and their parents at the mall and still envied them, even teens who shopped around like us.

I wished that was me.

***

"Hey! You sleepyhead! Are you still sleeping or?" I heard Cherry's voice outside her room. It was on a sunday and she begged me to stay with her the previous night. Who was I to deny? I so wanted more closure of course.

"I'm not!" I shouted back smiling. Really smiling, another genuine smile since I got to the Banley's. In some way, Cherry made that possible for me, I could smile, laugh sometimes but not that frequently. Heck, I didn't even knew what laughing was before, let alone smiling. I managed that, kinda frequently, courtesy of miss Cherry Banley. I must admit it felt weirdly good to exist again.

"I hope you've finished that novel you've been reading since yesterday!" She yelled again her voice getting nearer.

"On it still!" I chuckled lowly.

I looked on her bedside table, there was a watch and it read 11:34 a.m. I was left with forty three pages out of one thousand and ninety six pages before I was done with that book. I had to finish it before going down for my breakfast/lunch.

I heard voices outside the door and I thought to myself that she was talking with Maggie and so I cared less.

The door to her room opened and I didn't bother to look up since I was way too absorbed into the book I was reading.

I was lying flat on bed on top of the covers with a short stopping slightly below my butt and one of her crop tops. I had taken a shower and since it was a weekend in, I didn't bother looking for something presentable. I had almost her wardrobe to myself because she told me that I can get whatever I want from it, but I never tried those cozy, expensive looking clothes, I used to wear the regular ones.

"You're drooling, close your mouth." She said in a low whisper some seconds later after getting in.

I closed my mouth rolling my eyes, I didn't know I was really drooling on my book. She exaggerated sometimes. I perched one of my legs up, crossing it over the other one, raising my butt a little higher. I just wanted to be comfortable and get so done with the long book.

I heard a low groan but I knew it must have come from outside, possibly from Ander, the gardener.

"What's squirting cherry?" I asked getting disgusted from the part I was reading.

" Apparently, I hate what this writer is telling me. She's so crooked and clogged! How can a girl let a boy leak her private parts? Ughhhhhh!" I pulled in a disgusted face, pouting my lips and scrunching my nose up.

When I didn't hear her reply, I slightly raised my head up and turned to look at her.

There, in all mighty and glory, she was standing her eyes popping out of their sockets, her mouth agape.

That's not the only thing,

Beside her, was a tall and very very handsome guy than all the cute boys I've seen on TV lately. He was wearing an off-white pull neck under a visibly toned body with muscles, dark grey khakis and black loafers. He had a nice hair cut, his sides shorter and his hair was shiny black contrasting the blonde hair on Cherry's head. He was not in a shock state like Cherry, no. He was freaking smirking, amusement lingering in his eyes.

So the groan from earlier was from him? Oh yes of course.

He looked younger, maybe in his early twenties?

I blinked, still getting lost in his dark eyes that seemed to be stuck in my amber ones too. Finally getting out of my daze, I swallowed my eyes resting on Cherry,

"You should have told me you were coming with your boyfriend cherry." I gave her a knowing hard stare and her doe eyes grew larger.

"What!" She seemed to have woken up from her stupor."You're so silly, chloe!"  she exclaimed. "He's not my boyfriend, not even my taste!"

The guy gave her a hard look while she started laughing. He never looked amused a bit, the smirk and amusement on his face was long gone. I thought it was because she might have hurt his feelings by saying he wasn't her type. So I had to bring his mood back.

"Don't worry, you may not be her type but you can be a type to a numerous number, a many us." I smiled at him and his smirk was back! Yes.

We don't even know each other. Oh chloe, what did you meant by 'a many us'?

"I'm sorry." She said after cooling her laugh down. " She's marvellous Chloe, the friend I told you about."

He nodded, his eyes still on me. Probably studying me. "Hello marvellous." His deep voice knocked the sense out of me and I felt something like coldness creeping up my arms, body, neck... And goosebumps started growing on me.

What's happening to me? I freaked thinking I was not feeling normal.

"I like your first name. But again. I like them both." He added waking me up.

" You're so silly than I thought!" Cherry bursted out laughing, I felt the urge to join her in laughing but I refrained myself. So the mighty handsome guy thought marvellous was my first name and I almost thought he was complimenting me, more like gracing me.

"Why?" He looked confused.

"Chloe is her first name. Marvellous was just a spicing." She cajoled in amusement her eyes glistening with tears. The girl could laugh. Trust her on laughing.

"Oh." That's all he managed to say before running a hand in his tangled hair. "Chloe is a nice name too. I like it." He added. My cheeks heated. Oh why?

"Thank you." I stated taking the compliment positively.

"Anytime." He breathed shoving his hands into his trouser pockets. "Well..." He trailed. "I bet you know me now since she said I'm not her boyfriend." He smirked again.

What's him with smirking?

"No, I'm not good at guessing. I could have said you're her brother but he's twenty eight so meaning, he's older than you. And you two don't look alike, well accept..."

I looked back at Cherry who was looking at me like a puppy, almost pitying my wild guess which is either correct or wrong. But I noticed one thing, they had the same skin colour and same eyes, mouth...nose...

No! He's not her brother. He can't be. He's way younger.

"I can't guess, you can tell me." I smiled at him.

"Then you're wrong." He smiled. " I'm Caesar Banley, his older brother in flesh and blood. Sorry, I'm not young I'm almost twenty eight." He smirked again.

No!

He's not Caesar!

Caesar shouldn't be this handsome and young!

He should be looking like a bloody killer or something like that. Even a serial killer!

He's not the famous tycoon, why isn't he leaking tycoonness...?

Suddenly the colour on my skin left me, I was sweating, my hands were clammy folded tightly into fist balls pressing the bed downwards. I tried to keep my cool.

Breath. Breath Chloe. I reminded myself that. I had to breath to survive.

"Are you okay marvellous?" He asked worry evident in his voice.

You freaking dare leak worry, you murderer. My jaw clenched

I sincerely should be reminded how to breath again...