CHAPTER THREE: No Option

AELLA 

We drive around the city in an uncomfortable silence. At least it was uncomfortable for me. I make it my mission to take note of the major roads we pass in case I need to make a run for it. 

"Relax…., I don't bite." Roman says with a smirk, "at least not hard enough." he completes under his breath. 

"That's not helping. What if you want to kill me?" I say, shaking slightly. 

"Don't stress, I bury most of my bodies deep in the woods." he says with a pokerface. 

If there was a way for me to turn whiter than I already was, then I would have. 

I clasp my hands together and close my eyes and pray to whatever God there is, that if he were to save me, I wouldn't enter cars with strangers again. It's not like I had a choice this time. 

We get to a deserted dirt road, and he makes a turn for it, and then we are descending a little hill. He parks the car on the corner of the road and steps out to my side, and soon he's leading me out of the car. 

He still doesn't say a word to me as he starts to move forward, and I have no other option but to follow him down the small path. 

"Oh my God." I say breathlessly as we finally get to our destination. 

The lake before me was so breathtaking that I might cry. 

Roman walked forward towards the deck, and I couldn't help but take notice of him. 

He looked otherworldly for a lack of better description. The rays of the sun on his hair made it look like it was a dark blue, which was a stark contrast to his fair skin, his strong jawline and well cut features made him look like a royalty. 

"Are you a prince?" I blurt out without thinking, and then I flush a complete red when he turns back to smirk at me. 

"Come on." He says while holding out his hands to me. 

I refuse to take his hands but still move forward nonetheless. I sit down on the deck with him, dangling my feet above the water and enjoying the silence. 

I didn't like how I got here, but I refused to let that stop me from enjoying the beauty of nature. I take a good look at the water before me, and I almost give in to the urge to leap into the water due to its beauty. 

The visage of the lake was veneer-clear and tranquil, flanked by an avenue of cedar trees. There was feng-shui perfection to the scene, while the water was gilded with moonlight-pale lilies. Plip-plopping fish caused concentric rings to puff out and disappear as the air hummed all around us.

I turn back to Roman and see that he had taken out what looked like a sketch book and was dutifully sketching. 

"I thought you were doing a masters in business." I ask him a little shocked he could draw.

"Yes, I am, but that doesn't stop me from doing what I enjoy." He says in a defensive tone. 

"I didn't mean to offend you, I just didn't know you were good at drawing." I say to him, wondering why I cared if he was offended.  

"Yeah, nobody knows, or they choose not to know, only taking notice of the aspect of me they choose to see." He says while staring off into the lake. 

I have a distinct feeling he wasn't talking about drawing anymore.

I don't know what to say to that and I'm saved by the ringing of my phone. 

I pull it out of my pocket, almost offended at the device for ruining the peaceful atmosphere. 

I swallow thickly when I find out it's Kate calling and I'm almost tempted to ignore it but I remember I had ignored her last call and I couldn't afford the trouble that would definitely come if I was to do it again. 

"Hello, mother." I say the moment I pick the call.

"Hey love, how are you doing?" Kate says in a saccharine sweet tone that leaves a bad after taste. 

"Is there a problem, Kate?" I ask, nit bothering with the honorific's. 

"What do you mean, is there a problem?" She repeats in an accusing tone. 

When I don't bother replying, she sighs heavily and says, "I sent a package for you. Did you receive it?" 

"What package are you talking about?" I ask in a very tense tone. 

The last time she had sent a package for me, it contained post mortem photographs of my mom. They were very gory, disturbing and traumatising. Ever since then, when I think of my mom, those photos are all I see. 

"Just some pills, you know I'm always looking out for you." she responds. 

'Yeah right,' I say to myself before asking, "What are the pills for?" 

"How dense can you be?" She asks indignantly, "for weight loss obviously." 

Now I get why she was calling. These last few weeks, she had come up with a new way to torture me, and that was to force me to cut down my weight. In her words, I was too fat for my age. Meanwhile, I didn't weigh nearly as half as her daughter. 

"I didn't get the package, mother." I respond while pinching the bridge of my nose. 

"Well, it will be arriving soon. You know you will soon be married, surely, you wouldn't want to be a fat cow in your husbands house, would you?" She asks in an annoying tone. 

"No, mother, I don't, but how about I call you later? I'm about to have a class right now." I say, trying to get her off my back, at least for the time being. 

It was rare, so whenever she found something to trouble me with, she was like a dog with a bone. 

"Alright love, I wouldn't disturb you, after all you need to study so you will make tons of money for the family." She says 

I end the call, wondering what I had done in my last life to deserve such an evil stepmother. I know my whole situation was cliché, but what could I do?. 

I turn back to the scene before me, and I'm most grateful for Roman beside me because I'm seriously contemplating hurling myself into the water and ending it all. 

"Didn't know you were getting married." Roman says with a lopsided grin. 

"Yeah, well, my father and stepmother think it's the best idea." I respond with a sigh. 

He merely hums in response, not looking a bit surprised. 

"You don't seem surprised." I say. 

"Trust me, I've seen worse than an arranged marriage." He says with a dark chuckle. 

"What are we even doing here?" I ask, more than a little peeved at his lack of pity for my situation. 

"I wanted to spend time with you away from the prying eyes, and the only place that came to mind was this place." He responds. 

"What is this place?" I ask while looking around, "are we even allowed to be here?" 

"You don't see any restriction signs, do you?" He asks in return while staring at me sideways. 

He closes his book and looks at me before saying, "This is my sanctuary, my own special place where I come to think clearly without any influence." 

"Well, thanks for bringing me here." I say to him, more than a little touched that he would bring me to a place so dear to him. 

"It seemed like a very bright idea, seeing that I plan on spending a lot of time with you." He says while leaning back. 

"You don't even know me." I say sceptically while rolling my eyes. 

"Aella Raleigh, 22 years old, 5'4 in height, first degree in archaeology, best friends with Ashley Reynolds, lost your mom at a young age, and your dad blames you for it." He drones on as if reciting it from a book. 

"Well, those are basic things anyone could guess by themselves." I say shocked he knew that much about me when up until the party last Friday, I knew nothing about him. 

"Favourite colour is blue, light blue to be specific, the main reason why you studied archaeology was to have an opportunity to travel around the world." He doesn't stop there but keeps going, ignoring my death glare. 

"And no matter what your father might say or do to you, you still feel you owe him something because you also feel guilty for your mother's death." He says, finally stopping. 

I don't bother dignifying his outburst with a response, I rather keep my mouth shut and stew in uncomfortable silence. 

"I know this is off, but I've known you for far longer than you've known me." He says in a light tone. 

"I doubt that is possible." I say with a huff. 

"Well, it is true, and I'm tired of pining from a distance, so buckle up cause I'm saddled with you for a very long while." He says to me. 

"Yeah, till you get tired of me." I say to him. 

"Trust me, I wouldn't come this far to back off in the middle." He says with a snort. 

He discards his boots haphazardly on the deck and moves to take off his shirt. 

"Woah, hold on, dude, what are you doing?" I ask him while holding my hands in front of my eyes. 

"Taking a swim." He says while discarding the rest of his clothes, "You can join me if you like." 

His request startles me into peeking between my fingers, and I almost faint at the magnificent view before me. His clear-cut abs and well-defined muscles were more than a sight to behold. 

"Like what you see, love?" Roman asks while laughing. 

I blush furiously while ducking my head low. 

"Join me." Roman orders. 

"No, thank you." I say, scoffing at his tone. 

"I'm giving you the option to choose me, do not force my hand." He says in a hard voice. 

"Is it an option if I'm allowed to choose only you?" I say in a tone laced with sarcasm. 

"There would always be an option, albeit hard options, but options nevertheless." He says with a shrug. 

I get up from the deck and angrily take off my shoes, wishing to get this whole ordeal over with. 

When I'm down to only my tights and bra, I turn to him with anger flowing through me like a venom. 

I stop short and immediately start to feel self-conscious when I take note of the heated look in his eyes. 

"God, you're perfect." He says with a groan. 

I flush red from head to toe, and I'm almost tempted to step back into my clothes. Years and years of complex and insecurities rise to the surface, I could hardly breathe. After all the times I listened to my stepmother insult my body and looks, I had started to believe her, and I couldn't help but look at the person in front of me with distrust. 

"Well, yeah, you're just saying that to get into my pants." I say brushing him off. 

"Oh, I'm going to be in your pants. It's just a matter of when." He says confidently. 

I sputter, choking on my saliva, "Don't say that to me, it's inappropriate." 

"Not when I'm saying it to my girlfriend." He says. 

"Well, I'm the only one here, so if you're talking about me, you are sorely mistaken because I'm not your girlfriend." I tell him. 

He stares at me long and hard before saying, "What would it take you to agree?" 

"It would take nothing because I'm not interested, I know that's hard to believe, but it's the truth." I say. 

"Well, what kind of guy would you prefer?" He asks indulgently. 

I tip my head back and pinch the bridge of my nose, not believing I was having this kind of conversation half naked. "One that wouldn't force me to do things I don't want to do, and one that wouldn't put a target on my back merely by his association with me." 

"What do you mean?, I would never willingly put you in harms way." He says, frowning. 

"Well, I have been the victim of various taunts and pranks since you spoke to me at that party on Friday." I say with a pause, "Oh, and let's not forget, the girl you threw out of the party has been passing out stories saying I'm a slut." 

"Fuck!" He says violently while running his hands through his head, "I will handle it, don't bother about it." 

I don't bother arguing with him, after all, it was his problem so if anyone was to handle it, it was going to be him. 

"Is that all?" He asks me and when I frown in confusion, he continues, "all your problems and inhibitions with me?" 

"Oh no, they are plenty and if I wanted to list them, we would sleep here." I say with a scoff.

"I have time." He says while looking at me expectantly. 

I rack my brain, trying to think up reasons why whatever he was proposing was not a good idea, "Well, I don't know you." 

"Roman Montgomery, 25 years old, I love all kinds of sports but I play football as you already know, my new favourite colour is Hazel cause of your eyes, and I guess you must already know about my father." He says. 

I don't bother confirming his statement for various reasons, one was because I indeed knew about his father who was the CEO of Montgomery enterprises, and two because i was reeling from his compliment, I couldn't believe that he had taken notice of the colour of my eyes. 

"Since that is out of the way, I believe we can swim now." He says 

I don't bother arguing with him, knowing fully well I would lose if I do. "Yeah let's do that...... let's swim."