Accepting Raymond

Chapter 6

   

Adelie POV

My heart beat rapidly against my chest as I stare at Raymond's love-filled eyes. Should I accept him or not? I'm not sure of my decision at the moment.

"It's fine if you don't want to decide yet, Adelie... I will wait until you are ready for this," As if he read my mind, he suddenly breaks into my thoughts, and I sigh briefly. The last time I remember being in a relationship was four years ago when I just turned nineteen, and it only lasted for one week because of my possessive brother that never allowed me to build a relationship with any man. Even if I want to give this a chance, what about Asher? Will he not destroy everything later? How will he feel when he finds out that I accepted to be my boss's girlfriend?

"What do you care? Stop sounding like you are cheating on him, Adelie. He's your brother and not your boyfriend, for fuck's sake," My subconscious mind screams at me, reminding me that I'm being stupid right now. I have feelings for Raymond, even though it's not that strong yet, so I shouldn't be scared of going into a relationship with him, right?

"What do you say, Adelie?" His voice pulls me out of my train of thought, and I smile at him warmly.

"Yes... Yes! I will be your girlfriend, Mr. Raymond," I smile at him shyly as I turn my face away, and I can hear the excitement in his voice as he scoffs.

"Really? You will date me, Adelie?" He asks, probably to be sure he didn't hear me wrong, and when I raise my gaze to look at him, I find him staring at me with love in his eyes.

"Yes," I nod my head, and he springs up to his feet, then rushes over to me and pulls me into his arms, hugging me tightly like I will disappear if he goes easy on me.

"Thank you so much for this chance, Adelie... I promise that you won't regret this later. I will make you the happiest woman on earth, I promise," He says excitedly as he cups my cheeks in his palms, staring intently into my eyes like he wants to see through me.

"Hmmm," I smile at him shyly, and he pulls me into his arms again, hugging me tightly.

He finally pulls away from me and walks back to sit on his seat, while I bite my bottom lip. I feel so weird since it has been years since I last tried this. I don't know if this will turn out later, but if there's anything I'm so scared of, it's Asher. He's an obstacle that I'm scared will cause destruction later.

"Are you okay?" His voice pulls me back to reality, and I quickly shake my head in denial.

"No, I'm fine. I just feel a little bit weird..." I stop and bite my bottom lip embarrassingly.

"Weird? Why?" He places his palm on mine that's on the table, and squeezes it gently, giving me this weird tingling sensation. I only feel this whenever Asher touches me, so why am I feeling it now?

"Uhm... The thing is, I haven't really been in a relationship all my life, and this kind of feels weird," I confess to him. Well, I have been in relationships previously, but they never lasted for two weeks and we would break up as soon as my brother finds out about it, so I conclude that I was never in a relationship. Well, you won't believe that I'm still a virgin at age twenty-three, right? Well, that's because my brother never allowed me to get close to any man.

I can see the confusion and shocked expression on his face as I say those words to him, and I totally understand. Because for fuck's sake, I'm twenty-three, turning twenty-four soon, so it's almost impossible for me not to have been in any relationship all my life. Like it's hard to believe.

"Hmm, I understand... But you don't have to feel insecure or anything, everything will be fine, okay?" He assures me, but I bet if he knows the kind of devil I have as a brother, I'm sure he wouldn't have said that, knowing that all hell will break loose once Asher finds out that I'm in a relationship with him. I still nod my head, regardless.

We spend some time talking about things and getting to know each other, and after the date, he offered to drive me home since I already called my driver to pick my car from the office earlier.

"No, I'll take a cab home," I quickly decline, afraid that I may get into trouble if Asher sees us together.

"Come on, Adelie. You're my girlfriend now, and I should take responsibility for you. Come on, I'm only going to drop you off at home, and nothing else," He insists, and I slowly nod my head, although I don't feel like going home in his car.

We both hop inside his car in the front seat, and he sets it in motion afterward.

As he drives down the road, I keep praying silently that by the time I get home, I shouldn't meet Asher. Do you want to know the weird thing about my brother? He doesn't have a friend, not even a single one. And as far as I remember, he has never introduced any girl to me as his girlfriend, even as he has many women throwing themselves at him. He's weird.

"And here we are," Mr. Raymond's voice jolts me back to reality, and I quickly snap my head to check the building first if Asher is watching from upstairs, and thankfully that he's not there. I can't conclude that he has gone to bed since it's just 8pm. He doesn't go to bed that early.

"Thanks for the ride, Mr. Raymond," I smile at him, and he scoffs.

"I'm your boyfriend now, Adelie. Quit with the formality," He rolls his eyes at me, and I bite my lip in realization. I should start addressing him casually now, but it'll feel weird since I'm used to calling him Mr. Raymond.

"Alright. Thanks for the ride, Ray," The name feels weird in my mouth, but I think I love it.

"Now, that's it. You're welcome, baby..." He says to me as he holds my hand, and my heart misses a beat. It has been a while since a man calls me 'baby', and it makes me have this tingling sensation now. Not that Asher doesn't call me that, but to me, he's just fooling around with me.

"Come here," He places his palm on my cheek, and before I can comprehend why he did that, he leans forward and pecks me on the lips, making me freeze on the seat as my heart thumps heavily against my ribcage.

"Good night, and dream about me," He says to me, and I slowly nod my head as I push the door open and walk out of the car. I wait for him to drive away, and when he's finally gone, I turn to go inside the gate, but I flinch and stop on my track when I find Asher leaning against the gate with his hands crossed on his chest while glaring hard at me like he's going to devour me anytime soon. I think I'm in trouble now...