Darius was frozen in place, too deep in his own thoughts to see that Selene had opened the door. At least, she was smart enough to not open it fully and expose her naked body. “Hi, who are you?” Selene asked, acting like she didn't know who Astrid was.
“Have you seen Darius around? I need to speak with him.” Astrid said, playing calm. A little too calm for someone who found another woman in her fiancé's room.
What could she do, really? Her stomach still had a mild ache. Besides, why would she want to start a random fight over a man?
“I think he went out.” Selene lied smoothly. There was silence as the two women stared at each other for a long time. “I'm sorry, do I... know you?” Selene frowned, exerting a form of dominance to intimidate Astrid.
“I don't think we've met. Do you work here?” Astrid asked, having every idea how insulted it would make Selene feel. She was no idiot to know that Selene was having an intimate relationship with Darius.
As Astrid pulled Darius in for a kiss, he didn't hesitate to return the gesture. He had wanted to kiss her first, but he remembered how she disapproved of it when he did it before. Now that she had done it herself, there was nothing to feel bad for. In fact, he had never felt that relieved in a long time. Finally realizing what she was doing, Astrid pulled away and looked at him with her eyes wide open. “I'm so sorry! I didn't know what I was doing. This is horrible.” She walked to the balcony to get fresh air, mortified. “Good night!” Astrid could hear the laughter in Darius's voice as he said it. She had totally embarrassed herself. What was she thinking, kissing him out of the blue? What would he think of her now? As she heard the slam of the door, she relaxed on the recliner that faced the outside world and gave a perfect view of the plain lands surrounding the house. Astrid always loved to look at the night sky. Something about the stars
Astrid sat alone in the garden until nightfall. Her parents would arrive anytime soon, and she had to be there to make sure nothing went wrong. She walked to the dining hall, where she found Darius, Joaquin, Derek, and Ki-woo sleeping with their heads on the table. Joaquin had a pencil stuck to his face, and Astrid couldn't help but laugh at the cuteness of all of them combined. Darius was a good-looking man. Nobody could deny that he sure had good-looking friends. Darius's eyes shot open immediately and he sat up, looking around. Astrid noticed that his tousled hair made him look quite the opposite of his usual self. He was always so put together, one would think he slept and woke up in a perfect state. Astrid giggled at the look of his hair. He looked at her in confusion before flexing his neck and stretching. “What's so funny?” He questioned, the thickness of voice doubling since he just woke up. “You should see your hair.” She replied.
Waking up the next morning, Astrid found Darius sitting on his desk and writing swiftly in a large book, a phone placed between his ear and his shoulder. “I just told you, Joaquin! Call the architects and the civil engineers today. I'll pay any amount. Cancel all my meetings.” He instructed. His voice seemed shaky. “I don't have time for jokes, dammit!” He shouted over the phone. “She's not doing too well, you know that. I have to see her now.” He stood up and closed the book. “Yes. I'll call you when I see her. Take care of the office for me.” He hung up and took deep, shaky breaths. Astrid saw that his hands were having serious tremors. He grabbed fistfuls of his hair and turned to the bed. “What's wrong?” Astrid frowned, standing up. “My mother. She's sick. I have to go now.” He answered, walking out of the room. “Let me come with you.” She offered, wanting to see Nikoleta. “No. Stay right here. I'll be back.” He opened the
Darius and Astrid managed to sneak out of the dining hall, while their parents talked and laughed together. Darius stopped in front of his play room and turned to Astrid. “You can’t tell anyone about this.” He told her. “Who would I tell?” She shrugged, highly curious to know what would happen behind the door. He opened the door and let her walk in first. Cautiously, Astrid entered the room and frowned. “This is where you torture women.” She said like it was a major discovery. It was, at least to her. “I don’t torture. I give them what they need. They just don't know that they need it” He corrected her, locking the door. “You inflict pain on them. Seems like torture to me. I'm sure the walls in here are not even soundproof.” She argued. “Well, the pain works hand in hand with the pleasure. You see, pain in the most pleasurable way makes you question your life choices. Do you want to broaden your sexual exp
Darius remained dazed, not knowing how to react. Didn't she want him? He had never been rejected before. It was a new feeling, a strike to his ego. Now that he knew how it felt, he didn't like any moment of it. Especially because of the fact that he wanted—no, he needed—Astrid. He walked out of the room and locked it, walking towards her room. “Astrid?” He knocked on her door. “Go away.” She replied. “This is my house.” He snapped, quite aggravated that she was ordering him around. “Well, maybe I'll go away.” The door swung open and she walked past him, heading to the staircase. “Why do you think I came here in the first place? I need you to communicate your feelings with me.” He followed her down the stairs. Astrid turned to face him and sighed. “That's the problem with this whole thing, Darius. Feelings. Am I supposed to even feel something? Why did we just do that? It's been thr
“Can we talk?” Darius said as he found Astrid alone in the garden. It was some minutes past midnight. She had found it hard to sleep, so she decided to watch the stars while enjoying the fireflies in the garden. “Sure.” She replied, her concentration still on the moon. He cleared his throat, and she turned to look at him. “You wanted to talk?” She reminded him. “Yes. About what happened today. We can’t let this cause a misunderstanding between us.” He started. “I believe it already has.” She replied, surprisingly calm. “Well we have to clear it up. I can't keep living in a house where I have issues with someone, and we can’t hash it out like the two adults we are.” He spoke sternly, almost taking his tone to his business meeting level. “What’s there to talk about, exactly? We already cleared this up. What’s left is for us to carry on with the act and break it off as soon as we can.” She shrugged. “I was thi
“Say, Joaquin?” Astrid called out. “Yes?” He asked, taking a short sip of his coffee. “Let's say, hypothetically, you're engaged to someone and—” “No. We're not doing that today.” Joaquin stopped her from going further, shaking his head. “Doing what?” She asked, confused. “The hypothetical thing. We both know it's about you and Darius. Just tell me what's going on. I won't tell him anything you're not comfortable with.” His smile after those assuring words were enough for her to pour her heart out. She took a bite out of her warm toast and sighed. “I don't like how he talks to me, sometimes.” She didn't know what to say after that. Even to someone she could trust, she still couldn't explain everything. How could she tell him the things Darius had said and done to her without feeling judged? Besides, Joaquin and Darius were best friends. It was awkward enough that he thought she was truly engaged to Darius. “And
Astrid's heart deflated as she saw that it was not Darius. She started to wonder who it actually was. She had a few on-and-off friends, but she wasn't sure if they didn't know her phone number. The only person back in England who knew it was the guy that helped her get the SIM card through the back door process. Curious, she picked up the phone and pressed it against her ear. “Oh, my God! Is this the Astrid Peyton?!” The woman on the other end screamed out immediately. Astrid f