Our paths will cross soon.

Lily

As I walked away, thinking about what just happened, alarm bells began ringing in my ears. I had no idea what just happened or who that crazy man was but still, I had a feeling that I knew him from somewhere but I had no idea where or how I had known him. As soon as he entered the house, his eyes never left me. They bored into me, searching me out and followed me with every corner I took.

It was unnerving to say the least but even in his stares, I found comfort. There was this assurance I had when he was staring at me that I just couldn’t place. I also noticed the way he looked deep into my eyes, like he was searching for something I didn't even know existed. It was charming when you thought about it but at the same time, it was unnerving too and the last thing I wanted was for a damn attractive stranger to stare at me like I had stolen something from him.

“Oh, Lily, why don’t you join us?” Mrs. Donovan smiled.

Ever since I came to her house, she had been nothing but nice to me, treating me like a mother would treat her child. Oftentimes, I really wished that she was my mother. She had shown me so much love, half of which my own biological mother hadn’t even shown me and this was something I would never forget in a hurry.

Her presence filled me with so much joy and happiness and I promised to help her with anything I could, anything at all.

“Oh… Mrs Donovan, I think I should get back to what I was doing. I wouldn’t want to intrude on this family reunion.” I smiled, politely.

“Nonsense, please join us dear. I insist,” she smiled.

I had no other option than to do as I was told, especially since the crazy man was staring at me again. I didn’t even know what he saw in me but whatever it was, I knew I needed to be careful around him because even though his mother was a nice old lady, I didn't know him and couldn’t risk my life around him.

I walked back, drawing out a chair that I could sit on. It happened that the chair I sat on was directly facing the man which made me uncomfortable. Now, I was faced with avoiding his stares even as I tried to appear polite.

“So, now that we are all here, I think this is the right time to do our introductions. Lily, meet my sons, Noah and Ethan. Boys, meet Lily.” Mrs Donovan said with a smile on her face.

I nodded politely. Ethan greeted me with a friendly wave and a warm smile while Noah stared at me like he was ready to jump me at any moment. He didn’t even seem to hear anything his mother just said, choosing instead to stare at me.

“Noah, don’t be rude.” His mother chuckled.

Like he was in a trance, he snapped out of it, giving me a simple nod as his eyes finally left me. I heaved a small sigh of relief because even though he acknowledged me, I still wasn’t out of his lair yet.

“Mrs Donovan-”

She cut me off by raising a hand. I sighed because I just knew what she was about to say. I had made that mistake again and right now, I wasn't going to hear the last of it.

“How many times have I told you not to call me that, honey? Emma is fine.” She said.

“I’m sorry, Emma, but I must insist, I need to go back to what I was doing. It was really nice meeting your sons,” I said, rising to my feet.

“The pleasure is ours, Lily, we’ll be seeing you around.” Ethan smiled.

I nodded before scurrying away. It wasn’t until I got to the kitchen that I heaved a huge sigh of relief. I was finally out of his lair and I didn't think that there was anything that would take me back there.

“What happened? It looks like you saw a ghost or something.” Chris laughed.

He was the main chef of the Donovan house and a very good friend of mine. I chuckled, knowing that what he said was just the accurate description of how I was looking at that moment.

“Not a ghost, Christ, just introduced to Emma’s sons.”

“Oh, I see you’ve met the famous boys,” he smiled.

I watched as he expertly mixed the recipe for Emma’s favorite stew. I didn’t know how famous they were but I couldn't wait to hear the gist from him.

“They’re famous?” I asked.

“Yes, they are but really… it's only the first one, Noah.”

The memory of the boys crept up in my mind and I knew who was the first. My creep was Noah. He gave off the vibes and the bubbly and more fun one had to be Ethan, it was just proper.

“Noah is the CEO of the Donovan Empire, a conglomerate left for him by his late father. Not much is really known about him, except that he likes to keep to himself and of course, rumors have said that he has a sour temper,” Chris said.

From the little time I had stayed with them, I found this to be true because of the way he looked like he was going to attack me at any moment. I didn’t know what his problem was and I wasn't ready to find out because left to me, I just wanted to do my work peacefully here.

“Thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to avoid him.”

“Well, the other one isn’t as bad as the first. As a matter of fact, Ethan is more open to communication so just in case…”

He left his words hanging and he didn’t need to complete his words for me to know what he was talking about.

“Oh no Chris, that’s not what I want to do. I’ll just steer clear,” I smiled.

He shrugged, getting back to what he was doing. I went to my assigned work space as I tried all I could to block out Noah but try as I may, I just couldn’t and I knew that soon, our paths would cross.