9| THE KISS

PERSY

I could not stop thinking about it, and Aiden was not making things easy for me in any way.

He kept sending all manner of uncouth messages to me, ones that left me hot and bothered in bed until I resorted to touching myself one fateful night under the duvet. I felt so filthy the next morning, and it did not help that he did not send any other messages from that night until today. That was two days ago, by the way.

I decided to clear my head from all that today, by going out to have a drink by myself somewhere. Maybe a coffee shop, like I saw people do in movies.

I received my designer clothes the day before, and currently, I was checking out blue cargo pants and the branded t-shirt which was one of the designer wears delivered to me. The fit was absolutely crazy! I was at the verge of sending the fifth message to the brand in the span of two hours just to tell them once again how amazing their t-shirt was, but I decided to let the urge go.

I crowned the fit with a face cap, to hopefully hide my identity from the hungry photographers. Then some sneakers, of course… we cannot forget to seal the drip now, can we?

I did not forget perfumes too… In fact, I had made a note to buy some because I never wanted to be pushed aside for smelling horrible ever again.

I had called Sam earlier, and he sent a driver to me after consulting Aiden about it. When he told me about the fact that he had consulted Aiden beforehand, I had stupidly thought that Aiden would send me a text. He didn't. Again, I could not help beating myself up about the whole issue, because… why was I so hung up about him anyway?

Maybe because of the way he choked you against the wall… my subconscious reminded me and I quickly shook the thoughts of that day off my mind, instead hurrying to meet up with the driver outside my apartment.

The moment I entered the elevator going to the last floor, someone joined me in few seconds—a woman who looked like she could be in her late forties. I was super grateful for the luck, because this was my second time in this elevator—I barely survived the first.

She smiled widely at me on seeing my face. I smiled back, although awkwardly, because I had never been good with strangers.

"Good day, ma'am." I said politely, baring all my teeth this time, because she would not stop smiling at me.

"Good day, beautiful. It's been a while seeing such a gorgeous woman so modestly dressed. You remind me of my daughter, although she passed on from cancer just a year ago." It was then that I realized how sad her smile was. Right then and there, dad and mum's faces flashed in front of me and for a second, I shared this woman's pain.

"Can I hug you?" I asked her, even if I did not really appreciate physical touch. I just wanted to let her know that it was okay… Or that at least, it would be.

"Of course." Her voice was breaking, and I pulled her in before I could see the tears fall. "Does it ever get easier? I mean, do you know? Have you ever lost anyone?"

"A parent. It never does, but just remember they would want you to keep pushing, that they would want you to win. Moping around all day doesn't make them happy, so don't do that. Remember," I pulled away from her and whilst cradling the side of her beautiful, round face, I continued, "They're watching over us."

She held my face too, and I was so close to tearing her hand off my skin, just because the way she touched me reminded me so much of mom. I was in no mood to cry in front of this woman, not now… but I let her hand be, schooling my emotions instead.

"You are such a strong woman. I hope your dreams work out for you."

I said my thanks and talked more with this woman, until we exchanged numbers after exiting the elevator. I had a feeling that I would see this woman again soon; she had a look in her eyes that made me feel like she was more than what I thought she was…

Anyways, that aside, I finally located the driver and apologized for wasting so much time because apparently, he had been waiting for over thirty minutes according to Sam. He simply nodded in a business-manner and we started towards the nearest coffee shop.

I could not stop looking outside the windows, giddy as hell. It was my first time inside a Benz, and that also added to my excitement. I really wished I knew my way around social media, I would've had some pictures posted up on my social media by now. I would have someone teach me soon enough. I was rich now, anyways.

The view was more than splendid, the buildings around here were all so tall and elite, totally different from the ones in the provinces. In glee, I accidentally clapped my hands once due to how pretty everywhere looked, and in return, got a side eye from the driver. I kept my hands to myself after that.

We stopped in front of a place labelled 'Sip & Talk'. I was still staring at the signboard and the place altogether when the door on my side was pulled open. I turned to see the driver standing there, still holding the car door open for me. I smiled, once again—awkwardly, but you should know that by now.

After I had gotten out, he slammed the door shut and gestured for me to proceed towards the place. I 'oohed' and smiled again, then began to head towards the shop, with my head bowed low as always. I had to do something about my confidence, it was shrinking by the day.

I got a table to myself, because the driver had insisted on staying outside, no matter how many times I 'ordered' him to sit with me. I ended up getting a cup of coffee with lots of cream, and was about to order a second cup because the first one was just too good, when I saw him.

I got up on my feet at once, my whole body lighting on fire from the view of him alone. What was worse? He was staring directly at me too.

Dressed in a sleek all-white attire like some perfect angel was my ex-boyfriend, Trevor. He was few inches away, looking at me like he had seen a ghost.

My first instinct was to run off. And so I did. I grabbed my purse off the table, and ran towards the back door with so much speed like my life depended on getting away.

"Persy! Wait!"

No.

I kept running until I was outside the coffee shop, and then I went to hide in a hidden alleyway to catch my breath for a few seconds.

"Got you." I heard Trevor's voice from the end of the alleyway. I looked back to see that there was no dead end behind me, so I ran towards the opening at the other end, which led to another side of the coffee shop. I was out in the open now. He could not hurt me.

All of a sudden, I felt someone grip my hand and turn me around. It all happened in a flash. One moment he was grabbing my face, and the next, our lips met as one.

Trevor was kissing me! As soon as the realization hit me, I began to push him away, only for him to pull me closer. I couldn't breathe properly, I had to make sure my lips were tightly sealed so he wouldn't have access to my mouth.

"You are mine. How dare you try to run away from me?" He barked against my lips, leaving me utterly flabbergasted.

Was he going crazy? I did not belong to him, at least not anymore…

I was about to yell the words to him when he started to lean in again. I had just started to push him away before he was dragged off me in one go.

Finally, a savior!

This time, it was my assigned driver. He flung Trevor to the side and even if I itched to give Trevor a hot slap, I stayed put, mostly because a crowd had gathered and they all had their phones raised, recording everything.

The wind was blowing my hair about, and it caused me to realize that my face cap had fallen to the ground in the middle of all the banter. Trevor dashed off, choosing to go through the alleyway to attract less attention.

"Let's go, please?" I said to the driver, then bowed my head as we both marched towards the parking lot.