Chapter 8 - Trapped

Then she immediately stood up from the table and reached out to hold my left hand, saying "Follow me"

"Okay" I agreed cluelessly, following behind Chloe who pulled me along as she walked out of the garage entrance and headed straight towards the back of their enormous house - a section I had never ventured into; making me wonder why she never included the area on my first day when her dad Instructed her to show me around.

"Here we are" Chloe said in a low but cheerful voice and let go of my hand as we came to a stop; standing to face a brown coloured portable playhouse that could contain not less than 3 persons in it.

"Wow... It's -- it's lovely" I exclaimed in a somewhat startled tone, glancing briefly at Chloe who stood by my left side with a wide grin on her face.

"I know right" she giggled rhetorically with both hands clamped below her tummy in excitement. Although it wasn't quite what I expected her to show me, yet I was still glad by the fact she did which meant she was beginning to trust me. "My dad actually had this built for me when I was only 12 years. I would have loved to show you the interior, buh the key is inside the house." Chloe said with her left leg wiggling lightly - glancing briefly at me with a widened smile on her face as she spoke.

"The last time I saw this was at my best friend's when I was still little. He had his parent build him a little playhouse -- although not as fancy and huge as yours" I replied, concluding with a friendly tease that only got her giggling as she stood motionlessly beside me.

"And I guess you and your boyfriend frequently come here to get away from your parents" I chuckled in a teasing voice - shrugging my shoulders playfully with both hands placed inside my trouser pocket while my gaze remained glued on the playhouse.

Then the smile on my face gradually faded away when I didn't hear Chloe's response as she stood mute. So I quickly turned to face her fully and said "I hope i wasn't out of line with what I had just said because..."

"No no..." Chloe chuckled awkwardly as she Interrupted with a brief shake of her head before turning to also face me.

Her eyes glittered with intent - causing my stance to stagger a little as I struggled to maintain eye contact with her.

"Actually... You're the first person am showing my playhouse to" Chloe's sweet voice broke out from her lips in a very low purposeful tone that somehow made my heart to skip a beat!

The feeling I had now was refreshing after hearing her response; I mean, was she placing me above her boyfriend Kevin by showing me this playhouse before him?!

"I... I don't know what to say -- am deeply honoured and glad that you actually showed me" I managed to reply in a stammering voice - smiling softly at Chloe who gave out a shy smile.

"I don't mean to pry into your private life but why?... Why haven't you shown your boyfriend?" I asked with an inquisitive look.

So Chloe heaved out a deep sigh and slowly rubbed both palms on the sides of her jean skirt.

"Well, I tried convincing him to come see the playhouse once -- buh he said it was lame and boring." Chloe answered, lowering her gaze on the ground with her shoulder sagged as if sober from what she'd just said.

Then she immediately lifted her head and fixed her gaze on mine - shaking her head in remorse before saying to me with a nervous chuckle "Am sorry Liam... I don't mean to bore you with all this"

"No you aren't" I blurted immediately, motioning my hands at her not to jump to conclusions. "Infact, your boyfriend doesn't know how lucky he is to have someone as fun and caring as you" I added in a consoling voice - smiling warmly as I stood in front of Chloe who turned her face to hide her blushes before returning her gaze back at me, but this time with a more determined look that made my heart jump with my tummy squeezing in lustful desire.

Suddenly, I gulped hard in pleasant surprise when Chloe moved a step closer with her eyes glued on mine; leaving me with no other option but to steady my weightless self in front of her and wait for whatever she was about to do which I definitely knew from the sparkle In her eyes before they flickered and closed in readiness for a kiss.

'bzzzz... bzzz... bzzzz'

Her phone rang out loud - bringing our little romantic moment to a sudden end as we snapped back to consciousness with Chloe's eyes blinking rapidly while she retreated a step from me and quickly removed the phone from her jean skirt pocket.

'Why! Just why must it ring now!' I cursed angrily in my mind as I stood - clenching my right fist while gazing at Chloe who was looking at her phone screen as it continued ringing. Even she too wasn't pleased with the fact that she was interrupted by the call - judging by the look on her face.

"Am... Am sorry I have to take this" Chloe stuttered, glancing at me before placing the phone on her right ear after answering the call.

I couldn't mutter a single word in response, so all I did was nod my head with a forced smile on my face - trying as much as possible to look and act composed while she spoke with whoever it was on the phone.

"Babe... Uh huh... Okay -- no, am around, Like now?... Okay am coming." Were the only words I Chloe said from her brief conversation with this caller whom I suspected was her boyfriend -- Kevin!

Then Chloe lowered her phone back into her pocket as soon as the call ended and gave me a sorry look before saying to me in a low voice "Liam that's my errm -- my boyfriend. He's just arrived and is waiting for me inside the living room. Am sorry I have to..."

"No urrrm... It's fine. pfff... Am fine. You can go. I'll just errrm -- get back to work I guess" I chuckled awkwardly, trying to sound cool about her leaving when I actually I wasn't; infact, I was sincerely hoping and yearning for her to stay a bit longer - atleast, to finish what we were about doing. But who was I kidding? It was only a mere fantasy and there was no chance of that moment ever repeating itself!

So without saying any word, Chloe shyly nodded her head at me with her lips pressed hard before turning around and sluggishly walked a couple steps when my lips suddenly parted.

"Chloe wait!" I called out to her in a purposeful voice and jogged forward to meet her the moment she halted her steps and turned to face me with an unsure look before her lips parted to speak.

"Liam, If it's about..."

She had only gone halfway in what she was about saying when her voice fell into silence the second I leaned in and kissed her hard without giving her even the slightest of chance to think or resist.

Then i gradually raised my right hand and cupped her neck - gently caressing it as our lips continuously stroked eachother.

This moment was blissful and breathtaking with the softness of her lips, intoxicating me with a burning urge of desire -- so strong I could barely keep my eyelids from closing for I was extremely lost in our intense kissing.

Then suddenly, I felt Chloe's right hand slowly running up my chest and before I knew it, she gave me a light push and pulled away from the kiss - causing my eyes to immediately pop open.

"I shouldn't be doing this" Chloe gasped confusingly with a regretful shake of her head.

"Am... Am sorry, I shouldn't have -- I mean, I didn't know when i... What am trying to say is it should never have happened" I stammered these words breathlessly in apology as I retreated a step back, gazing at Chloe with my heart pounding hard -- so hard I could even hear the rhythmic beat filling my ears.

"I errrm..." Chloe's quavering voice broke out as she leveled her gaze at me.

Her expression was blank - making it almost impossible to tell wether she was happy that we kissed or not!

"I need to... I need to go back inside" Chloe added in a somewhat confused tone, barely maintaining eye contact with me. Then she turned around and walked away before I could even respond - leaving me completely speechless and embarrassed as all i did was stare at the distance after she'd left.

Maybe i should never have kissed her? And what if she decides not to ever see me again after this? These troubling thoughts clouded my head as I walked back to the garage to resume my work for the day.

****

Later that afternoon around 3pm, I was done pruning the flowers in the garden and ready to go home so I could get rested before 7pm to meet my friend Andrew at the bar.

So I left the garage and headed for the frontage of the house.

'Mtcheww... He's still around' I hissed under my breath when I came out and found Kevin's red porche car parked in front of the house.

I know I shouldn't concern myself with Chloe's love life but yet, I found myself becoming unnecessarily jealous over her relationship with Kevin.

I've never felt this drawn to anyone - not even Shelly like the way I was beginning to feel for Chloe which was a bit scaring for me because I promised never to fall in love!

So I heaved a deep sigh - taking one last glance at the house before turning to leave when I heard the front door creak open and shut behind me. But I wasn't concerned with who was coming out of the house - so I continued walking.

"Liam!"

My steps came to an abrupt halt when I heard Chloe's voice calling out to me from behind. So I quickly turned around and saw her jogging forward to meet me.

"Hey" Chloe said, panting lightly the moment she approached and stood in front of me.

"Hi" I answered plainly with no iota of excitement in my voice; I mean, what was there for me to be excited about? -- that we kissed and she didn't like it or that she was already in a relationship with a cocky guy I despise so much? Certainly not!

"Are you coming tomorrow?" She asked with a friendly smile.

"No" I answered bluntly which made the smile on her face to fade away.

"Are you angry at me?" Chloe asked with a disappointing frown.

"What's there to be angry about?" I answered rhetorically in a sarcastic tone with my voice sounding as plain as ever while spreading my arms apart as I spoke.

"Pfff... Okay fine" Chloe heaved out a surrendering sigh. "Can I have your phone?" She asked, raising her right hand halfway in front of me in a demanding gesture.

I hesitated for a brief moment and said "What for?"

"Can i just have it?" Chloe insisted with an urging nod of her head.

I found no use arguing with her - especially not when she was wearing a determined look on her face. So I removed my phone from my pocket and placed it on her open palm - standing patiently while she typed in some digit and dialled it before handing the phone back to me.

"Babe?... The movie is about to start" Kevin called out to Chloe in a loud voice as he came out of the house and stood in the centre of the palour doorway.

"Just one sec" Chloe called back and turned halfway to look at Kevin before returning her gaze back at me.

"That's my number, I'll save yours... See you when next you come around Liam. Bye" She concluded hurriedly with a warm smile on her face and retreated her steps before turning around to leave - jogging back to meet Kevin who stood at the entrance to give me one last spiteful stare that caused my eyebrows to squeeze into a frown just before the went inside.

'Babe... The movie is about to start' I mimicked Kevin's voice in a>> mocking tone - rolling my eyes in annoyance as I turned to leave. How badly I disliked him -- even the mere sound of his voice irritated me.

Then I was about putting my phone back into my pocket when it beeped with an incoming message in my inbox; opening it to read when my eyes widened in surprised shock to see that it was from Shelly.