CHAPTER 5

Lerisa finished having dinner with her parents in the dining room. None of her siblings were at home, so she stood up, locked the house entrance door, and returned to her bedroom to sleep.

When she went into her bedroom, she picked up her phone, and saw that the time was after 10 p.m. Furthermore, Lerisa was surprised to see many missed calls from Anthony, and she wasted no time, calling him back to find out why he had called her.

The phone call connected, and she spoke first: "Hello, Anthony."

Anthony was still standing in his bedroom, preparing to sleep.

He saw his phone ringing, took it, and saw that Lerisa was the one calling him.

Anthony hastily picked up her call and asked her, "Hey, Lerisa. I was calling you before to know if you have gotten home safely and if you're alright now."

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks for calling me to check," Lerisa replied. She knew that Anthony cared for her like an older brother. But he was not her brother, as she has a big brother named James Jonah.

Lerisa wished Anthony could see her beyond the sibling bond or their family closeness as just friends, as she loves him too.

Anthony said, "Okay then. Goodnight. I will still visit you tomorrow morning to check up on you again."

"Okay," Lerisa did not want to refuse Anthony's visit to her family home. She agreed and knew that it was not Anthony's first time visiting her family house, as her mother likes him a lot.

Lerisa replied, "Goodnight too."

The phone call with Anthony disconnected, and Lerisa stared at her phone screen in silence for a while.

She had saved Anthony's photos on her phone and even used his photo as her screen wallpaper.

She smiled and kissed his photo on her phone screen, feeling her innocent heart shudder and thud in her chest for Anthony.

If only he could hear her heart beating.

Lerisa finally plugged her phone in to charge, then went into her bathroom to relieve herself before getting out and walking up to her pink bed to sleep.

****

The following Saturday morning, after Anthony was through with his early morning exercise and fitness training, he jogged for a while and ran too.

Anthony is a billionaire, but that did not stop him from exercising, as mostly the rich folks occupied the town they lived in.

Anthony was wearing a white sports jersey as he went to jog that morning. He was wearing a white singlet top, white shorts, and white socks, paired with white canvas too.

Anthony looked breathtakingly handsome, and plenty of young ladies along the way stole glances at him. They watched him jogging at that early hour of the morning.

Anthony's family home was not far from Lerisa's family home, as it was only two streets away.

He decided to visit Lerisa in her family mansion and find out how she was faring now, as he sees her as his junior sister and his best friend too.

Anthony then approached Lerisa's family gate and knocked on the black gate, waiting for the house occupants to come out and pull the gate open.

Meanwhile, the huge black gate was locked from within, and Anthony was not with his phone to call Lerisa either and inform her that he was around at her family house.

Anthony gazed at his wristwatch and saw it was after 8 a.m. The sun was rising gradually above the clouds, and Anthony knocked again before Lerisa, who was sweeping the frontage of her father's compound, went to pull the gate open.

Lerisa gasped as she was surprised to see Anthony standing there, looking breathtakingly handsome to her and filled with sweat.

Her breathing hitched upon seeing Anthony in a white singlet top that revealed his masculine abs. She imagine what those toned abs would feel like when she finally touched him nàked.

Lerisa gulped hard as she stared up at Anthony's handsome, dark face.

She met his blue eyes and greeted him shyly, "Good morning, sir."

Anthony smiled, happy to see Lerisa's blushing face at him, as she usually does. She was very light-skinned, and he liked seeing her pretty face.

Anthony replied, "Morning, Lerisa. How was your night?"

Anthony took the water bottle he was holding in his right hand up to his lips. After uncapping the bottle, he drank from it, with water dripping down from the side of his lips.

Lerisa gulped again, watching Anthony drink the water. She stared downward while he parted the bottle away from his lips and asked her, "I came to see you. How are you feeling now?"

"Lerisa! Who's there at the gate?" Lerisa heard her mother ask her from within the house frontage.

She stared backward in the compound and at her mother before she replied, "Anthony is here, Mom."

Anthony walked closer to the gate, meeting Lerisa closely. He told her, "Move away from the gate; let me say hello to your parents first."

Lerisa was not wearing any bra underneath her blue nightgown. She felt her body radiate heat due to Anthony's close proximity to her.

She swiftly moved aside from the gate and made way for Anthony to enter her parents' compound, as he was standing very closely in front of her.

Anthony smiled at Lerisa while his eyes traveled and lingered down, staring at her full brẹasts. He gulped and quickly looked away from her as his eyes traveled and stared at her pointed nipples that were hard, pointing out through her light blue nightgown.

Lerisa stepped aside, and Anthony walked into the compound to greet her mother, who was smiling at him.

Mrs. Antonia stepped outside fully from the frontage door as she saw Anthony approaching her, and he was the man speaking to Lerisa at the gate.

Mrs. Antonia smiled at Anthony and greeted him first: "Our CEO, good morning, sir."

Anthony smiled and replied, "Good morning, Ma. How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm fine, Anthony, and you? What a pleasant surprise to see you here! You hardly visit us here again since you took over the company position as the new CEO. Did we do anything wrong to offend you in any way?" Mrs. Antonia inquired, to which Anthony replied, "No, Ma. Not at all."

Anthony offered a friendly smile, and that made Mrs. Antonia relieved. She smiled back and said, "You're welcome to our house anytime that you like. Come inside, as I'm about to prepare our breakfast now. You can join us for breakfast too."

"No, Ma. Thank you. I only came here to find out how Lerisa is doing, as she looked so sad yesterday," Anthony said, his eyes moving to stare at Lerisa, where she stood. She finally walked up to meet them, smiling shyly and hiding her blushing face.

"Lerisa? Oh! She came back home yesterday looking sad too, and I also wondered what went wrong with her. I hope that there's no problem between you both in the office." Mrs. Antonia asked.

"No, Ma. I don't have any problem with Lerisa, and I can see that she's fine now. I have to be on my way home, as that's why I'm here to check on her," Anthony politely said, wanting to leave.

"Okay then. Thank you for visiting us and for checking up on my daughter. Your mother invited me over for your birthday celebration tonight. I hope that you also invited my daughter too." Mrs. Antonia asked, smiling brightly, as she wanted Anthony as her in-law.

Anthony smiled handsomely and said, "Yes, Ma. I did."

"Okay then. We will see you later in the evening. I have to go inside now and prepare what I initially wanted to fry for breakfast before you arrived. Goodbye, Anthony," Mrs. Antonia said, and Anthony answered, "Okay, Ma."

Lerisa stood aside, listening to her mother's conversation with Anthony. Her mother finally left them and went back into the bungalow house, leaving her and Anthony alone.